[Linux4christians] Friday - 2 Kings 6:8 - 7

Thu Feb 17 21:22:33 EST 2011

    Friday

      2 Kings 6:8 - 7

Elisha Defeats an Army

6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his 
advisers, who said, "Invade at such and such a place." 6:9 But the 
prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, "Make sure you don't 
pass through this place because Syria is invading there." 6:10 So the 
king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, 
warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. 6:11 
This made the king of Syria upset. So he summoned his advisers and said 
to them, "One of us must be helping the king of Israel." 6:12 One of his 
advisers said, "No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in 
Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your 
bedroom." 6:13 The king ordered, "Go, find out where he is, so I can 
send some men to capture him." The king was told, "He is in Dothan." 
6:14 So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. 
They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

6:15 The prophet's attendant got up early in the morning. When he went 
outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and 
chariots. He said to Elisha, "Oh no, my master! What will we do?" 6:16 
He replied, "Don't be afraid, for our side outnumbers them." 6:17 Then 
Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he can see." The Lord opened 
the servant's eyes and he saw that the hill was full of horses and 
chariots of fire all around Elisha. 6:18 As they approached him, Elisha 
prayed to the Lord, "Strike these people with blindness." The Lord 
struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. 6:19 Then Elisha said to 
them, "This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead 
you to the man you're looking for." He led them to Samaria.

6:20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, "O Lord, open their 
eyes, so they can see." The Lord opened their eyes and they saw that 
they were in the middle of Samaria. 6:21 When the king of Israel saw 
them, he asked Elisha, "Should I strike them down, my master?" 6:22 He 
replied, "Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your 
sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? Give them 
some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their 
master." 6:23 So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. 
Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding 
parties again invaded the land of Israel.

The Lord Saves Samaria

6:24 Later King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled his entire army and 
attacked and besieged Samaria. 6:25 Samaria's food supply ran out. They 
laid siege to it so long that a donkey's head was selling for eighty 
shekels of silver and a quarter of a kab of dove's droppings for five 
shekels of silver.

6:26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman 
shouted to him, "Help us, my master, O king!" 6:27 He replied, "No, let 
the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress 
are empty." 6:28 Then the king asked her, "What's your problem?" She 
answered, "This woman said to me, 'Hand over your son; we'll eat him 
today and then eat my son tomorrow.' 6:29 So we boiled my son and ate 
him. Then I said to her the next day, 'Hand over your son and we'll eat 
him.' But she hid her son!" 6:30 When the king heard what the woman 
said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people 
could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 6:31 Then he said, 
"May God judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head 
by the end of the day!"

6:32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The 
king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to 
the leaders, "Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?" 
Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His 
master will certainly be right behind him." 6:33 He was still talking to 
them when the messenger approached and said, "Look, the Lord is 
responsible for this disaster! Why should I continue to wait for the 
Lord to help?"

7:1 Elisha replied, "Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord 
says, 'About this time tomorrow a seah of finely milled flour will sell 
for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of 
Samaria.'" 7:2 An officer who was the king's right-hand man responded to 
the prophet, "Look, even if the Lord made it rain by opening holes in 
the sky, could this happen so soon?" Elisha said, "Look, you will see it 
happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food!"

7:3 Now four men with a skin disease were sitting at the entrance of the 
city gate. They said to one another, "Why are we just sitting here 
waiting to die? 7:4 If we go into the city, we'll die of starvation, and 
if we stay here we'll die! So come on, let's defect to the Syrian camp! 
If they spare us, we'll live; if they kill us -- well, we were going to 
die anyway." 7:5 So they started toward the Syrian camp at dusk. When 
they reached the edge of the Syrian camp, there was no one there. 7:6 
The Lord had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and 
horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, "Look, the king 
of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us!" 
7:7 So they got up and fled at dusk, leaving behind their tents, horses, 
and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. 7:8 
When the men with a skin disease reached the edge of the camp, they 
entered a tent and had a meal. They also took some silver, gold, and 
clothes and went and hid it all. Then they went back and entered another 
tent. They looted it and went and hid what they had taken. 7:9 Then they 
said to one another, "It's not right what we're doing! This is a day to 
celebrate, but we haven't told anyone. If we wait until dawn, we'll be 
punished. So come on, let's go and inform the royal palace." 7:10 So 
they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, 
"We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn't even 
hear a man's voice. But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and 
the tents remain up." 7:11 The gatekeepers relayed the news to the royal 
palace.

