Why Sit We Here Until We Die?

Why Sit Here Until We Die?

By Pastor James May

2 Kings 6:24 – 7:20

2 Kings 7:3-5, "And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there."

There was a severe famine in the land of Israel. This famine wasn’t the result of a drought, or swarms of locusts that would sometimes scour the land of every green plant and leaf, but it was the result of a war. God had allowed the Syrian Army, under the command of Benhadad, to come against Samaria in Israel because of the sins of their king, Jehoram, who was the son of Ahab and Jezebel. Most of you will remember that Ahab was the worst king that Israel ever had, and that Jezebel, Ahab’s Queen, was the one who ruled Israel behind the scenes because she influenced Ahab to bring Israel into idolatry.

I have often wondered if Ahab would have been such an evil king if he had found a queen among his own people instead of marrying a woman of the Zidonians, a people who worshipped Baal and didn’t know the God of Israel. Could Ahab have been influenced for good by a godly queen, instead of being influenced for evil by an idol-worshipping wife?

If only he had learned to serve the Lord, the history of Ahab would have been so very different. But let Ahab’s life, and his eternal punishment, be a warning to all who would refuse to hear the Word of God when it says in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

How many Christians today are marrying someone who doesn’t serve the Lord? Do they not understand that they are walking in the same footprints of Ahab? The beautiful young woman, who lives for the devil, will be the downfall of a man who might otherwise have been used greatly by God. That handsome young man who seems so kind and wonderful now, will soon show his true colors. The character traits of his family, the family of Satan, will surface quickly and then you will feel like you have married the devil himself. Young lady or young man, (and even if you aren’t so young anymore) if you are contemplating courtship and marriage – be careful of who you become involved with. If their first qualification isn’t that they serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and aren’t faithful to the House of God, then run from them. Break it off with that ungodly man or woman before you lose your relationship with Christ and your name is blotted out of the Lambs Book of Life forever. Don’t let you epitaph read like Ahab’s. God will bring the right person along for you in His time. And believe me, you are better off living alone for the rest of your life, than to get married to devil worshipper! They don’t have to have a pentagram painted on the floor, or a goat’s head hanging in their den, or a Ouija Board on the coffee table to be devil worshipper. All they have to do to qualify as a child of the devil is to not be saved by the Blood of Jesus. If any man, or any woman, is not saved, born again, and transformed into a child of God, then they are a devil worshipper. It’s that simple!

I know that even Christians who marry other Christians will have a life that is filled with trouble and trials, but when both are serving the Lord, God will help them to be overcomers. There is no such promise to those who serve the devil.