Do you have a copy of God's Word in your hand?
Make it a habit to bring your Bible to church.
And I am an advocate for a physical copy of God's Word.
Do not be surprised if eventually in history this Bible
will be recognized as a hatebook, as it has been in many
parts of the world. And if everything becomes
digitized, that means most things are going to be under the
control of those who do not view the Bible the way you do.
So carry physical copies of God's Word in your hand at home.
It's much more difficult for that to be seized by those who
consider this Bible to be tagonistic and hateful.
So you have a copy of God's Word.
There's nothing sinful about an iPad or an iPhone, But whatever
format you have, let's come together now to Second Kings
chapter 4. Second Kings chapter 4,
beginning in verse 38, and we will read to the end of this
chapter. This is the final study of this
chapter, but it is certainly not the conclusion of Elisha's
miraculous ministry. Second Kings chapter 4,
beginning in verse 38. And Elisha came again to Gilgal
when there was a famine in the land.
And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said
to his servant, set on the large pot, and boil Stew for the sons
of the prophets. One of them went out into the
field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from
it in his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up
into the pot of Stew, not knowing what they were.
And they poured out some for the men to eat.
But while they were eating of the Stew, they cried out.
Oh. Man of God, there is death in
the pot and they could not eat it, he said.
Then bring flour. And he threw it into the pot and
said, Pour some out for the men, that they may eat, and there was
no harm in the pot. A man came from Bell Shalisha,
bringing the man of God bread, bread of the first fruits, 20
loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack.
And Elisha said, Give to the men that they may eat.
But his servant said, How can I set this before 100 men?
So he repeated, Give them to the men that they may eat.
For thus, says the Lord, they shall eat and have some left.
So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left
according to the word of the Lord.
Lord, we ask that you help us in this study.
Thank you for your presence, Lord, and we trust that this
word is your voice, and it has the force and the power to
infuse the graces that we need to be who you called us to be.
So Lord, we pray for a mind that understands, a heart that will
burn, and lives that will conform to the things that we
will explore together by your help.
We thank you for this provision of spiritual food, and we eat of
it, trusting that it will nourish and strengthen us for
your glory. In Jesus's mighty name we pray
Amen and Amen. The fact that these two
miracles, miracles of provision, took place in a place called
Gilgal, should stop us in our tracks.
Why? Because we want to develop the
ability to study reflectively, to look back and to compare and
to think and to meditate. And if we have been doing that
in this short series of Elijah's life, then we would recognize
something in Gilgal being mentioned here.
What you will notice is that between Second Kings chapter 2
and 2nd Kings Chapter 4, Elijah performed significant miracles
in the very same locations that Elijah and Elijah travel past
and. Through before Elijah was
transported into heaven. Do you remember Second Kings
chapter 2, how this pair journeyed to that destination?
If you want to see it for yourself, go to chapter 2 and
look at verse one. You'll realize and you'll be
reminded that Elijah and Elijah began from Gilgal.
And in verse 2, we're told that they went from Gilgal to where
anybody remember? What does it say in your Bibles?
Bethel and after they traveled to Bethel, we were told that
they went where in verse 4. The reason why I'm asking is
because I want you to be engaged.
Good. Jericho and then from Jericho
and verse 7 we read that they arrived at their final place,
which was where the Jordan very good.
Now recall and retrace the steps of Elijah's miracles.
Right after Elijah ascended into heaven, what happened at the
Jordan? The river split into, did it
not? And after the Jordan he went
where to cure the waters? Jericho.
After Jericho, what happened there was a miracle of judgment
that was proclaimed against a large group of young boys, and
it took place where Bethel. And now we come to our study in
Second Kings chapter 4, and we are about to see what God is
going to work in and through Elijah in a place called Gilgal.
So the series of supernatural events took place in the reverse
order of the original journey that Elijah and Elijah shared.
Is that significant? Yes, it is significant.
Why is it important to recognize that?
I believe because the Lord miraculously moving in these
places was His way of validating Elijah's ministry in the very
same areas where Elijah once had influence.
And so this would first of all strengthen Elijah in the
beginnings of his ministry, but it would also encourage the
people of God, namely the sons of the prophets who were located
and studying in these precise places, to see how God
demonstrated this important truth that his work continues
even though his men pass on. God's work and his program
advances with or without his men.
If his men pass on into glory faithfully, or if some of those
ministers were disqualified due to unfaithfulness, God's work
goes on. And that's the overarching
lesson by that simple observation.
But we have been learning these past few weeks that with each of
these miracles there is a message.
There are other truths that we draw from them.
And that is certainly the case with these final miracles in
this chapter. And so I want us now to closely
examine what we can take from these two brief accounts and
trust that the Lord will speak to us as he always does.
