2 Kings 7:1-20 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Kings 7:1-20. Let’s go!
2 Kings 7:3-4 (NIV)
3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?
4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’–the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
On verses 1-20: In the middle of a siege and famine in Samaria where food resources are increasingly scarce and expensive, Elisha the prophet predicts that within 24 hours the finest flour and barley will be sold for extremely cheap. An officer of King Joram does not believe it. In response to the officer’s unbelief, Elisha states that this officer will see it with his own eyes but will not eat any of it (v2). Meanwhile, four lepers stand at Samaria’s city gate and reason that to stay at the city gate or to go into the city is no use, and that their only hope is to go to the Aramean camp and surrender. When they reach the Aramean camp they see that the Arameans have abandoned their camp. That’s because the Lord caused the Arameans to hear the sound of a great army advancing against them, and so the Arameans flee in fear, leaving their camp unguarded. The lepers enjoy the food and wealth that the Arameans have left behind before telling the Israelites. King Joram and the Israelites end up plundering the Aramean camp without having to raise a sword. The abundance of food supplies that the Israelites retrieved from the Aramean camp means that the finest flour and barley are sold at the extremely low prices that Elisha had predicted. So many Israelites flock to the Aramean camp that the officer who did not believe Elisha’s words is trampled at the city gate.
What can we learn from this?
1. Faith is not simply blind, but it’s placing your trust in something or someone based on reason and evidence and drawing a conclusion from there. Faith is taking calculated risks that you believe are worth the cost of taking. That’s what the 4 lepers did when they went to the Aramean camp. That’s what Elisha did when he boldly predicted that food prices would drop. God’s kingdom and we His people advance when we move in the power of wise faith.
2. Unbelief is refusing to believe despite having good reason and evidence to believe. The officer who did not believe Elisha’s words undoubtedly heard and may even have seen the miracles that God had performed through Elisha to rescue Samaria from Aramean attack. Yet he still refused to believe Elisha’s words. The fact that he is trampled at the city gate suggests that when we act in unbelief toward God and God’s Word, we don’t get to enjoy the blessings that God otherwise would have reserved for us.
Heavenly Father, thank You that Your Word is trustworthy and true. Thank You that it is worth risking and putting our faith in You. May I and those in my care not live in stubborn unbelief, but may we remember that the same God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead is with us today, and thus anything is possible for Him who believes. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
