Miracle of the Multiplied Loaves

Introduction to the Miracle and its Context

0:03 Now, as we announced this morning, we resume our studies in the life and ministry of the prophet Elisha, and our text this evening is 2 Kings, chapter 4, and verses 42 through 44.

0:23 And there came a man from Baal, Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain, or fresh heads of grain, in his sack. And he said, that is the man of God, Give unto the people that they may eat. And his servant said, What, should I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give the people that they may eat.

0:55 For thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord. This final incident recorded in 2 Kings, chapter 4, seems in many ways to be a companion incident with the preceding. And I trust most of you are aware of at least the outline of that preceding incident that had to do with the preceding incident.

1:31 Those bad, wild cucumbers that one of the ambitious young cooks among the sons of the prophets threw into the pot, and subsequently, of course, required a miracle from the Lord to take away the poisonous elements in their evening stew. And I say these two miracles seem to be companion miracles or incidents. They both have to do with food. In the former miracle, it was the mighty power of God.

2:01 Changing inedible and poisonous food into edible and apparently good tasting as well as palatable food. And then in this latter miracle, it is the mighty power of God taking inadequate provision and making it adequate for the needs of his people. Furthermore, both miracles seem to occur there at the northern Gilgal. You'll remember there are two Gilgals.

2:31 The one that is down close to Jericho and the one that is up midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. And it is probably that upper Gilgal in the light of this incident taking place in connection with the man from Baal, Shalisha. And it's in the midst of the sons of the prophets that both of these miracles occur. These sons of the prophets, I remind you, were a gathering of men.

3:00 Who were set apart for special instruction to study the history of Israel. To be schooled in the principles of what it was to know God, to walk with God, to be the messengers of God. And though the information is not all we would desire, there is enough in the scriptures to indicate that they performed a very real function in this period of Israel's dark dark history. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3:30 God's judgment are gathering, and when they will before long be taken into captivity. They were in that sense preachers and teachers of the word of God throughout Israel, men who never arrived in stature to the notoriety of some of the greater of the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, but men who nonetheless bore the message and the word of the Lord to a needy nation. Now, we'll follow the same basic pattern in our opening up the passage as we have in our previous studies. First of all, we shall seek to come to grips with the facts of this incident as given to us in these three verses.

The Gift of Firstfruits and its Significance

4:13 And first of all, we have in verse 42 the gift that is brought to the man of God. Assuming that the previous event occurred in the northern Gilgal, on a given day an unnamed man from a place of worship was brought to the man of God. The place called Baal Shalisha brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh heads of grain in his sack. On this given day, a certain man appears at the house or whatever structure was there for the people, for the sons of the prophets along with Elisha, knocks on the door, is given entrance.

4:58 When he enters, he is given an Similar, that is, he is being given an entrance to the he lays his sack upon a table, and as he opens it, it is evident that he has brought to them twenty loaves, not in the sense that we think of a loaf of bread, these would be more about the size of our dinner rolls. You remember in the New Testament incident, the young lad had five barley loaves, his little lunch bag held five little dinner rolls and two small fishes, so we must not think of this as twenty large loaves of bread, which might indeed be adequate for at least a very meager meal for a hundred men and possibly their wives and children, but these were twenty of these little dinner rolls, hardly enough to go around

5:40 for a hungry bunch of six men, let alone one hundred. And then along with the freshly prepared loaves, there was parched grain. That in turn could have been ground into meal and made into additional loaves in the future. Now the question that ought immediately to come to our minds, and the answer is not only suggested but set before us in the text, is what in the world prompted this unnamed man from Baal, Shalisha, some six to seven miles from Gilgal, to come with this present of barley loaves and fresh loaves?

6:22 Well, the text gives us the answer when it says that he brought to the man of God bread of the first fruits, and there is the key to an understanding of this entire incident. He was bringing bread of the first fruits. In other words, as a true Israelite, one of the seven one hundred thousand who had not bowed their knees to Baal, because l the Rumars were made for their own, so Balar would come and provide their bread. And then unacceptable.

6:53 Also there is the contrast, as Balar said, where Bin drivers were coming from. So one of the seven thousand who had not bowed their knees to Baal, brother Amai, would die at his death on the same day so it was an illness that was of the kind that would continue to dünyaw 600 years he regarded obedience to the terms of the old covenant as not only his duty, but his privilege as a manner and expression of his love and devotion to Jehovah. And in Numbers 18 and verse 13, we have a statement concerning this matter of the law of the firstfruits. The book of Numbers, chapter 18.

