Food Reach One Hundred People

Twenty small loaves of barley bread. One hundred men wey hungry. Calculate am, e no go balance. And yet one prophet talk: share am give dem.

We dey for di northern kingdom of Israel, about eight hundred and fifty years before Jesus. Famine dey di land. Rain no fall, di farms poor, and food scarce. Di prophet Elisha, wey take over di work of di great prophet Elijah, dey stay for Gilgal with one company of prophets, one group of men wey dey learn from am and dey serve God together. Dem be about one hundred. And hunger dey catch dem. Earlier for dat same day, one pot of stew don spoil because of wild gourds wey get poison, until Elisha pour small flour inside am and make am safe to chop. Food dey everybody mind.

Then one man arrive from one place wey dem dey call Baal-shalishah. E carry gift for Elisha, di man of God. Inside im bag, twenty loaves of barley bread dey, wey dem make from di first grain of di harvest, and some fresh heads of grain. Dis ones no be big bread like our own. Dem small, flat, round bread, di kind wey one person fit chop for one meal. Barley na di grain of ordinary people and poor people, di first crop wey dey ripe for spring. And dis na im firstfruits, di very first of im harvest. For time of famine, dat one na gift wey cost am.

Elisha look di bread, then e look di one hundred men wey dey around am. And e tell im servant: Give am to di people, make dem chop. Di servant no fit believe im ear. Wetin? Make I put dis one for front of one hundred men? Twenty small loaves for one hundred grown men. Everybody go just get small crumb and go back with hunger. But Elisha talk am again. Give am to di people, make dem chop. Because na so di Lord talk: dem go chop, and some go remain. No be Elisha own idea. Na word from God. No be just enough. Some go remain.

So di servant do am. E put di bread for di front of di men. Dem chop. And dem continue to dey chop. And when dem finish, bread remain, exactly as di Lord talk. Di Bible tell di whole miracle inside only three verses, quietly, without noise. One man wey get open hand give di first of wetin e get. One prophet trust di word of God. And God make one small gift feed crowd, with extra remain.

Di man bring im firstfruits give Elisha, and dat one no too common. Di law of Moses talk say di first of di harvest suppose go to di priests for di sanctuary of God. But for di time of Elisha, di northern kingdom dey worship for shrines wey dia kings set up, with golden calves for Bethel and Dan. E be like say plenty faithful people for di north dey bring dia gifts to di prophets of God instead.

Food Reach One Hundred People. You go find am for Second Kings chapter four, verse forty-two to forty-four. Hundreds of years after, Jesus collect five barley loaves from one small boy for one hillside near di Sea of Galilee, and e feed five thousand people, with baskets wey remain. Di God wey feed di prophets na im feed di crowds, and for Christmas, Christians dey remember say di child wey dem born for Bethlehem, di town wey im name mean house of bread, call imself di bread of life. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. One man bring small gift, and God make am more than enough. Wetin small you fit give dis Christmas, as you trust God to use am?