Death in the Pot!

Man of God, there is death in the pot! – 2 Kings 4:40

 

Every Tuesday early in the morning I meet for a Zoom prayer meeting with some pastor friends of mine. We’re brothers in ministry, family. “Early” is a relative term. The Bible says of Jesus, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35). Saints of old like John Wesley and his Methodists thought nothing of rising at 4 am to begin their day. My group of praying pastor friends and I don’t meet that early but its early enough for us. Sometimes if I didn’t sleep well or had a busy day before, I’m tempted to shut the alarm and forego our time of prayer. But even when I have such an intent, the Lord taps me on the shoulder and wakes me up. There’s something the Lord puts within me that says, “Don’t miss prayer because I’ve got something for you today.” This morning was just such a time. A simple phrase spoken in prayer by one of my brother-pastors spoke to my heart and it was the seed planted for this teaching. The phrase spoken was, “death in the pot.”

As soon as I heard that phrase I wrote it down and after our prayer time I went to the passage in the Old Testament where that phrase can be found. There it states:

2 Kings 4:38–41 (NKJV) – ³⁸ And Elisha returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. Now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him; and he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹ So one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds, and came and sliced them into the pot of stew, though they did not know what they were. ⁴⁰ Then they served it to the men to eat. Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. ⁴¹ So he said, “Then bring some flour.” And he put it into the pot, and said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

“Gilgal” is located near Jericho in the Jordan Valley of Israel. The place is known for its being the first encampment of the Israelites when they entered the Promised Land (Joshua 4). It was a place of renewal and recommitment. At the first approach to the Promised Land spies were sent out to get information to strategize the conquest of the Land. When they returned they gave a fearful report that discouraged the people (Numbers 14). Only two, Joshua and Caleb had faith to follow God’s plan. But the rest of that faithless generation was sentenced to wander in the wilderness until a second generation could be raised up to make conquest of the Land. When the second attempt at entering the Promised Land arrived, the people met at Gilgal to renew and reaffirm their covenant commitment to God by way of circumcision.

Gilgal became the base of operations for the conquest of the Promised Land. Whenever we answer God’s call to “go,” a time of renewal and recommitment to our covenant with Him is always a good idea. Such a time of renewal with those early saints involved the Passover (Joshua 5:10-12). In light of the New Testament and understanding that Jesus is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7), renewal and recommitment mean remembering His sacrifice.

Later in history the prophet and judge Samuel would regularly visit Gilgal for times of renewal (1 Samuel 7:16). Gilgal became a place where kings were coronated (1 Samuel 11:14-15). But Gilgal also was a place where pride and presumption such as in the case of King Saul, were exposed (1 Samuel 13).

Later in history, as apostasy spread among God’s people and their royalty, prophets like Hosea and Amos condemned Gilgal for the corrupt idolatrous worship practices that had infected the nation. Amos spoke of a famine of “hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11). When we look at our surroundings today we see evidence of such a famine rising again. God raised up prophets to call His people to repentance from this. We need to pray for Him to raise prophetic voices once again.

Sometimes there were actual physical famines. Famines were indicative of God’s disapproval and judgment on the Land (Leviticus 26:18-20, 26; Deuteronomy 28:23-24, 38-40). Elisha was a powerful prophetic voice from the Lord who God used to show the way out of famine. He is the prophet in our passage. The return of Elisha to Gilgal is the historical setting for the passage of scripture above. It was a time of famine in the land.

Elisha seems to have had a school of prophets where those called to prophetic ministry could be discipled. Even prophets need to eat so, famine or not, Elisha instructed his prophetic sons to “Put on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” Putting on the “large pot” during a time of famine was an act of faith in and of itself. One of the “sons” was sent to gather herbs. He found a “wild vine” and gathered from it “a lapful of wild gourds.” Gourds were cucumber like vegetables. The prophetic son “sliced them into the pot of stew. though they did not know what they were.” Don’t miss this important point, it’s never a good idea to add ingredients when you don’t know what they are. That is true not only in cooking but in every project and practice in life. Better to consult the cook, or look at the label on the package, or consult a prophetic voice or man of God, or the Cook Himself, before putting the ingredients into what you’re making.