7:23 You'll see now why we must read through the Old Testament to understand the Old Testament. Many passages are unlocked by information that is given to us in other passages. Here in Deuteronomy, chapter 18, I'm sorry, Numbers chapter 18 and verse 13, we read the following. The first ripe fruits of all...

7:52 All that is in their land which they bring unto the Lord shall be thine. Speaking of the priests, everyone that is clean in thy house shall eat thereof. The assumption being that the people of God would bring the first ripe fruits of all that was in their land. And this regulation is repeated in Deuteronomy 18, verses 3 to 5.

8:18 Deuteronomy 18, verses 3 to 5. And this shall be the priests do from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be an ox or sheep, that they shall give unto the priests the shoulder and the two cheeks and the maw. The firstfruits of thy grain, of thy new wine and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shalt thou give him. For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all the tribes to stand to minister, in the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

8:56 Now here it is made plain that the Israelite would bring the firstfruits of all of his produce and his increase, and it would become the legitimate property of the priest and of his family. So much then for the requirement of every Israelite. Now what was the significance of this law of the firstfruits? Was it simply an arbitrary requirement?

9:22 Imposed by God upon an Israelite? No, it was not. The answer to the question of its significance is given to us very clearly in Deuteronomy chapter 26. In Deuteronomy chapter 26, God gives this word of direction, verse 1.

9:49 And it shall be when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein, that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the ground which thou shalt bring in from the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou shalt put it in a basket, and thou shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. And thou shalt come unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, now here's the significance, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God,

10:28 that I am come unto the land which the Lord swear unto our fathers to give us. And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. And thou shalt answer and say before the Lord thy God, a Syrian ready to perish was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number.

10:53 And he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptian dealt ill, and with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage. And we cried unto the Lord the God of our fathers. And the Lord heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression.

11:12 And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders. And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it down before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice in all the good which the Lord thy God hath given thee, and unto thy house, and the Levite, and the sojourner that is in the midst of thee."

11:55 Well, that hardly needs comment, does it? The law of the firstfruits was imposed by God, not as an arbitrary requirement, as an element of burdensome worship, nor as a mere expedient to meet the temporal needs of the priests. But it was imposed by God to be a sacramental reminder of the great realities of God's redemptive love and power on ministry. So that when the man's harvest is ready to be reaped– before he thinks of filling his barns or his vats–

12:38 he immediately must recognize, God has given me this land! God has blessed this land! And as a sacramental acknowledgement, I will take of the firstfruits, and I will go to the place of the Lord's appointment, and there present them unto the Lord. and there present them unto the Lord. And there present them unto the Lord.

12:59 Confess afresh my present consciousness that what I bring, I bring because God has been gracious to me in redemption. He has brought me with my fellow Israelites out of the land of Egypt. He has established us in the land of promise. He is the God of redeeming grace and power and the God of covenant faithfulness.

13:26 So you see, for a true Israelite, a one who was an Israelite in heart and not in name and nationality only, the law of the firstfruits was a pleasure to him. It was a delight for him. It was a confessional ordinance. But now there was a problem.

Obedience to the Spirit of the Law

13:44 God had said that the firstfruits should be brought to the priest in the place of his appointment. But the ten northern tribes were cut off from the worship now at Jerusalem. And Jeroboam, that wicked king, had established his own kind of worship at two places in the northern kingdom. But this is an indication that no true Israelite would recognize that prostituted worship that was established by Jeroboam.

14:16 And so this godly man from Shalisha wrestles with the problem. Here God is beginning to turn away the dearth that has been in the land of promise. And this may have well been the first harvest in seven years, for we read in the subsequent account that there was a famine in the land for seven years. And now because he acknowledges the goodness of God in giving him this harvest, he longs to express his gratitude to God for his mercy and kindness, but he cannot go to Jerusalem.

14:50 Well, is he precluded from obeying the Lord? With the spirit of the law deeply imbued, embedded in his heart, he comes upon an expedient that though it does not match the letter of the law, it wonderfully keeps the spirit of the law. For when he came to Jerusalem, he was not bringing his offering to the priest. You remember the little phrase occurred several times, thou shalt place it down before Jehovah.

