Good morning. This morning I would like to share what I have always considered a rather intriguing account from Israel’s history. It comes from 2 Kings 6-7.
The city of Samaria, the key city of the Northern kingdom after Israel and Judah had divided, was suffering under a long siege from the Arameans. Starvation had set in among the people of the city. One of the most gruesome stories in all scripture is shared in 2 Kings 6:26-31. The people are starving, and the king is walking along the city walls when he hears a woman’s cry for help. A terrible injustice had occurred, she tells him. She and another woman had agreed that they would eat their children, and they did consume the child of the woman speaking. But on the next day, the other woman had hidden her child. Unfair! she cried to the king.
What does the king do? He blames God’s prophet Elisha and vows to have him beheaded. In 2 Kings 6:33-7:2 we read: The king said, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord. Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the Lord himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”
That’s right, when the circumstances they had brought on themselves due to their willing disobedience became too horrible to endure, they blamed God. They blamed God, and they refused to believe that God would come to their rescue. God’s prophet Elisha tells them that God is ready to rescue them, but they refuse to believe it.
Meanwhile, in 2 Kings 7:3-9 we read of 4 lepers outside the city gate. Lepers weren’t allowed to work, to socialize, or to come into the city for any reason. They survived outside the city gate on the garbage that was dumped beyond the city walls. The problem was, there wasn’t anything edible left in the garbage when everyone in the city was starving to death.
They discuss their situation and realize that if they stay where they are, they will die, and if they disobey the rules and go into the city, they will die. They decide to go the Arameans, whose huge army is camped nearby. They ask themselves, “what is the worst that could happen?” They decide that the Arameans will probably kill them. So what…they were already starving to death.
The lepers headed to the Aramean camp, not realizing that in the night God had intervened. God had filled the heads of the Arameans with the idea that the Israelites had worked out a deal with the Egyptians and Hitites to attack them. So, in the middle of the night, the Arameans panicked and ran away, leaving everything behind.
The lepers found the camp empty of people, but it was filled with food and loot! They ate and drank until they couldn’t hold another bite. Then they begin looting, carrying away treasure and hiding it. It was then that God spoke to the conscience of each of the lepers, and the hearts of these desperate and despised people turned to Him. Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.” 2 Kings 7:9
They did so, but they were not believed. However, the Israelites were so desperate that they had to be sure, so they sent a few soldiers to investigate. It was true! The starving people had food to eat, and the plunder of their enemy was left for them to take. God’s message seems clear: when things get rough, desperate even, don’t blame God, call on Him! Call on the name of the Lord with faith and hope, trusting in His great love.
The King of Israel heard the good news, which came to him from the most unlikely of sources, 4 suffering lepers. His reaction? “It is too good to be true. There is no way that God would bless us…we don’t deserve it!”
How often do we fail to receive the blessings of God because we don’t feel that they are deserved? How often do we blame God rather than seeking His will? How often do we reject good news from the Lord because we don’t like the messenger?
Turn to the Lord in all things. Accept His love and His mercy in all things. Rejoice in Him and share praises for the God who loves you!
Vern