03.26. The Dearth in the Land

The Dearth in the Land

It is on the way to Gilgal, a city which we have before had occasion to notice, that the man of God is next observable. That town was situated in the vale of Jordan, not far from Jericho. Here, as has been mentioned already, there was a seminary of the prophets, in the middle of a population deeply sunk in idolatry, and it was from hence we attended the Tishbite to his triumphal coronation. Since our last visit, oh, how again does the land mourn! The beautiful country can hardly be recognized, so desolate is it now become. At that time, as far as the eye could reach, nothing but golden corn-fields waved around us; we were met in all directions by ponderous wagons, groaning under the rich treasures of the harvest, while the vines and pomegranates bent beneath the weight of their luxuriant burdens. The blessings of affluence and peace everywhere abounded, and in the pleasant fields and vineyards, the shouts and rejoicings of the reapers scarcely ceased by day or night. But behold now, how great a change! Blight has overspread the fields; the meadows are parched; the sickle rusts on the cottage wall, and a great part of the population are enduring the miseries of famine. All this appears the more strikingly to have been a visitation of Divine chastisement, because such calamities were rare in that most fruitful and blessed of all lands. Even the sons of the prophets, whom Elisha was visiting, shared largely in the general distress. The prophet, had he so pleased, might have remained at Shunem, where his wealthy friends would gladly have entertained him; and under their hospitable roof, he would have experienced little or nothing of the difficulties of the times; but no such considerations could influence him; his post was at Gilgal; both his duty and his heart bound him to the sons of the prophets. A good shepherd does not desert the fold when trouble comes; he rather finds a pleasure in sharing it with his flock, be it even unto death. Those only can evince such cheerful, undissembled constancy, who have the spirit of Him that said, "I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep." Oh may the love of this Shepherd, destroy in us that desolating abomination, selfishness!

Elisha arrives at Gilgal, and finds a gloom spread over his little community. Their stores, at no time superfluous, were now entirely consumed; their gardens were stripped, and their purses empty. They were indeed oppressed with want, and their wealthier idolatrous neighbors would be more inclined to ask, "Where is now thy God?" than to extend to them the hand of benevolence. They must have been dejected and distressed; and in what respect then, it may be asked, had they any advantage over the ungodly? Had they not to suffer the same want, and was not the same trouble allotted them? Yes, the children of God are often more afflictively dealt with than the children of the world; and relief is sometimes found sooner by the latter, than by the former. Where then, is the difference between those who love God, and those who are still alienated from him? Verily the difference notwithstanding is immeasurable; and one and the same calamity is quite different in the effects of its visitation upon the godly and upon the ungodly. While the latter often become by it more hardened in their sins, the former are chastened and corrected by it, as by the hand of fatherly love. It obliges them to have more entire recourse to the Lord as their Shepherd; to obey and to trust in Him, of whom they felt not their need sufficiently in the day of their prosperity: and then, how great is the gain, to have thus experienced the blessedness of abiding entirely in Christ; to have the confession again and again wrung from us, that we are only worthy to be buffeted by the world, and that we are deprived of every refuge, but the free grace and mercy of God. Oh, how sweet are the fruits thus produced by sanctified affliction! Therefore it is not because we are "condemned with the world," but because we are beloved of the Father, that we are appointed to share in public calamities. With Elisha’s arrival at Gilgal we behold, however, a reviving spectacle in the sons of the prophets gathered about him, as a father with his children. As such he converses with them, comforting and strengthening their hearts, and they eagerly listen to every word he utters, as their Divinely inspired instructor. How inwardly happy are they in his presence! He is a bright star of promise in the night of their affliction. The gloom of sorrow disperses before his words, and every eye again sparkles with joy. Yes, my friends, days of sorrow are not without much that is pleasing and sweet. They are cloudy indeed, and dark, but they resemble those lowering moist days, which unbind the frost, and make the waters flow. At such times the spikenard of the Divine promises sends forth its perfumes. Then do we first seriously listen to the voice of the venerable comforters of ancient times; and how beautiful do their feet then appear upon the mountains! Many sacred truths, which in more prosperous seasons we had but half learned, are now brought into use, and found invaluable. Our spirit thus can rejoice, while our outward man is depressed.

Elisha’s presence and consolations having banished solicitude from the minds of his friends, his cheerful voice is heard desiring his servant to set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. Then, as savory esculents were no longer easy to procure, one of the disciples went out into the field to see if he could discover some vegetable that might be eaten. But has God reserved any such thing for his servants in his vast domains? Surely he will provide, and show where the provision is to be found. Yes; the man comes home laden with a certain fruit, having the form of an egg; he has gathered his lap full. The fruit is shred into the boiling vessel of pottage; none suspecting that these gourds of the wild vine contained any harm. How strange! and yet God permitted it; yes, he permitted deadly poison to be ignorantly gathered, and mixed up as food for his servants! And why? Because his name is "Wonderful," as we have again occasion to acknowledge, when we here see the "end of the Lord," whose ways are goodness and truth.