2Ki 4:40 | KingComments | STEP | In this history we learn to appreciate what valuable food is by first experiencing what is worthless, yes, life-threatening food. There was a famine in the land, but Elisha told his servant to put a large pot on the fire. In this time of scarcity, the man of God wanted to prepare a feast meal to feed the student prophets with good food. One of the student prophets went to the field to get ingredients for the stew. He came back with his lap full of wild gourds. He sliced the gourds (to see how they look inside) and put them in the stew pot. It may have been watched by others, for it says that “they did not know [what they were]”. Together they were responsible for an ill-considered addition to what the man of God had already done in the pot. What is happening here, is an illustration of the danger Paul warned about in his letter to the Colossians. The Colossians did not want to replace the Lord Jesus with something else, but they wanted to add something to simple belief in Him. They wanted to add human philosophy to all the treasures of wisdom that are their part in Christ. Doing this means death in the pot. The result is that where life should be, death is present. The personal contribution is not innocent, but turns out to be deadly. The spiritual downfall is the result of wanting more than God gives us. Paul was the man of God who put the large pot before the Colossians, but the healthy food in it was spoiled, by what the Colossians added to it. The man of God knew how to remove death from the pot: by adding something to it that overcomes death. The gourds could not be removed, but something could be added that eliminated the danger. Meal had to be added. This represents in picture, the introduction of the Lord Jesus into the lives of believers. That takes death away and restores life.

‏ 2 Kings 4:40

Death Removed From the Pot

In this history we learn to appreciate what valuable food is by first experiencing what is worthless, yes, life-threatening food. There was a famine in the land, but Elisha told his servant to put a large pot on the fire. In this time of scarcity, the man of God wanted to prepare a feast meal to feed the student prophets with good food.

One of the student prophets went to the field to get ingredients for the stew. He came back with his lap full of wild gourds. He sliced the gourds (to see how they look inside) and put them in the stew pot. It may have been watched by others, for it says that “they did not know [what they were]”. Together they were responsible for an ill-considered addition to what the man of God had already done in the pot.

What is happening here, is an illustration of the danger Paul warned about in his letter to the Colossians. The Colossians did not want to replace the Lord Jesus with something else, but they wanted to add something to simple belief in Him. They wanted to add human philosophy to all the treasures of wisdom that are their part in Christ. Doing this means death in the pot.

The result is that where life should be, death is present. The personal contribution is not innocent, but turns out to be deadly. The spiritual downfall is the result of wanting more than God gives us. Paul was the man of God who put the large pot before the Colossians, but the healthy food in it was spoiled, by what the Colossians added to it.

The man of God knew how to remove death from the pot: by adding something to it that overcomes death. The gourds could not be removed, but something could be added that eliminated the danger. Meal had to be added. This represents in picture, the introduction of the Lord Jesus into the lives of believers. That takes death away and restores life.