But listen, the the way that we're going to properly
interpret and apply what we just read together is by
acknowledging a very crucial ingredient and detail that is
brought to our attention in the very first sentence of what we
read. Look back at verse 38 and Elisha
came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land.
If you read too quickly, you'll miss so much of the depth of
what we will discover with these miracles.
This condition sets the stage for these interventions from God
to carry meaning and greater impact and understanding of who.
He is and what he asked of us. There was a famine in the land.
And it's very likely that this famine is the same one that's
described in Second Kings chapter 8, verse 1.
So look at Second Kings chapter 8, verse one.
We read this in part last in last week's study, but let's be
reminded in Second Kings 81. Now, Elijah had said to the
woman whose son he had restored to life, Arise and depart with
your household and sojourn wherever you can.
For the Lord has called for a famine and it will come upon the
land. For how long?
Seven years. That's a long time.
A few key points to take away from this.
Number one, we're told the duration of this famine, and it
was, as you said, seven years when Elijah was the chief
prophet in Israel. There was also a famine that
Israel experienced. How long was that famine?
A little over three years, James tells us three years and six
months. So we have here another famine
with Elijah's successor, and it was double the time of the
famine under Elijah's ministry. Secondly, we're told, who is
responsible for this famine? What did Elijah say?
He said for the Lord has called for a famine.
Famines were not a regular occurrence, nor were they normal
events in the life of Israel under the Old Covenant.
Why is that? Because the Law of Moses tells
us that the presence of a famine is a manifestation of God's
judgement against His people for their unrepentant idolatry.
And if you need a proof text which you should have, turn to
the book of Deuteronomy and notice what is told in verse 11
or Chapter 11 rather, and verse 16.
It makes it explicitly clear. This one of the clearest
warnings about famines in the Bible, especially for those who
are under the Old Covenant. Deuteronomy 11, verse 16.
Notice what Moses says before the people even entered into the
land of promise. Take care lest your heart be
deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship
them. Then the anger of the Lord will
be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so
that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit,
and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is
giving you. So whenever there was a famine,
it was chastisement from heaven. And it was a way in which God
caused the people to experience discomfort so that they would
repent and turn to men, be restored to His perfect and
goodwill for them. So stepping back now and
connecting these insights, understanding Elijah's ministry
in the famine under his ministry and during his ministry now,
Elijah's ministry and the seven-year famine, what can we
take away from this concerning the people of Israel?
A very disheartening truth that despite the triumphant,
miraculous, massive miracle that took place on Mount Carmel that
brought victory to the name of the true God.
And conquered Baal ISM. The people did not truly repent.
They didn't truly repent. It was momentary, it was
undeniable. It was.
Moving it was impressive, but it did not produce what God is
after lasting repentance. And because they did not truly
repent from their sins after such an incredible demonstration
of His grace, the Lord will discipline them further.
And how would he do that? He's going to now bring another
famine that will last twice as long.
Twice as long. And this is an important lesson
for us, you see, To revisit sins that we have vowed to never
entertain invites greater discipline from our loving
Father. The Lord God loves us too much
to keep us in our sin and to keep us in a state where we
don't learn from our past sins. And this is especially true for
the sins that He has disciplined us about.
You know, there are some people who deceive themselves in
potentially entertaining things that they have done before,
thinking that they are able to survive the consequences of sin
that they faced before. That wasn't so bad.
I mean, it was a little bit embarrassing.
It hurt me a little bit. It caused me to forfeit the
trust of some people that I love.
But here I am. It's not so bad.
Maybe I can do it again. Maybe I can try harder, try
better. Maybe I can I can be successful
this time around. It's amazing what our minds are
capable of thinking when it comes to sin.
And what I want to tell you remind you is that this is an
example that if you truly belong to the Lord, He will not treat
you so indifferently. He won't.
So they rebelled, time went on, they didn't learn the only
increase in their apostasy. So the Lord said, OK, you didn't
learn with 3 1/2 years, let me bring 7 years and let's see if
this will change you now. So the Lord is very calculating
in how He deals with us as His children, and He loves us too
much to leave us alone or to not change things in order to change
you. However, that's not the only
thing that we learned from this famine.
Let's go back to our text, our main text, and I want you to see
that in verse 38 we are reminded that there is a remnant alive
during this destitute time. How do we know that?
Because we read here that the sons of the prophets were
sitting before Him, being Elisha.
We talked enough about the sons of the prophet to know who these
group of people are. They're prophets in training.
They are ministers in training. And the fact that they were
sitting before Elijah tells us what?
Well, to sit before somebody is a consistent posture in the
Bible that denotes the humble reception of instruction.
