From the Pen of Paul

"Death in the Pot"

The inspired penman wrote, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Rom. 15:4).

Elisha was one of the most interesting and unique of the Old Testament prophets. The author of the books of I & II Kings takes time out from his history of the kings of Israel and Judah to inform us about a number of Elisha's miracles. From one of them comes the title of this article. Let's look briefly at this miracle and see if we cannot draw some important lessons from it.

The incident is recorded in II Kings 4:38-41. In the land of Gilgal there was a great dearth. Elisha told his servant to "set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets" (v. 38). One man went out into the field to gather herbs and found some wild gourds, and "gathered his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage" (v. 39). When the pottage was cooked and ready to eat, "they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, that they cried out, and said, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof" (v. 40). Elisha's miracle involved throwing meal into the pot; he then said, "Pour out for the people, that they may eat, And there was no harm in the pot" (v. 41).

There are a number of lessons that may be garnered from this incident as we compare the "death in the pot" with false doctrine in the messages of men.

It appears that the one responsible for the "death in the pot" by gathering the wild gourds was unaware of what he was doing. Verse 39 declares of the gourds, "for they knew them not." I don't know what these gourds were, but one writer suggests that they were "colocynths, a powerful laxative, bitter and poisonous in large quantities" (Eerdman's Handbook of the Bible). Whatever they were, it was quickly discovered that they could cause death.

Today, we hear folks say that as long as a person is honest and does what he believes is right, God will accept it and he will be alright. That didn't work in the physical sense in this incident and it will not work in the spiritual sense. There was death in the pot, not because the man intended to do harm but because the pot included harmful material.

In the spiritual sense, there is death in the pot when there are "false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (II Peter 2:1). Peter goes on to speak of "many shall follow their evil ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you" (v. 2-3). This "false teaching" like the "wild gourds" would result in harm whether harm was intended or not. The wild gourds caused there to be death in the pot even though they were placed there with innocence and with a desire to be of genuine assistance. False teaching, whether the speaker intends to speak false doctrine or whether he in innocence and ignorance teaches false doctrine, will result in the same disastrous results.

Another lesson we learn from this Old Testament incident is that the poison had to be eliminated completely before the pottage was able to be eaten with no harm. Today, before false teaching can be accepted without spiritual death being the result, all the false teaching (poison) must be eliminated.

Now based on these lessons learned: "There is death in the pot" when:

1) "there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6).

2) "some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain form meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth" (I Tim. 4:1-3).

3) "they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from hearing the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (II Tim. 4:3-4).

4) "whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ" (II John 9).

There could be added any number of things to this list, but the fact is that poison is poison and will cause harm no matter the intentions involved; and false teaching, no matter how sincerely believed, is still false teaching and will result in spiritual harm to the one who partakes. Let each of us search the Scriptures, whether these things are so (Acts 17:11). To purposely or ignorantly partake of false teaching will bring the same unfortunate result on the day of judgment.
—Paul Wilmoth

From the Preacher's Viewpoint. . .

Name Calling

Name calling is not so bad as long as good things are said about the one's name that is being called. We can tell about Jim being a great Christian and Jim is well pleased. We can tell about Joe being as honest as the days are long and Joe will smile with great joy. We can tell about Sue helping the poor and taking in little children who need help and everyone rejoices. We can tell about Mary cooking for the poor and disabled and everyone is happy to give Mary a pat on the back and Mary likes the pat on the back. We can call names all we wish if what we have to say is good and well pleasing in general. We all know this.

But what about name calling when what has to be and needs to be said is true but not so good? If you tell about "Joe Blow" being a deceiver, Joe does not like this at all. If you tell about Jody Blond being immoral, Jody does not like this very much. If we tell about Sam Preacher being a false teacher, Sam becomes very upset about calling his name. If we tell about Elder Smith not living right, Elder does not like it at all. So we may truthfully say everyone likes name calling if the report is good and true. But if we call names about those who are wicked and wrong, most people get mad and upset. Is this a new thing and an uncommon thing?

Did Jesus call names when such was needful even though He exposed the wickedness of the person? Indeed He did. Jesus called the names of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Judas, and other false religions and false teachers. Paul called the name of Demas in II Timothy 4:10. John called the name of Diotrephes (III John 9-10). John called names in writing to the churches of Asia (Rev. 2, 3). We are commanded to call names when necessary (Rom. 16:17-18). We should call names only when it is absolutely necessary for the good of the church and the salvation of souls.
—Malcolm L. Hill

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