Sure enough, when the stew was cooked and served, those eating cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” Can’t you just picture the look of disgust and YEECH! on the faces of those taking that first spoonful of stew? My wife is an excellent cook; she has set a high standard for me. But I can remember meals other than her home cooking where I either thought inwardly or even said something out loud very similar to “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” For instance, I’m not a fan of Sushi – “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” A meal too bitter or too sweet might result in, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” A bad ingredient can lead to a ruined meal and something that just can’t be eaten. To the last of the seven churches of Revelation Jesus wrote too, one of the things He found distasteful was lukewarmness. Jesus said, “I know your works, that you are neither cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). That’s Jesus version of, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!”

Elisha’s remedy for the detestable stew was to have the cook “bring some flour” and put it in the pot of stew. The stew was then served, “And there was nothing harmful in the pot.” Adding the “flour” was what redeemed the stew. “Flour” is the main ingredient for bread. When Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness to add some devilish ingredients to His ministry, He quoted the inspired words of Moses when He said, “Man shall not live by bead alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3). When life becomes an uneatable stew, it’s probably because you’ve left out one of the most important ingredients, the word of God.

Jesus referred to Himself as, “the Bread of Life” (John 6:35). Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). Therefore, it should be no surprise to us that to the sickeningly lukewarm church at Laodicea Jesus prescribed Himself as the antidote. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). If you want a full, nourishing, satisfying meal for your life and soul, open the door to Jesus. Jesus is the missing ingredient to life. Invite Jesus to all your meals.

When we leave Jesus out of our recipe for life, there’s death in the pot! The main reason for life being uneatable or “death in the pot!” is the absence of Jesus. We have allowed unknown ingredients to be included in our life’s stew. Some ingredients are death because we add too much of them to the stew of life. Other ingredients are deathful. Death is in the pot even if we only a small pinch is allowed. The only way to arrive at an eatable nourishing stew is to open the door to Jesus and discuss the ingredients with Him. Jesus will help us choose and measure ingredients according to the recipe laid out in the greatest cookbook of life, the Bible.

Death in the Pot

What are some ingredients that need to be measured properly or even just thrown away as we cook life-meals? The following comes to mind.

Politics. Too much politics will produce death in your pot of life stew. It’s important to be salt and light in society by way of political involvement. I do not subscribe to the idea that Christians should abstain from political involvement. When Jesus commissioned His followers to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” I believe He was calling us to infiltrate and influence every nook and cranny of this world, including politics and government. Yes, politics and governments are corrupt and saturated with poisonous ingredients, but Jesus the Bread of Life can make a palatable meal when He is introduced there.

But there is a problem. Politics and political involvement alone do not make a life producing stew. If all you are is “Republican,” or “Democrat,” or “Independent,” or some other party affiliation, that in the end is not going to be nourishing and get you into heaven. Whether you are “Liberal,” or “Conservative,” or something in between, your life stew is going to be spewed out by Jesus as “death in the pot!” So if you add politics to your life stew, make sure to add the Bread of Life Jesus also. Jesus is the only Ingredient that brings life (John 10:10; 14:6). Only Jesus can make life a worthy meal.

Artificial Intelligence. ChatGPT, Claude by Anthropic, Google Gemini, Grok AI, Microsoft Copilot, et.al. are all options to assist us in accumulating knowledge and answering questions. BUT THERE IS A GREAT DEATH PRODUCING ASPECT OF THIS LIFE INGREDIENT. ARTIFIAL INTELLIGENCE CANNOT TAKE THE PLACE OF JESUS OR THE HOLY SPIRIT. If you rely on Artificial Intelligence too much, your brain muscle will atrophy. And if you allow yourself to fall into the habit of going first and foremost to Artificial Intelligence to the neglect of agonizing over issues and ministry missions before Jesus in prayer, whatever you cook is going to be “death in the pot!” Artificial Intelligence is a tool to be used, but tools are only as good as the craftsman using them. Don’t forget the Master Carpenter Jesus. Don’t forget to consult His Master blueprint Bible yourself. If all you do is consult Artificial intelligence your life stew will be tasteless, bland, and malnourishing. We need hot fiery spices of the Holy Spirit that help us to get up and go. We need the Bread of Life in our pot! Don’t settle for artificial imitation ingredients, rely on the real, authentic, classic, genuine, life producing ingredients Jesus and His word provides.

