Paul said God supplies our need according to his riches in glory. Elisha performed many miracles; he received a double portion of of the Spirit. These verses deal with God supplying needs of his people. God takes care of us. We can say God will take care of us because he does it already.
II Kings 4:42 And there came a man from Baal-shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. 43 And his servitor 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. 44 So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.
These three verses tell us so much. I know your mind traveled to where mind did. A miracle is not a minor or major one. A miracle is when the impossible it made possible. Man can’t do that but God can. Only he created something from nothing. Here we see a satisfying. In the New Testament thousands were fed with leftovers. Jesus fed over 5,000 and had 12 baskets left over. Let’s say we have a dinner. The church is completely full. We go over and there is one pot of beans to eat. How can everyone eat? From our prospective it won’t work. But doesn’t God supply? He saves, heals, conquers, and provides for his people.
In this story a famine was in the land and hungry people needed food. God provided and there were leftovers. The God of the Old Testament and the New Testament is the same. The miracles of the Old Testament were done through God’s son in the New Testament. Remember the dreams Joseph had about fat cows and lean cows? God showed Joseph a famine was coming. He instructed him what to do in the seven years of of plenty so there would be food in the seven years of famine. The entire known world was fed. God’s thinking is far above our thinking. Whether times are good or bad, easy or difficult, the same principle applies. God provides for his people. He’s not a seasonal God. There has never been a time so bad that God couldn’t do.
We’re a visible people and what we see disturbs and weakens our faith. We all remember the times when churches were on fire and overflowed with people. It was a time of plenty. Then we saw one denomination and then another backing off. Wednesday night services stopped. The Sunday nights were dropped. It’s a time of famine. Numbers dropped from what they used to be. It’s visual and if we go by that we’ll question if God is still working. He’s still in the same capacity as he was 50 years ago. The fault lies with people. We fall into trends and habits of others. There’s not a time when we meet that God doesn’t fill us up. He will supply. His storehouse has not gone out of business. The whole work of heaven is to shore up the people of God and save the lost. Just because we don’t see things like we used to, it would be a great insult to accuse God of not supplying needs. God can work through doctors and hospitals but he doesn’t need them. He can still supply needs.
There were 100 prophets of God. Elisha was teaching them. They were vital to Israel. The famine was bad. A man came from Baal-shalisha. For some reason he had good crops in the midst of the famine. God laid it on his heart to bring the bread of the first fruits to the prophets. There were 20 loaves of barley and some corn. It wasn’t much. Elisha took it. Out of nowhere God provided. Looking at it we’d think it’s not near enough to feed the men. The Lord used the man’s little bit and provided from a source they didn’t know about. God will do it. It may not seem like much. Imagine 100 hungry men looking at it thinking it won’t go around. It does.
First fruits don’t necessarily have the best flavor as does a full harvest. What we think can’t be used, God can use it and take care of us. This little bit fed everybody with leftovers. And his servitor 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. The servant wondered how he could put that little bit in front of the men but Elisha said do it. When God speaks the word don’t worry about how it looks. Go by faith. Trust the Lord to provide because he will.
Paul said in II Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. This is the principle to live by. Paul also told us to walk by faith not by sight.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 