Would you turn to 2 Kings 7. Happy Mother's Day. 2 Kings 7. I'm going to read this entire
chapter. Then Elisha said, hear ye the
word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord tomorrow
about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel
and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.
And I remember there was a great famine because of this besieging
that had been going on. Nobody had anything to eat. And
he said, tomorrow it's gonna be different. Just 24 hours and
his famine is gonna be over. Then a Lord on whose hand the
king leaned answered the man of God and said, behold, if the
Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he,
the man of God, Elisha said, behold, thou shalt see it with
thine eyes, but shall not eat thereof. And there were four
leprous men at the entering of the gate, and they said one to
another, why sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter
into the city, then the famine is in the city and we'll die
there. And if we sit still here, we'll die also. Now therefore
come and let us fall into the host of the Syrians. If they
save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall
but die. And they rose up in the twilight to go into the camp
of the Syrians. These are the ones who were besieging
Israel. Remember, and they were the ones that were creating the
famine. And they're going to go to them
to see if they'll have mercy on them. And they rose up in
the twilight to go into the camp of the Syrians. And when they
were come to the outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold,
there was no man there. For the Lord had made the host
of Syrians to hear a noise of chariots. and a noise of horses,
even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another,
lo, the king of Israel had hired against us the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore, they
arose and fled in the twilight and left their tents and their
horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, all the food,
all the silver and gold, and they fled for their life. And
when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, They
went into one tent, did eat and drink, and carried then silver
and gold and raiment, went and hid it, and came again and entered
into another tent, and carried then also, and they went and
hid it. Then they said one to another, we do not well. This day is a day of good tidings,
and we hold our peace. If we tarry till the morning
light, some mischief will come upon us. Now therefore, come,
that we may go and tell the king's household, So they came and called
unto the porter of the city, and they told him, saying, we
came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man
there, neither voice of men, but horses tied, and asses tied,
and the tents as they were. And he called the porters, and
they told it to the king's house within. And the king arose, Jeroa. Now remember, he was an unbeliever.
And the king arose in the night and said unto his servants, I
will now show you what the Syrians have done to us, They know how
that we'd be hungry. He didn't believe the, he met
with suspicion, the message of the lepers. They know that we'd
be hungry and therefore as they had gone out of the camp to hide
themselves in the field saying when they come out of the city,
we shall catch them alive and into the city. And one of the
servants answered and said, let some take, I pray thee, five
of the horses that remain, which are left, I'm sure that they
had eaten them all during this, famine. Behold, they are as all
the multitude of Israel that are left in it. Behold, I say
there even as all the multitude of Israelites that are consumed,
let us send and see. They took therefore two chariots,
chariot horses, and the king sent after the host of the Syrians
saying, go and see. And they went after them unto
Jordan. And lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels,
and the Syrians had cast them away in their haste. And the
messengers returned and told the king, And the people went
out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of
fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for
a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. This is what Elisha
said would take place. And the king appointed the Lord,
on whose hand he leaned, to have the charge of the gate. And the
people trod him in the gate. And he died, as the man of God
had said, who spake when the king came down to him. And it
came to pass, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying,
two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for
a shekel shall be tomorrow, about this time, in the gate of Samaria.
And that Lord answered the man of God and said, now behold,
if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing
be? And he said, behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes,
and shall not eat thereof. And so it fell out unto him,
for the people trod him in the gate. And he died. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of our blessed son. And we ask in his name that you
would be pleased to meet with us. and speak in power to our
hearts from your word. Lord, don't let us meet in vain. Grant us your presence as you
promised where two or three are gathered together in your name.
There you are in the midst. We ask that your gospel would
be preached, that we would be given ears to hear, hearts to
receive, And Lord, we ask that our sins might be forgiven for
Christ's sake and that we might be found in him. Lord, we pray
for our country, our leaders, that you would cause them to
do your will as we know you will. We would desire to live a quiet
and peaceable life in all honesty and godliness. Lord, give us
grace to love you more and love one another more. We pray for
your blessing wherever your word is preached. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen. Now, look back in chapter six,
verse 25. And there was a great famine
in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, the
Syrians. They kept food from coming in.
They were gonna starve them to death until an ass's head was
sold for four score pieces of silver and the fourth part of
a cab of doves dung. for five pieces of silver. Now
this is all they had to eat. Doves' dung and an ass's head.
And it was sold for these exorbitant prices. The famine was so bad. And this is when the king, you'll
remember from last week, blamed Elisha for all this. He said
this is Elisha's fault and he's sent to have his head cut off.
And then Elisha makes this announcement Hear the word of the Lord. Now
think of the desperate condition of this place. I mean, people,
dove's dung. I know people of, writers and
commentators have said, it's not that, it's something else.
Well, it says dove's dung. That's how bad things were. That's
what they had to eat. And they were in a bad position. And then Elisha makes this promise. Tomorrow, in 24 hours, everything
is gonna be great. You know, the Lord can turn around
things so quickly, can't he? That's an amazing thing to think
about. He can turn around things so quickly if he's pleased to
do it. Now, verse two, then a Lord, chapter seven, verse two, then
a Lord on whose hand the king leaned. This is one of Jerome's
servants after he heard the man of God say, Tomorrow, about this
time, everything's gonna be good. Then a man on whose hand the
king leaned answered the man of God and said, behold, if the
Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? I mean,
how could this happen? Now what he was doing was questioning
the power of God. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? I love that question. I love the answer, no. Is anything
too hard for the Lord? No, he can bring about this in
power. So, Elisha said, behold, thou shalt
see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. You're gonna
see this plenty, but because of this unbelief, you're not
gonna have any of it. And then we have what I think
is such a delightful story. There were four leprous men,
at the entering in of the gate. Now, you and I both know that
leprosy represents sin. And these are four men, lepers,
sitting outside the gate. They weren't allowed in the camp. They had to stay outside the
city because they were lepers. And they're sitting there and
they say, why sit we here until we die? Verse four, if we say
we'll enter into the city, then the famine is in the city and
we'll die there. That's what'll happen to us. We'll die there
if we go into the city. And if we stay here, we'll die
also. Now therefore come and so let
us fall under the host of the Syrians. Let us cast ourselves
on their mercy. If they save us alive, we shall
live. If they kill us, we'll die. Now,
These men were lepers. They weren't allowed into the
city. They had to stay outside the camp. And for some reason,
the Syrians didn't kill them. They were still outside the camp.