The Artificial Intelligence option has sidetracked much of the Church from seeking the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. That’s a critical mistake. Jesus told His disciples that they should not go out to minister without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1-2). The Baptism with the Holy Spirit and His power provides the Christian with spiritual gifting such a word of knowledge, word of wisdom, discernment, prophecy, pastoring, teaching, evangelism, and the like (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12 and 14; Ephesians 4). Artificial Intelligence, no matter how advanced it is, is no match for the gifting of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit fills us with the love of God! (Romans 5:5). And love is the greatest! (1 Corinthians 13). Everything we do needs to be driven and motivated by the compelling love of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-21). There is a spiritual dimension that lifeless AI cannot produce or provide. Therefore, if all you do is rely on AI, there is “death in the pot!”

Marketing. If ministry for you is only systems and organizing with the “best” and “newest” trendy strategies of the day, your pot will be deathful. Organizing is not a substitute for agonizing before the Lord in prayer for direction and power. You can have the best church growth strategy in place but unless you’ve poured your heart out before ethe Lord and asked Him to make you what you need to be to do what he calls you to do, for His glory, until Jesus returns, well, your pot will lack what is needed to produce life in the consumer.

Islam. Politics, Artificial Intelligence, marketing, are ingredients we have to measure carefully if we are to avoid “death in the pot!” But there are “wild gourds” that are not only malnourishing, but they are also literally death producing. Islam is such an ingredient.

Some would claim that Islam and Christianity are really not too different. There are people who promote the idea of Chrislam, the combining of Islam and Christianity. But any combining of these two diametrically opposed world religions requires compromises in core doctrinal beliefs of each that define what they are. Islam sees Jesus as another “prophet,” one who is almost as great as Muhammed. Islam denies the deity of Jesus Christ, denies the gospel of salvation by grace through faith, denies the authority of scripture, and has a completely different view of world peace. To a Muslim world peace is not different people living in liberty together, it is the subjugation of all people under rule of Islam.[1] Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). Muhammed instructs his followers to rely on the tactic of taqiyya or lying to people until you are in a majority or strategically advantageous position to defeat them. Jesus said deception and lies come from the devil (John 8:44). Islam and Christianity are incompatible. Islam, no matter how you trim it, is death to any life meal.

Islam is invading the world and in particular our nation by way of immigration without assimilation. William Federer in his book What Every American Needs to Know about the Qur’an – A History of Islam and the United States explains that “Islam” means submission to the will of Allah. In the Quran, Islam’s “holy” book it states:

• Sura 2:191 – Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them.
• Sura 4:101 – The infidels are your sworn enemies.
• Sura 5:17 – Infidels are those who declare: ‘God is the Christ, the son of Mary.
• Sura 5:33 – “The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger. . . will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land.
• Sura 5:51 – Believers, take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends.
• Sura 5:73 – Infidels are those that say, ‘God is one of three in a Trinity.’
• Sura 9:29 – Fight those who believe not in Allah.
• Sura 9:123 – Make war on the infidels who dwell around you.
• Sura 28:86 – Never be a helper to the disbelievers.
• Sura 47:4 – When you meet the infidel in the battlefield, strike off their heads.
• Sura 48:29 – Be ruthless to the infidels.
• Sura 60:13 – Believers, do not make friends with those who have incurred the wrath of Allah.
• Sura 66:9 – Make war on the infidels.

Some claim Islam is a religion of peace. The above verse are only a few examples of the peaceless death of Islam.

Islam says, “If you don’t accept Islam, I will take your life.” Christianity says, “I will tell you about Jesus and share the gospel with you, even if it costs me my life.” Christianity has thousands of fulfilled prophecies, Islam has none. Jesus performed miracles, Muhammed performed none. Jesus was sinless, Muhammed is sinful. Jesus rose from the dead according to the scriptures and has a wealth of historical evidence to back it up. Islam denies the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The historical events of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation are verified by archeology and eyewitnesses. Islam relies almost entirely on the word of a single prophet. The Gospel is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus and has a blessed assurance of eternal life. Islam is a religion of works and Allah can abrogate and change his mind undermining any hope of assurance. Islam is death in the pot!

