Left Behind

Left Behind 1/17/2006

2 Kings 7:3-9

Many people have read the series of books, “Left behind” where it is the stories and the events for those left here on earth after the rapture. Now I’ve never started reading the series, I’ve heard they are pretty addicting.

And we all have heard the motto, “No child left behind” where the principle is that all children should be given the same opportunity to get an education.

And we have all watched the movies where the hero’s where they have the have the same theory that we are not leaving anyone behind. Everyone survives.

And that will be our topic today.

If you are here this morning and you have already entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ then and you have reserved your spot in eternity in Heaven then you should not want anyone else left behind as well.

So this morning we will look at a story in the Old Testament that shares this same theme. Before we look at our text let me give you a little background here. The kingdom that David had past down to his son, Solomon, was called Israel. Now Solomon was the king who had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Of course that lead to Solomon’s downfall, but out of that he had two sons who were bad. So the kingdom split after Solomon’s death into two separate kingdoms; the Northern Kingdom known as Israel and the Southern Kingdom known as Judah. Today’s story comes from the Northern Kingdom Israel.

The army of the Syrians had surrounded Israel so therefore all import and all exporting had been cut off. No food could come in and after awhile the food supply had dwindled into a serious famine. So the Kingdom of Israel could not go out to get some food. So they could not flight, they could fight. Without God’s blessing they were greatly out matched by the Syrians. No flight, no fight, so their only choice was fright and to stay in the protection within the walls of the city. And that is where we pick up our text.

Read verses 3-4

So we find these four lepers sitting outside the city gates. Now leprosy was very contagious so these men were outcast. They sit down and began to discus their options. They could sit there outside the gates and eventually starve to death. Or they could go inside the city but they would still starve to death. Or they could go to the Syrian army and maybe they would have pity on them and give them something to eat, or they could take them as prisoners and give them something to eat. Or they would kill them, but they were going to die anyway. So they chose the latter of the choices and to try their luck with the Syrian army.

But upon their arrival they had a big surprise. (Read verses 5-8)

God had preformed a miracle. He had done the impossible. He turned on the sounds effects and made the Syrian Army think that the King of Israel had hired all these other armies to fight with them and God caused them to hear these armies coming so they basically ran for their lives, leaving behind everything but the cloths on their back.

So when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp they couldn’t believe their eyes. Instead of finding an army the found the mother load. All the food they could eat, brand new wardrobes, and all the money they could want. They went from leprosy to luxury.

I can just see them stuffing their faces. Trying on the different cloths. Throwing the money up in the air and doing a little happy dance. So the begin to go into other tents and then they were hiding the spoils then going to another tent and hide the spoils they got from there. They were like a bunch of chipmunks stuffing their jaws and then burry their treasure. But then something happened.

Read verses 9-10

While they were having all this fun this little matter came up. What are we going to do about all the people who they left behind within the walls of the city? The ones who they left starving. The ones who probably showed them very little concern while they sat outside of the gate. They didn’t know this news. As far as they knew they were still surrounded by Syrian army.

And if you are here this morning and are a Christian having entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ then think about this. Go back to the time you accepted Jesus as your own personal Savior. Go back to the time when you made that discovery. A time where you were able to enjoy the riches of God’s grace. A time where you where able to experience God’s forgiveness. You were able to enjoy the blessings of His eternal life and have a personal relationship with Him.