The Kings Of Israel And Judah. Day 123, The Siege Lifted, Part Two

In Wednesday's study the four lepers who were sitting at the gates of Samaria decided to go over to the Aramean army and surrender to them. The four men were already starving and they reasoned that the Arameans would either take them captive and at least give them prisoners' rations or they would put them to death and put them out of their misery. Either way they felt it was better than doing nothing.

But when they arrived at the Aramean camp at dusk, it was deserted! The Lord had caused the enemy army to hear what sounded like a vast army approaching. They fled in terror, leaving everything behind. This is where we pick up our study of Chapter 7 today.

"The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also." (2 Kings 7:8) I imagine these men ate until they could barely waddle around the camp and who can blame them? Even before the siege of Samaria began, since lepers were outcasts they had to depend on the mercy of others and on what they could forage and scrounge for themselves. But while the city has been under siege the mercy of others has dwindled away since no one has anything to spare. Taking the gold and silver and clothing is understandable too because earlier in the week we studied how high prices had gone for even the most unappealing and least nutritious of foods. Now they can replace their raggedy clothing and be able to purchase food for quite a while into the future. Looting the deserted enemy camp is not a sin (indeed it was standard practice) but not sharing the good news and the plunder with their fellow Samaritans begins to make the lepers feel guilty. 

"Then they said to each other, 'What we're doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let us go at once and report it to the royal palace.'" (2 Kings 7:9) I feel like these men can be excused for not running back to the city immediately upon finding the camp deserted. They have gone without food for who knows how long and the sight of food overwhelmed them. It's natural that they would immediately satisfied their hunger before doing anything else. In fact, I think they were incapable of doing anything else until they had eaten. But now that their bellies are full they realize that they must go right away to let the king know that the enemy has fled and that there is much food available to fill all the empty stomachs of the people of Samaria.

"So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, 'We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there---not a sound of anyone---only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.' The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace. The king got up in the night and said to his officers, 'I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, 'They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.'" (2 Kings 7:10-12) The king says, "It's a trick! They are hiding somewhere waiting for us to come and investigate this strange event. As soon as we do, they will swoop in and surround us."

One of his officers prudently advises only sending out a few men and horses to investigate the situation. "One of his officers answered, 'Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here---yes, they will only be like all these Israelites that are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.'" (2 Kings 7:13) The city will remain locked up and guarded and almost everyone will still be inside its gates. The king must stay inside the gates too, in case this is a trick, so he won't be taken hostage by the Arameans as a means of forcing the Samaritans to allow them inside the city. The wording of the officer's suggestion to the king has been a bit difficult to translate and scholars are not certain who he is referring to when he speaks of "their plight". I think he may mean that the horses and people are already starving and that if a few men and horses are ambushed by the Arameans, they won't be any worse off than the people inside the gates. Either way they are likely to die, whether inside the gates by starvation or whether outside the gates by the sword.

"So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, 'Go and find out what has happened.' They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said." (2 Kings 7:14-16) At the beginning of our chapter Elisha predicted this bounty of food. He may have known how the Lord was going to make this come about or he may not have known exactly how it would happen, but he believed.

There was a person who did not believe, as you may recall. It was the officer who accompanied the king to Elisha's house. "Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. It happened as the man of God had said to the king: '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.' The officer had said to the man of God, 'Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?' The man of God had replied, 'You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it.' And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people in the gateway trampled him, and he died." (2 Kings 7:17-20) 

This man basically said, "I don't believe God can do it." After the Arameans fled and left everything behind, he was placed in charge of selling and distributing the food in an orderly manner but the people are so hungry that they all rush at him at once, trampling him in their haste to get to the food, and Elisha's prophecy against him comes true. I believe if the man had repented, the prophecy against him would not have come true, but the Lord knew that he would not repent and He was able to say through the prophet Elisha, "You will see it happen with your own eyes but you will not take part in the blessing."

Unbelief can cost us blessings. Unbelief may not cost us our lives as it cost the officer his life; he committed an especially abominable offense because in scoffing at the prophet's words he was scoffing at the Lord Himself. We can either take the Lord at His word and receive the precious promises He's made to us or we can persist in an attitude of disbelief and miss out on some wonderful things He wanted to do for us. I'm saying this to myself as much as to anyone else, for I'm sure I've missed out on some blessings by not believing the Lord would keep a particular promise to me. I often find it easier to believe He will come through for someone else rather than for me. But His promises are for anyone who comes to Him in faith and places their trust in Him. The king's first officer could have enjoyed the blessings of abundant food along with all the people of Samaria but he persisted in unbelief right up until the prophet's words came true and even then he didn't repent of his unbelief. I'm not saying that he lost his salvation (if indeed he was saved to begin with) but that he disqualified himself for blessing in this world. His story is included in the Scriptures as an example of what not to do.