So though there is a national drought, you have the sons of
the prophets in Gilgal. Doing what school is still in
session. They are humbly and with
eagerness, wanting to receive wisdom and insight and knowledge
concerning who their God is. And Elijah was faithful and
loving enough to provide it. And so as there is hunger going
on, we see that there is a spiritual feast taking place at
the same time. And the posture of the sons of
the prophets reminds us of a truth that you and I know by
heart. It's found in a statement that
the Lord gave to His people Israel before they entered their
promised land, and Jesus echoed it in the early stages of his
ministry. Man cannot survive on bread
alone. But what by every word that
comes from the mouth of God? You know what that truth doesn't
teach? That food is unnecessary to
life. That's not what the Lord is
saying by sharing that. What He is saying, though,
instead, is that you cannot know the fullness of life if your
life is merely about materialism and provision and prosperity.
You can only unlock what Jesus calls the abundant life when you
know how to position yourself with constant nourishment of
His. Word, you and I know many people
who make their life about living by bread alone.
And such individuals, unfortunately, no matter what
they possess, no matter what they enjoy, we'll never tap into
all that God wants to grant them.
Unless they are willing to believe what this word has to
offer and engage with it to the degree that they experience it.
So people often ask, like, how? How do I get myself to be
consistently and uninterruptedly devoted to the Bible?
How? How do I get there?
How do I stay there? And my answer is always the
same. It never changes.
Here it is. I'm convinced that I can't truly
live without it. I'm convinced of that.
It's not a matter about what I feel, it's about what I know.
I'm convinced of that truth, that I am the most alive when I
am the most. Invested in His word and you
know what it's like. Have you ever been through a
season where you've distanced yourself from the word?
You feel how you shrivel up inside, do you not?
Temptation becomes stronger, worldliness becomes more
alluring, your flesh flares up with greater strength and
tenacity. There is something powerful
about the Word, every word that comes from God.
So people say, how do you do it? I'll tell you how I do it.
I can't survive without it because the Bible tells me if I
just live by bread, saving up for bread, accumulating more
bread, finding different ingredients for bread, if that's
what my life is about, then I will not truly be alive.
I'm, I'm existing, but I'm not living.
And with that, I have never, ever, ever watched somebody who
lived by bread alone and was attracted to their way of life.
Have you ever, ever. In fact, such people come off as
lifeless to me, Lifeless. The vanity that they're devoted
to the emptiness. While those who feast on the
Word of the Lord, I'll tell you, they are radiant, are they not?
They are energized by and satisfied with what God has
provided us, His eternal Word. And before we move on, there's
something else that we need to address.
From verse 38, though, you have this remnant that is showing us
the preciousness of God's Word as they sit at the feet of a man
who represented God's Word. You learned that they were still
somewhat impacted by this famine, right?
How do I know that? Look at the menu of what's there
at the seminary in Gilgal. What does Elijah instruct?
Set on the large pot and boil Stew for the sons of the
prophets. This is not a gourmet meal.
This is not a banquet. And if you're not convinced of
that because, well, it's a large pot, look at the ingredients.
Look at the scarce resources in verse 39.
One of the sons of the prophet had to go out into the field and
try to find somebody to throw in there to make it a little bit
more meaty. So what I'm trying to tell you
here, what I'm trying to bring your attention to is that these
faithful men of God, these people who represented the, the
small remnant in Israel, we're not completely exempt from the
sufferings around them. And I was thinking about this
and, and, and I thought like, Lord, you, you could have
preserved this remnant the way you did with Israel and Egypt.
You set up a whole city and you protected, it was called Goshen
while everything crazy was going on around them.
Why is that the why is that not the case here?
Why are the cupboards a little bit emptier?
What's going on? And here's the lesson, a lesson
that you know very well that the Lord will sometimes allow even
his most faithful to taste a little bit of the sufferings of
this world for sanctifying purposes.
He will permit that, He will allow that from time to time,
yet at the same time we could take comfort in the fact that He
will never abandoned us in such a condition.
He will never allow us to drift away in such circumstances.
He will always be near and close enough to provide and to move on
your behalf because He is good and He promised to be by us.
And that's what we see with this miracle.
So Elijah tells his servant, remember, look, he says he said
to his servant, it's very likely that his servant was who, what's
his name, such as the letter G Ghazi.
It's very likely that he's addressing Ghazi and he's
telling Ghazi, Ghazi, I want you to prepare something for these
students. So as Ghazi is.
Preparing to do that you have one of the sons of the prophets
who takes it upon himself to help he's not asked to help
they're going to be served but he says you know what I want to
I want to do this and we see a wonderful heart in this man
right verse 39 one of them went out into the field to gather
herbs so as he's making this initiative as he's trying to aid
he goes out and we read here that he finds a wild vine and
gathered from it in his lap full of wild gourds what are wild
gourds a family of vegetables that.
Are like cucumbers and squashes those kind of vegetables that
perhaps helps with the imagination of the story and it
explains why he got so excited because he just fills his shirt
with it and he wobbles back to the site and he.
