2 Kings 4:42

V. FOOD SUPERNATURALLY MULTIPLIED FOR THE STUDENTS

"And there came a man from Baashalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the first-fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, 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; for thus saith Jehovah, 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 Jehovah."

This miracle, of course, is reminiscent of the Saviour's feeding the thousands by the Sea of Galilee. As stated in the beginning of this chapter, it is impossible to explain how this happened. Like the creation itself, this wonder belongs to the hidden things of God. The great spiritual lesson is that God provides for his children, no matter what difficulties seem to lie in the way of his doing so.

"And he said ... but he said ..." (2 Kings 4:42,43). The prophet Elisha must be understood as the speaker in these clauses. The servant was evidently Gehazi.

"Bread of the first-fruits" (2 Kings 4:42). "It is very remarkable that this man brought these gifts to Elisha instead of giving them to a priest as the Law specified."[25]

"This account furnishes fresh evidence that the godly men of Israel did not regard the religion introduced by Jeroboam as legitimate, but sought and found the true religion in the schools of the sons of the prophets,"[26]

The appearance of miraculous events in the O.T. always corresponded with the desperate need for the confirmation of the Truth; and the absence of miracles throughout the Christian dispensation after the age of the apostles and those upon whom they had conveyed charismatic gifts is due to the fact that no additional confirmation of the Word of God is necessary. It is the most certain thing on earth today.

However, there are providences of God today that, in every sense, are just as wonderful as the miracles of old. We have recorded one of these in my commentary on Acts.[27]