The repeated lesson

Click here to read 2 Kings 4:42 - 44

“So he repeated…” (2 Kings 4:43)

There are many lessons that God teaches me – but some lessons can be really humiliating because I’ve learnt them before and yet I’ve failed to apply them. These lessons often pertain to the service I render unto God. We all at some point in time or the other have prayed that God would use us. It feels good when we sense that God is using us. However it is at times like these that I have often received the harshest rebukes from God, because my views about service to God tend to go a little out of focus.

In this passage of scripture, we read about a man from Baal-shalishah bringing food from the first fruits to Elisha. Now, Elisha was at a place called Gilgal and there was a famine there. This man whose name we do not know, brought twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain. Now this is ample food for one person but not enough for a hundred, which was the number of people that was present there at that time. “Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” (2 Kings 4:42, 43) Notice that it was not the man who brought food that said this. It was Elisha’s servant who did.

We are also servants of a Master and He often tells us things to do, that in our estimate, may seem absurd and insignificant. “So he repeated…” (2 Kings 4:43) When it comes to serving God, this is one lesson I believe the Master often repeats and emphasizes. So what is the repeated lesson? Read on… Most miracles in the Bible have a brief description about it. For example from the New Testament: “He took the five loaves, broke it and distributed…” or “He said “Lazarus, come out!...” or “He made mud out of saliva and put it on his eyes…”; from the Old Testament: “He told Naaman to go and wash in the Jordan seven times…” or “When their feet touched the waters, the Jordan was cut off…” or “God said “Let there be light” and there was light…” etc.

This particular miracle however has no explanation to it whatsoever. We do not know whether the loaves where multiplied. We do not know whether the loaves were broken. We do not know if the loaves were prayed over. How did all of them eat and yet there was food left? We do not know if the hundred people lost their appetites. We don’t even know what they ate. Why do I say that? - Because the man who came with the food brought both barley loaves and fresh ears of grain. Now the barley loaves can be eaten, but the fresh ears of grain obviously cannot unless they are cooked. Elisha says, “Give it to the people…” “it”? What’s “it”? He could have said “Give the loaves to the people…” But the Holy Spirit, under whose inspiration the Scriptures are written, did not choose to write it that way. The servant says “How can I set this before a hundred…” “this”? What’s “this”? He could have said “How can I set these loaves before a hundred…” but that’s not how it is written. So Elisha repeated “Give it to the people…” “it”? What’s “it”? Is the master talking about the loaves? Or is he talking about the fresh ears of grain? I hope not! Or is he talking about both? I have no clue!

The repeated statement: “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’” Our understanding of ministry needs and the ways to meet them are sometimes very different from the Lord’s. According to the servant, the food was not enough to feed a hundred. According to the Master, the issue is not whether there is enough food or not. His concern is that the servant obeys the spoken Word. How often have we neglected obedience in private and given importance to service in public? Beware of measuring your walk with God according to your “usefulness” to Him in public. How much of a use you are to God does not depend on how much or little you work for Him, but on your degree of obedience to Him. The work you do for Him, should be an impulsive outpouring that comes from a life of obedience in private.

Look at what Philippians chapter 2 says in verse 7 and 8 about Jesus “…He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human form, He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.” These verses talk about His birth, and they talk about His death – but everything that happened in-between His birth and death is summed up in one phrase “obedient up to the point of death”. All the healing, all the preaching, all that He did from His birth to His death is summed up in that one phrase – “from the time he was born, till he died, he was obedient”. Think of that for a moment!

The first time Jesus revealed His glory caused His disciples to believe in Him. (John 2:11). This happened at the wedding at Cana. What caused the glory of Jesus to be revealed which in-turn caused the Apostles of the New Testament church to believe in Him? - Few servants who obeyed the Master in filling jugs with water. Did the servants have any clue that their obedience in private would cause the glory of Christ to be revealed? No. Did they know that their obedience in private would result in Peter, John & Co. to believe in Christ? No. Did any of us exist when Christ lived on earth and lived a life of obedience? No – But what He did back then causes lives to be transformed even today.

When we are so caught up in serving God, He often has to speak to us and say, “Martha, Martha…” Maybe you have a desire for God to use you and He has been dealing with areas in your life that requires obedience. You might say to yourself, “Oh well, that is really absurd and insignificant.” “Do I really have to do that?” Whenever there is an inner debate, stop. Proceed with the matter of obeying God no matter how insignificant it may seem. A person who constantly lives life this way really has no idea how much he or she is being used by God.

Setting “it” before a hundred people according to the servant made no sense to him – but when the servant obeyed the Master, it turned out to be a blessing to many. So what is the repeated lesson? It is the lesson of realizing that your usefulness to the Master depends on your obedience in private. It is the lesson of trusting the Master’s sense of service and not your own. It is the lesson of the Master compelling His servant to obey the spoken Word. “So Elisha repeated…”

“When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.”