2 Kings 4:38-41
38 Elisha now returned to Gilgal, but there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, "Put on a large kettle and make some stew for these men." 39 One of the young men went out into the field to gather vegetables and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the kettle without realizing they were poisonous. 40 But after the men had eaten a bite or two they cried out, "Man of God, there's poison in this stew!" So they would not eat it. 41 Elisha said, "Bring me some flour." Then he threw it into the kettle and said, "Now it's all right; go ahead and eat." And then it did not harm them!
Some of the prophets found out after they had eaten the stew that it was poisonous; they realized poison had gone into them. After realizing it, they cried out and God had a solution. Then they ate the same stew without harm.
An existing assemblyite said that the Lord had thus spoken to them from 2 Kings 4:38-41 i.e. the Lord was going to remove the poison from the ministry since they have cut themselves off from GG. This same individual continues to say to me that they believe that since they are seeking God then God will show them if they are wrong. My response has always been, "But God has already shown you...."
Someone gave me a good response to the above which I might post later. I invite your comments.
Lord bless,
Marcia
Marcia,
Yesterday on the Wounded Pilgrims thread I said,
"This teaching did not originally come from GG at all. It has its origins in a movement known as Lutheran Pietism. This movement, was a reaction to the deadness of Lutheran theology in Germany and Scandinavia in the 1600's.
But the basic idea is always the same. God is known directly by an INNER experience rather than through His self-revelation in scripture and nature. The goal, and proof, of spirituality or right standing with God is found in the emotions, not by faith in the truth.
GG taught the English Evangelical version. You read the word and God "speaks" to you through the word....by giving you a feeling. This is known as Keswick Teaching, and Brent has described it in an article on the Iron's website."
The example of biblical "exposition" you have posted is related to this. It comes from an ancient method of allegorizing or "spiritualizing" the scriptures. It has been around since at least the second century.
GG got it from the Plymouth Bretheren, and the assemblies "caught" it from him. The idea is that if you can think of some analogy that seems to corresopond to a passage, that is a legitimate interpretation of the passage. Here is an example:
"Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank" Numbers 20:11
"Praise the Lord dear saints, isn't it wonderful how God graciously disciplines us. Moses, in this verse, stands for God's government. God has a government in the earth you know, (praise the lord), and his soveriegn rule is known as the leaders pass on the instructions of our exalted Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. (amen)
The rod is God's loving discipline. Isn't it wonderful that He loves us enough to discipline us? (amen)
The rock is the church. In those days foundations were made of rock, and the church is founded on the rock. (amen) We are all living stones....stones are made of rock you know. (laughter)
Sometimes God needs to discipline us with the rod. Now no discipline seems profitable at the time, but afterward it yields the wonderful living water...the water of life springing up in our lives. Everyone turn to John 4:13-14...(sound of heavenly breezes blowing throught the leaves)..."
Anyone getting cold chills?
You get the idea. Moses represents the leading brothers, so all the saints should be grateful when they get blasted by them.
This is the kind of "exposition" we heard weekly in the assemblies. The problem is that the rule used by sane expositors is that the way you know something from the OT is a type is that it explicitly says so in the NT.
Plymouth Brethren "church truth" is largely based on this type of allegory, and is therefore not all it is cracked up to be.
These folks in Ottowa are not seeing the death removed from the pot, they are still feasting on the corrupt stew. This is why I have repeatedly told assembly people that they need to open the windows and get some ministry from a healthy church.
Even better, they should stop playing church and get involved in a real one.
God bless,
Thomas Maddux