Is excited about this discovery and he doesn't wait to cut them
up and to throw them into the soup.
And everything looks well until you read the ominous final words
of that verse. Look at the last few words of
verse 39, not knowing what they were, unfortunately, as you and
I read. These are harmful vegetables,
and they will end up poisoning the source of food that these
men are ready to eat. And I believe that there are a
few lessons to draw from this. There are some practical lessons
and there are some spiritual ones, and I want us to consider
both. On the functional side, it's
important to take something from this concerning those who are
devoted to studying God's Word. Here it is.
The pursuit of spiritual knowledge should not cause us to
overlook our pursuit of gaining practical wisdom.
You have some good hearted Christians who might have a
passion for theology or might even have their vocation in the
ministry, but they excuse. Himself to be neglectful of real
life skills and general knowledge of this world.
It's actually common. So again you have these good
hearted believers who justify ignorance in matters of this
life that hinder them in many ways.
And they justify it because, like the sons of the prophets,
they are serious students of God's word or they are very
seriously dedicated to the service of the Lord.
And So what happens? They they become disabled in
other crucial areas of life. They they don't know how to
manage their finances. They don't have social skills.
They don't have social skills in the church, and they certainly
don't have social skills outside engaging with the world.
They don't know how to plan for the future.
They don't know how to discern a fraud or a scam.
They don't know how to accomplish basic life skills.
Why all under the pretense of spirituality?
Because you have over the years sheltered yourself from real
life world and then you struggle in the world.
And this is again far too common.
And I assure you that if you are somebody who is like that, you
will eventually hurt yourself. You will eventually harm others,
so you must quickly learn that being spiritual does not mean
God calls you to be ignorant of your dealings with the affairs
of society and of life itself. On the spiritual side.
What we can take from this from the student at Gilgal is that
you cannot make judgements by mere appearance.
So he saw these vegetables and he thought they looked good, and
without much investigation he just took them and he threw them
and he ate them with 100 other men, and they put themselves in
Great. Peril.
So here's a spiritual application.
Just because a minister looks good, just because a ministry
sounds good, does not mean that you should, without filtration,
digest everything that they have to offer or even put it in your
mouth to begin with. If you're not careful, the trap
that this man fell into physically is a trap that many
have ensnared themselves with spiritually.
They've allowed themselves to be caught up in things, to invest
in things, expose themselves to things that put them in great
danger. You know, Paul told us in 2nd
Corinthians 11 that the servants of Satan masquerade themselves
as servants. Of righteousness.
False teachers. You know what that means?
That means that there are many false teachers out there that
come off as genuine, that seem to be holy, that will claim that
they align themselves with the truth when in fact they are
agents of the devil. Why should have this man, when
he stumbled upon this wild vine, at least at least been
suspicious? Any idea?
There was nothing else meaning what we read in Second Kings 81,
The Lord called for a famine that at least should have caused
him to stop and think. Where is this coming from?
What is this all about? But because he let his guard
down, he was a mindful of the word of the Lord in that moment.
He introduced himself and others into something that was harmful,
and it's no different to how many people react and expose
themselves to spiritual, spiritually dangerous food.
I recently read a comment from a man who was writing on a video
on an unfortunate video of a minister who was recently
exposed for being verbally and physically abusive to what his
family and his adult children are now.
Exposing him out in the public and to many people wasn't a
surprise because this individual, when he preached
from the pulpit, came off very, very aggressive.
Very demeaning, ugly, harsh. He preached verses, he actually
preached books from the Bible. But when he would, when he would
teach it, it was woven with a crude language and harshness in
his tone and condemnation. But what moved me about this
comment was that this man admitted that he had followed
this minister. 'S preaching for years and
throughout the years, he discovered.
Based on what people said around him, the closest people, namely
his family, he was becoming angrier, he was becoming more
critical, he was becoming more arrogant.
And by the grace of God, it was illuminated to him that the
connection between his behavior was what he was connected to in
terms of his spiritual diet, and he separated himself from it and
it changed him. To think that you and I can just
eat anything that's presented to us, that's offered to us, that's
popular, that's known, is as silly as believing that you can
put any kind of food in your mouth and not expect it to
affect you. So we are called to be careful,
not be mindless, not be careless, to be discerning, to
be slow, to be brains. If the apostle Paul had some of
his audience take his word and compare it to the scriptures,
how much more everybody else that's running around with a
microphone and an Instagram page.
So we read this and we were supposed to also learn something
else about it. It's so important to see it in
this way as well. What if you have been somebody
who throughout the years have exposed yourself to spiritual
junk? What happens if?
You have not been careful with what you eat if that is
something that you are aware of about yourself.
The next two verses give us the exemplary solution.
What happens verse 40 and they poured out some for the men to
eat, but while they were eating of the Stew, they cried out, O
men of God, there is death in the pot.
