A “siege” is a military term, which the dictionary describes as a “military blockade of a city or fortified place to compel it to surrender”. This was common in Biblical times. In those days, cities were usually surrounded with walls to protect them from invasion by other nations. There is usually a city gate attached to the wall. Anytime there was a threat to the peace and security of a city, the gates were closed, and that effectively prevented anyone from going in or coming out.
Whilst this is an excellent military strategy, it also has the effect of cutting off food and other supplies that are needed for daily sustenance. Thus, those shut in the city were left with what was planted within the walls or what they had before the siege began. The invading army will usually encamp around the city under siege, ready to rush in or take over when the gates were opened. Sometimes the siege could last for several days, as when Israel encamped against the city of Jericho in Joshua 6:6-21 and Walls of Jericho fell after 7days, or when King Nebuchadnezzar encamped against the city of Tyre for about 13 years (see Ezekiel 29:17-22). Sometimes, the invading army will leave the city alone because they don’t have a choice. That what happened when King Sennacherib of Assyria laid a siege on Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah (see Isaiah 37:8-37) One night, God sent just one angel who killed 185,000 soldiers!
The awful effects of a siege are well chronicles in Deuteronomy 28:49-57, where the Bible says:
“The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51 It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.
52 “They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces,[d] and to the last of the children whom he has left, 55 so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces,[e] to her son and to her daughter, 57 her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns.” ESV
The King of Syria had laid a siege against the city of Samaria at the time of King Jehoram. The famine in the land was so severe that people resorted to cannibalism. Food considered to be unclean was not only eaten but became extremely expensive, so that only those who were able to afford them could buy them. Thus, things like doves dung or waste became an expensive commodity. The Bible records, in 2 Kings 6:24-33:
“Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. 26 Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” 27 And he said, “If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” 28 And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body— 31 and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”
32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?” 33 And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” ESV
It was in this state of utter hopelessness facing Samaria that the Prophet Elisha stood up and declared: “By this time tomorrow, a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria!” The modern day equivalent is like saying: “By this time tomorrow, 40 McDonald’s sandwiches will sell for 1 cent!”
Of course, this was unbelievable! However, a true child of God is always guided by the words of the Bible in Luke 1:37
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” ESV
When the government official who sat at the gate heard this pronouncement, he derided the words of the prophet. He told him that even if the Lord opened the windows of heaven that will not happen! “However, because of his unbelief, Elisha told him that he will see it happen, but he will not live to eat of it. And that was exactly what happened!
Let’s read from 2 Kings 7: 1-20:
Elisha Promises Food
7 But 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.” 2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
The Syrians Flee
3 Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” 5 So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. 6 For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. 12 And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’” 13 And one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” 14 So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” 15 So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.
16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. 17 Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. 18 For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” 19 the captain had answered the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he had said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 20 And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.” ESV
In Samaria, at the time of siege, there lived 4 lepers who were locked out of the city gates. In those days, lepers were social outcasts and considered unclean. They lived in desolate places, because leprosy was a highly contagious disease that cut off body parts like fingers, toes, noses etc., so others avoided them like a plague. Also, anyone that touched a leper automatically became unclean too. Whenever they moved about, they had to shout: “Unclean”, so that others will know that they are around and avoid them. However, during the siege of Samaria, God used these lepers to bring good news of abundance to a starving community.
The lepers were also feeling the effects of the siege, as nobody could throw scraps of food to them from within the city. They were very hungry and sat down to have a conversation on their future. They reasoned that if they went to the Syrian camp, they could either be pitied and given some, food, or they could be killed. The alternative to this was for them to starve to death. So, they decided to put their fate in the hands of the Syrians, and therefore set out to visit their camp. To their amazement, the camp was empty! All the Syrian soldiers had fled!
What happened was God had caused them to hear a lot of noise, the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army coming to fight them. They thought that the King of Samaria had hired the Hittite and Egyptian armies to fight against them, so they fled, leaving behind all their food, supplies and ammunitions!
You can imagine the joy, astonishment and utter happiness of the 4 lepers! They couldn’t believe their eyes! They initially ate as much food as they wanted, and took expensive clothes and hid them. Then, they had a moment of remorse. They realized that it was day of good news, but they were keeping it to themselves. They thought about all the people starving in the city, so they decided to take the good news back to the city. They ran to the city gate and called out to those within the city to let them know about their discovery. However, when the King got the message, he was skeptical, as he thought that this was just a ruse to get them to open the city gate so that the Syrians can attack them. He sent some officials to verify the truth of this report, and lo and behold, it was the truth!
The gates of Samaria were flung open!
The siege was over!
A miracle had just happened!
As people rushed over to get food and take the spoils of war left behind by the Syrian soldiers, the King’s official who had said that it was impossible for God to give food in abundance was trampled to the ground by the crowd, and so he died!
There are several lessons to learn from this story.
1. God can do anything. He can turn any situation around in a moment.
2. All power belongs to God. He can use any method to work deliverance for his children. The Syrian army heard footsteps, but did not verify who was coming. They fled without finding out who was there. That can only be the power of God.
3. God can act suddenly. Here, the men of Samaria experienced a 24 hour miracle. I prophesy into the life of everyone reading this that God will suddenly visit you in your situation today. What the devil meant for evil in your life, God will turn it around for your good. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
4. God compensates. After the siege, God gave all the provisions and spoils of war to the men of Samaria.
5. God can frighten your enemies. They will think that you have received external help without knowing that the help is from God.
6. God can use men rejected by society to bring deliverance to a city.
So, how does this story apply to us in modern times? There are situations that a lot of people are going through these days that we can classify as a siege. For example, there could be:
a. Economic or financial siege.
b. Marital siege.
c. Academic siege.
d. Business siege.
e. Health siege.
It can be as a result of a gang up or conspiracy against you or your family.
I pray that whatever siege you are facing right now that God will bring it speedily to an end today. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!
Never give up! There is a miracle waiting for you at the corner right now! You will soon be singing this song:
THE SIEGE IS OVER!
