Elisha Feeds a Hundred Men Bible story for kids

Supper smelled like supper. Which is the funny part of this story, little one — because in a minute, nobody is going to eat it.

The place was Gilgal. There was a famine in the land: no rain, no crops, nothing much in the market. And Elisha had come back to the men who learned with him — the same crowd whose little house was much too small.

"Put on the large pot," Elisha told his servant, "and boil some stew for these men."

Out came the large pot. And one of the men went out to the field to find something to put in it.

He found a wild vine sprawling along the ground, with round little gourds hanging off it. Did he know what they were? He did not. He gathered as many as his clothes could hold, chopped them into the pot, and gave it a good stir. He was only trying to help.

The stew was poured out. The men lifted their bowls. One bite — and every spoon went down.

"Man of God!" they cried. "There is death in the pot!"

So they stopped. Every bowl went back on the table, and nobody ate another mouthful. Which was good. And also: now there was nothing to eat at all. In a famine.

Elisha said something very plain. "Then bring flour."

Flour — the plainest, whitest thing in the whole kitchen. God has fed a whole nation on something just about that color before. Elisha threw it in, stirred it through, and said, "Pour it out for the men, so they may eat."

And there was nothing harmful in the pot. Not one thing. The bowls went round again — and this time, they ate.

Now, you would think that was plenty of wonder for one kitchen.

But a man came up the road from a town with a wonderful big name — Baal Shalishah — carrying the very first bread of the harvest. Twenty loaves of barley bread, and fresh heads of new grain. Twenty loaves! In a famine! That is a treasure.

"Give it to the men," said Elisha. "Let them eat."

The servant looked at the bread. Then he looked round the room. "How am I supposed to set this in front of a hundred men?"

Fair question. Twenty loaves. One hundred hungry men. You can do that math, little one, and it does not come out well.

Elisha only said it again. "Give it to the men, so they may eat. For this is what the Lord says: They will eat, and they will have some left over."

So the servant set it down. And they ate — hands reaching, bread going round and round that room, nobody counting careful crumbs. They ate until they were full.

And when the last man sat back, there was bread still on the table.

Do you remember the bread that came down in the desert, every morning for forty years? When they measured it out, everybody had exactly enough — not one bite more, not one bite less. This time, there was more.

In one hungry room, in one hungry country, God took a spoiled pot and made it safe, and took twenty small loaves and made them plenty. Not barely enough, little one. Enough — and some to spare.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Let your shoulders down, little one. May the same God who still had bread left over after the last hungry man was full... be just as generous with you.