2 Kings 7:6-7 God Did It!

 “For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives.” ‭‭II Kings‬ ‭7‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. For the LORD had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots… the noise of a great army: Israel was powerless against this besieging army, but God wasn’t powerless. He attacked the Syrian army simply by causing them to hear the noise of an army.

i. Perhaps God did this by putting the noise into the air; perhaps He simply created the perception of the noise in the minds of the Syrian soldiers. However God did it, it happened.

ii. The same God who struck one Syrian army so they could not see what was there now struck another Syrian army so that they heard things that were not there.

b. And left the camp intact: Everything was left behind, leaving the unlikely lepers to spoil the camp. As a result, the siege for Samaria was over – even though no one in the city knew it or enjoyed it.

i. “Everybody who went to bed that night felt that he was still in that horrible den where grim death seemed actually present in the skeleton forms of the hunger-bitten. They were as free as the harts of the wilderness had they known it: but their ignorance held them in vile durance [imprisonment].” (Spurgeon) (Guzik)

God Did It!

After retiring we decided to move and I had travelled back to my birth state to look at homes for sale. The trip was a bust after making an offer on a home and the seller and I couldn’t come to terms, so I walked away and drove back home. About a week later I received a phone call from my realtor telling me that the seller was willing to negotiate. We came to terms and purchased the property. We had planned on listing our home for sale and moving the following spring. It sold in 56 hours! God did it! He said move now! Friends from church purchased it, we didn’t know that they were looking and they didn’t know we were selling. It’s amazing how God works!

Has God done something in your life that you can say, God did it?

Blessings 

2 Kings 7:3-5 Children of Grief!

 “Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.” ‭‭II Kings‬ ‭7‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Now there were four leprous men: These men stayed at the entrance of the gatebecause they were not welcome in the city. Their leprous condition made them outcasts and untouchables.

i. “If you were to take out of the Scriptures all the stories that have to do with poor, afflicted men and women, what a very small book the Bible would become, especially if together with the stories you removed all the psalms of the sorrowful, all the promises for the distressed, and all the passages which belong to the children of grief! This Book, indeed, for the most part is made up of the annals of the poor and despised.” (Spurgeon)

ii. Unfounded Jewish traditions say these four were actually Gehazi and his three sons. Gehazi was afflicted with leprosy because of his greed toward Naaman (2 Kings 5:27).

b. Why are we sitting here until we die: Their logic was perfect. They would soon die from the famine if they stayed by the city. If any food became available, they would certainly be the last to receive it. So they decided that their chances were better if they surrendered to the Syrians.

i. “Now you perceive that there are just two courses open to you; you can sit still, but then you know that you must perish; or you can go to Christ, and your fear is that you will perish then. Yet you can but die if you go to him, and he rejects you; whereas, if you do not go to him, you must surely perish.” (Spurgeon)

c. When they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there: This huge army surrounded the city of Samaria for many months, and the camp was the home and supply center for thousands of men. When the lepers came upon it that morning, they discovered an empty army camp – fully supplied, but empty of men.

i. The words to the outskirts of the Syrian camp imply that they came not only to the edge of the camp, but that they walked around to the furthermost part of the Syrian camp, the part away from the city. They came to the camp as someone from afar would approach, not as someone from Syria. They figured that this was their best chance, coming as if they were not from the besieged city and to the least fortified positions of the camp.

ii. This approach of the lepers to the camp “… may provide the occasion for the miracle itself; perhaps the Lord had in some way magnified the stumbling footsteps of the men as they made their way around the camp’s opposite end.” (Patterson and Austel)

(Guzik)

Children of Grief!

The Bible, “This Book, indeed, for the most part is made up of the annals of the poor and despised.” (Spurgeon)

I’ve always liked this acronym, B.I.B.L.E. stands for: “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth”.

Spurgeon’s commentary hits the nail on the head and the Bible shows us that people just like us find grace and mercy with a loving God. 

