I Have Not Seen the Righteous Forsaken (2 Kings 4:38-44)
2 Kings 4:38-44
We are in a unique portion of Scripture
As we study through this book of 2 Kings.
A rapid fire listing of the many miracles and fulfilled prophecies of Elisha.
As we have said a couple of times now.
• The miracles are done for those who are seeking God.
• The prophecies will be to convince those who are not seeking God.
So far we have seen two miracles on behalf of God’s people.
1) We saw God miraculously provide for a poor widow.
She was a faithful woman.
She was a desperate woman.
She was a poor woman. (about to sell her two sons)
But God saw this woman and sent Elisha to supernaturally meet her need
By multiplying her oil so that she could sell it and get our of debt.
2) Next we saw God bless a prominent Shunammite woman.
She was prominent
She was hospitable and generous
She was also barren.
God blessed her with a son, and then allowed that son to die
To prove that this woman was “wholly devoted” to God,
And then God raised her son back from the dead.
In many ways these women were opposites.
One was prominent, one was poor
One was married, one was a widow
One was childless, one had children
But the unifying characteristic is that they each
Had a sincere love and fear for God, and God blessed them.
As we said last week:
2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…”
God isn’t just looking for the wicked that He may punish them.
God is also looking for the committed, that He may bless them.
Such is certainly true in Israel during this time.
You may remember that of all Israel,
God saw that there would only be a faithful remnant.
By in large, most of Israel would turn apostate.
God told Elijah.
1 Kings 19:18 “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
God had allotted that in all of Israel, the number of people
Who were wholly devoted to Him would be a rather small number.
Isaiah will come on the scene in a few years
And God will reveal to Him the exact same truth.
Isaiah 6:9-13 “He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land is utterly desolate, “The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
God revealed to Isaiah that the remnant would only be a tenth.
Yet despite the fact that there are not many,
God is systematically seeking them out
In order to deliver them,
In order to bless them,
In order to provide for them.
They have not forsaken God, and God has not forsaken them.
As I thought about this, I was drawn to a verse I recently learned.
Dennis in prison taught me this verse
Psalms 37:23-26 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.”
That verse does not promise that the righteous will not suffer.
(The book of Job enlightens us to that truth)
In fact that passage even mentions “When he falls”.
Hardship may indeed come, and the righteous may fall,
But even when they fall, they are never forsaken.
The sons of Korah said:
Psalms 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”
I once heard Adrian Rogers say:
“God doesn’t promise to get you out of trouble.
God promises to get into trouble with you.”
And certainly you understand the point.
In Israel the faithful are few and far between,
Yet God has not forsaken them.
This morning we see it happen again.
• First it was for a poor widow…
• Second it was for a prominent woman…
• Today it is for the prophetic witnesses.
I want to simply take you through what occurs in this incident,
And then spend a little time reminding you
Of how faithful God is to those who seek Him and trust Him.
There are two main miracles here, let’s look at them.
#1 GOD’S SUPERNATURAL PROTECTION
2 Kings 4:38-41
You will notice as we read that Elisha makes a trip back to Gilgal,
And there is a school for the sons of the prophets.
And Scripture says they “were sitting before him”
There was a famine in the land, but their hunger was for the word of God.
To them, the spiritual was much more important than the physical.
They are an illustration of the faithful.
We see this same attitude in Mary.
Luke 10:38-39 “Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.”
Now Elisha determined that he needed to feed these devoted listeners.
When the 4,000 showed up to hear Jesus, He said:
Matthew 15:32 “And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”
There was a group of people who were hungrier for the things of God
Than they were for physical food.
Yet, it is the compassion of the teacher
To be concerned about their physical needs
And so it is here.
Elisha wants to feed them.
A servant goes out for herbs, and as he was looking,
He finds some wild gourds that he brings and throws into the pot.
As the prophets eat, they realize that the stew is dangerous and actually say, “there is death in the pot.”
At that point, Elisha throws some meal into the pot and cleanses it.
WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS GOD’S SUPERNATURAL PROTECTION.
And it is seen in two ways.
In a NATURAL way and in a MIRACULOUS way.
The natural way:
BY GIVING DISCERNMENT
The prophets obviously had a limited knowledge of edible gourds.
But they were still able to discern danger when it was before them.
We call it discernment, and it is a gift from God.
God had given them enough discernment
To recognize the danger that was in front of them.
Now in one sense we are commanded to be discerning.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”
1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Romans 13:11 “Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”
Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Matthew 10:17 “But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;”
Throughout Scripture we have admonitions
To be alert, or sober, or awake, or to be ware.
It is God calling us to be discerning people.
And the unique thing is that it is God
Who gives us the ability to be discerning.