How do they figure that out? We're not told.
I wonder if some people started getting sick.
I wonder if some who knew of the vegetation tasted and they said,
whoa, whoa, whoa, this is this is not good.
This is the deadly stuff. However it occurred, they cry
out to the man of God. And why is that important?
Because the man of God at this time was a representative.
He was God's conduit. Of the Word of God.
He symbolized the word of God. Do you remember what Jehoshaphat
said in Second Kings 312 when they were stranded in the desert
and somebody mentioned, hey, Elisha is not too far from you.
He said, let's go to him, for the word of the Lord is with
him. So these sons of the prophets
knew where to go. They went to the man who had the
word of the Lord, trusting that he would have the solution to
their trouble. And they were right.
What does Elisha do? He said in verse 41, bring flour
and they threw it into the pot and said pour out some for the
men and that they may eat and there was no harm in the pot.
Talk about an act of faith on the part of the sons of the
prophet. Imagine realizing that there's
poison in it and all your teacher does is take flour,
throw it in there, says it's OK, now you can eat.
Would you be hesitant? To take another bite.
Well, again, they trusted the word of the Lord.
Ultimately, if they didn't trust in the flour, they didn't trust
necessarily in Elisha. But in whom Elisha represented
and spoke on behalf of. What's the solution here?
The word of the Lord and the word of the Lord from Elisha's
mouth is no more powerful than the written word of God that you
have open in your hands right now.
I love that verse in Ephesians 526 where we are told about
Christ's love for the church, that He has sanctified her by
cleansing her. How?
Through the washing of what? The Word.
That's how He sanctifies His bride.
The cleansing of the washing of the Word.
Jesus said in John 1717. Sanctify them by the truth.
Your Word is the truth. Have you again grown up in a
church setting, or probably a different faith altogether and
your mind is still cloud? It's difficult to grasp certain
things. You don't have the joy that the
Bible promises. You don't have the security that
the Bible promises. You don't have the confidence of
the Bible promises. Are you somebody besides
doctrinally? Are you somebody that has a mind
fogged by filthy thoughts, by self sabotaging ideas?
If so, the solution is the same, the nourishing and the cleansing
power of the word of God. And, and you know that and I've
talked to people say I know that, but I can't seem to
escape. I can't seem to, to get over
these false notions of who God is, of what he's done for me or
these immoral dark ideas. Why can't I overcome them?
And I, I think this is a helpful picture.
Have you ever taken a cup filled to the brim with a different
substance, maybe even a dirty cup, brought it to a running
faucet and allow it to sit under there?
Have you ever seen a cup filled with such substance substance,
the moment it is touched with one drop of that clean water,
transformed and become completely clear itself?
If so, I want to know what kind of water supply you get because
I've never seen it. You know what does happen as you
keep that water positioned patiently under that running
faucet? Over time it goes from dark to
less dark comes clear until it shares the same substance of
that clean source. OK, you're engaging with the
word of God. Let me add this.
Give the word time to work. To cleanse your conscience, to
cleanse your subconscious so I know you might be visited by
dreams that you don't want. Give the word time to clean you
up. Be patient with the Word.
You know, Timothy was told to be patient in the preaching of
God's Word. So as much as it is possible for
a truth in a sermon or in your own personal reading to change
you and to shift you, that's possible.
Just like Elijah's one time word over that Stew.
More common than that is the faithful commitment to your
exposure to God's Word and it healing you and restoring you
over time. It has cleansing power.
Trust in it. Trust that it can do something
in you right away and trust that as you invest in it for the rest
of your life, it will change you day by day.
Now here's what's interesting. The sons of the prophets were
not the only remnant in Israel at this time.
Look at verse 42, we read a man came from Bal Shalisha bringing
the man of God bread of the firstfruits, 20 loaves of
barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack.
And Elijah said, give to the men that they may eat.
But his servant said, how can I set this before 100 men?
So he repeated, give them to the men that they may eat.
For thus says the Lord, they shall eat and have some left.
I told you not too long ago that whenever you and I come across a
town or the name of a region in our Bibles, to trust that it's
been included there to invite you to explore it further.
Because if you are faithful in that, it can most definitely
enrich your understanding of God's Word.
See. Listen, much of what people
desire. Depth in the knowledge of
Scripture requires the discipline to dig you will never
plummet the depths of Scripture if you're engaging with the word
of God is you version verse of the day you're not the Bible was
not meant to be read and studied like a fortune cookie.
So when you come to a text like this and here's what here's what
happened to me. I'm reading this earlier today
and I find a man came from thou Shalisha and I think I I know of
some place in the Old Testament notable names that are repeated.
I don't remember ever reading about a place called Thou
Shalisha. So I just thought is there
another place where Bal Shalisha is referenced and I discovered
there is not one place where Bal Shalisha is mentioned.
