2 Kings 6:24-33 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Kings 6:24-33. Let’s go!
On verses 24-32: King Ben-Hadad of Aram has laid seige to Samaria, Israel’s capital city. Without ongoing access to food, Samaria suffers a severe famine. The Israelites in Samaria are so desperate that in verses 26-29 we read about two Israelite mothers who apparently agreed that they would eat their sons to survive. Now that one mother’s son has been eaten, the other mother refuses to let her own son suffer the same fate. So they call out to Joram King of Israel to make a decision. (This conflict between two mothers recalls a previous conflict in 1 Kings 3 when King Solomon had to judge between two mothers who both claim claim that their own son is the living one while the other’s son is the dead one.)
What can we learn from this? These mothers were willing to eat a son in order to survive, yet even their son’s flesh would not sustain them forever. In contrast, in John 6:53-55 Jesus makes a statement that many would misunderstand:
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
Jesus was not condoning cannibalism. Rather he was pointing us to our need to place our hope and trust in Jesus. Only His sacrificed body on the cross and His shed blood can give us the life that we really hunger for: a life where we are forgiven of our sins and have a relationship with God.
2 Kings 6:30-31 (NIV)
30 When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body.
31 He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”
On verses 30-33: In the midst of the siege and famine, Joram King of Israel is depressed and at his wit’s end about what to do (v30). He defaults to blaming Elisha for all this trouble and looks to kill him. King Joram sends a messenger ahead of him, perhaps as a final warning to Elisha. Elisha is aware of the king’s intention and warns the elders of Israel about what the king wants to do, just as the king’s messenger arrives.
King Joram considered Elisha to be his enemy and the cause of Aram’s attacks. How quickly he had forgotten how God had used Elisha repeatedly to save Israel from Aram’s attacks (see verses 8-23). What can we learn from this?
1. Pressure tends to reveal our true character.
2. Don’t be quick to forget the good things that God and God’s people have done for you. At the same time, don’t be quick to blame God and God’s people for your problems.
3. Remember that your enemy is not flesh and blood but Satan (see Ephesians 6:12). Satan would love for you to think that your biggest problem or your biggest adversary is another human being, for Satan does his best work when he is left unrecognized and undetected. Don’t waste time attacking other people, especially the church and its leaders.
Heavenly Father, thank You for the life I have in Your Son Jesus. May I always be clear on who my real enemy is. It’s not You. It’s not people. But it’s Satan. Help me to stand strong against Satan by Your power at work in me and not to be distracted by the sneaky games Satan plays to get me to blame and attack other people. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
