This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Life of Elisha” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 1, 1989.

This is 2 Kings 4, verse 42. Now, a man came from Baal-shalisha and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh years of grain in his sack. And he said, Give them to the people that they may eat. And his attendants said, What? Shall I set this before a hundred men? But he said, Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord. They shall eat and have some left over. So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over according to the word of the Lord. Turning over to the New Testament, Matthew’s Gospel, the 14th chapter. We’ll begin reading with the 13th verse. Jesus has been informed of the death of John the Baptist. Verse 13.

Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place by himself And when the multitudes heard of this, they followed him on foot from the cities. And when he came out, he saw the multitude and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. And when it was evening, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desolate. The time is already past.

So send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. They said to him, we have here only five loaves and two fish. Jesus said, bring them here to me.

Ordering the multitude to recline on the grass, he gave the five loaves. He took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up toward heaven, he blessed the food and breaking the loaves, he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitudes, and they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. And there were about five thousand men who ate, aside from women and children.

O Lord, today your word has reverberated throughout your creation, and surely, Lord, we know and are confident that your word accomplishes your purpose. And Father, we would plead with you that your word would accomplish your purpose in us, that we would offer no hindrance, no resistance to it. We ask, Lord, that we therefore may be blessed as we, by your Spirit, are made receptive and willing. For we would come to the light, we who are of the light, we who are the children of the light. We come to the light that it may be manifested that, yes, our deeds are wrought in you, and that we are your children after all. We pray, Father, that your word this evening may come to us as nourishment for our growth in grace. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Now, what we have been doing as we’ve moved through the life of Elisha is to see the various parallels that exist between the stories about Elisha and those of Elijah, and even beyond, those stories that offer us appropriate images through which we might understand what is going on in texts like this.

This story that occurs at the end of the fourth chapter takes place, of course, in the territory to the north, the territory of the ten northern tribes. It seems that Elisha is at Gilgal, the city of Gilgal, which is not far from the Jordan River. In fact, it’s right there at the Jordan as you come across, a little bit north of Jericho.

We are told that the circumstance is this. Not only is Elisha there at Gilgal at this time, but the time itself is one of extreme stress. It’s one of extreme perplexity and difficulty for the people who are especially associated with the prophet. There are the sons of the prophets there at Gilgal. They have been identified with him, and very likely that’s what it means to be called son of a prophet. Not that you’re a prophet yourself, but you are looking for the prophet’s reward, or that to which the prophet points. You are expecting that, hopefully, for yourself.

It’s a difficult time, time of extremism. We are told in verse 38, a famine is ravaging the land. Time of famine. This backs us up into the period of Elijah. Here it’s famine with Elisha, But you may recall, by the direct activity of God during the time of Elijah, there was the drought. That came upon the tribes of the north as an indication of God’s displeasure, His judgment upon them. Elijah had gone to Ahab, you recall, and told the king, you won’t see a drought. except by my word.”

So the time of extremity then, a time of extremity and difficulty now. But this time of famine and the time of drought also draws into the picture those judgments that had been spelled out specifically by God, you remember? When he had his people there poised to enter the land, he rehearsed for them his covenant. He told them again the promises that were directed towards them, but he also made plain those judgments that would come if they, in disobedience, turned their back upon him and raced after other gods.

Nothing, I believe, in all of Scripture, even those passages that come out of the prophets that are so terrifying, can match in terror the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. Literally devastating the judgments that are certain to come if in fact the people of God turn their back upon this one who has saved them, who has established them as a people, who has manifested his grace Well, the drought during Elijah’s day, and the judgments promised then, undergirding these things that are taking place now to the children of Israel, those judgments predicted, even promised, by God in the latter chapters of Deuteronomy.

But this is a famine and not a drought, and there is a difference. The difference might be understood along these lines. You see, that judgment is specifically spoken of in the case of Elijah and what took place during his time. But now, you see, the drought has come, and there’s no specific reference of the judgment that is being visited upon the people. as if the focus may be something else.