But there is a place where Shalisha is mentioned and only
in one other place. So turn with me to First Samuel
Chapter 9 and I want you to see this reference.
This is the only place where you'll find this name Shalisha.
And you'll discover that it's not a town, it's actually a
district. It's a region.
First Samuel 94 If you are one to take notes in your Bible, I
would as a reminder maybe write this reference First Samuel 9
four by Second Samuel 442 so that you would never forget it.
Look what it says here. And he passed through the Hill
Country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha,
but they did not find them, and they passed through the land of
Shalim. But they were not there.
They passed through the land of Benjamin, but did not find them.
This is talking about Saul when he went to go find.
His father's donkeys notice that's where Shali Shah is
mentioned, only there. So we study First Samuel and
we've probably passed through that, didn't consider Shali
Shah. Now we come to the second Kings
and we see that OK. Balshali Shah is mentioned now
if Balshali Shah, this is where we find some insight.
If Balshali Shah is the same region as Shali Shah First
Samuel 9, then we discover yet another heartbreaking
realization of the decline of Israel's fidelity to the Lord.
Why? Because Shali Shah over time was
renamed. Shali Shah was renamed from the
days of Samuel the Prophet to Elijah the Prophet in a way that
honored false deities. Shali Shah was confirmed to mean
thrice. So it's very likely that Baal
Shali Shah means Thrice Great Lord, and it's very possible
that this was a worship center to false demonic deities.
So it's. Come to the point now where you
have Israel renaming designated places to honor false gods, and
that might discourage us until you realize that a man came
from. Baal Shalisha to do what?
To help the remnant, to help the ministers of God who remained in
Israel. Now there's a keyword.
I'm going to ask you what it is in this man's introduction that
should cause us to dig even deeper.
What word stands out to you about his offering?
Very good. He didn't just bring food.
He didn't just bring supplies. We're told that he brought the
first fruits of his bread. Now first, first to cause you to
think, why is it that this man not only brought his supplies,
but the first of whatever harvest he was able to gather
during this famine? Then you realize that there are
many, many, many instructions and laws in the Old Testament
that asked for the first fruits from the people of Israel.
And here's one of them, Deuteronomy chapter 18.
Let's turn there to see what possibly this man was observing
in terms of his obedience to God's Word.
The 1st. Fruits.
He came with the first fruits. Look what we're told here about
the first fruits of the common people of Israel and one of the
responsibilities with it, Deuteronomy 18, verse three.
Are you there with me? And this shall be the priest do
from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an
ox or a sheep. They shall give to the priest
the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach.
Pause. So whenever they went to the
House of God and they were to bring an offering to the Lord,
there was a portion of that animal sacrifice that was
designated to the Levitical priest.
That was their way of being compensated by the Lord through
the offerings of God's people. But it didn't stop there.
First four, the first fruits, not the leftovers, the first
fruits of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the
first fleece of your sheep you shall give him.
For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to
stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons
for all time. So every Israelite, whenever
that season came, they were to take the first fruits, set it
apart, go to the House of God, give it as an offering, but also
give some of their crop to the priest themselves.
And I believe. That's what this man is doing
here. But here's what's interesting.
He gave it to Elijah. Who's he supposed to give it to?
So why isn't he giving it to the priest?
Do you guys? Remember what happened after the
Kingdom split into two? What happened to the Levites and
the priests who lived in the northern part under the reign of
Jeroboam? They moved where?
To the southern Kingdom, to the Kingdom of Judah.
Why do they move to the Kingdom of Judah?
Because that's where the temple resided and they were not going
to buy into this false worship. And Dan and Bethel, they, even
if they had to pack their bags, even though it was inconvenient,
they made their way towards Jerusalem so that they can honor
God the way he called them to be honored.
And so it's very possible that this man with great challenges
could not find his way to Jerusalem and he could not find
any priests left in Israel. And if there were any priests,
they were very likely corrupt, They were very likely
compromised. And he believed that they
weren't worthy of his aid, of his donation, of his offering.
And so listen, what you find here with this man from Baal
Shalisha is that he is he is seeking to try to obey what God
asked of him to the best of his. Ability and what he he sought to
do is to find Elijah, who was a faithful minister, and to give
that portion of his first fruits to him and the sons of the
prophets. So many people in the Bible are
not named and yet move me deeply, this man included.
If there was anybody who had an excuse not to obey the law,
particularly this law, it was this man.
Why? Two factors.
One, no priest around. Most of the leaders are
compromised 2 When did he give the first fruits?
What happened in verse 38 that's going to that sets the stage for
how these miracles take place. There's a famine.
There was a famine. Imagine what you could have told
yourself to soothe your conscience.
OK, look, the Kingdom is split in two.
I, I don't think the law of Moses foresaw this.
