"When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and they saw that, under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body." (2 Kings 6:30) The wearing of sackcloth is generally considered an expression of humility or sorrow for one's sins. The king is wearing this material inside his royal robes where the scratchy, uncomfortable cloth is a constant reminder of the peril he and his people are in. I think he does feel sorrow that he and his people are enduring these terrible times but I do not think he feels sorrow for his own idolatrous leanings or for the rampant idolatry that has overtaken the land. He isn't looking inwards to ask himself how he might have contributed to invasion, siege, and starvation. He doesn't proclaim a day of repentance and prayer and fasting. He doesn't blame himself or the people who are living sinful lifestyles; he points his finger instead at the prophet Elisha.
"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!'" (2 Kings 6:31) This man who refuses to worship the Lord in the manner the Lord commanded and in the place the Lord commanded makes a murderous oath in His name to execute His prophet. It is not entirely clear why Joram lays the blame for Israel's predicament at Elisha's feet. It could be that he thinks Elisha asked the Lord to send the disaster, perhaps because Elisha has tried to reason with him against making sacrifices and offerings at the golden calf altars at Dan and Bethel. Maybe Elisha has taken him to task for not tearing down the Baal altars and the Asherah poles in the land. It could be that Elisha even spoke words of warning to him about a coming judgment if he and the people did not get their hearts right with the Lord. Elisha's predecessor, Elijah, spoke boldly against kings and false prophets in this manner. Elisha very well may have done the same and now King Joram may believe Elisha wanted the siege and famine to happen.
Another theory, based on a verse at the end of our chapter, is that Joram believes the disaster came straight from the Lord but that the Lord would listen to Elisha if he prayed for things to turn around. Joram might even have asked Elisha to make such a prayer and Elisha refused because he knows that these circumstances are being used by the Lord to compel the people to think about their sinful ways and repent of them. No human being can force the Lord to do something against His will, not even Elisha, and although I think the conditions in the city of Samaria are breaking his heart, he accepts the Lord's will and trusts His judgment. Joram may or may not understand that the hardship is a result of his and the people's sins. He has mixed true religion with pagan religious practices and may harbor the same beliefs about God as the heathens harbor about their own gods: that God has a personality just like man's and that He is capricious, untrustworthy, impossible to understand, and impossible to please. Joram is overwhelmed by anger against the Lord but he can't do anything to the Lord so he intends to do what he considers the next best thing: killing the chief prophet of the Lord.
The Lord has made Elisha aware of Joram's threats. Elisha is untroubled by the news. He doesn't flee the country but remains seated calmly in his own home. "Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, 'Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?'" (2 Kings 6:32) Elisha isn't going to give way to fear and run for his life but he's not going to invite the executioner into the house either. He is hosting the elders of Israel and he has a responsibility to prevent harm from coming to people under his roof.
"While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. The king said, 'This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?' (2 Kings 6:3) In his bitterness and lack of faith Joram seems to be saying something like, "The Lord has turned His back on us! I thought He would step in and defeat the enemy but day after day and night after night our circumstances remain unchanged. He is not listening to us! He is not going to help us! He might have listened to you but you haven't lifted a finger to help us either. I'm not waiting for the Lord any longer and I'm not waiting for you any longer. We are all going to perish from these afflictions but you are going to perish right now!"
It's often when things seem their worst that the Lord moves in the most awesome way. That's why it's vital that we not give up and stop expecting Him to work on our behalf. Positive change may be just around the corner, just as it is in the text we're studying. "Elisha replied, 'Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.'" (1 Kings 7:1) Yesterday we learned of the astronomically inflated food prices in Samaria but Elisha is saying that the finest of foods will be dirt cheap by tomorrow. The king's right-hand-man doesn't believe it and makes a statement of faithlessness, "The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, 'Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?' 'You will see it with your own eyes,' answered Elisha, 'but you will not eat any of it!'" (2 Kings 7:2)
This officer is saying that there are things the Lord cannot do. He scoffs, "This is impossible, even for Him!" And in reply Elisha pronounces this dire judgment, "Because you believe something is impossible for Almighty God, He will do it before your very eyes. But because of your blasphemy against the Lord, you won't partake of this blessing."
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