And then we take into consideration other droughts that have occurred in scripture. You remember some of them? You remember the drought in Genesis 12? Abraham has come down into the land of Canaan and the drought overtakes the land and he flees, because of the drought, into Egypt where he and his family are preserved. A drought then. But there were later droughts, you recall. And most importantly, that severest of droughts that occurred during the latter chapters of the book of Genesis.

We have the story of Joseph. Joseph down into Egypt also, during the time of severe famine. This famine overtakes the world. how Jacob and his family had to send for food, they eventually had to send down into Egypt to find food, and Joseph had been sent as one, a precursor of redemption for them, that they might from him receive the sustenance that they need. So, yes, the relationship to drought, but also specifically the famine, in which then there are these occasions for God’s marvelous revelation of himself, these occasions for a demonstration of his great power and his wisdom, these occasions for the bearing of his arm and the delivering of his people.

We might call the wilderness experience of the people of Israel and extended families. Here they are out in a desert where there’s no food to be found, yet in this circumstance then God tests his people and as well demonstrates his marvelous faithfulness, his ability to deliver despite the circumstances in which the people of God find themselves. All of this, then, wrapped up in the reality of the famine, the famine during the days of Elisha, spoken of here while he sojourns at Gilgal. Famine won’t be restricted for wilderness days, as the children of Israel make their way through the Sinai.

Testings continue for them. The end of the road has not yet been reached. God will yet again demonstrate his marvelous power. He will save his people afresh. When Elisha was at Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. But now there comes, there comes this man, this man from Baal Shalashah, verse 42.

The city, first of all. It’s a strange name. We know what the name Baal means. It means Lord. The god of the Sidonians, Baal, was ascribed lordship, supremacy. He, as their god, was their lord. Baal, that Canaanite name, that Phoenician name, for the God of these people. Baal Shalashah. The name is a peculiarity. It means the Lord of the Third. God’s name. the lord of the third portion, the third part. It might become clear to us as we move through the rest of the story, how that name for the city is answered by the events that take place.

The city was far removed from Gilgal, as much in the east as Gilgal was, so far to the west was this town from which this man came. It was quite a journey for him, one taken with determination, quite deliberate. He knew where he was going, he knew for whom he was seeking. It is a town that bears, by its name, associations with its Canaanite origins. Even though Israel’s in the land, even though this town is part of Israelite territory, it still bears testimony to a Canaanite past. That’s the city. What about the man? Not much said of him. We don’t know who he was. Yet, from what is said, it is clear that this man is one of the most extraordinary figures of this period.

He brings the first fruits to Elisha. We know what time of year it is now, don’t we? the first fruits, that is, of the harvest, from which he has made his bread, the grain that he brings. He brings that grain of the first fruits of the harvest. In this bringing of the first fruits to Elisha, He is demonstrating a devotion to the God of the covenant, over against that God whose name is memorialized in the city in which he dwells. He is giving testimony to the truth and the veracity of the true God, over against him. Baal is Jehovah, the Lord, who is given his law, who demands of his people the offering of their firstfruits given to him.

If there are many who are faithless in Israel at this time, and we know that there are, all of the cities have succumbed. They have all been compromised, even those cities in which we have found the sons of the prophets. There as well, there has been radical compromise. The truth, under attack, even in retreat. as he comes from the furthest extent of the land, as far westward as you can go, making his trek eastward to Gilgal, that site where the covenant was struck and where it was renewed, where the kingdom was renewed for the people of God and the history of Israel.

This man coming there with the firstfruits of his offerings in keeping with the law that has been given by God himself, he’s showing his devotion to God by this action. Was it not God who demanded the first fruits? Leviticus chapter 23, verse 17. In connection with what festival celebrated within Israel, Lost it may be, all of the festivals lost in the north, but this man is keeping that specific festival, the festival of the first fruits, the festival of Pentecost. But in bringing his first fruits, He doesn’t bring a bare two loaves of barley with fresh grain gathered.