I think this is just something that happened.
And, you know, I can't really do anything.
There's no clear instructions of what should I do at this point.
And on top of that, there's a famine.
Very, very scarce resources. I, I can't, I can't do this at
this point. I'll do it at another time.
He didn't want to honor God another time.
He wanted to honor God now. And so he thinks, OK, what can I
do? Elijah is here, the sons of the
prophets are here. I can, I can express my devotion
to the Lord in this way and trust that God will be pleased
with it. You know, this man serves as a
rebuke for all of us who make excuses for our disobedience.
Because let me put it this way, worship, true worship, boils
down to this. If you really want to honor God,
you're going to do all that you can to honor God.
It just comes down to that. You know, Paul, when he wanted
to visit the Thessalonians, it came to the point that he tried
over and over again until he learned and he let the people
know. In Thessalonica, Satan hindered
me. It took Satan himself, not his
minions, not his hordes of demons.
It took Satan himself to stop Paul from going and being with
the brethren in Thessalonica. If Satan stops you and you have
no control over the matter, OK, that's a legitimate reason.
This man shows us here that God is worthy.
God is worthy to bulldoze over every excuse so that He would be
recognized and honored. He's inspiring.
And I praise God for this church.
I praise God for this church. Here's a very small example.
Our circumstances here in our location are not the best.
We don't have parking. We don't have the most
convenient service time on a Sunday.
And yet people come because they want to come and worship God.
They want to honor God. And that moves me every single
time because in these past years, I've never heard one peep
from one person about the difficulty of these
circumstances, which in reality and in comparison to what our
brethren are suffering in the world is not a problem.
Right? There are believers in China who
walk miles to get to a service. And we see that with this man.
And he's not the only inspiring person in this brief report.
Elisha, Elisha shines yet again with his Christ like character.
In what way this man from Bal Shalisha bringing him the bread
of his first fruits? And how does Elijah respond at
the end of verse 4042? And Elijah said, give to the men
that they may eat. How tempting it would have been
to say thank you and just, you know, stuff it in your pocket
and have Gehazi hide a little bit more.
The first thing, the reaction of this man of God is what about
these students? Listen, that's what true
leadership looks like. To aspire to be a leader and to
occupy any position of leadership means that you are
devoted and have been gifted to take care of those who are under
your leadership. You don't pursue any position of
leadership so that you can be served.
If you have that desire, it's because you are eager to be a
blessing to those who would benefit from how God has
empowered you to be a leader. And that's what Elijah is
demonstrating here. He he immediately, as a reflex
says, what about them? How can we take care of them?
And the response is common. We've seen it in the New
Testament on more than one occasion.
But his servant said, how can I set this before 100 men?
So we know that there are 100 students in Gilgal and he only
had what, 2020 loaves of barley? And he says this isn't going to
happen. And Elijah repeats, set it
before them, they're going to eat.
And he honors that word, and a miracle takes place.
And not only that, there's leftover.
Does this miracle sound familiar, by the way?
It should if you read the Gospels.
But before I get there, let me say this.
This multiplication, this wonderful intervention from
heaven would not have been possible had that man from Bao
Sha Li Sha not obeyed God. Do you realize that?
What if this man stayed home? What if this man thought to
himself, yeah, this first, first thing, it's not going to work.
There's division. There's a drought.
That's it's it's pointless. What if he had done that?
He doesn't do that. He goes out to the best of his
ability. He provides what he is able to
provide. And I am certain that he didn't
think I'm going to bring this to Elijah and he's going to do
something and it's going to multiply and feed everybody
else. Never underestimate what your
obedience can do, especially your obedience and trying in
difficult times, especially when excuses run.
Through your mind, I hesitate to share testimony, personal
testimony. Sometimes I hesitate because my
my desire anytime I get up on this pulpit is for every eye and
every ear to be targeted towards the Lord and to be placed on the
Lord himself. But from time to time, I hope it
encourages you. I remember one time when I was
first saved, didn't have a car. The first church that I was
attending faithfully was a bigger church and the only way
to get there was through commute.
I had to take more than one bus and.
I don't know what. It was, I was trying to think,
even today, what was it that made me late for church that
day? But I was late for church that
day. And I remember, though I can't
remember the reason, wrestling of whether or not I should go to
church. And we're commanded to be with
the people of God, right? So whatever was there, I swatted
away. I put my big boy clothes on and
I made my way to church. And as I got there, I arrived,
obviously late, the service already started.
But I'm walking towards the entrance.
And I'm, as I'm walking towards the entrance, there's somebody a
few feet away from the entrance, a young man who's leaning
against the wall of the church and smoking.
And he caught my attention because I've been there long
enough to recognize the young people there and, and who
consistently go. So I knew that he was a visitor.