15:18 He was in reality bringing it to God. And so this man from Shalisha reasons, I cannot bring and present it to God, in the person, of God's appointed priest at Jerusalem, but he has his appointed prophet over there with the sons of the prophets at Gilgal. And therefore I will present my gift to Jehovah, in the person of Jehovah's representative here in the northern kingdom, his servant Elisha. And so this man brings his first fruits, not to Elisha as an individual, or as a private,

15:58 but he brings this offering of the first fruits to Elisha, as God's representative in Israel, and in reality he is bringing his offering before Jehovah himself, in keeping with both the spirit and the essence of the law of the first fruits. So much then for the gift that was brought to the man of God, now notice the command given by the man of God,

Elisha's Command and Gehazi's Objection

16:28 no sooner is this gift brought to Elisha the man of God spread out probably upon a table than he thinks of those who are with him and says to his servant give unto the people that they may eat. He speaks immediately to his servant Gehazi and indicates that in no way does he regard himself as in the position of a servant of God. He speaks immediately to his servant Gehazi and indicates that in no way does he regard himself as in the position of a servant of God. He speaks immediately to his servant Gehazi and indicates that in no way does he regard himself as in the position of a servant of God.

17:00 The priest who were warranted in acknowledging whatever was brought as their possession to be used for their own consumption and the consumption of their families. Elisha in a manner so consistent with his selfless character thinks immediately of the sons of the prophets and their families, it's my own conviction born out of what I would say Keyboard 2 the inference of Elisha this character. Keyboard 3 At this point, Elisha had been praying for the provision of God for the meal of that day. For they were obviously all gathered together in one place.

17:40 It may well have been mealtime. It may well have been, though the text does not say so, that the man of God at this point was even praying, Lord, give us this day our daily bread. A rap on the door. So that when he opens the door and a man comes moved by the spirit of true religion, bringing his offering as the offering of the firstfruits, though the fare was meager and to the eye of sight inadequate for the need, Elisha, with the eye of faith, is confident that this is the Lord's provision and that God will multiply it to the meeting of the needs of the people.

18:26 And so he immediately addressed, he addresses a command to his servant Gehazi, and he says to Gehazi, set this before the people that they may eat. Not doubting at all that this very meager supply will be adequate for all of the people who are present, not that they may look at a few pieces and drool, but that they may all eat and be satisfied. And so the command was one which was impossible, impossible after the flesh. There's no way that Gehazi can take these twenty little rolls and set it before at least a hundred men and possibly their wives and families

19:10 and have them all eat. It's impossible. And yet he commanded him to do it. And we move from the gift brought to the man of God, the command given by the man of God, to the objection raised by the servant of Elisha.

19:26 Verse 43. No sooner is the command given, but what Gehazi responds, what? Should I set this, and can't you see him pointing to the twenty little loaves and to the little pile of parched grain? He looks to his master and says, what?

19:48 Shall I set this before a hundred men? Come off it now. Let's be reasonable. Let's be sensible, Elisha.

19:56 You've got two good eyes. Just as I have. There's no way, man, that we can set that amount before this many people. There is a great disparity between the need of at least a hundred hungry tummies and this meager provision.

20:14 It is an objection based upon pure sight and upon human reason. Keep that in mind. Well, what does the prophet do? Well, he simply responds by repeating the command, but now, appending with the command of promise.

Elisha's Faith and God's Promise

20:33 The promise, no doubt, which had already been given to him as a word of God and lay behind his initial command, but now he makes public property, that which had been the basis of his own faith and confidence. The latter part of verse 43.

20:57 Give the people that they may eat. A word-for-word repetition of the original command, but now he adds the promise. For thus saith Jehovah, they shall eat and shall leave thereof. Gehazi, do you think it incredible that you should set this meager fare before a hundred plus men, so that they may eat and be adequately supplied with food?

21:30 Do it anyway, because the word of Jehovah is that not only shall, they eat, but there'll be a surplus. And this whole issue, Gehazi, is not a matter of what you think reasonable. It is a matter of what Jehovah will make possible. Thus saith Jehovah, they shall eat and they shall leave thereof.

21:59 In other words, Elisha makes it evident that this whole transaction rests upon the truthfulness, the power, and the unchangeableness of Jehovah. And then we have in verse 44 the record of the miracle wrought. So he set it before them. Shall I set this before a hundred?

22:26 Yes, Gehazi, you shall. According to the word of the Lord, you shall. So he set it before them. And they did eat and left thereof according to the word of Jehovah.

