Ye Are the Salt of the Earth

II Kings 1-4

In his sermon on the mount, Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13). Salt has several characteristics that make it valuable in life. Typically, preachers talk about 3, but I am going to add a fourth. These characteristics are: it adds flavor, it preserves, it cleanses, and it conducts electricity. I will come back to these, but for now, lets summarize the reading.

Remember that Ahab has died. Now, his son Ahaziah is reigning on the throne of Israel. He, like his father is wicked and pagan. One day, he falls through the lattice on his house and is injured. Apparently infection set in and he became sick. He sends his servants to Ekron to ask a prophet of Baal-zebub if he is going to die. While the servants are traveling to Ekron, Elijah meets them and says:

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Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.

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The servants return to Ahaziah and deliver the message. This infuriates the king and he sends a captain with fifty soldiers to capture or kill Elijah.

The captain goes to Elijah and commands his to surrender. Elijah said, "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty." That is exactly what happened. Ahaziah sent a captain and 50 more soldiers and the same thing happened. Then Ahaziah sent another captain and 50 soldiers. This time, the captain went to Elijah, bowed himself before him, and begged for the lives of him and his men. God told Elijah to go with the captain. He did and delivered the same message to the king as before. Shortly after that, the king died.

In chapter 2, Elijah's time on earth is up. However, he is not going to die. God reveals to him (and a lot of other prophets as we will see) that he is going to go to heaven in a whirlwind. He tells Elisha to stay while he goes to meet the whirlwind. Elisha refuses and says that he will not leave Elijah. Elisha remains with his master though many times encouraged to stay behind. They come to the Jordan River and Elijah strikes the water with his mantle. The river parts and they cross on dry ground. Elijah tells Elisha to ask for anything he wants. Elisha asks for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. Elijah say, "This is a hard thing you have asked for but if you see me go up in the whirlwind, you shall have your request." Suddenly, a chariot of fire comes down and separates the two men. Elijah gets up in the chariot and the chariot is taken away in a whirlwind. Elisha picks up Elijah's mantle that was left behind and returns home.

Elisha tarries in Jericho for a while. The sons of the prophets send out 50 men to look for Elijah, against Elisha's wishes, but they do not find him. Elisha says, "I told you not to go." While there, the men of the city go to Elisha and tell him that the city is good but the water is "rah" The word "rah" means sin or evil. In the KJV the text says "naught". The water was bad or poison. Elisha tells them to bring him a container of salt. He pours the salt on the spring of water and the water is made good. This was not science or magic, but rather a symbolic demonstration of what God was doing to the water. The salt symbolized the purifying work on God on the water.

As he is going home, a group of kids begin making fun of him. This is not childish attempts at humor. They are being overtly disrespectful to a man of God. This is a learned behavior and reveals the condition of the hearts of the people at this time. Elisha curses them and two female bears come out and kill them. I simply want to say that when people disrespect God's servants, they disrespect God. In doing so, they will answer to God for that disrespect.

In chapter 3, Jehoram has ascended to the throne of Israel. The text says that he is not as evil as Ahab and Ahaziah, but he is still evil. He asks Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against Moab and Jehoshaphat agrees. They decide to pass through the desert of Edom, and the army of Edom goes with them. In the desert, they run out of water and fear they are going to die. They send for Elisha. He comes and tells them to dig ditches, lots of ditches. He also tells Jehoram and the king of Edom that they only reason God is helping them is because Jehoshaphat is a Godly king; otherwise they would die in the desert for being evil. God sends water to fill the ditches and the men and animals are able to drink the much needed water.

The king of Moab sees this from a distance and also sees red. He assumes that it is blood and that the armies have killed each other. He sends his army to go collect the spoils. However, it was not blood and his army is defeated. The allied armies chase the army of Moab back into their country and eventually to a city that the king is hiding in. In a desperate effort to save himself, the king of Moab sacrifices his son (who was heir to the throne) on the wall of the city. He killed and burnt his son for all to see. This sickened the armies and they went back home.