7:12 The king got up in the night and said to his advisers, "I will tell 
you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they 
left the camp and hid in the field, thinking, 'When they come out of the 
city, we will capture them alive and enter the city.'" 7:13 One of his 
advisers replied, "Pick some men and have them take five of the horses 
that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be 
no different than that of all the Israelite people -- we're all going to 
die!) Let's send them out so we can know for sure what's going on." 7:14 
So they picked two horsemen and the king sent them out to track the 
Syrian army. He ordered them, "Go and find out what's going on." 7:15 So 
they tracked them as far as the Jordan. The road was filled with clothes 
and equipment that the Syrians had discarded in their haste. The scouts 
went back and told the king. 7:16 Then the people went out and looted 
the Syrian camp. A seah of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and 
two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as the Lord had said they would.

7:17 Now the king had placed the officer who was his right-hand man at 
the city gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in 
the gate. This fulfilled the prophet's word which he had spoken when the 
king tried to arrest him. 7:18 The prophet told the king, "Two seahs of 
barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of finely milled flour for a 
shekel; this will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of 
Samaria." 7:19 But the officer replied to the prophet, "Look, even if 
the Lord made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so 
soon?" Elisha said, "Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, 
but you will not eat any of the food!" 7:20 This is exactly what 
happened to him. The people trampled him to death in the city gate.

      Prayer

Lord, Your power is greater that that of armies, and those who refuse to 
trust You are doomed to miss out on Your blessings. May I never doubt 
that You are the omnipotent God and never question anything that You say.

      Commentary

Syria was at war with Israel but every time they planned a place of 
ambush or attack Elisha warned the king of Israel. At first the Syrians 
thought they had a traitor but their spies explained that it was Elisha. 
The Syrians sent an army to capture him but the Lord God provided an 
army of horses and chariots of fire to protect Elisha then blinded the 
Syrians at Elisha's request. He then led them, unknown to them, to 
Samaria where the King of Israel waited.

The King of Israel wanted to kill them but Elisha reminded him that he 
had nothing to do their capture so he had nothing to say about their 
treatment. Elisha instead instructed that they be given water and a 
feast and sent home. They did so and after they returned to Syria no 
raiding parties were sent for a long time.

King Ben Hadad of Syria some time later laid siege to Samaria for so 
long that the people were so desperate for food that some actually 
killed and ate a child. The king was angry and blamed Elisha and set out 
to kill him.

When the king's messenger arrived Elisha informed him that the people 
would be feasting the next day, but a military man who overheard 
expressed his doubt because there were no crops to grow nor animals to 
slaughter -- so Elisha repeated the prophesy but added that the doubting 
soldier would not participate in the feast.

Four men who were ceremonially unclean from a skin disease were starving 
outside the city gates and decided to defect to the Syrians in hopes of 
food -- they knew they would die of starvation so if the Syrians killed 
them they'd be no worse off.

When they arrived in the Syrian camp they found it abandoned. The Lord 
God had caused them to hear the sound of chariots and they thought the 
Samarians had hired Egyptians and Hittites to attack them. There was 
food enough for an army, so they ate, then decided to tell the others.

The king sent two horsemen to check on the Syrians and they found 
nothing but discarded supplies as the Syrians fled in terror. The people 
stormed out of through the city gate, trampling to death the soldier who 
had doubted Elisha, thus fulfilling the prophesy of abundant food and 
nothing for him.

      Interaction

        Consider

Rather than consult Elisha and ask for the Lord God's intervention the 
king of Samaria doubted God and blamed Elisha.

        Discuss

Given his history why would the military man doubt his prophesy rather 
than merely ask for clarification?

        Reflect

The Syrians, who worshiped false gods, were used by the Lord God to 
provide for the Samarians.

        Share

When have you experienced or observed a situation where the Lord God was 
either not consulted or doubted and then blamed for bad circumstances?

      Faith in Action

        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you a place in your life where He has 
blessed you through someone whose intent was to be your enemy, or where 
He is in the process of doing so.

        Action:

Today I will praise the Lord for His amazing provision, be it past or 
present, and I will testify to His faithfulness to a fellow believer as 
an encouragement to them.

        Be Specific ______________________________________________________

    Saturday's text will be:

      2 Kings 8

-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
Defend free speech or lose your freedom.
I don't google I SEARCH! http://ixquick.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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