Why Are We Sitting Here Until We Die

Why are we sitting here

Until we die?

2 Kings 7:1-11

1. 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.’ ’’

2. 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.’’

3. 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?

4. "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 but die.’’

5. 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.

6. 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!’’

7. 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.

8. And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

9. Then they said to one another, "We are not doing what is right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.’’

10. So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, "We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.’’

11. And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.

Introduction:

This passage is set against the backdrop is a desperate situation. The city of Samaria was surrounded by the Syrian army. The people within the walls of the city were literally starving to death. Notice the conditions of the day

2 Kings 6:25-29

25. 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.

26. Then, 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 does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?’’

28. 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.’

29. "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.’’

Then, one day, a message of hope came from a most unlikely source. Four strange messengers brought a strange message to the city gate that changed everything for those trapped inside the city.

This message was a message of life and hope, yet it was a message that was almost never told! Let’s look into the details of this message and the men who carried it and think for a few minutes on the subject, "And We Hold Our Peace!"

This passage has much to say to you and me this evening. You see, we also have a message of hope and life that needs to be shared with a world that is trapped in sin and darkness. They have no hope, and we hold our peace. They have no way out, and we hold our peace. My prayer is that we will see that the days of sitting silently by while the world perishes are over forever! I pray that we will see that we need to share the message we have been given. Let’s notice the details of this text and see what it has to say to us tonight.