2 Kings Chapters 6:24-7:20
Good News
In our study of 2 Kings we
have noted that the nation of
A) 2 Tribes in the South called
B) 10 Tribes in the North called
C) Jehoram and the
1) They have forsaken the Worship
of Jehovah and have given themselves over to the Worship of Idols
D) Elisha is God’s Prophet to the
1) He is a godly man – Double portion – Moving in the
Miraculous
Despite
A) As we come to ch 6V.24
the nation has been in a period of peace for a few yrs
B) It closet enemy
1) because of Elisha’ last miracle which we looked at
on Wed night {Servant eyes opened / Army Blinded
C) But Now Benhadad of
Consider the Setting of the
Story: We read in v.24 that the Syrian army Besieged
A) Idea is they surrounded the city and made it
impossible for the People to come out.
B)
C) A Siege was kind of the Neutron
Bomb of the Day
1) The Neutron Bomb is designed to Kill the people
thru radiation but leave the infrastructure intact
D) That is what the Syrians were doing with
1) By surrounding the city – making it impossible for
anyone to go into or come out of the city
2) The food supply was going to run out and the people
in the city would eventually starve to death
E) Thus the people would die – but the homes and
buildings would remain in tact.
Things were so bad in
A) Idea behind that statement is that the meaty part
of the Donkey had already been eaten
B) All that was left was the Head!
1) So Donkey heads were going for 80 Shekels of Silver
and ¼ cup of dove droppings for 5 …silver.
C) Now I have been hungry
before but never that Hungry!
1) To eat Donkey heads and Dove Droppings
D) Now Scholars have tried to explain away these dove
droppings
1) Actual part of the Carob
plant that made it look like Dove Droppings – Bird Poop
E) But Josephus the Jewish Historian says: They were
dove Droppings
F) This was a Bad scene – Desperate times!
1) So that is the setting
Now as the Story unfolds –we
find that God is going to work in a powerful way! Miracle Provision
A) There are 5 main Characters in the Story
1) The People
of
2) King Jehoram
3) Prophet
Elisha
4) Nameless
officer
5) Four Lepers
B) First let’s consider the people living in the city
who are characterized by two woman RD V. 26-29
C) Now Samaria was a wealthy city- filled with Silver
and gold – Filled w/ Ivory
1) Phrase Ivory Palaces comes from
Despite having all this
wealth it couldn’t help them in their current situation
A) HOW BAD HAVE THINGS
BECOME?
B) Not just eating donkey heads and dove Droppings
1) Now they have resorted
to Cannibalism
C) These two ladies – were eating their babies
D) This is the lowest of lows that a society can sink
– starts to turn on the innocent
1) Sure they rationalized- oh the Children are going
to die anyway – just speed up the Process
Important to understand this
was exactly what God said would happen – if they turned from Him
A) He prophesied that this is what they would become
They would become cannibalistic
B) Deut 28:53 You shall eat
the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters…., in the
siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you.
C) God Prophesied in Duet 28/
1) Result would be the people would turn on their own
kids and eat them to survive.
Now as sad is this scene is –
in some ways we see a similar trend today.
A) Parents who sacrifice their own kids to satisfy
their appetites.
B) Isn’t that what Abortion
is all about.
1) I am not ready for a child – Cramp my style – ruin
my plans - Abort it
C) There are over 1.3
million babies aborted each year in this country
1) 3,500 a day. Or think of it this way – that is 433 times
the Number of people who died in 9/11 – 3,000
D) Or 573 times the
amount of Soldiers who have died in
SO we see this in the
tragedies of Abortion.
A) But not just there – but also in the countless
number of Children – who are suffering
B) Children and teenagers who are hurting – because of
the selfish choices of their parents who are thinking only about their own appetites
1) Mom &
Dad Divorce {refuse to get along
Dad commits adultery/ Mom
runs off with someone else
C) Mom catches Dad on the computer looking at Porn and
now there is friction in the house
1) Innocent kids are suffering as a result – being
Sacrificed {happening even in the church
So that is the scene here in
Next King Jehoram notice his
reaction RdV.30-31
A) Jehoram tore his clothes- He is distraught – “what
is happening to my Kingdom”
B) He is distraught but the Problem is He blames God.