He brings twenty, ten times as much. More than the law required. He brings an abundance in demonstration of the devotion of his heart and the love of his life. Isn’t it appropriate that we sing the hymn that we did preceding this message? When I survey the wondrous cross, we think of withholding things from the Lord, holding back, restraining ourselves, but yet in that hymn there is expressed that devotion of heart that gives all. Here is a man who is not content merely to give what the law requires, but exceeds what that law requires.

He gives ten times as much as is possibly by his offering he was covering for all of Israel. he most definitely understands the situation that Israel is in presently. Why in the world would he bring his offering to Elisha? Definitely he is a man devoted to the old. The law said you were to bring this prescription, and to whom were you to bring it? You were to bring it to the priests. Elisha is not a priest proper. He’s a prophet. Yes, he is that. But he is not a priest proper. The offering is brought to him. The man understands the circumstance.

It’s as if the time of the priests have passed and a new administration has begun, necessitated because of the sin and rebellion of Israel. Those priests had profaned themselves in every city. From Dan to Bethel, the proper devotion to God was gone. Jeroboam had cut off the means and ways and roads of access to Jerusalem. He didn’t want the people from the north going up to Jerusalem to celebrate there, because that meant a compromise. A compromise for him and his kingdom. A divided heart within his people. He didn’t want that. So he establishes an entirely new order of priests.

In deference to these that have profaned themselves, there stands out then those servants of the Word, like Elijah, like Elisha, who are now perceived by this one as the center of God’s activity. Those through whom God’s Word is active, those through whom God’s Spirit is at work. As if the old has definitely paid its dues, even more so now the new breaks in as this man treks to Elisha, presenting his firstfruits, the offerings of Pentecost, to him.

This story bears parallel with other stories that have preceded. This man is something like the widow of Zarephath, you remember her, how provision is multiplied for her so that food would not run out during the days of the drought, Elijah ministering to her, 1 Kings 17, there is also that widow of one of the sons of the prophets, 1 Kings 4, the beginning of this very chapter. She, too, given provision so that her sons will not be sold into slavery, so that want would be relieved. Want relieved here, too, as there is this multiplication of provision made. But there is contrast as well. not just the parallel as you run to the widow of Zarephath and this other woman that is spoken of at the beginning of 2 Kings 4.

For here you are face to face with that free will offering, the spontaneity of the man, the incredible love for God that this one has. There’s hardly one like him in all Israel. is he indicative of the 7,000 who haven’t bowed their knee to Baal? He’s definitely one of them. Now we’ve looked at the city and we’ve looked at the man. What about the offering itself?

What’s the significance of the first fruits? What is the significance of Pentecost, the offerings of the first fruits. You see, in giving the first fruits, we are testifying with regard to the character of the whole of the heart. There is that respect that pertains to man, first of all, in that he in giving of the firstfruits is bearing testimony before the people of God that the whole harvest belongs to the Lord. It’s not just the firstfruits, Lord, be satisfied with that. It’s the firstfruits as testimony of the fact that the whole belongs to God. But what about, as respects, God? The firstfruits required of Him actually as that stimulus to faith. You, in giving the firstfruits, are then receiving from Him, in your compliance with His wish in your compliance with his law, a testimony to the fact that as the firstfruits have been given, so the whole harvest will also. Pentecost speaks to us about firstfruits as pledge of the whole harvest.

We come then to Elisha. He receives from this man the offering, and he says, Give these things to the people that they may eat. There is the objection by his attendant, his servant, that he insists, verse 43, Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, they shall eat and have some left over. In keeping with what we have said so far, how are we to understand the conclusion of this story? It may well be, you see, that it is as most have suggested, that we have here the very power of God demonstrated, a power which is intended to emphasize the creative power, generative power of God.

Here is a miracle. in which there is food multiplied, in which then the power of God to preserve his people is underscored, to preserve them, as it were, by a creative act, making something that was not formed. Creating what was not there before. there was only so much food. And now, there is not much.

Well, I know that that is the way in which the passage has usually been approached and appreciated. As if then, when Christ comes to multiply loaves and fishes, that miracle is placed there in order to convince us of Christ’s deity, that his power is creative, like God’s, like the Father’s.

