12. Heavenly Economics for Life’s Famines

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Hymns: 358 What a Friend We Have in Jesus, 359 My Faith Looks Up to Thee 360 My God, Is Any Hour So Sweet

Life of Elisha

(Serving Our Faithful God)

– Heavenly Economics for Life’s Famines

2 Kings 6:24-7:20

2 Kings 6:24-33 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. 31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. 32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?

2 Kings 7:1-20 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 3 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? 4 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. 5 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. 6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. 9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household. 10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king’s house within. 12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see. 14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. 16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

 

OUTLINE

  • The Horrific Scene of Famine (v24-33)
  • The Heavenly Supply for the Famine (v1-20)

 

INTRODUCTION

“Heavenly Econimics for Life’s Famines” taken from 2 Kings 6:24-7:20.

There are times when God allows His people to suffer a season of famine. These are sobering times when physical supplies are dwindling and no new supplies are forthcoming. It can be a job loss. It can be a disease that causes the breadwinner in the home to have to stop work. Where will the next meal come? During these so called “evil days” what is the people supposed to do? I submit to you that they are to call upon their God to open the windows of heaven to supply their need. Will God help? Surely He will!

Recall the story of the prodigal son.

Luke 15:12-24 …said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

We see the father looking out for the son to return. When he saw the son, he welcomed him home with open arms.

Jesus said If you have a need, call to your Father in heaven and He will supply your every need. An earthly father will do good to his son what more our heavenly Father. He urges us to pray, call upon the Lord for help.

Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

God will help His children as the psamist testified in Psalm 37.

Psalm 37:18-29 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. 21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. 22 For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. 23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. 27 Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. 28 For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. 29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

 When you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you surrender your life to His care. You can be very sure that He will take good care of you. There are times when the people of God walks out of His will and He may send famine life’s way to wake us out of our backsliding and bring us back to Him.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel during the time of Elisha in the divided kingdom was in such a state. Jehoram was king. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel, the king who maligned and murdered to steal Nabaoth’s vineyard. God jugded Ahab and Jezebel severely. Samaria was the capital of Israel.

During the reign of Ahab, he erected a temple for Baal in Samaria abandoning the pseudo-Jehovah calf worship system set up by Jeroboam when the kingdom split after the death of Solomon. You recall during the time of prophet Elijah; God sent a three-year drought and the slaughter of 450 prophets of Baal at the hand of Elijah. And the king of Syria Benhadad came and besieged Samaria. They failed. In spite of his spiritual blindness, God sent word through His prophet three times to deliver them from the siege for the sake of His honour:

 1 Kings 20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

1 Kings 20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

1 Kings 20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Israel was victorious because they obeyed the Lord. The feud with Syria did not end with the death of Ahab.

You recalled last week; we saw how the Syrian army failed time and again in their ambush because the prophet Elisha provided divine intelligence to thwart Syria’s advances each time. The king of Syria was so mad; he sent his army to surround the city of Dothan where Elisha resided. And how Elisha prayed, and God smote the entire army with blindness. They were led to Samaria where the main army of Israel was, and God removed their blindness only to see they were surrounded by Israelite soldiers. All the Syrian soldiers fed and were spared. They were kindly treated perchance they may come to acknowledge and worship the God of Israel as the living and true God.

Now we see the Syrian army back again. This time, the Lord allowed the Syrian army to besieged Samaria for an extended time. There was a great famine in Samaria. There was hyperinflation in the city; food was scarce and the black market thriving.

Today, we see famine in Vanazeula. Inflation was 200% last year. This year the IMF projected 700%. But in the last three months, inflation has been 100% every month. You go to the restaurant for a meal, you have to bring a pile of currencies this week and the next week, the pile is doubled. There is government exchange control imposed; its people cannot get other currency except in the black market which rates are exorbitant.

A decade ago, it took two years or so from 2006-2008 before the currency in Zimbabwe currency was totally destroyed. We see that the entire world currency system is spiraling itself into an imminent collapse.

 

Two thoughts:

  • The Horrific Scene of Famine (v24-33)
  • The Heavenly Supply for the Famine (v1-20)

 

(1) The Horrific Scene of Famine (v24-33)

2 Kings 6:24-33 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.

 

As the donkey was “unclean,” (Lev. 11:3), it would not be eaten except in the last resort; and its head would be its worst and cheapest part. [Barnes] A Jew wanting to obey God’s law would refrain from eating that. The situation has been so bad that animal meat has become so scarce, even the head of the donkey with the little meat on it is precious. Fourscore pieces of silver (80 shekels) is two pounds of silver. A lot of money! Hyperinflation!

– and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.

Four pints of dove’s dung for fuel was worth 5 shekels of silver. Just as God had warned through Moses long before, willful national rebellion against His Word would reduce His proud and privileged people to savage cannibalism (Lev. 26:29; Deut. 28:53 cf. Lam. 4:10).[1]

26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.

Deuteronomy 28:52-58 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. 53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: 54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: 55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. 58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;

Repent of your sins and come back to God, O wayward Israel! The trials in life can be due to sin. It can be God testing our faith like the case of Job. He was a man who feared God and eschewed evil. God sent him through the fiery crucible to lose his wealth, his health, his children, his servants, his wife told him to curse God and die. His friends accused him of sinning against God. Job maintained his ways before God, trusting the Lord.

