II Kings 3:1-4:44; Romans 16:1-27

Thought from Today’s Old Testament Passage: [2 Kings 4] Elisha had a present brought him of twenty barley-loaves and some ears of corn (v. 42), a present which, in those ages, would not be despicable at any time, but now in a special manner valuable, when there was a dearth in the land. It is said to be of the first-fruits, which was God’s due out of their increase; and when the priests and Levites were all at Jerusalem, out of their reach, the religious people among them, with good reason, looked upon the prophets as God’s receivers, and brought their first-fruits to them, which helped to maintain their schools. Having freely received, he freely gave, ordering it all to be set before the sons of the prophets, reserving none for himself, none for the hereafter. "Let the morrow take thought for the things of itself, give it all to the people that they may eat."… Though the loaves were little, it is likely no more than what one man would ordinarily eat at a meal, yet with twenty of them he satisfied 100 men, v. 43, 44. His servant thought that to set so little meat before so many men was but to tantalize them, and shame his master for making so great an invitation to such short commons; but he in God’s name, pronounced it a full meal for them, and so it proved; they did eat, and left thereof, not because their stomachs failed them, but because the bread increased in the eating. God has promised his church (Ps. 132:15) that he will abundantly bless her provision, and satisfy her poor with bread;… Christ’s feeding his hearers was a miracle far beyond this; but both teach us that those who wait upon God in the way of duty may hope to be both protected and supplied by a particular care of divine Providence. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.