In 2 Kings, chapter 4, we have five miracles recorded for our learning.

1. Verses 1-7 – The widow’s oil was multiplied
2. Verses 8-17 – The Shunammite woman blessed with a son
3. Verses 18-37 – The Shunammite woman’s son was raised from the dead
4. Verses 38-41 – The deadly pottage was healed
5. Verses 42-44 – The multitude was fed

Let’s read 2 Kings 4:38-41, “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.”

There was a dearth, or famine, in the land.  The Prophet Elisha gathered all the sons of the prophets and instructed his servant to ‘seethe pottage’, or literally to boil some stew.  In gathering herbs for the pottage, the servant mistakenly gathered some wild, poisonous gourds and added them to the stew.  When the pottage was served, somehow the men could detect poison in the pottage and cried out to Elisha, “there is death in the pot.”  Elisha then did something strange.  Instead of throwing out the poisonous pottage, he added meal to it and “there was no harm in the pot.”  The poison was gone and now there was nothing in the pot that would harm anyone.

It seems that Elisha did not hesitate upon learning of the poison in the stew.  He immediately called upon his servants to “bring meal.”  This is a miracle of the highest sort.  Merely adding meal to the poisonous pottage would not cause it to be safe and pure.  It was a miracle that the Lord performed to meet their need for sustenance.  This is a beautiful type, or illustration, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because the penalty of death had been passed upon all of us, the Lord Jesus gave Himself completely for the spiritual healing of our souls.  He died that we might live.  He “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”  (Philippians 2:8)  The Lord Jesus entered into death to give us eternal life, as this event clearly displays.  After the meal had been properly applied, they then enjoyed eating ‘new pottage.’

Let’s consider the words of the Lord in John 6:51, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”  We read in John 6:35, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the BREAD OF LIFE: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”  To “eat of this bread” is to appropriate the death of the Lord Jesus as the payment of your individual sin debt.      Of course, it is meal that is used to make bread, so it is easily seen that this meal would represent the Lord Jesus, the BREAD OF LIFE.  How about you my friend?  Have you realized you are under the penalty of death because of your sins?  If so, then you should repent and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ so that you might be saved.  How wonderful to know that in your pot, or vessel, that there is ‘no harm in the pot’.  That comes ONLY by putting your faith in the Lord Jesus as your savior and Lord.  (226.9)