Lesson 40 Washing at the Cross: Jesus Removed the Poison of Sin
Questions 1 and 2
Hello again, and welcome back.
In today’s lesson, I want us to see a fascinating illustration of the power of the cross to cleanse us and set us free from impurity.
Let’s look at our text for today. It is a fascinating story:
2 Kings 4:38-41 NIV Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.” (39) One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. (40) The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. (41) Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
This is a difficult situation for the prophets: there was a famine in the region, and when they tried to cook some stew for the prophets they discovered there was “death in the pot.” Some of the “wild vines” and gourds that they had gathered to make the stew were poisonous, and these had made the stew unsafe for consumption.
Question 1. What was the solution that Elisha provided for the prophets?
Yes, Elisha told the men to get some flour and put it into the pot. It would not have worked to attempt to remove the wild vines and gourds from the stew one by one because their poison had permeated the whole pot of stew. Instead, the answer was to add flour: not take something out but rather add something in.