The Miracle Wrought and its Immediate Impact

22:44 As the servant in strict obedience begins to do what the prophet tells him to do, and his subsequent history reveals he probably had no faith himself that anything was going to happen, lo and behold, those loaves are multiplied and multiplied and multiplied until they are all full, and there was probably more left over at the end than that with which he began in the beginning. And I, I can just picture some of these men sitting at the table. There's Abraham sitting there saying, now wait a minute. When that man from Shalisha came in here, I saw twenty loaves on the table.

23:26 Now I've had six of those little loaves, and I've seen Simeon across the table, and I know what his appetite's like. I stopped counting at seven. Six, seven, that's thirteen.

23:38 And then my friend Isaac down here, who doesn't eat too much, he's kind of squeamish, I've seen him put away at least four, thirteen and four, that's seventeen. And my friend to the right of me here, he's had at least, that's, wait a minute, twenty-two. That's just the four of us, five of us. They were just scratching their head.

24:02 They all did eat. Eat of what? Of the twenty little rolls that were brought and set before them. The miracle was wrought without any fanfare, without any lightning flashes.

24:17 Jehovah's, the word was fulfilled in that all did eat, and after eating, the leftovers were gathered up. Well, those are the facts of the passage as they are given to us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now then, what is the message of this miracle? Well, some would say the message of the miracle is, do like Elisha did.

Rebuke to Unbelief: Gehazi's Example

24:42 You only got food for four people tonight after the service, you want to have some over for fellowship, invite twenty, and then, expect the Lord to multiply the food. No, that would be absolute presumption. That would be tempting God. Like the young lady that a leader of a Christian college told me about, she'd read about George Muller and how he believed God for this, that, and the other.

25:05 She was going to be Georgette Mullerette. And she said, the Lord has called me to Bible school. I don't have any money, don't have any tickets, don't have any money for tickets. I'm going to go right down to the railroad station and the Lord's going to bring someone right up to me and put the money in my hand and I'll buy the tickets.

25:20 Well, you know what happened to her? She went into the line. By the time she got to the ticket window, no one came up. She kept looking.

25:27 She went back to the back of the line. She did that three times. Until finally she called her mom and dad and said, would you please pick me up and take me home? Well, she learned a lesson.

25:37 Her name was not Georgette Mullerette. She was tempting God. She was acting without warrant. And so the message of this miracle is not go thou and do likewise.

25:48 No, no. We utterly misunderstand. The unique place that a prophet had in Israel, the unique power that was given to perform these miracles as confirmation that they were the mouthpieces of God. We do not receive direct revelation as the prophet did.

26:06 What does that mean then? There is nothing in this for us but an interesting, touching, human interest story? No, no. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.

26:19 Consider with me several of the lines of thought that have been greatly encouraging to my own heart as I've meditated upon the miracle. Let me suggest first of all that the message of the miracle is, number one, a rebuke to the unbelief of Gehazi. It was calculated to be a rebuke to the unbelief of Gehazi. You see, Gehazi's unbelief was fed by two things.

26:50 Sight and humility. Human reason.

26:55 And unbelief is always fed by those two foul commodities and human reason.

27:07 Gehazi says, my physical eyes tell me that there's at least a hundred men with wholesome appetites. My physical eyes tell me there are twenty little rolls on the table and my human judgment tells me there is no way that twenty adult male bellies can be filled with the substance of twenty, a hundred male bellies filled with the substance composed of twenty little rolls. He was walking by sight. He was reacting on the dictates of human logic and human understanding.

27:47 He had totally ruled out the two factors which were the basis of Elisha's perspective on exactly the same set of circumstances. Elisha saw the twenty, twenty little loaves. Elisha saw those men. He knew their appetites.

28:05 He had come to their aid before in a time of physical need in the previous miracle.

28:13 You see, Elisha was looking at this whole thing with the eye of faith. As the apostle says in 2 Corinthians 5, we walk by faith and not by sight. Elisha could see in every little roll on the table. The miracle working power of Jehovah.

28:35 What produced the first fruits of the grain that in turn had been beaten into the flour that had made those little barley loaves? Why, a handful of seed had been scattered over a man's field. And the miracle of reproduction had produced those first fruits. And Elisha saw in every little loaf the miracle working power of Jehovah that had produced the harvest.

29:02 Out of what? A little handful of seed that was thrown in the dirt. I never cease to be amazed. I'm so grateful my garden is right below my study window.

29:12 It preaches to me day after day. And as I see the plants becoming lush and where I put in one little bean, I see a big bean plant bearing 15, 20 beans at a time. With how many little potential seeds inside each bean, I shake my head and wonder at them. Mighty power of God.

