A Thanksgiving Meal—in The Springtime! Series

(Full disclosure: Sermon Central has accepted two of my different illustrations based on this text. This message is not merely a combination of those illustrations.)

Introduction: What do you think of when you’re pondering a Thanksgiving Day meal? For many years, it’s a more or less American tradition to have a roasted or baked turkey or ham, along with mashed potatoes, gravy, other vegetables such as green beans, dressing or stuffing, and just about anything you can think of, right? In other words, it’s a feast!

But for this group of men, not only did Thanksgiving come way early—it may have been their last meal ever if not for Elisha and one of our Lord’s miracles! There were two miracles, that day, almost as if the LORD was giving a double blessing that day. Let’s take a look:

1 The miracle of the bad stew made good

Text: 2 Kings 4:38-41, KJV: 38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. 41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

Elisha was the foremost prophet of the True God, the LORD, in these days. Elijah, whom Elisha had served before, had been taken up to heaven at an earlier time (2:1-14) and now Elisha was the leader, so to speak. Now he’s at Gilgal, where there was a school or, maybe, seminary, for various groups of men who wanted to be true to the LORD. They did this even though they were living in a land or country which had basically abandoned the God of their ancestry. God bless these sons of the prophets: we know little if anything about them or even any success they may have had, but they remained true. So can we. Let’ s put the LORD first in all things.

But even though these men remained true to the LORD, they were suffering from the famine (“dearth”, KJV) in that time. Oddly enough, Israel—the northern kingdom—had already suffered from a famine and drought, also of seven years, during Elijah’s days. And now it’s happening again. Each time I read this, I find myself shaking my head: why didn’t they figure it out? Baal, one of the “gods” Israel had begun to worship, was supposed to be the “god” of a lot of things including fertility, weather, and maybe even breakfast in bed but—nothing good was taking place. Again, I wonder, why couldn’t these Israelites figure out the problem.

Elisha was no stranger to famine, either. He had lived during the famine of Elijah’s day and would suffer along with others in Samaria sometime later when the Syrians/Arameans would lay siege to the city (2 Kings 6). Notice he identified with these students, 100 strong at this time (see verse 43), and didn’t eat when they had nothing to eat. It’s easy to miss this, but there was a famine going on, and there may not be much to find or even be affordable. So they’re sitting down, probably after a lesson about the Law (there wasn’t much written Scripture in those days), and wondering, “Sir, what’s for supper?”

If that question was asked, Elisha said nothing. Maybe he was praying. At any rate, he told his servant, whoever this man was (opinions vary), and told him to “set on the great pot and seethe pottage” for the students. Although it’s not said, this would mean getting a fire started—I don’t know anybody who’s ever liked cold soup or gravy!—and prepping any stuff they could find for the meal. Did any of the students have veggies with him? Or was this preparation a sign of faith that the LORD would provide? We don’t know, but Elisha was making ready for supper.

And that’s why one of the sons of the prophets went to “gather herbs” or whatever vegetables or produce they could find. This man, like any number of others, had a desire to help but he may not have known what was good and what was not. He found a “wild vine” and “wild gourds” out there and grabbed what he could, then cut them up and added them to whatever Elisha had boiling inside the “great pot”.