1) He wants
to take out his frustration on God’s Prophet
2) He wants the head of
Elisha
C) There is no sign of repentance here- no hint of guilt – no confession of rebellion
1) We are in this mess – It is God’s fault – this is
Elisha’s doing
D) Reminds me of the guy –
Wife divorced him – blamed it on the counseling at the Church
1) Stalk me
& a couple of the other Pastors – show up unannounced at our house
{restraining order
E) Called into Court – Wife restraining order
1) Judge …….
But his mentality and so
many others – Not my fault this is God’s fault
A)
B) We see that today: People
Know God – Not atheist – they believe in his existence – but they don’t follow
1) And when things go wrong – they blame God – Oh God
I can’t believe this is happening to me
C) GD this / GD that
– What if he answered that prayer! – Car blows up / Child dies
D) That is where Jehoram is at – this is God’s fault –
His problem – all because of that Prophet
E) So the people of
1) The King is blaming God and wants to kill God’s
Prophet
Now let’s consider - #3 What
God’s Prophet Elisha is doing. V.32 But
Elisha –
A) This is meant to be a contrast –
32 But Elisha was sitting in his house,
and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but
before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders,” Do you see how this
son of a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the
messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound
of his master's feet behind him?" 33 And while he was still talking with
them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the king said,
"Surely this calamity is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any
longer?"
B) When it seems like the
whole city is falling apart and things are not going to get better
1) Elisha is calmly sitting at a table w/ the Elders
C) Elisha is the picture of the guy who in the mist of
difficult circumstances is able to see what God is doing
D) He knows this is exactly where God said they would
be – He knows that God is on the throne
1) He knows that God is in control – so he is not
going to freak out
E) So in the mist of this very difficult situation
Elisha is able to see the hand of God
1) He is
taking the position of wanting to be a part of what God is doing.
I want to be that Kind
of Guy.
A) So easy to look at the condition of the World today
Political situation / Liberalism / Homo
agenda
B) Luke warm State of so much of the Church –
1) Easy to get discouraged, depressed
C) When in reality this is exactly where God said that
we would be
1) Last days –
lawlessness would abound
2) Lines Blurred – everything grey {No black / white
3) Love of many would grow cold.
In reality we are right on
schedule – we are right where God predicted that we would be prior to the
rapture of the Church.
A) Everything is happening like Clock work
B) From our perspective here: It looks like everything
is out of control –
1) But from the heavenly perspective it is right on
course
C) OH how I need to remember that. I need to have that
mindset
D) God has written History in
advance! He has told us about:
1)
2) Revival of the
3) Cashless society
4) Growth in Power of the European community
5) Growing Hostility against
E) The things we are seeing- He Prophesied 1000’s of
yrs ago
We need to realize that and
consider – where do we fit into that picture
A) Chosen generation to be living at this very
important time in God’s time table
B) What is our purpose? What is to be our Focus?
1) Definitely not one of despair or freaking out
“You will keep him in
perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on
You,
Because he trusts in You.”
C) I don’t want that to be some theory – I want that
to be the reality of my life.
D) I look at Elisha and I see that he somehow had this
capacity in the mist of all of this to see God
1) Elisha is just resting in the Lord and trusting in
the Lord
E) So the People are in
Distress –
1) The King is Distraught & Blaming God
2) But Elisha the Prophet is resting in the Lord.
Next up #4 the nameless
officer {Ch.7:1-2
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."
So here is this nameless
officer who has the promise of God – TOMORROW!
A) IN one day this is all going to change – one stroke
of God’s scepter – the entire situation will change
B) There is going to be 6 times the food for 1/5th
the price –
1) This guy mockingly says – NO
WAY! You have got to be kidding me!!!!
– Open the windows of …
C) Elisha says- You will see it but you will not
partake of any of it.
Now before we are too hard on
this guy – I can be just like him
A) You put me in this guys place in the midst of an
impossible situation – I can react the same way
B) See in the midst of this impossible situation –
his REASON Kicks in.
1) Intellectually and practically speaking – there is
no way – this can change like that in a day!
C) But the one that he is not factoring into the
equation is God almighty
Sometimes I will hear people
say something like if this doesn’t work – I am going to be out of options
A) Are we ever out of options?
B) Listen that is when we
are at the
C) That is where you are at when God says go kill the giant with your sling shot
D) Where you are at – 300 men against 300,000 like
Gideon
E) You are not out of options you are just missing a
part of the equation
1) You have forgotten to factor in God.