In chapter 4, widow sends for Elisha. She tells him that her husband has died and was in debt. Now, the creditors want to take her two sons and sell them into slavery to pay the father's debts. Elisha asks her what she owns and she says "one container of oil." Elisha tells her to borrow every container she can get her hands on. She does and then he tells her to pour oil from her container into all the other containers. She did not have a large barrel of oil. She had a pot of oil. This is like a small bottle of oil we would buy today. She begins pouring the oil and it continues to pour out of the pot until she fills every container they have borrowed. She asks for another container but they are out. Then the oil quit pouring. Elisha tells her to go and see the oil and pay her debts and she does.

Next, we are introduced to the Shunammite woman. She tells her husband that they should build a room on their house for Elisha to stay in as he travels around the area. They do and Elisha appreciates the hospitality. He asks the woman what she would like and she says she has all she needs. Elisha's servant tells Elisha that she does not have a child. Elisha calls her and tells her in a year she will have a son. The woman tells Elisha that she has not asked for anything and to not lie to her. In one year she has a son, just like Elisha said.

After some time, the child was out in the field working with his dad and began complaining of a headache. He collapsed and was taken back home, where he died in his mother's arms. The woman gets on a donkey and goes to Elisha. She tells him, "I did not ask you for anything, let alone a son, and you gave me a son only to have him die in my arms. Elisha goes to the home of the woman and stretches himself out over the boy. He does this twice, while praying, and the child is revived. He is brought back to his mother, who is ecstatic.

There is one last story. There is a famine in the land and as Elisha and his servant are staying with the sons of the prophets, they scavenge for food to make a pot of stew. One of the young men did not know what he was doing and gathered poison gourds. Not realizing what they were, the gourds were cut up and put in the stew. As the men begin eating, they realize what has happened and proclaim, "the is death in the pot." Elisha tells them to bring him some meal. He sprinkles the meal on the stew and the poison is miraculously gone. Then they can eat.

Finally, a man brings Elisha some food. Elisha commands his servant to feed all the people with it. The servant says, "Should I set this little food before 100 men?" Elisha tells him to give it to them and there will be food left over. Just like Jesus fed the 5,000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish, Elisha fed these 100 men with food for one person, and there were leftovers.

I know the summary is long, but stay with me just a little longer. Let's discuss this topic of salt again. First, salt purifies. just as in the case of Ahaziah and the disrespectful children were removed from the land. Putting salt in a wound hurts. However, it has the ability to kill some bacteria. Just the same, the message of the cross (preached by God's servants) can bring life, but it also brings the realization of death. Ahaziah could have went to Elijah first. He also could have repented and asked Elijah to pray that God would forgive him. He did neither and so the condemnation of sin brought death. Even wicked King Ahab humbled himself before God and God lessened his judgment during the life of Ahab (I Kings 21:27-29). Wicked Nineveh repented for a generation and God stayed their judgment for a time. God will hear the prayers of those who humble themselves, but when they refuse, sin is judged like bacteria killed by salt.

Second, salt preserves. Salt has been used for centuries and centuries to preserve food. Just like it kills bacteria in wounds, it kills bacteria in food that decomposes it and makes it spoil. Salt cured meat is still common today. God's people in the world preserve the world from judgment. God will not pour out his wrath upon his children (I Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9-10). An example of this in the text is Lot. When God sent his angels to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the angel told Lot to hurry and leave because he could do nothing while Lot was there (Genesis 19:22). Peter called Lot righteous, thou living in sin (II Peter 2:7-9). Lot was spared because of his past faith, not his current circumstances, and while he was there, Sodom and Gomorrah were spared. They would be until Lot was taken by the hand and removed from the city (there is a message in that about end times).

Third, salt adds flavor. Without Elisha, the Shunammite woman would have remained barren. Because Elisha prayed for her, she had the joy of a son. The prophets were able to enjoy their stew because of Elisha. Without the good Christians bring, there would only be a promise of death and despair.

Finally, salt transmits electricity, at least under the correct conditions. When salt is dissolved in water, it becomes an electrolyte. This is one of the ways that electricity is transmitted through the human body and why we need electrolytes. The electric impulses sent by our brain to our body are messages. Christians are to be conductors of God's message to the world around them. We are to preach the word. We are to send out the warning signals that danger is imminent. Just like pain receptors let you know that you are being burned, Christians are to warn the world of the flames of Hell. Just as a person has the option to take their hand away from the fire, or leave it, the world has the same choice. If they chose to burn, let it not be because the warning did not go out!