“Within its pages, the Bible contains stories of faith and devotion, as well as accounts of struggles and triumphs. It offers lessons on love, forgiveness, compassion, and justice, urging individuals to live righteous and fulfilling lives. The Bible also provides a roadmap for salvation, showing believers the path to eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.” https://biblewisdomhub.org/basic-instructions-before-leaving-earth-bible/

There are several people in the Bible that stand out to me, Job when his wife tells him to curse God and die. David when his faith gives him the courage to take on a giant. Elisha when the youths yell at him, go up you bald head! The ministry of Jesus and His compassion and mercy!

Who can you relate to in the Bible?

Blessings 

2 Kings 7:1-2 Unbelief

 “Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’ ” So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”” ‭‭II Kings‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Hear the word of the LORD: Though the king of Israel blamed the LORD for the calamity that came upon Israel and Samaria, God still had a word for the king and the nation – and it was a good word.

b. Tomorrow about this time: God’s promise through Elisha was that in 24 hours the economic situation in Samaria would be completely reversed. Instead of scarcity, there would be such abundance that food prices would radically drop in the city.

i. “The gate was the market-place as well as the local court of justice.” (Wiseman)

ii. By the standards of that time, the prices listed were not cheap; but they were nothing compared to the famine conditions associated with the siege. “By the next day conditions would so improve that good products would be available again, even though at a substantial price.” (Patterson and Austel)

c. Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be: The king’s officer doubted the prophecy, and his doubt was based on several faulty premises.

i. First, he doubted the power of God. If God willed it, He certainly could make windows in heaven and drop down food from the sky for the hungry, besieged city of Samaria.

ii. Second, he doubted the creativity of God. In the mind of the king’s officer, the way food could come to the city was from above, because the city was surrounded by a hostile, besieging army. He had no idea that God could bring provision in a completely unexpected way. “How often faith breaks down in this way! It knows that God is, and that He can act. But it only sees one way, and refuses to believe that such a way will be taken. The supply came without the opening of heaven’s windows.” (Morgan)

iii. Third, he doubted the messenger of God. Though the promise was admittedly hard to believe, the king’s officer could have and should have believed it because it came from a man with an established track record of reliability.

iv. All in all, the officer well illustrates the conduct of unbelief:

· Unbelief dares to question the truthfulness of God’s promise itself.

· Unbelief says, “This is a new thing and cannot be true.”

· Unbelief says, “This is a sudden thing and cannot be true.”

· Unbelief says, “There is no way to accomplish this thing.”

· Unbelief says, “There is only one way God can work.”

· Unbelief says, “Even if God does something, it won’t be enough.”

d. In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it: Through Elisha, God pronounced a harsh judgment upon the king’s doubting officer. He would see the word fulfilled, but not benefit from its fulfillment.

i. “Unbelievers do not really enjoy the things of this life. The mass of them find that wealth does not yield them satisfaction, their outward riches cannot conceal their inner poverty. To many men it is given to have all that heart can wish, and yet not to have what their heart does wish. They have everything except contentment.” (Spurgeon)

(Guzik)

Unbelief

The disciples didn’t believe that Jesus had risen until they saw Him face to face!

“Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭16‬:‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Then we have doubting Thomas!

“Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”” John‬ ‭20‬:‭27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”” John‬ ‭20‬:‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Are you unbelieving or believing?

Blessings

2 Kings 6:30-33 Anger!

 “Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body. Then he said, “God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today!” But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said, “Surely this calamity is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”” II Kings‬ ‭6‬:‭30‬-‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. God do so to me and more also: The king was deeply grieved and angry – but not with himself, with Israel, or with their sin. The king was angry against the prophet of God.

b. Surely this calamity is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer: The king of Israel was honest enough to admit that his real anger was against the LORD. (Guzik)

Anger!

Anger is an emotion that we all deal with. I am reminded of Jonah and his anger!

“Then the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?”” Jonah‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Jonah believed that the people of Nineveh didn’t deserve God’s mercy! Isn’t that just like our human nature, wanting to place ourselves on God’s throne and decide who deserves grace and forgiveness?

It is said that when we go home to heaven we will be surprised who’s there and who’s not!

God gets to decide who deserves grace, not us!

“and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Do you believe He died for all?

