Looking to the Lord to fill our emptiness
2 Kings 4:38-44
In several factories in the United States in the late 1910s and the 1920s, watch dials and hands were painted with a radioactive luminescent paint containing radium. The young women working there were instructed to take the fine brushes they used between their lips to create a sharp point after each stroke, which meant that they constantly ingested radium. Not realising what a deadly poison they handled, some painted their nails, teeth and face with it for fun. Soon, however, even those who only worked with the substance began to develop mysterious illnesses. Many had teeth trouble, ulcers and bone fractures. The jaw of the first woman to die of the poison fell away from her skull before death and women in the late stages of illness could not walk or even raise their hands.[1] These unfortunate workers came to be known as the ‘Radium girls’.
Death in the pot!
It is a chilling story of how not knowing what we are handling can lead to irreparable damage and death. In our reading, there is a similar lack of knowing about a poisonous substance (2 Kings 4:39). Although Elisha lived in an ungodly society where pagan worship would have been prevalent, there were faithful communities like this group of prophets in Gilgal who gathered for support and a shared meal (2 Kings 4:38). Given the famine (v.38), supplies would have been scarce, so filling-in the gaps with some added food (v.39) would have seemed like a good idea. Yet the extra ingredient turns out to be deadly (2 Kings 4:40). How the group realises that something is wrong is hard to tell; perhaps the taste gives it away. In any case, their cry to ‘the man of God’, and through him to God Himself, leads to a solution. Scientific minds would love to know why flour had this neutralising effect here (2 Kings 4:41), but the point is not the how but that in the context of death, life comes through God.
From inadequate to plentiful
The second incident reminds us, Christians, of Jesus’ feeding of the four and five thousand (e.g. Matt 14:15-21; 15:32-38). No doubt, Jews would have remembered Elisha’s miracle when they saw Jesus provide. Although first fruits of the harvest were normally offered to God in the temple (Deut 26:1-11), the Bethel shrine was the place of idolatry at this time, so godly Israelites may have decided to benefit the faithful servants of God like Elisha and this prophetic group (2 Kings 4:42) rather than the state-approved priests.[2] What seems inadequate for so many people (2 Kings 4:43), however, proves not only sufficient but substantial with leftovers (2 Kings 4:44)! As we have seen throughout these incidents, life with God means that He is able to multiply meagre resources into plentiful provision.
Looking to the Lord to fill us
Most of us in the affluent West have not experienced the hand-to-mouth existence that we get a glimpse of in our reading. Yet in a sense, many of us live in cultures of spiritual famine. There is a longing for hope, for meaning, for truth, and in their absence, the temptation to fill our meagre diet with added nourishment is great. As we cope with an ever-changing world and the emptiness of the culture around us, some may turn to comfort foods for reassurance, alcohol to numb some pain, or shopping to give a spike of happiness. Others binge-watch endless films as diversion or seek out experiences to alleviate boredom. Yet, as we do so, we let poison enter our system. It may not be as potent or as immediately obvious as the one in our reading, but it is toxic, nonetheless. The more we feed our appetite with it, the more we lose our craving for what the Lord has to offer. So often, what God gives seems inadequate for our needs, yet those who live by it find a hidden supply of riches that fulfils. May we rely on Him and His Word to feed us with truth and look to Him to fill our emptiness.
[1] ‘Radium Girls: The Story of US Radium’s Superfund Site’, https://web.archive.org/web/20250117234616/https://www.nj.gov/dep/hpo/1identify/nrsr_19_Mar_Radium_girls.pdf
[2] As a reminder, the original Israel became divided after Solomon’s reign into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 11:9-13; 12:1-20). The Jerusalem temple was in Judah. Jeroboam, the first northern king after Solomon, set up two alternative shrines in Bethel and Dan complete with a golden calf in each as a representation of God, with a new priesthood and alternate feast days (1 Kings 12:25-33).
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