So I was already late, but I thought, I just want to ask who
this guy is at least. And so I introduced myself and
he was kind enough to introduce himself.
And we got talking and he told me that he was visiting, told me
that he was going to church that day because his mom made him go
to church. And so we talked a little bit
and at that point I began to share a just a brief version of
my testimony. I said, look, the service is
still going on. Would you like to go and sit
together? And I usually don't sit where he
end up sitting. I usually sit close to the
front. But I said, would you like to
sit together? And he said, sure.
So we go and we sneak in a little bit and sat in a specific
row. And I didn't know who we came
with. I knew who his mother was.
But as a service ended, we get up and I shook his hand again.
So it was nice meeting you. And his mom was on the other
side and she introduced herself and we got talking.
And very quickly she opened up and she told me that she had a
brain tumor and she recently discovered it.
And she was terrified. And so in that moment, I was
talking to her and I was talking to the sun at the same time, but
my attention was mainly on her. And I just shared about How I
Met her son. And as she was opening her
heart, Is it OK if we can pray together?
Can we pray for you right now? And she welcomed that.
So we prayed and we got connected online.
From time to time, that mother would message me and she would
tell me to continue to pray for her son.
And she was so excited that we were able to meet and she would
send encouraging messages from time to time.
And she was a blessing to me in many ways.
I remember leaving church that day and I thought to myself,
what if I stayed home? What if I just stayed home?
I don't know where she is. I don't know where her son is.
Don't let excuses through obedience sabotage potential
testimonies. This man came with 20 loaves and
it fed 100 men. Jesus multiplied food, did he
not? It's hard to read a story like
this and not think about the Lord Jesus.
And as much as there are resounding similarities, there
are notable differences. Look back again here at verse
42. A man came from thou, Shalisha,
bringing the men of God, bread of the first fruits. 20 loaves
of barley. 20 loaves of barley 20 loaves that multiplied and
fed 100 men. Did Jesus have more or less food
to work with? Less.
Now, what about the people that he had to feed?
We read here that there was a hundred that Elijah had to take
care of. How much for Jesus?
Well, on two separate occasions, 14000, one 5000, and we're just
talking about the men. We're not including the woman or
the children. So we're talking about in the
thousands. And yet when you come to the
Gospels with this background in mind, because you read through
your Old Testament, you realize something about Jesus.
He's greater than all the prophets, effortlessly able to
feed the multitudes with even less than when Elijah had.
And not only is he greater in every way, but when you connect
the new with the old and you realize that Jesus didn't just
appear on the scene out of nowhere.
He always existed. He was the source of every
powerful miracle and every act of supernatural provision.
That's who Jesus is. This man obeyed God's word and
God did a miracle through it. A little boy came up to Jesus
selflessly, and God honored his selflessness and did a miracle
with it. Do not think so small of your
small obedience. Do not think so little of what
consistent consecration can do for the glory of God.
Do not think that every time we gather, every time we do
something in the name of the Lord, Whatever ministry you're a
part of, that is just another day.
Sunday school teachers, those are not just a few kids stuffed
in a classroom. God can multiply that in ways
that you can imagine. Hospitality team that feeds us
every week. Don't think so little of that
food. You have no idea how that can
bless somebody in a time of need or you have no idea how that
food was the means by which somebody stayed and received the
fellowship and the council that would change the trajectory of
their life. Bible study leader, There's 10
people that show up. There's a famous minister who
was invited last second to preach at a youth crusade and
when he preached it, the gospel, only one person respond to that
message. And that one person was warned.
Weirsby, who became the pastor, at least one of the pastors at
Moody Church and wrote many commentaries, One person
responded out of hundreds of people and that person became a
man of God. These stories have been
preserved for us to encourage us, to strengthen us to believe
that the God of miracles here is still the God of miracles today.
Amen. Let's thank him for his
goodness. We're moved by these
testimonies, and we trust that you've intended to keep them in
your eternal word so that throughout the ages, your people
would hear what you have to say for their own lives.
And we've heard your voice today.
Oh God, help us be like this man from Bal.
Shalisha, we recognize that we live in a city that glorifies
death, that dishonors the sanctity of marriage, that is
growing in greater corruption. Regardless, help us honor you
the way we can honor you, to bless you the way you deserve to
be blessed despite obstacles or hindrances.
So, Lord, may there be no excuses culturally.
May there be no excuses personally that would rob us of
the potential of being a source of blessing.
We thank you again for everything that's been shared.
We pray that they would resonate and that they would marinate our
hearts that these things would bleed into our lives and be
lived out as a sweet smelling fragrance unto you.
We worship you and we give you thanks.
Again, in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Let's worship the God who can
multiply and do miracles, shall we?
Praise team, can you help us as you have so wonderfully helped
us before this Bible study began?
And let's sing with all our hearts, all our minds, as we
close the service together.