" 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. 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. 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. 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" INTRODUCTION The language of the Holy Ghost is that of events and experiences that happened to the people of God. When we look at these events through the eyes of faith we can hear a great deal. On several occasions the Apostle Paul, even our Lord, allegorizes these events to give us proper understanding. I 've taken the liberty to allegorize this particular passage of an actual event that occured. Not only did this event happen during the time of Elisha, but if we look, we see the same thing happening today. In our allegory we see Elijah as a type of Christ recieved up to heaven. Elisha was left to carry on Elijah's work, receiving a double portion and is a type of the Holy Ghost. GILGAL: the entering of the promised land, the place God intended His people to be. DEARTH IN THE LAND:a famine, likened to Amos 8:11-12 SONS OF THE PROPHETS: church members, young Christians GREAT POT: organized church's place of assembly, communal feeding of the word. POTTAGE: what is eaten from the pot. What is taught and preached in local churches. FIELD: a picture of the world. Matt.13:38 HERBS: something from the world added to the Gospel WILD VINE: false terachers (worldliness in the church) WILD GOURDS: worldly, false doctrine of men. Matt.15:8-9 SHRED: mix into the pot; false teaching alongside of truth. I. GOD'S PURPOSE God's intent was to lead His people into the "promised land," the place God had prepared for them. Despite the rebellion of may of the Israelites, Joshua finally crossed the Jordan River into the promised land they were to occupy. After crossing, they camped at Gilgal, the outer edge, and remained there. Although the "promised land had many enemies there, God said they would be victorious. Many trusted God and went on and conquered while many, who lacked faith, stayed behind, compromised and were defeated. So it is today, God intended for His people to be a spiritual people, led and guided by the Spirit. That involved trusting His leadership and attacking the enemies we would have to subdue. Many today have and are doing just that. But, because of a lack of trust, many have stayed behind in their Gilgal and are living defeated Christian lives. II. OUR SITUATION Elisha Came Again To Gilgal: The Holy Spirit returns to those who are not growing and experiencing the new life, urging them to grow in grace and knowledge. Like Elisha who found the land in a state of famine, I feel the Holy Spirit is grieved , finding a spiritual famine in our land. The prophet Amos said there would be a famine of "hearing the word". There are two things occuring today: 1: although the Word is being preached many are not hearing it, "He that hath an ear let him hear." 2: There is a lot of preaching but is it God's Word or man's idea of God's Word? Being man's words the Word of God is absent and people are starving for truth. The sons of the prophets represent the religious people who fill church houses every week and for the most part they are starving, unhealthy, lacking spiritual nutrition. They gather in their places of assembly to be fed spiritual food and are not getting it. The "pottage " they are eating is not enough for them. For that reason we have many who leave, split and divide and start new congregations. Notice where they went. They went out into the field to get more. Many today turn to the ways of the world for help. We know that man's thoughts are not God's thoughts and man's ways are not God's ways. These people wanted herbs to add to the pottage. Like many today, they "heap to themselves teachers having itching ears", wanting to here what they want to hear. In their search they found a wild vine. If we look hard enough we, too, will find those false teachers just waiting to put forth their wild gourds, their form of "gospel". The organized churches today are much like the church of the Laodicians in Revelation. When they do, they first of all blend their teaching with the truth until the truth is not heard but their ideas and opinions only, causing the existing divisions and schisms we have today. Paul says in 1 Thess.5:12, "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord,...". Notice that they went out an gathered in what "THEY KNEW NOT". How sad that these who were familiar with the land in which they were accustomed, could not recognize good food from bad. Is it much different today? People will seek out preachers because they act and sound religious and because of their lack of knowledge, allow themselves to be poisoned. God spoke through the prophet Micah and said, "My people perish for lack of knowledge". It is so very important that we study to show ourselves approved unto God enabling us to be aware of the deceit and wiles of the enemy. Our physical body reacts and tells us when we have eaten something we shouldn't have. It is a function of the body the Lord placed in us for our health. So it is with the Spirit. When we have ingested the poison and untruths of the enemy our spirit reacts. Like the sons of the prophets who cried out, "There is death in the pot" we also will realize there is something wrong because it affects our Christian walk and growth. Elisha said to bring MEAL, representing the truth, and when it was placed in the pot they were able to eatit without fear. Their faith was rekindled when they ate. Why? They knew there was poison in the pottage, yet after the meal was added, they ate. When God's truths are brought back and to our spiritual POTTAGE we to will be able to eat with fear. Our faith is enlarged and we begin to grow. Our walk of life is more like HIS. Let us all be more aware of who we are, who we represent and what HIS purpose for us is and seek a more closer walk with the Lord. Don't be fooled by religious deception. Trust the Lord and He will direct your path. May God richly bless you. Back|Home