He, too, creates. And truly, that cannot be denied. There is truth in what is being said in that approach. But there is a deeper level still, and it comes to us in terms in terms of the festival that is being honored in the miracle. You see what’s happening? The man brings only the first proofs.

That all the people are fed and they are satisfied. As if with the first fruits, all of the fruits will fall. As if with the first fruits of the harvest, the entirety of the harvest will scatter, and then given to the people. How does Elisha minister through this?

How does he view the events? He views the event as, yes, the Pentecost celebration heightened, heightened to its fullest expression, so that when the firstfruits come, he then, in seeing them, those firstfruits extends to the people the fullness of the harvest in due, as if the latter fruits of the harvest are given to the people in the participation of the first fruits. It’s not so much the beginning of time, the creation that it’s in view, it’s end of time, the end things that are in view in this miracle. Not the beginning of the harvest, but its consummation. Elisha, the prophet, therefore, gives his command to his servant in light of end-time provision, the end-time provision of the harvest, the fullness of the harvest gathered and the people satisfied thereby. It’s the intrusion of the eschatological provision for the people of God. That’s what Pentecost is all about. Haven’t you been told? The first fruit of the Spirit is the pledge of your entire inheritance above you.

End time realities are brought to you through, by, the Holy Spirit. the very realities of heaven are now communicated to you through the Holy Spirit and Jesus said to them they don’t need to go away give them something to eat And here, no less than in the story of Elisha, the emphasis is upon end-time provision. What does it matter if there is a family? What does it matter if the entirety of the church age is called a family? What does it matter if the condition of the people of God, from the resurrection of Christ to our resurrection, is called a wilderness experience?

In the midst of that, there is given to you firstfruits of your inheritance, coming to you now, our end-time provisions, so that you might endure the family. Now, you want to know what those end time provisions are communicating to you, or how in fact they are communicated. Strange that the story in the second Kings four ends up with an emphasis upon the Word of God, just as it was According to the word of God, just as it was spoken by Elisha, the word bearer to Israel, the word is how the end times realities are communicated to you. How the very realities of the kingdom of heaven come to you. What will you do with the word? Why is it that some will rush to it as if vanished? They die unless they read. They die unless they hear. Others couldn’t be bothered. Others, well, if I had time. What other provision will run right through them?

I think they have been called the means of grace. do not understand what is taking place when you receive the Lord’s Supper. Is it not interesting that bread is used here? Bread occurs in that instance with regard to Christ. He’s multiplying loaves. What you read there reflects even statements that are made with regard to the celebration of the Lord’s book. He blesses the bread, He breaks it, He disperses it among His disciples, amongst those gathered.

End-time realities are communicated to you through the sacraments, and they are also communicated to you through prayer. And we talk about that. For by prayer, you are brought right into the presence of God. And in prayer, you participate in the prayer life of the eternal intercessor of Christ. Now you can’t cut yourself off from those things. That’s why I preach the way I do this morning.

Is it because I don’t like you? Is it because I’m mad at you? Is it because I’m on an ego trip and I get upset when there are not a lot of people here to hear me? Believe me, it’s none of that. You have to have the Word. You have to have the sacraments. You have to have prayer. If you don’t, you’ll die. You’ll die. Because you’re living in a family, and the only provision for you is coming to you through these means. of grace. I talk this way to you because I love you.

And I do not want to see you do yourselves harm. more than me Christ himself and that provision he’s given me to sustain you truly in this famine stricken wilderness as you were brought finally to him Well, a man came from Baal, Shalichel. And he brought the first fruit. A man came from heaven. The eternal life. Now, Lord, encourage us.

We who are found in this famine-stricken wilderness, dependent completely upon you, will you not supply us the true bread? Will you not give us spiritual drink? Will you not give us, then, Lord, that confidence which bears us above as we pour ourselves out in prayer towards you? Will we not feast and feed upon your word? Will we not hear it to our benefit? O Lord, by your Spirit you make us willing, and that to the glory of your name. We pray these things through Christ, through whom we shall be brought

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