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

 One brother lost his job with many mouths to feed in the home. He testified, “Then one day, while I was sitting alone in my living room, too many questions with no answers went through my mind for some time now. There were too many commitments that I could not fulfill. The basic equation for income-expense or livelihood itself was upside down, and I could no longer control my emotion. My emotion took control over my mind. I knew I was going into a depression. This was the first time I had experienced what it was like to lose one;s mind. So the next time you heard someone saying “I think I am losing my mind” please take it seriously. It is a very disturbing experience, and you can feel that you are sinking deeper and deeper. I tried hard, but I had no way out! This thought quickened the uncontrollable descend into “depression”. I did not know what to do. Why was this happening? How could this happen? This should not happen because I know that I am going into a depression. It was logical to me that only people who could go into depression were those that did not know that they were in a depression! Great, now I am sinking, and I can’t do anything about it. Then I started praying to God. Afer I prayed, my second son, about five years old, walked out of his bedroom towards me singing (with well-coordinated hands movement) the song that he learnt in Sunday School.

“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God cannot do.”

Then as quickly as he comes, he does an about turn and walks straight back into his room. Silence once again filled the living room. I sat there speechless and motionless for a while. I smiled; God can just use a five-year-old with a simple song to delver me from my hopeless situation. How great is my God!

1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

I was getting out of the depression as quickly as I had fallen into it, and that was a fact. God had delivered me again. Thanks to God.

The equation is still upside down, but it did not bother me so much now. One day, my friend happened to break his hand phone latch, and he happened to be near one of the many shops that I worked, and it happened that he found out I was not working there now, and it happened that his company is looking for a person with my experience. To make the long story short, I joined his company and worked there 2 ½ years. God had delivered. The equation is the right side up now, but the trial did not stop there….

 Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Psalm 27:1-8 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek…13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

 

31 Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.

The King took matters into his hand and instead of humbling himself before God’s servant to enquire why God has allowed Samaria to be in such a state, he wanted to harm God’s servant.

 

32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him, and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?

The head of Elisha – Beheading was not an ordinary Jewish punishment. The Law did not sanction it. But in Assyria, Babylonia, and generally through the East, it was the most common form of capital punishment. It is not quite clear why Elisha was to be punished. Perhaps Jehoram argued from his other miracles that he could give deliverance from the present peril if he liked.

 The “elders,” – either “the elders of the city” or “the elders of the land,” – who may have been in session at Samaria now, as they had been at the time of a former siege 1Kings 20:7 – had gone to Elisha for his advice or assistance. Their imminent peril drove them to acknowledge the power of Jehovah and to consult with His prophet.

This son of a murderer – i. e. of Ahab, the murderer, not only of Naboth but also of all the prophets of the Lord, whom be allowed Jezebel to slay.

Hold him fast at the door – The elders, public officials, not private friends of Elisha, could not have been expected to resist the entrance of the executioner at the mere request of the prophet. He, therefore, assigns a reason for his request – “the king is coming in person, either to confirm or revoke his order – will they detain the headsman until his arrival?” [Barnes]

The king began to fret and lose his spiritual bearing.

Psalm 37:1-7 A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Has the king not experience God’s good hand delivering them time and again? Why did he now not trust the Lord? He was spiritually very weak.

 

(2) The Heavenly Supply for the Famine (v1-20)

2 Kings 7:1-20 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.

Within 24 hours, Elisha said, the famine would not only be ended, but a whole measure of fine flour would sell for a shekel (Recall that during the siege eighty shekels would buy only an ass’s head.) And this fantastic deflation of prices would be accomplished by courtesy of the Syrian army, which would leave their rich supplies behind while fleeing from an army that did not exist.

 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

One of the senior officials of the king cast a slight on Elisha’s prediction and for his unbelief, he was judged. This man as we shall see was trampled upon in the stampede when the people left the city to gather the spoils from the Syrian army.

3 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?

Four humble and desperate men, ostracized from the community because of their leprosy, were honoured by God with this great discovery.

Psalm 113:7-8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

 4 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. 5 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. 6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

 God had sent a great deliverance to discomfit the Syrian army when they heard the loud noise of non-existent chariots and noise of horses and a great army that did not exist. It did exist, it was the heavenly host that the servant of Elisha saw recall last week.

2 Kings 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

9 Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household. 10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 

These men fearing divine punishment for not sharing the good news with their starving countrymen, hurried back to Samaria to inform the porter at the city gate.

We have a divine supplier in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will take care of us when we commit ourselves to His care. We have a Great Commission to fulfill not just for the temporal welfare of the people around us but their eternal welfare. We bear a far greater responsibility than the four lepers of Samaria.

 

11 And he called the porters, and they told it to the king’s house within. 12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see. 14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. 16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

 

Judgment came upon the man appointed to supervise an orderly exodus through the city gate and became a victim of the stampede fulfilling what Elisha said 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

God’s miraculous intervention for His people is a testimony to our faithful God, who committed Himself to take care of our every need.

Psalm 37:18-19, 25-26 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine, they shall be satisfied. 25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

 

CONCLUSION

A crisis can come into the life of God’s people. We see how God’s people can trust their God to deliver them. If it is because of sin, may God’s people repent! If it is because God is allowing Satan to test us, may we wait upon the Lord for deliverance will surely come! God will glorify His name. Amen. 

 

[1] John C. Whitcomb, Christian Workmen Schools of Theology – From Elisha to Daniel, VII-4.