2 Kings 4:39-41, “And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.”

The sons of the prophets had unknowingly gathered poisonous gourds for their pottage, and it became deadly. Likewise, there have always been many doctrines that contain the harmful “gourds”—heresies garnered from past and present teachings and mingled with the truth to create a palatable doctrine. Those who lack sufficient grounding in the scriptures do not discern the falsehoods and accept them.

Today, there are many predatory religious leaders who craft custom recipes to serve to those who have a taste for their concoctions. These connoisseurs of doctrinal dishes prepare them to attract the spiritually hungry who seek things desirable to their specific taste; they are unaware that there is death in the pot.

There have always been wild gourds in doctrinal stews, exemplified by the allegory of wild gourds that the sons of the prophets prepared when Elisha was present.

Elisha, responding to the cries of those who realized there was death in the pot, instructed them to bring a cruse of meal, and after casting the meal into the pot, there was no more harm in it.

The meal cast into the pot represents the Word of God, the Bread of Life. God restores truth to His people with His word. When the meal is put in the pot tainted by the poison gourds of false doctrines and heresies, the harm is removed.

Many people of faith today are akin to the sons of the prophets. They have inherited doctrines concocted by others before them, and they do not question what they have been taught. Traditional teachings passed on often contain harmful gourds that believers are often not aware of, but there is healing in receiving the perfect word if we trust the Bible rather than private renderings of the scriptures passed on by traditions and noted teachers.

Religious doctrines are inherited, not the perfect truth as taught by the spirit. That is the difference between prophets and the sons of the prophets—the one receives from God; the other is a collective faith inherited from the teachings of men. One must be able to sort out wild gourds; peer pressure within a community lacking sound doctrine creates a tendency to defer to the consensus beliefs of that group. A true follower of the Lord will stand alone when necessary, when prompted by the Spirit in that direction.

Elisha had the opportunity to abide with the sons of the prophets in a place of contentment but continued following Elijah, who was more than the son of a prophet. Elisha, as did Elijah, desired more than carving out a societal place for himself among the sons of the prophets. Elisha desired to receive directly from God rather than residing with and eating the bread of his peers.

When trust is placed solely in the knowledge of others, discernment is lost, and wild gourds are gathered to be added to the doctrinal stew; death is in the pot.

The sons of the prophets had not attained the same spiritual level as their fathers. Elisha refused to abide with them when provided the opportunity to do so. He continued on with Elijah, who was a prophet and more than the son of a prophet. Elisha was determined to receive a double portion of the spirit that rested upon Elijah, which he achieved through perseverance, transcending the social constructs of religious contentment.

While some press to go beyond the stagnation of religion, most choose to adapt to the comforts of conformity, living out a faith of traditions. As a result, they miss out on receiving a double portion of the spirit.

The smorgasbord of things to believe is full of selections. At the same time, the world is experiencing a famine of the truth. Everyone must eat something, but most people will not taste the spoilage of a pottage tainted by “wild gourds” if they are starving and it fills them temporarily.

Restoring the unadulterated word, the Bread of Life, provides the answer for the world. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life—the bread that came down from heaven.”