2 Kings 7:3
“…four leprous men…”
The city of Samaria was under siege. The Syrian army with all it’s forces, had surrounded the city, and was starving out the people. The difficult times had caused the people to behave in deplorable ways. Sins so repulsive they are difficult to mention, ran rampant throughout the city. Within this scene, we read of four men living on the outskirts of the city. These men were lepers who were no longer living, as much as they were waiting to die. In this condition, they looked at one another and determined, starving to death was a worse way to die than being a Syrian POW. As a result, they decide to leave Samaria and surrender to the Syrian army.
When they arrived at the Syrian camp, they were shocked by what they found. Instead of being greeted by angry soldiers, they found the entire camp was deserted. The soldiers had fled, but all their supplies were left behind. As they moved from tent to tent, the lepers soon found food, already prepared, set on the table for the officers. After filling their pockets with gold and silver, and eating and drinking their fill, these four lepers began to feel a sense of responsibility to their friends and families in Samaria. They realized, they owed it to Israel to share the good news of their find.
Upon arriving in Samaria with a message of hope and deliverance, they were immediately met with skepticism. No one believed that just outside the walls of the city where people were starving to death, could be a camp full of food and riches. Skepticism, unbelief, and the fact that the message was being delivered by four lepers, caused the people to almost miss out on the only hope they had of survival. Fortunately, a few men were willing to take a chance. On the word of the lepers, they made their way to the camp to find everything about the lepers’ testimony was, in fact, true. Returning to the camp they declared the message that saved a nation.
It is not difficult to see the parallels between their story and our calling. We were once men and women afflicted by sin, and under a curse of death. By coming to Christ, we have been blessed with abundant life. After tasting of the goodness of the Lord, we realize we have a responsibility to declare the hope of heaven to the world around us. As we begin to share, we find many respond with skepticism and unbelief. As time continues, we will find some are willing to check it out for themselves. Some of these who come to Christ, may be gifted to lead multitudes into the hope of heaven.
Paul realized, he was in debt to all men because Christ had saved him. Take time today to invite someone to come with you to church and hear the glorious message of salvation through Christ.
Pastor Jim
After choosing His people, God established laws to govern their behavior. There were moral laws and social laws, as well as ceremonial laws. All of which, when followed, would serve to benefit the individual, as well as the nation.
Namaan was a Syrian general and a man of prominence within that nation. He was a courageous, well-spoken individual, who seemed to be both well liked and morally sound, by the standard of the day. With all Namaan had going for him, he was struck with a blow that would undo the strongest of men. A quick visit to his local doctor had revealed he had contracted the deadly and painful disease of leprosy. No doubt, he gathered with his family and closest friends to share the news. That meeting would have been filled with weeping and despair. No amount of money, power, or position could undo the deadly effects of this disease. He was destined for a long, painful struggle that would definitely end badly.
Memory is a funny thing. There are certain things that no matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to remember, and other things I can never forget. Names are particularly hard for me. It is not that I don’t care, or don’t want to remember; I just have a mental block. I have tried all the tricks: concentrating when the person introduces themselves, repeating the name back to them, using it in the conversation, and even relating their name to something else. Still, if some time has passed, and I encounter them again, the file that holds their name has been corrupted, and my memory refuses to access it.
Living conditions in Israel had become very difficult; the nation was constantly at war with its enemies, years of drought had created wide spread famine, and morality was in decline. These things affected the living condition of everyone, regardless of their social status. In the story before us, we are introduced to a poor widow who is facing starvation. Without giving details, we learn that her husband, a godly man, had died and she and her sons were on their last leg. All her resources were gone and the creditors were at the door. In her distress, she sought counsel from Elisha who asked a simple question, “what do you have?” To which she replied, the only thing left in the house was a jar of oil. Elisha went on to instruct her to borrow vessels from her neighbors and fill them with oil from the jar. When she did, they found that the oil poured as long as their was an empty vessel to put it in. I think there are at least two valuable applications from this passage.
Jehoshaphat made the same mistake we all make, he made a decision without first consulting the will of God. His decision seemed, on the surface, to be a wise one. The king of Moab was threatening Israel, and if not stopped, it would not be long before he was a threat to Judah. It seemed, joining forces with Israel to attack Moab was the right thing to do. Soon it became apparent, the Lord was not behind their endeavor. After seven days of travel through the desert, the armies arrived, only to find the waters had dried up. In the heat of the desert, they found themselves seven days away from water. Without a miracle, the armies would perish before ever stepping onto the battlefield.
If these questions were posed to us on a theology test, we would all answer “No, no, six times no.” We know that He promises:
Looking back, we see that the ministry of Elijah was remarkable. He came out of obscurity, and was powerfully used as the voice of God for a nation. His ministry impacted kings, and stirred revival in a morally collapsing Israel. As he aged, the world knew it was losing one of the greatest men who ever walked its soil.
Things in the kingdom of God run very differently than they do in the kingdoms of men. This is particularly true of exaltation. The word exalted means “to raise in rank or power, to be elevated or lifted above.” What exaltation is, and how to achieve it, are different in God’s Kingdom.
This is certainly not the only record of Ahab’s sin. He was a man who long ago had given up on any desire to live a life that honors the Lord. This passage does however illustrate, quite strongly, the question asked by Jesus, when He said, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24)