Socialism/Communism. Federer makes clear that Islam and Sharia Law are diametrically opposed to the Constitution of the United States. We are seeing the Adan or Muslim call to prayer echoed in American cities like Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hamtramck, Michigan, and New York City. Islam is invading by way of immigration that has no interest in assimilating into our society. But another deadly ingredient to the stew of life is Socialism/Communism. Islam and Socialism/Communism are partnering up in a Red/Green alliance. Islam is entering the world stew by way of Socialism/Communism. This is death in our nations pot.

Someone has noted, “When the Berlin Wall came down, nobody ran to the communist side.” That’s because socialism and communism are “death in the pot!” Socialism leads to Communism, hence my designating it as Socialism/Communism. Ayn Rand commented, “There is no difference between Communism and Socialism, except in the same ultimate end: Communism proposes to enslave men by force, Socialism – by vote. It is merely the difference between murder and suicide.” [2] Even though those who are elected and take the oath of office are required to take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against enemies foreign and domestic, we are seeing more and more elected officials with ideologies contrary to the Constitution taking office and promoting their contrary views.

It’s interesting to see college students and professorial proponents in America promote Socialism/Communism while those fleeing the oppression of this ideology in the rest of the world flee to America for relief. Authentic asylum seekers are dumbfounded when they see the rise of Democratic Socialism or outright advocates of Communist revolution in America. Socialism/Communism rises to popularity by promising free education, free medical services, free just about everything. They offer salary equality, freedom from religion, and a collective governmental family that replaces the nuclear family. All these promises are tempting to some, but like a “wild gourds,” they are “death in the pot!” History testifies that those promises are never delivered upon and the results are death to freedom of speech, death to any opinions contrary to Socialist/Communist rule. Indeed, history testifies to the fact of very literal death in that over 100 million people have lost their lives by way of the subjugation this ideology tyrannically enforces.

Why should Christians care about the rise of Socialism/Communism? First, the Bible teaches a system of private ownership and liberty, Islam and Socialism/Communism teaches neither. The Bible states, “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the LORD for it; for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7). While the historical context for this verse is the captivity of Israel, there is a principle to be applied here. God has sovereignly placed us in the United States of America. Therefore, we should seek its peace and welfare and pray for it. We are to accumulate good ingredients and cook a healthy stew for our neighbors, hopefully one that leads them to salvation in Jesus Christ. We are instructed to abide by the laws of the Land and for us that means the Constitution of the United States of America (applying Romans 13). We, as citizens, should also seek to protect our country from enemies both foreign and domestic. Yes, our citizenship is in heaven, and our life objectives should be focused on God’s gracious glorious end, but that doesn’t negate our responsibilities to the earthly nation in which God has placed us (Philippians 3:20-21).

So what do we do? How do we cook? “Bring some flour.” Include Jesus the Bread of Life as the prime ingredient to whatever you cook. Follow the recipe of Scripture. Cook with the flame of the Holy Spirit. And make sure to include what some call the most important falvoring for a chef, love. That love can only come from the indwelling Holy Spirit. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). Do this and not only will you spare yourself and others from anything “harmful” in the stew pot, but you will serve up a meal that leads to eternal life.

Father, we come to You in Jesus’ name. Please help us to rely on You. Holy Spirit help us to be discerning and empowered by You. Jesus, help us to always open the door when You are knocking and invite You in to sup with us in all we do. Father, help us to keep death out of our pot. Please make us what we need to be, to do what You call us to do, for Your glory, until You return. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

 

[1] For those who would comment about the Quranic statement, “There is no compulsion in religion” (Sura 2:256), it needs to be kept in mind that such a statement is made in the early stages of Islamic influence. Once Islam gains numbers and authority, such a verse is disregarded.

[2] Ayn Rand in “Foreign Policy Drains U.S. of Main Weapon,” published in the Los Angeles Times on September 9, 1962.