Another very interesting account today from 2 Kings 6-7.
• The capital of Israel, Samaria came under siege by the Arameans.
• It was to be an opportunity for Israel to turn back to God and trust Him.
• Let’s read what happens. Let’s read the first part – 2 Kings 6:24-33.
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The author painted the severity of the situation. The entire army of Aram was mobilised against the city of Samaria and the siege lasted for a long time (6:25).
• No one could leave or enter the city and therefore a great famine resulted.
• It was so severe that even a donkey’s head (without much meat) and a little seed pods (or dove's dung) were sold at exorbitant prices.
• Actually the donkey is considered an unclean animal (according to the Law, cf. Lev 11:2-7) but nobody cares in a famine.
• Even a donkey’s head, the least edible part, was sold at a high price.
And as if this wasn’t bad enough, we were told of a case of cannibalism.
• The King was walking along on the wall of the city when a woman cried out for his help.
• His scornful reply was, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” (6:27)
• What can we do if God chose to ignore our sufferings and not to help us? There was a hint that it was God’s fault.
This insinuation was incorrect. We have seen God helping the helpless and providing for His faithful ones, just in the last few chapters.
• God did not abandoned His people. It was the other way around.
• Israel has abandoned God, when she chose to worship Baal and reject Him.
• What they were facing wasn’t just a war with the Arameans but the disciplining judgement of God.
• This crisis was a wake-up call for them to turn back to God and seek His face. Heed God’s Word and repent! Seek God and wait for His deliverance!
God does not spring surprises. Judgements of God are always forewarned.
• God has clearly stated His will for them right at the beginning (cf. Deut 28), before they entered the Promised Land. God made a covenant with them.
• Israel would enjoy the blessings of God in this land for their obedience, and suffer the consequences for their disobedience.
• And God repeated these words many times through the prophets.
We’ve been reading through the book of ISAIAH every Sunday.
• They are prophetic warnings of God for Israel/Judah of impending judgments to come because they had rejected Him.
• God warns before He disciplines. God states His will before His judgements.
• WHY? Because He takes no pleasure in punishing people. God is not out to harm you but to save you. God disciplines those He loves. He disciplines us for our good. (cf. Heb 12)
We take God at His Word. GOD’S WORD REVEALS WHAT IS RIGHT
• Israel transgressed God’s commands and suffered as a result.
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The King heard this messed-up story of the women taking turns to eat their sons.
• This is the result of living without God and His Word. Don’t blame it on the famine or the difficult circumstances; it’s sin.
• Sin depraves and corrupts man. Sin leads man to evil.
By God’s grace, we can live righteously even in harsh circumstances.
• We have sure victory IN Christ and only IN Christ.
• 1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
• Sin can never be justified under any circumstances.
The King was outraged at what he has just heard and tore his robes in anguish.
• The author revealed that he was actually wearing a sackcloth - a coarse material usually made from goal’s hair.
• In those times, it means a time of sorrow and repentance. Elisha might have told the King of the need to repent and return to God, and seek Him for deliverance.
• We believe Elisha might have spoken the Word of God to him because he was angry with Elisha and wanted to kill him. He felt Elisha was to be blamed for all this.
We did not see any genuine repentance, only unbelief. There was an unwillingness to believe God and seek Him.
• The King lost patience with God and with Elisha and ordered that he be beheaded that very day (6:31).
• But by God’s sovereign grace, the King was led to have second thoughts.
• After sending the killer to behead Elisha, the King ran after him because he wanted to have a word with Elisha.
By divine revelation (from an all-knowing God) - as we’ve seen from the previous chapter - Elisha knew the King’s plan. He knew that a killer was on his way and that the King was behind him.
• We’ve seen the Lord guiding His servant with divine revelations a couple of times already. We can trust God to guide us through His Word.
• Elisha instructed the elders who were with him to bar the door of the house and hold the killer until the King arrives.
• We see again the grace of God at work. Nothing happened by chance.
• God works to fulfil His will and protects His righteous one. Elisha will not die prematurely. God is sovereignly in control over our lives.
When the King arrived, he was given the chance to talk to Elisha.
• He said, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” (6:33)
• If this is from the Lord, then how long more must we wait? Is God going to intervene? Is God going to do something?
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Let’s read 2 Kings 7:1-2
Elisha announced a prophecy. Within 24 hours, flour and barley would be sold at cheaper prices at the gate of Samaria.
• About this time tomorrow, the siege would be over. There would be food to eat.
• This sudden change was too good to be true and too soon to be believable.
The officer assisting the King retorted with mocking disbelief: “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”
• He was thinking naturally and logically. Even if it rains now, we would have to grow the crops. That’s thinking with a natural mind.
• We’ve see God providing supernaturally, in unexpected ways. He would do it again.
Man must take God at His Word. GOD’S WORD SAYS WHAT IS TRUE.
The Word of God will come true. Elisha assured the officer that he would see it, but he himself would not be able to enjoy it.
• God not only reveals WHAT would happen, He states the timing of WHEN it would take place – in a day’s time.
Let’s read how God did it - 2 Kings 7:3-20
Four lepers, who were housed outside the city (because they need to stay separated from the rest of the population), were mulling over their options.
• To stay put, enter the city, or surrender to the Arameans. The first two would mean death by starvation.
• But to surrender to the enemy would mean a slim chance of survival, if the Arameans hold them as prisoners.
So 7:5 says “AT DUSK they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans.”
• Amazingly, 7:7 “So they got up and fled in the DUSK and abandoned their tents…”
• As the lepers were coming, the Arameans were fleeing. The lepers found the camp deserted, with animals and supplies left behind.
God had caused them to hear noises that made them think the armies of the Hittites and Egyptians were descending on them, hired by the King of Israel.
• They panicked and fled, leaving everything behind. The lepers helped themselves to everything that was there (eating and drinking and stocking up for their retirement) until their consciences pricked them.
• They shouldn’t be enjoying this all by themselves. They returned to their city and informed their people.
These unclean lepers became the crucial bearers of good news for the successful outcome of God’s deliverance.
• The discovery of God’s work was placed in the hands of society’s rejects.
• Think about it, God’s deliverance at the cross, the Gospel, the good news, is now placed in our hands.
Initially the King was sceptical, suspecting a possible trap or an ambush.
• He did not seriously consider the prophecy of God given through Elisha earlier on.
• He needed to check it out and ordered two chariots to do it.
• They followed a trail of discarded clothing and equipment all the way to the Jordan River, 40km from Samaria.
• The Arameans had really fled beyond the Jordan. And the city celebrated.
Man must take God at His Word. GOD’S WORD BRINGS WHAT IS GOOD
And the city celebrated. The people started selling the plunder and food at the gate.
• So heavy was the traffic at the gate that the officer assisting the King was trampled to death.
• This man, who had mocked the Word of God and His ability to do what He said, did not get to enjoy anything.
Are you frustrated because you felt that God was not moving fast enough to solve a problem? Are you in a problem so huge that you felt God cannot turn things around?
God saved Samaria by a miracle, entirely on His own without the aid of men.
• It happened in one day, as He promised. God could turn things around in one day.
• The long siege was God’s discipline and a wake-up call for them to return to God.
Let us take God at His Word. His Word reveals what is right, says what is true, and brings about what is good.