Blessings 

2 Kings 6:24-29 Disobeyed God!

 “And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver. Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my Lord, O king!” And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”” II Kings‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬-‭29‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria: Though the kindness of Elisha and the king of Israel changed the heart of the Syrian raiders, it did not change the heart of the king of Syria. He launched a large, full-scale attack against his neighbor to the south.

i. He used the common method of attack in those days against securely walled cities: He besieged Samaria. A siege was intended to surround a city, prevent all business and trade from entering or leaving the city, and to eventually starve the population into surrender.

b. There was a great famine in Samaria: The siege strategy successfully starved Samaria. The famine was so bad that a donkey’s head or dove droppings became so expensive that only the rich could afford them.

i. Wiseman says that dove droppings is better translated as carob beans, and that five shekels of silver were more than a month’s wages for a laborer.

ii. Yet, Poole writes: “That dove’s dung, though it be hotter than ordinary, might in other respects be fitter for nourishment than other, as being made of the best and purest grains, and having some moisture in it.”

iii. “When Hannibal besieged Casiline, one mouse was sold for two hundred pence. Puddings made of dogs’ guts were dear bought at the siege of Scodra.” (Trapp)

c. Give your son, that we may eat him: This shows how terrible the famine was. Mothers were so hungry that they ate their own children.

i. Deuteronomy 28 contains an extended section where God warned Israel about the curses that would come upon them if they rejected the covenant He made with them. Part of that chapter describes the horrors fulfilled in this chapter: They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.(Deuteronomy 28:52-53)

ii. These terrors came upon Israel because they disobeyed God, rejected Him, and abandoned the covenant He made with them. (Guzik)

Disobeyed God!

Some parts of the Bible are hard to digest, like these verses! But we have to remember that this happened because they disobeyed and rejected God!

The book of Revelations is prophecy about the end times and what happens to mankind because they rejected God. Thank God for Jesus Christ!

I am glad I won’t be around for what is coming!

I am reminded about the lyrics in a song about meeting friends again someday, “Here, there, or in the air”! 

If I don’t see you here, I will see you there (heaven) or in the “air” during the rapture!

“Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” ‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

I can’t wait to go home to be with the Lord!

What about you?

Blessings 

2 Kings 6:18-23 Overcome Evil with Good!

 “So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” But he led them to Samaria. So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria! Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” But he answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel.” II Kings‬ ‭6‬:‭18‬-‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Strike this people, I pray, with blindness: The Syrian soldiers could not see the spiritual army, so they did not hesitate to approach Elisha. But just as he previously prayed that God would give sight to his servant, he then asked God to strike this people… with blindness. God answered this prayer, just as He previously answered the prayer to give perception to the servant.

i. This shows us that God may grant sight or send blindness, according to His wisdom and in response to the prayers of His people.

ii. “Not with a total blindness, that they could see nothing, for then they would not have followed him; but with a partial blindness, that they could not distinctly discern the man they sought; which might be by some alteration made by God in their brain, or in the air.” (Poole)

b. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek: Here Elisha told a technical truth but certainly intended to deceive. He did in fact bring them to the man they sought (when their eyes were opened, Elisha was there with them). However, he led them back to Samaria – the capital city of the kingdom of Israel and an unfriendly place for a group of Syrian soldiers.

i. Yet, Elisha’s gentle deception demonstrates a principle: the blind are easily deceived. Those who are spiritually blind should appreciate that they can be easily deceived regarding spiritual things.

c. You shall not kill them: Instead of killing these enemy soldiers, Elisha instead commanded the king of Israel to treat them with kindness and generosity. This practice of answering evil with good successfully changed the policy of free-lance raiders from Syria (So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel). (Guzik)

Overcome Evil with Good!

Paul explains this principle in the book of Romans!

“Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

When I was still working there was a certain click of people that disliked me, they would say or do anything they could to make my job harder. One small act of kindness I would do was hold the door open for them. One individual would push the door closed in front of me. But after six months they were holding the door open for me! If they needed help I would gladly provide it. I was applying the principle, overcome evil with good.

Have you applied this biblical principle?

Blessings