29:36 And all that happened when the seed died. If you put it in the ground and all of a sudden it jumped up and flexed its biceps and all the rest, then you might expect something like that. But you stick it in there and you know it's dying.

29:53 Elisha saw beyond 20 in the face of 100. He saw in each little loaf the manifestation of the mighty power of God. Furthermore, who had brought those loaves? A man from Baal-shalasha.

30:09 In the northern kingdom where Baal worship was so rife that even towns are named Baal-shalasha. And yet Jehovah has a man whose heart is so devoted to him by the mighty power of his spirit making him a true Israelite that he conceives a way to keep the spirit of the law even though he can't keep the letter of it. Elisha sees in that the miracle-working power of grace.

30:44 Elisha then reflects this is brought as the offering of the firstfruits. And his mind thinks back of the confession that would be made if he were in the place of a priest. And he thinks of the mighty acts of redemption. The miracles wrought in judgment upon Egypt.

31:02 The opening of the Red Sea. The pillar of cloud and fire by day and by night. Water gushing out of the rock in the midst of the wilderness. And the rock following them.

31:13 And his mind, his mind is filled with the mighty power of Jehovah that is seen to the eye of faith.

31:23 It says of Moses, he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

31:30 What a rebuke to the unbelief of Gehazi. Feeding his soul upon that which only his senses could absorb. And I pity the man or woman, boy or girl in this place tonight who only believes in the realities that are in front of him. That impinge upon his five senses.

31:52 There is a glorious as well as a frightening world behind the veil of those five senses. And faith looks into that world and acts on the realities of that world.

32:07 And then of course, Gehazi's problem was he was going to be reasonable and logical. Yeah, I'm for logic. I'm for reason. And reason says no way that can meet that need.

32:22 Well, whereas the man of God, he's not a fool, he's not a nut, he's not a fanatic,

32:29 but he knows that God is the God who does that which transcends human reason.

32:39 My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts and my ways above your ways. Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or being his counselor has taught him?

32:59 When did God come to you for lessons in what's reasonable? When did God sit down with any of his creatures and say, let's discuss what is logical? What is reasonable? Why, it's blasphemous to even think the thought.

33:20 And Elisha, the man of God, by his simple command, take this and set it before them. In the face of the look of incredulity, and the blatant unbelief of Gehazi, what, shall I set this before them? He calmly repeats the command, and he says, I stake it all upon the word of Jehovah. And you see faith, which feeds upon the unseen world, and the Christian mind which is subject, not to that which is irrational, but often suprarational, whatever God says he's so, because he is God,

34:03 faith feeds in Elisha's heart upon the word of God. And oh, as God rebuked the unbelief of Gehazi, I trust he will rebuke every vestige of unbelief in our hearts tonight. Unbelief is not a sickness to be pitied, it is wickedness to be repented of. Hebrews 3.13 says,

34:28 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. Unbelief is an evil thing, and it always leads, in the language of that text, in departing from God. Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Jesus said, O fools and slow of heart to believe!

34:59 Jesus rebukes unbelief as spiritual folly, and dullness, and wickedness of heart. O may God make us as a people, as we face our own individual needs, the needs of our own hearts, the needs of our families, the needs of our church spiritually, and with reference to our church building, in all of these things, O that we may cry to God to make us Elisha's. That we may look upon every situation as men and women of faith, who endure seeing Him who is invisible, and then, not making our human understanding and human logic the measure of what we expect God to do.

Confirmation of Jehovah's Loving Care

35:43 Because the apostle says unto him who is able to do, exceeding abundantly above, all we can ask are you. Well I say the message of this passage is first of all then a rebuke to the unbelief of Gehazi. But then secondly, it is a confirmation of the loving care of Jehovah for his own. A confirmation.

36:11 Of the loving care of Jehovah for his own. There's everything in the passage, at least as I have sought to understand it, that points in the direction that this was an hour of crisis. They were all gathered together. The moment the food came, as I've already suggested, Elisha did not say, well let's store it up so that when present supplies run down, we can dip into this.

36:39 There's every indication that this was literally a hand-to-mouth subsistence provision. There's every indication that as they were in desperate straits in the preceding paragraph, the dearth was in the land, and they went out and found these wild cucumbers or gourds and they were poisonous, so they were still in the pinch of this. And God apparently has begun to bring back some fertility to the land, and just a few miles away in Baal-shalisha this man has a harvest, and he's going to be able to eat. He's going to be able to eat.

