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From Splendor to Shadow

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The Poisoned Pottage Made Edible

On one of his visits to the school at Gilgal he healed the poisoned pottage. “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.” SS 130.2

At Gilgal, also, while the famine was still in the land, Elisha fed one hundred men with the present brought to him by “a man from Baalshalisha”—“twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk.” When the offering came, he said to his servant, “Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servant said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.” SS 130.3

Again and again since that time, though not always in so marked and perceptible a manner, the Lord Jesus has worked to supply human need. If we had clearer spiritual discernment we would recognize more readily than we do God's compassionate dealing with the children of men. SS 130.4

In the days of Christ's earthly ministry, when He performed a similar miracle in feeding the multitudes, the same unbelief was manifested as was shown by those associated with the prophet: “What, should I set this before an hundred men?” And when Jesus told His disciples to give the multitude to eat, they answered, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” Luke 9:13, RSV. What is that among so many? SS 131.1

When the Lord gives a work to be done, let not men stop to inquire into the reasonableness of the command or the probable result of their efforts to obey. The supply in their hands may seem to fall short of the need to be filled, but in the hands of the Lord it will prove more than sufficient. The servant “set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.” SS 131.2

Let none waste time deploring the scantiness of their visible resources. Energy and trust in God will develop resources. The gift brought to Him with thanksgiving and prayer for His blessing, He will multiply as He multiplied the food given to the sons of the prophets and to the weary multitude. SS 131.3