Gtcotr/ss100508
Our story begins in 2 Kings 6 verse 24. It is about the year 887 BC. King Jehoram, (Joram), the son of the former evil King Ahab and that wicked woman Jezebel, was King over the ten northern tribes called the Kingdom of Israel and his capital was the city of Samaria called Shomeron in the Hebrew, it was a city built by Ahab’s father, Omri.
Israel and Syria had been at war for years and at this point King Ben Hadad of Syria was laying siege to this hill top city once again. This siege lasted so long that food supplies were all but non-existent. People were selling and eating donkey heads and small coarse seeds just to survive.
One day during this siege the King of Israel, King Jehoram, was walking on the wall of the city and as he passed by a woman she cried out for his help. He told her that if God was not going to help her how could she then expect a King to help. Perhaps in anger the King further inquired concerning her petition.
This is where the story gets a bit hard to imagine. It seems this woman had agreed with another woman to kill, boil and eat her young baby son in return for the second woman’s promise that when the agreed to time came, they would then kill, boil and eat her son as well. As the story continues, this woman speaking to the king informs him of her plight in that after the two women boiled and ate the first child, the second mother refused to keep her bargain and had hidden her son. (Why she hid him is still up for consideration.)
This overwhelmed the King and he tore his clothes in despair swearing that the prophet Elisha was to blame for all this trouble and that he was going to cut his head off this very day. When the King arrived at Elisha’s house, Elisha was sitting with the Elders of the city and this is what the King said:
2 Kings 6:33 … "Surely this calamity is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"
Let’s pick up right here in the story and read beginning with the next verse as we go into chapter 7.
2 Kings 7 NKJV
1 ¶ Then 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.’"
2 So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
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.
8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household."
1. God can make it rain anything He wants
* In this story God is going to make it rain silver, gold, food, drink and clothing … all the basics of life!
* And God is going to make it rain hard … abundant rain … more than enough!
2. God can make it rain in a hurry
* God is a God of the suddenly
* Joseph went from the prison to the palace in one moment
3. In times of trouble people generally fall into two groups:
* The ‘There Is Nothing We Can Do About It’ Group
* The ‘Let’s Do Something’ Group
2 Kings 7:3 … "Why are we sitting here until we die?
God gives deliverance through delivers.
God may be setting you up right now … right in the midst of some trouble or tragedy. When everyone else around you has given up might be time for you to get up, not give up. I said:
* Get up, don’t give up!
God has a plan … What may seem like a surprise to you is a plan to God … God has a plan, He will succeed and right now you have a chance to participate. Remember, God demands that we participate in our miracles.
I am telling you like Elisha told those in famine in a city under siege in his day: If you can receive it … God is going to rain His blessing and bounty on this nation and the communities we live in and those who are willing to believe it are candidates to receive it.
These are the days to get up, not give up. Look around you … what is God trying to give you?
If you will get up, God will cause your enemies to hear a noise and leave you a blessing behind that’s overwhelming and ripe for the taking.
Right now I challenge you to change your defeatist mentality and get that stinking thinking out of your brains. Believe me … when its all over and done with, God would still be willing to have given you more than you are going to get … go for it!
Challenge your thoughts and conquer your feelings. God is not against you … God is for you … He is against your enemies. He may have only allowed your enemies to get this close to you so that you could spoil them with your faith in Him.
Stand up, lift up your hands, open up your mouth and declare that you are not going to be a part of that ‘There is nothing I can do about it’ crowd. Instead join the ‘I’m going to do something’ crowd.
Once you change your mind you have won half of the battle. The next step is to go forward and engage life’s demands. Get up and get involved in harvesting what the enemy is letting go.
What is it that the enemy does not want anymore, does not value anymore, is trying to get rid of and run off from?
What is it that God is telling them to drop and leave behind for you to boldly go into their camp and claim for yourself? Ask God to show you, then you go and get it. He will make a way … your enemy will even help you and all of your worries will be over in an instant.
* God can make it rain anything He wants.
* God can make it rain in a hurry.
* Don’t just sit there until you die?
> This is a time of great opportunity … &
Remember: It would be wrong to not tell everyone else about it!
