Gtcotr/ss090912
Approximately
850 years before Jesus was born there was a prophet of God in Israel named
Elisha. This prophet lived in the city of Dothan in Northern Israel. God gave
Elisha the prophetic ability to discern the plans of the King of Syria which he
was perpetrating against the King of Israel. Elisha warned the King of Israel
and saved his life many times. These warnings happened so often that it aroused
the suspicion of the King of Syria and he imagined there was a traitor among his
counselors.
Upon
searching the matter out he heard that Elisha knew his secret conversations and
everything he said, even in his bedchamber. The Syrian King sent his army to the city of Dothan to capture the
prophet Elisha and bring an end to this madness. King Ben Hadad of Syria had
taken all he was going to take.
The
Syrian army arrived in the cover of night and surrounded the city of Dothan.
When morning came a servant of the prophet Elisha awoke and in fear exclaimed
to his master, “Alas, what shall we do?” The prophet confidently replied,
2 Kings 6:16 "Do not
fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are
with them."
This
puzzled the servant who could only see the Syrian army and their visible
threat. Elisha realized that his servant was seeing through human eyes and the
prophet lifted a prayer to God who then opened the spiritual eyes of Elisha’s
servant and he saw,
“And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire all around Elisha.” (v.17)
Elisha
prayed again that God would strike the Syrians with blindness which God did.
The prophet then offered to be their guide and led them straight into the heart
of Samaria and to the awaiting armies of Israel. Once the enemy was securely
captured by the Israelites, Elisha prayed once more and the Lord removed the
blindness of the Syrian army and they found themselves surrounded by the army
of the King of Israel.
The
King of Israel inquired of Elisha:
“Shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” (v.21)
You
shall not kill them, said Elisha, but rather give them food and drink and
refresh them before sending them back to their homes and to their master. So the
King of Israel prepared a great feast for the enemy soldiers and then released
them. This act of kindness was but a small seed which resulted in a short
season of peace between the King of Israel and the King of Syria.
Then the King of Israel prepared a great feast for his enemies; and
after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So
the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel. (v.23)
However,
as is the nature of greedy people, they soon forgot the goodness and kindness
shown to them by the King of Israel and when the food and drink wore off … it
was time to look for more …
One
verse says the Syrian soldiers were sent home in peace and stopped raiding
Israel. It was a short lived peace … the very next verse says:
And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all
his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. (v.24)
And there was a great famine in Samaria (v.25); and indeed they
besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and
one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
Then,
as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him,
saying, "Help, my lord, O king!"
And
he said, "If the LORD does not help you, where
can I find help for you? (v.27) From the threshing floor or from the
winepress?"
Then
the king said to her, "What is troubling you?" And she answered,
"This woman said to me, ’Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we
will eat my son tomorrow.’
"So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the
next day, ’Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her
son." (v.29)
With
this the King tore his clothes and said: (He was a praying man …)
"God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the
son of Shaphat remains on him today." (v.31)
Evidently
God was not moving fast enough for the King and because there was not really
anything the King could do against God, he decided to do the next best thing
and hurt the man of God. It’s human nature, someone has to be blamed for every
misfortune and often it is those in presumed power that seem to be the
preferred targets … Elisha must pay!
When
the King of Israel arrived at Elisha’s house he exclaimed in frustration: “why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” (v.33) By the way, waiting is often the most
Godly thing a person can do …
The
prophet Elisha answered with his only defense … Like any seasoned man of God
would … he simply said:
“Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD …” (2 Kings 7:1)
Everything
is going to be different tomorrow … just wait and see … God is going to
“Suddenly” take care of everything -
There
are four key principles of life which the Lord wants us to embrace from these
scriptures:
1.
Don’t blame God or others for your problems - especially Godly
people who have given you the Word and have helped you so much in times past.
If God is the only One who fix it … why get mad at others?
2.
While we are waiting, God is working
3.
If it is bad, God is not finished yet!
Now,
the rest of the story: Remember … there was a great famine in the city of
Samaria and people were experiencing horrible conditions … so much so that two women
made an agreement to boil and eat their own children. It seemed nothing could
be done … we pick up this account in:
2 Kings 7
3 ¶ Now there were four
leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another,
"Why are we sitting here until we die?
4 "If we say, ’We will
enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And
if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army
of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we
shall only die."
5 And they rose at twilight
to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of
the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.
6 For the Lord had caused the
army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of
horses — the noise of a great army; so they said to one another,
"Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!"
7 Therefore they arose and
fled at twilight, and left the camp intact — their tents, their
horses, and their donkeys — and they fled for their lives.
16 Then the people went out
and plundered the tents of the Syrians …
Suddenly
and immediately God delivered the King and people of Samaria from certain
destruction. You see, God remembers and God will not be mocked – that which we
sow we shall also reap. (Galatians 6:7)
And, whatsoever good thing any man does,
the same shall he receive of the Lord without regard as to his estate in life.
(Ephesians 6:8)
The
truth is that earlier, when the King of Israel and all Samaria obeyed the Lord
and gave food and drink to the Syrian army instead of killing them, … they were
unknowingly sowing seeds for their future harvest …
4.
Others may forget your kindness, but God never will
So
today, decide that you will sow seeds of kindness and refuse to blame God or
others while you wait on God to do what only He can do!