37:13 And he brings it to the man of God. And if that is an accurate assessment of the situation, and I don't know how the text can be understood in any other way, then can you imagine what this meant both to Elisha and to the sons of the prophets? Here they are brought again as they were in the preceding miracle to a point of tremendous extremity. Nothing between them and hunger and ultimate starvation when a knock comes at the door, and not a knock that immediately issues in an abundant provision with a man who had seven servants bringing in hundred-pound bags of grain and all the rest.

37:53 That would have been a wonderful provision. But one can almost imagine, you know, we talk about, I've got a good news, bad news story to tell you. Good news! Knock on the door.

38:03 And when the prophet asked, let it be, let it be, that's fine. When the prophet asked, who is it? Well, it's a man from Baal-shalisha. I have something to bring to you.

38:12 It's a man from Baal-shalisha. You're in the way of food. Good news! He comes through the door and puts it on the table.

38:18 Twenty little biscuits. Bad news! But then it isn't long before the bad news becomes good news. And they all listen.

38:28 As Gehazi answers in his cynical way, shall I set this before a hundred? And Elisha says, set it before them. They shall eat, and there shall be leftovers. The word of Jehovah has pledged it.

38:43 And oh, what a confirmation. What a confirmation of the love and the tender concern of Jehovah for his own. When there, in the midst of that situation, they see the mighty power of God at work to fill their hungry tummies. And then they see whoever had to clean up that night taking away some baskets full of additional food for the morning's breakfast.

39:13 What was this to these men? But a confirmation of the loving care and tender concern of Jehovah for his own. I would like to suggest that in a very real sense, this incident is an Old Testament illustration of the New Testament promises of Matthew 6.33, Philippians 4.19, and Romans 8.32.

39:41 Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Here are these men giving themselves to knowing the ways of God, absorbing the word of God, that they may preach that word of grace and mercy as well as judgment throughout Israel. Here they have given themselves to that cause. Perhaps some of them began to wonder, God almost let us get killed with that bad stew.

40:14 And now we are brought to the place where hunger pangs are beginning to take hold of us. Does God really care? The Baal worshippers seem to lack nothing in many places. The Baal worshippers seem to prosper.

40:30 Does God our Father really care? The knock on the door, the loaves on the table, the word of command, the word of promise, a full stomach, full baskets taking the food away. And God is saying, I do care. I will provide.

40:49 You seek first my kingdom, and I will add all of these things unto you. My God shall supply all your need, according to his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. And then Romans 8.32, He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with us?

41:15 Let him also freely give us all things. I suggest then that the second great lesson of this passage is that it not only was a rebuke to the unbelief of Gehazi, but it provided this confirmation of Jehovah's love. And oh dear people of God, the Lord delights to confirm his love to his people who will do what he has told them to do. Seek first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

41:47 Those that honor me, I will honor. Place the concerns of his kingdom first in your interest and in the devotion of your time and energy and money and all that you are as a redeemed man or woman. And God has promised that all other things shall be added unto you. Shall he give his best, his only Son, and withhold any lesser gift?

Illustration of God's Blessing on Humble Obedience

42:14 That's the argument of Romans 8.32. It is unthinkable. Then we have in the third place in this miracle an illustration of God's blessing upon the humble obedience of one of his unnamed children.

42:32 All the text says is that a man from Baal-shalisha brought the man of God his firstfruits. We don't know his name. We don't know his age. We know nothing about him.

42:49 But think of it. Here was a man who in the midst of Baal-worship, in the midst of national apostasy, was a true worshipper of Jehovah. Furthermore, he was a man who was determined to be obedient to the word of God even though the external circumstances would not allow him to be obedient to the letter of the law. He couldn't go to Jerusalem and present his gift before the appointed Levitical priest.

43:22 Well, if anyone could have rationalized and said, Well, God understands. God knows. I just can't obey him in this. Lord, take the willingness for the deed.

43:30 That man could have, but he didn't. You see, love has a wonderful way of finding expedience to keep the spirit of God's law even where it's impossible to keep the letter of God's law. Love is very ingenious in finding channels to please God in the face of opposition. And it was this humble Israelite's determination to be obedient to the word of God with no thought that he was going to spring loose a miracle, with no thought that he was going to have his name put down in Scripture

44:14 to have this incident, no name given, but to have his character, the basis of exhortation and example. No thought of this. He was filled with one consuming passion. Jehovah is my God.

