He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD. (2 Kings 4:44)

Have you ever known someone who constantly sought to one-up other people? If a friend bragged about catching an impressive fish, he’d landed a bigger or more unusual one. If someone complained of the flu, she’d had a worse case. If someone else was grieving a loss … well, you get the drift.

            When we think of early prophets in Israel, Elijah comes to mind. His fame was considerable despite his rough exterior, frequent despondency, and at least one attempt to quit prophecy altogether. By New Testament times, fueled by the tradition that he had been taken to heaven in a whirlwind and a prophecy in Malachi 4:5, many Hebrews expected Elijah to return “before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.”

Though Elijah was better known, a careful reading of 2 Kings shows that the narrator portrays Elisha, Elijah’s successor, as an even more powerful prophet: whatever Elijah could do, Elisha could do better. [DD]

Elisha’s amplified actions may stem from a story about Elijah’s departure. Before his mentor ascended to heaven without dying (something Elisha failed to achieve), he offered Elisha a parting blessing. Elisha asked for a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit, and Elijah said the wish would be granted if Elisha watched him being taken away (2 Kgs. 2:9-12). Afterward, Elisha picked up Elijah’s fallen mantle and used it to smite the Jordan River as his former master had done, and it parted so he could cross (2 Kgs. 2:8, 13-14).

In the ensuing chapters, the narrator relates a series of miracles that Elisha accomplished, many of them echoing actions from Elijah’s ministry, including raising a child from the dead (1 Kgs. 17:17-24, 2 Kgs. 4:18-37).

            By the narrator’s account, Elisha served as an active prophet more than three times longer than Elijah, and he performed twice as many recorded miracles: fourteen to seven by some counts. While this may have been an intentional indication of the “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit that he received, Elisha never got the respect Elijah did. He was mentioned just once in the New Testament, and then in company with Elijah.

Luke portrayed Jesus as defending himself for not healing everyone by noting that many people were hungry in the time of Elijah, but he was sent only to a widow of Zarephath, and that many lepers lived in the time of Elisha, but only Naaman the Syrian was healed (Luke 4:23-27).

Elisha even fails to get a mention when the clearest echo of his ministry occurs in the New Testament, when Jesus fed the multitudes. He also had a reputation for feeding many people with meager resources.

An impressive prelude

Our text follows a series of miracle stories attributed to Elisha, at least one of which shows that he could also be more irascible than Elijah. While in Jericho—an oasis city that had existed for thousands of years because of its abundant spring—he was told that the water had gone bad. Elisha threw salt into the spring, and its quality was restored (2:19-22).

            Later, while traveling from Jericho to Bethel, what must have been a considerable crowd of small boys made fun of his bald head. The narrator claims that Elisha cursed the children, and two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the boys (2:23-24).

            A more extensive passage has Elisha advise a coalition of kings from Israel, Judah, and Edom, all of whom were fighting against Moab. A servant introduced Elisha in demeaning terms as the one “who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah,” but Elisha was no longer Elijah’s servant. Elisha boldly criticized the fearful kings, then asked for a musician to play. As he listened to the music, “the power of the LORD came on him” and Elisha predicted that pools would rise from the earth to provide the armies and their horses with water, and that they would defeat the Moabites. The narrator reports that the prophecy was fulfilled (3:1-27).

            In an unnamed place, the wife of a deceased member of a prophetic band complained of poverty, with a creditor demanding to take her children in payment of her debt. Elisha told her to borrow as many vessels as she could, then pour from the one jar of oil she had into the other vessels. Miraculously, the oil flowed until she ran out of jars, then she sold the excess oil to pay her debts (4:1-7).

            Elisha, like Elijah, knew a supportive couple who provided a room for him on occasion. Finding them childless, Elisha predicted that they would have a son, and it happened (4:8-17). Later, the son had a sudden headache and died. The mother sent immediately for Elisha, who tried sending his servant Gehazi ahead to lay his staff on the child and cure him. When that did not work, Elisha came and warmed the child with his own body, gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and raised the boy to life (4:18-37).

            Two food-related miracles then follow. In Gilgal, remembered as a cultic site, Elisha was visiting with a group of prophets who were facing a time of famine. Elisha commanded them to make a pot of stew, apparently from foraged food. One of them added wild gourds that were apparently poisonous. When the men complained that there was “death in the pot,” Elisha threw some flour into the stew and made it edible (4:38-41).

An impressive meal

(vv. 42-44)

That brings us to today’s text, in which Elisha miraculously fed 100 men with paltry supplies. Though 100 men hardly compares to 5,000, the miracle can be read as a foreshadowing of Jesus providing food for thousands.

            While Elisha remained with the prophets in Gilgal, presumably, “a man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God” (v. 42a). Gilgal was near the Jordan River, a few miles north of Jericho. [DD]

            Why the man brought an offering “from the first fruits” to Elisha is unclear: perhaps it was deemed acceptable to give the offering to a prophet rather than carrying it all the way to the temple in Jerusalem. The food was not specifically called an offering, however, only “bread from the first fruits” (NET2). The gift included 20 loaves of barley bread as well as “fresh ears of grain.”

            The “loaves” in question, as in Jesus’ day, would have borne no resemblance to loaves of bread we would buy at the grocery store: they would have been small rounds of flat bread made from ground wheat or barley and water, baked quickly on the surface of an earthen oven.

            Twenty pieces of rough pita bread would not go far among 100 men, as attested by Elisha’s servant. When Elisha told him to distribute the food, he said “How can I set this before a hundred people?” (vv. 42b-43b). Confronted with meager rations and many hungry mouths, the servant could see only scarcity. Perhaps he feared that a fight would break out as people struggled for a portion of the food.

            The prophet, however, saw a potential witness to the power of God. Supremely confident as always, Elisha responded “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left” (v. 43).

            We can guess what happened: “He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD” (v. 44).

An important opportunity

We may be tempted to pass over this brief narrative as nothing more than a miracle story designed to bolster Elisha’s resume, or as a quick stepping-stone to the story of Jesus’ even-greater works, but there are lessons to be learned.

            The story—like others around it—arises from a time of need. People were poor. People were dying. Many were hungry. In the midst of this, an unnamed man from a little-known town showed remarkable generosity, choosing to share a portion of his crop with the prophet. He and his wife (no doubt) had also gone to the considerable trouble of grinding enough of it into flour to make and bake 20 rounds of bread.

            Elisha accepted the bread and could have kept it for himself, but he gave it to the band of hungry prophets around him.

            The rations, generous as they would have been for Elisha, were insufficient for the many bellies that needed food. But Elisha, with prophetic insight, saw abundance rather than scarcity, and the people were fed, at least for a day.

            Have we ever focused on shortages rather than sufficiency? We also live in a world of inequity, where many are poor even though resources are plentiful. We may fear that we don’t have enough money or resources or time to make a difference, and so we often choose to do nothing.

            Yet, when we have faith enough to be generous with what we have and to show practical hospitality to others, our actions accomplish more than we know. The money or food we provide may not be multiplied as in our text, but the blessing of it will touch other lives with a testimony of Christ’s love.

            Sometimes, prying resources loose from insecure or selfish hands may seem as great a miracle as multiplying food that is freely given.

            We don’t have to be miracle workers to be life changers. The generous hospitality shown through caring for and sharing with people in need can transform our lives as well as theirs.