Deadly Gourds In The Family Stew

Deadly Gourds In The Family Stew

There may be “gourds” in our personal lives which have already produced harmful influences and even sad consequences in our homes. What should we do?

Nobody asked him to do it. But a prophet’s son decided to add his own special ingredient to the “soup of the day.” He went out into the fields and gathered wild fruits, filling up his cloak with them. As he cut them up and placed them into the pot, no one knew (including him) that these harmless looking fruits were actually deadly, wild gourds.

This story took place in the days of the prophet Elisha, at a time when a famine raged in the land (2 Ki. 4:38-41). Elisha had told his servant to cook some stew in a large pot for the sons of the prophets. One of them, assuredly zealous and certainly hungry, had decided on his own to contribute to the communal meal.

No one had any doubts about his honorable intentions. But you should have seen him open his eyes wide, turn pale, and overturn his bowl of hot stew all over his clothing when they cried out, “O man of God (that’s what they called Elisha), there is death in the pot!” And in their stomachs! The wild gourds had poisoned the stew.

Could there be any “deadly gourds” in our homes that are likely to affect our spiritual health? Certain books or magazines, one or two unhealthy videos, a board or video game which opens the door to the occult, a CD or cassette with questionable lyrics, the internet? Just one of these things may hinder our spiritual growth and even poison our Christian life. “What have they seen in your house?” (2 Ki. 20:15 NKJV) is always a timely question to ask ourselves.

The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon one day. Someone has written: “The Word mentions many things which she saw in the home of this great king: the seating of his officials, the attendance of his ministers, their clothing. Everything about the servants of the king was in harmony with his wisdom, his glory, and with the house that he had built ... What a powerful testimony!” (Le Messager Evangelique, Nov. 1990, p. 285). Are the things in our homes in harmony with our testimony for the Lord Jesus?

Now back to those gourds. Elisha might have tried to remove pieces of those gourds out of the soup one by one, but time was too urgent for this – some of the guests seemed to be changing color already. Or he might have thrown the stew out and prayed that the poison would have no effect. No doubt he did pray; God gave him a different solution. He put some flour in the pot. But what was the good of thickening a poisoned stew and slightly changing its flavor? Nevertheless it miraculously worked! The stew was made harmless.

Why flour in the stew? In the Word of God, finely ground flour typifies the holy, perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. For example, in Leviticus 2 the priest was to offer a cake made of flour as a meal offering, pleasing the Lord (Lev. 2:1 note, Scofield Study Bible).

Do we understand this lesson, and can we apply it to our families? There may be “gourds” in our personal lives which have already produced harmful influences and even sad consequences in our homes. What should we do? Give more room for Christ! We must occupy ourselves with this wonderful Man by reading the Word and communicating with Him through prayer. As the flour miraculously transformed the stew of the sons of the prophets, so the Word will transform our homes and our lives.

And let’s be sure not to put any more deadly gourds in the family stew! Remember that there may be different species poisoning our homes, and they may be more injurious than we think. Above all, let’s remember to add flour to the stew by letting Christ have the first place in our homes. He will counter the various dangerous influences on us, our families, and our children in particular. “My Lord knows that the children are tender” (Gen 33:13 NIV).

By Richard Pigeon