44:29 He's redeemed me with my fathers out of the hand of the Egyptian power. He is established just in the land. He is the God of grace and redemptive power. And in love to Him, I'm determined to obey Him.

44:45 Well, you see, in a very real sense, it was that humble act of unassuming obedience that was the catalyst to spring loose this entire chain of events. And, oh, dear child of God, never despise humble, unglamorous obedience to the word of God, no matter how difficult it may be. Jesus said, if ye love me, ye will keep my commands. Not just the ones that are easy to keep.

45:17 Not just the ones that are convenient to keep. If ye love me, ye will keep my words. Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. And God alone can measure the blessing that comes from one life of one believer who day by day is determined to walk by the rule of Scripture no matter what the prevailing climate may be.

45:45 He doesn't do it hoping someone's going to write his biography. He does it because he loves Jehovah Jesus. And he's determined to please his Lord. And God will make that man or woman's life, that boy or girl's life, the constant occasion of manifesting his power and his grace.

Demonstration of God's Power to Strengthen Faith

46:09 Let me suggest in the fourth place that this miracle was not only a rebuke to the unbelief of Gehazi, a confirmation of Jehovah's love and power and illustration of God's blessing upon the humble obedience of his children, but it was a demonstration of the mighty power of Jehovah calculated to strengthen the faith of those sons of the prophets. It was a demonstration of Jehovah's mighty power. Remember now, these men, and there's no indication they were young men. Every time I go to say it, the word young starts springing up into my mouth and I swallow it down.

46:52 Because there's nothing in the scriptures to indicate they were young men. They were men. But these sons of the prophets had the unenviable task of going out into those northern kingdom, into the northern kingdom, into the various tribes, and preaching to the people and calling them back to covenant faithfulness in a day when that was a dangerous thing to do. The Baal worship was not only rife through the land, it was militant.

47:22 Do you remember what happened to some of the true prophets of Jehovah? Jezebel and her crowd killed them. And then that servant of the Lord had to hide some of them in a cave to preserve them. It was a dangerous thing to be a mouthpiece of God.

47:36 What did these men need? Well, they needed not only the record of God's mighty deliverance of his people in the past, they needed the record not only of what God had done in the days of Moses, in the days of Joshua, but they needed living, present demonstrations of his mighty power so that they could go out and say as John did, that which we have seen declare we unto you. And who can measure the strengthening of faith which came to these men as they saw the power of God taking twenty little biscuits and filling their bellies?

48:20 You see, it wasn't so much the thing itself but what it indicated to them. Jehovah is alive. He is the God of creative power. This was a creative miracle.

48:33 When they went forth to preach and they would doubt. When they went forth to preach and they would wonder. What a wonderful thing to have confirmed in their own experience the livingness of Jehovah. May I suggest briefly by way of application, this is what the young men need in our academy.

48:57 This is what our children need. And it is this for which we as the people of God must pray. It is this for which we must cry mightily to God that we would have in our life together as a congregation week by week and month by month and year by year vivid, present demonstrations of the mighty power of God. Not tempting God, asking Him for miracles of this nature but for those greater miracles.

49:31 Those greater works of the transforming power of His grace taking proud, stubborn, self-willed sinners and turning them into humble, loving, obedient bond slaves of King Jesus. Taking careless, frivolous, fun-loving, pleasure-seeking young people and making them gracious, parent-honoring, submissive, serious, and yet still fun-loving, Christ-honoring young men and women.

50:14 The power of God in the moral transformation of true conversion. There is nothing like it to be the constant demonstration of the power of God. Oh, that we may pray that that power will be operative in our midst. The power of Christ making real His own presence in our gatherings, ravishing our hearts with His presence, bringing the halt and the maimed spiritually into spiritual vibrancy and vigor and usefulness.

Anticipation of New Covenant Blessings: Christ as Bread of Life

50:50 And then I hasten to add one final point in closing. This miracle, is not only these four things I've suggested, but it's also an anticipation of the greater blessings of the New Covenant. It forms a very clear anticipation of the greater blessings of the New Covenant. Has your mind run to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand in the New Testament?

51:16 You can hardly resist it, can you? There are so many parallels. There was a little lad with five loaves, two fishes. Jesus says, bring them to me.

51:25 And there are many parallels. But in a sense, the differences are more striking. In this incident, you see, the miracle did not occur in Elisha's hands. He says the miracle is to be performed by Jehovah.

51:40 And so as the servant of God passes the bread, Jehovah directly multiplies it. But in the New Testament, the miracle occurs in the very hands of Jesus. They bring the loaves to Him. It says He blesses.