Isaiah declared:
13 Who can advise the
Spirit of the Lord or be his teacher or give him counsel? TLB
A) I know that I have tried to counsel God many times
B) Lord if you would just do this – if you would only move in
this way – God I have a great idea
C) God doesn’t need my
great idea – He doesn’t need my counsel
1) He needs me to simply get behind his plan – to
trust that he knows what He is doing
D) Galatians says – Don’t be
deceived – God is not mocked – what so ever a man sows – reap
1) This guy sows unbelief here – he is not going to
reap the blessing! He will See it but not partake
So seen – People in Distress
/ King who is Distraught
Prophet who is at rest /
Officer – Doesn’t belief
#5 4 Lepers - RD V. 3- 9
A) These 4 Lepers are sitting outside the
city wall where people would normally throw trash
B) That was how Lepers often Survived – Eating others
scraps and leftovers
C) But if people inside the city are eating Donkey
heads and bird droppings
1) There is nothing coming over the walls – and if
something does come over - throw it back!
So these guys are sitting
there hungry looking at one another – One gets an idea {Sit
here until we die!
A) Go to the Syrian camp – Worst outcome they kill us
– but we are going to die anyway {Best slaves
B) So they go down- Find an empty camp – go into tent
– Food – Feast
1) Clothes – they dress {Lepers wore shabby clothes
Great
in Blue
2) Gold – Everything in Abundance –
C) All of a sudden they stop
and almost simultaneously come to the same conclusion. –
1) What we are doing is not right – We can’t keep this
to ourselves – Today is a day of GOODNEWS
D) We must go and tell the others!
This is a great picture of
what should be the attitude of all of us in the Church.
A) We live in a world where people are starving –
Not eating Donkey heads/ dove droppings
B) But there is a void in the heart of man – there is
a hole that can only be filled by Jesus
1) Man TRIES to fill that
hungry with all sorts of things
C) Sex – Drugs – Work –
Possessions – friends
1) Nothing fits – Square Peg – round hole
2) Aaron so frustrated
D) There a lot of people out there – that is the
picture of their life! Frustrated – empty
1) Unfulfilled
Here we are {we sit here today Satisfied
A) We have tasted, we have eaten – been filled!
B) Cleansed of our Sin / Robed
in the righteousness of Christ - Set free from Addictions –
C) We gather here and worship the Lord
1) We fellowship together – Share in common this love
for Jesus - We study his word
But if this is all we are
doing, it is not Right
Today is a day of GOODNEWS
A) There is a world out there that
is starving – that is hurting – that is empty
/ that is dying
B) We know where to find Bread!
1) Shouldn’t we tell them? Shouldn’t we go to them?
C) We can’t keep this to ourselves! Eternity is at
Stake!
D) Paul said he had a debt to share Christ w/ the
world – because of what Christ did for him.
1) Shouldn’t we feel the same!
Here is the great news –
Evangelism doesn’t depend on your effectiveness / speaking ability
A) Just deliver the message: The message has power
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”
B) There is power in the message – We are called to
just share –
1) Postman who delivers
the message – You have just won Publishers clearing house
C) Person has to believe and cash the Check
These Lepers came back to the
city – said – We have found Bread / Food in abundance –
A) The Syrian camp is abandoned!
B) At first those in the city thought it was a trick
1) Ambush – Sent some guys to Check it out – came back
and said it is true – Let's go!
C) The Lepers did the right thing in delivering the good
news – They did their part
1) It was up to the people to respond to the news
To believe it and go for it
D) Same is true with US –
Deliver the News – Today is a day of good news - - There is Bread / Hope / Life
1) It is found in Jesus!
E) Tell them – They might just take you up on it.
1) Challenge Pray this year – Lead one person to Christ!
{Are you praying / looking / open
The Lepers did their part –
they did the right thing
And the city responded and
was saved
A) All except for one man – Pick it up in v.17-20 Rd
B) Here is the guy who scoffed who didn’t believe
1) He misses out!
C) Not sin that keeps a person out of heaven / Jesus
made the way for our sins to be forgiven
1) Not sin ….. But it is
UNBELIEF
Question: Sit here until you
die – Or respond to the GOODNEWS –
In
And give this invitation.
Question: Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what
does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Invitation:
Everyone who
thirsts, Come to the waters and
drink of me!
Jesus doesn’t say Do! He
says COME – comes receive/ come drink –
Not Do because it has
already been done!