He has shown light into our hearts to rescue us from darkness
And now we are able to discern.
God has given you wisdom and a brain
To help protect you from the dangers around you.
Use your wisdom, use your knowledge of the Bible, and avoid danger.
And this was the first way in which God protected these prophets.
He gave them discernment.
It was not miraculous, but it was God protecting none the less.
But God also protected in a miraculous way.
BY CLEANSING THE STEW
This was a miracle in which God supernaturally made
Unfit food fit for consumption.
God did this in the New Testament during the apostolic age as well.
Mark 16:18 “they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
It was a miracle from God in which
He protected them from danger and deadly food.
Sometimes we use our God given discernment to avoid danger.
Sometimes God supernaturally changes the situation to safety.
Psalms 46:8-11 “Come, behold the works of the LORD, Who has wrought desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire. “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.”
The Psalmist saw the Lord as the one who could
Defuse hostile situations and protect even in the midst of great danger.
Certainly God did that for these prophets.
He responded to these righteous men with supernatural protection.
There is a second miracle.
#2 GOD’S SUPERNATURAL PROVISION
2 Kings 4:42-44
God was working for more than just one meal.
God is a God of provision.
Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
And here again we see God’s provision
Once in a natural way, and then in a miraculous way.
BY BLESSING A FAITHFUL FARMER
Now I do realize that the food this man was not much,
But you do realize that in the midst of a famine
There are a lot of farmers who have no crop.
But this man did, and because Israel had no temple to bring “first fruits” to,
This man had determined to bring them to the prophets.
Sometimes God’s provision is in such ways.
Rain, A paycheck, Generosity
They don’t seem miraculous, but it is real provision none the less.
And God provided here for a faithful farmer
Who would in turn bless His people.
But the story does not stop there, there is a miraculous element here as well.
BY MULTIPLYING FOOD
This obviously goes far beyond the natural provision of God.
God multiplied the food.
(Very similar to the miracles of Jesus, except here Elisha did not do it,
In the New Testament Jesus was the one who did it.)
And God works in this way many times for us.
There are instances in which God
Goes beyond our ability to simply work for money.
God makes tires go a little longer…
God makes energy bills come in a little cheaper…
For my parents God actually had to
Sell some of the worst cedar beds you ever saw.
Malachi 3:10-11 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.”
Have you ever met the “devourer”?
Travis worked on Sunday and blew out two tires…
We call that “the devourer”.
• He ruins water heaters…
• He breaks air conditioners…
• He blows out tires…
• He gives out speeding tickets…
But when we walk in God’s will, God supernaturally keeps him away.
And it is just another way in which God supernaturally provides.
So God supernaturally protects and God supernaturally provides.
That is not difficult to see from this passage.
And it reinforces the Scripture we read to begin.
Psalms 37:23-26 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.”
Psalms 127:2 “It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
And the point to this whole sermon is that
It is a good thing to be a person who seeks and trusts God.
Because God never forsakes those who trust Him.
We by no means have the time to cover all the passages that reinforce this,
But I do want to make sure to show you some of them.
TURN TO: JEREMIAH 17:5-8
PLANTED – “planted by the water”
PROVIDED FOR – “extends it roots by a stream”
PROTECTED – “will not fear when heat comes”
PERSEVERANT – “its leaves will be green”
PEACEFUL – “will not be anxious in a year of drought”
PRODUCTIVE – “nor cease to yield fruit”
TURN TO: PSALM 1
Verse 3 gives four characteristics of a man who trusts in God and loves His word.
PLANTED – “firmly planted by streams of water”
PRODUCTIVE – “which yields its fruit in its season”
PERSEVERANT – “its leaf does not wither”
PROSPEROUS – “in whatever he does, he prospers”
And there you get the same point.
God takes care of the righteous even in the midst of hard situations.
TURN TO: PSALMS 146
This time the Psalmist reminds us of who God is.
Verses 5-7
GOD IS POWERFUL – “who made heaven and earth”
GOD IS FAITHFUL – “who keeps faith forever”
GOD IS RIGHTEOUS – “executes justice for the oppressed”
GOD IS MERCIFUL – “who gives food to the hungry”
You see it over and over and over again,
That God does not forsake the righteous.
Psalms 34:8 “O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!”
Psalms 84:11-12 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!”
Psalms 92:12-14 “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green,”
Psalms 2:12 “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
Psalms 103:15-18 “As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.”
I just want you to see that it is worth it to trust God and to seek Him.
God never forsakes His own.
God never lets go of them.
God never fails to take care of His own.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
When we seek God, it matters to Him, and He comes through.
He delights in coming through for you.
Place all your trust in Him and let Him come through for you.
Psalms 37:23-26 “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends, And his descendants are a blessing.”