51:55 He breaks. And it's as He breaks that the multiplying occurs. And the disciples take the multiplied bread from the hand of Jehovah. Jehovah Jesus.

52:08 And you see, the purpose of that miracle was not just to fill the bellies. But a whole discourse then picks up its significance in John 6. And you remember what the significance is? Jesus says, alright, I am Jehovah Jesus.

52:25 I have broken and multiplied the loaves to fill your bellies. But I've done it not just to meet a temporal need, but to teach a spiritual lesson. Labor not for the food which perishes, but labor for the food which is unto eternal life. I am the bread of life.

52:47 He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood hath eternal life. What a beautiful anticipation this is of the greater blessings of the New Covenant. Is Jehovah the God who in grace redeems a people, gathers them to Himself in the land of Israel, in a time of crisis affirms His love and concern by multiplying twenty little cakes of bread to feed a hundred? Is that the heart of Jehovah?

53:21 It is. But oh, my friend, that's but an anticipation. What an anticipation of the greater revelation of His heart in Jesus Christ. Because God says humanity is precisely what this group of a hundred prophets was, a hundred sons of the prophets.

53:39 God says that because of our sin we are destitute of that which can satisfy the needs of the soul. We are as starving men and women. And Jesus Christ is the bread that comes down from heaven who is offered to men for true life, for true sustenance, for true nourishment. And what a wonderful thing to see in this miracle, a little finger pointing down the road to that final and most glorious disclosure of the heart of Jehovah when that heart is disclosed in Jehovah Jesus,

54:21 giving Himself in death for the life of the world. And oh, my friend, what would you have thought that day if a hungry man in the midst of that miracle refused to eat of that bread that was provided directly by Jehovah for his own sustenance? You'd say the man's a fool. To leave the table hungry with the pangs gnawing at his stomach?

54:52 He's a fool. What must God say to those of you who sit here tonight with the hunger pangs of the soul? You've tried to fill your soul with the sawdust of material things, with the sawdust of sensual pleasure, with the sawdust in the stones of mere earthly pursuits, job and occupation and pleasure and people. My friend, it will never fill the soul.

55:24 Jesus is the true bread come down from heaven. What must God think when that bread is offered by the miracle of the incarnation, the awful, awful, awful scene of Calvary, the miracle of the open tomb, that bread which is forged, as it were, from the grain of Christ's humiliation, Christ's obedience, Christ's sufferings, heated in the oven, of his awful passion upon Calvary, and now set before you upon the platter of the free offer of the gospel? What does God call the man who says, No, I'll not have that bread.

56:09 I'd rather starve. Oh, may God show you the folly of refusing that bread. Dear man, dear woman, dear boy, dear girl, there is no bread that can satisfy the soul, but that bread. It's offered to you tonight, freely, fully, without any reservation.

Prayer and Benediction

56:35 It is there in Jesus Christ, and continue to eat and live forever. May God bless his own holy word to each of our hearts. Let us pray. Oh, our Father, how we bless you for your holy word.

57:06 We thank you for this portion that has fed our souls, this night. We thank you for your dear Son, who is in a real sense the great focal point of every portion of your word. And we plead this night that you would cause some who have come to this meeting hungry and thirsty, seeking somehow to quench the thirst and assuage the hunger with that which can never do it. Oh, Lord, bring them to eat of your Son as the bread of life, to drink of him

57:49 as the water of life. And these many other practical lessons, write them upon our hearts. We pray for any who are dangerously flirting with the wicked sin of unbelief, who are seeking to live by what the eye of sight can see and by what human reason can dictate. Lord, humble them, we pray, and give them a clear eye of faith to behold you in your glory.

58:24 We pray that we too may prove you as the God who fulfills his promise that if we seek first your kingdom, all other things will be added. We pray that we may be like that man from Baal-shalisha, that we may seek day by day in humble obedience to your word to do what you have required to the end that you may be praised. Write upon our hearts this word. Be pleased to bring it to our remembrance again and again that it may prove to be profitable to each one of us.

59:03 We do thank you again for this day, the beauty of it, for the joy of being in the presence of your people, and above all, Lord, for your presence with us in the midst. We give you our praise and pray that as we part from one another, as we go to our respective spheres of responsibility and duty and privilege, that we may be salt and light, that we may, by your grace, so live as to make others thirsty to know our God. Hear our prayer and receive our praise we plead in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.