Maybe they were afraid to get around, because maybe they thought
they'd get leprosy, or maybe they thought these fellows are
harmless. But they allowed them to stay alive, these four leprous
men outside the camp. And here's their reasoning. If
we go into the city, there's nothing to eat. We'll die. If we stay here, we'll die. There's
only one thing for us to do if we want to live. Let us fall
unto the host of the Syrians. Now, what this is a picture of
is a sinner falling at the feet of Christ for mercy. He has no
sense of entitlement. He's like that leper. He came
and worshiped the Lord, saying, if you will, You can make me
clean. Now that's exactly what these
men are doing. They know the only place of Hope
is if the Syrians have mercy on them. They don't have a sense
of entitlement. They say, if they kill us, well, we'll be
killed, but we'll die here and we'll die in the camp, in the
city. Our only hope is to fall at their
feet looking for mercy. If they kill us, well, we're
gonna die anyway, but let's hope they have mercy on us. That's
just the way the leper came into Christ's presence. Verse five. And they rose up in the twilight
to go into the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the
uttermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was
no man there. They were coming for mercy, but their place was
empty. And what is interesting as you read, every tent was filled
with food and plenty. They come and the place is empty. Verse six, For the Lord had made
the host of Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses,
even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another,
Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore they
arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their
horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled
for their life." These lepers are coming into a place where
something the Lord's already done. They didn't know anything
about it, but this happened before they got there. You see, this
is the Lord's way of bringing about what Elisha said would
take place. This is how all this plenty is going to be there in
only 24 hours and something the Lord had already done. And so
they come to the camp and they find out about something the
Lord has already done. How all their provisions were
taken care of. Look what they say. Verse eight,
and when these lepers came to the other most part of the camp,
remember they were starving. They went into one tent, did
eat and drink and carried out then silver and gold and raiment
and went and hid it and came again and entered into another
tent and carried then also went and hid it. I mean, they come
in and they find all the provision of the Lord. They have all they
want to eat. They have beautiful arraignment,
Christ our clothing, silver and gold. Christ is how we have what
we have. He's the commerce of heaven.
They had everything and all of what the Lord provided. And I
love this verse nine. Then they said one to another,
we do not well. This is a day of good tidings.
And we hold our peace. If we tarry till the morning
light, some mischief will come upon us. Now, therefore, let
us come, and we may go and tell the king's household." Now, the
people in Samaria were still starving, and they concluded,
what we're doing really is not right. Now, they were going and
hiding things. And I think, what's the significance
of that? Well, the first thing I thought about was the parable
of the treasure hid in the field. When a man finds it, he's overjoyed
and he goes and hides it because he doesn't want to lose it. And
they had been doing this. They were so thankful and amazed
by how the Lord had provided for them. But then they think
of the people in Samaria. I hope we're like that. This is a day of good tidings.
This is a day of glad tidings. This is the day of the gospel.
I hope me and you will be like them and bring every man we can
the good tidings." You see, this represents the preaching of the
gospel. I love Brother Mahan's definition of preaching the gospel.
It's one beggar telling another beggar where he got bread. And
that's what's going on here. They're going to tell the people
of Samaria, there's bread to be had. Plenty of it. So let's go on reading. So they
came and called into the border of the city and they told them
saying, we came to the camp of the Syrians and behold, there
was no man there. Neither voice of man, but horses tied, gasses
tied, contents as they were filled with plenty. And he called the
porter and they told it to the King's house within. Now the
King arose in the night. He was in the night. and said
unto his servants, I'll now show you what the Syrians have done
to us. They know that we'd be hungry, therefore they've gone
out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying when they
come out of the city, we'll catch them alive and shall get into
the city. Now, an unbeliever always hears the gospel with
suspicion. And I know why he heard it this
way. This king, you can bet, he had food. He wasn't hungry. I guarantee you, he and his family
had all they needed to eat. When the horses were killed,
they went to him. And he wasn't hungry, he wasn't
starving, he wasn't eating ass's heads or dove's dungs. He really
wasn't hungry. Now, when you don't hear the
gospel as a sinner, it doesn't, you just hear with suspicion.
This is, I don't believe this. You don't believe in free grace.
It just doesn't make sense to you. You don't believe that all
this provision is provided without you working for it or doing anything.
That's just too much. He listened to this message with
suspicion. And he didn't believe it. And
I know it was because he wasn't hungry. The king, he's gonna
make sure he's got something to eat. Let everybody else starve.
He's gonna make sure, this is a wicked man. Now let's go on
reading. And he had a servant that was
wise. And one of his servants answered and said, let some take,
I pray, the five of the horses that remain, which are left in
the city. Behold, there is all the multitude of Israel that
are left in it. Behold, I say, there even is
a multitude of Israelites that are consumed. So let us send
and see. Let's go find out if what they're
saying is true. They took, therefore, two chariot
horses, and the king sent after the host of the Syrian, saying,
go and see. And they went after them unto Jordan, and lo, All
the way was full of garments and vessels with food, which
the Syrians had cast away in their haste. Remember how the
Lord had sent that noise and they all fled. The Lord sent
that to make this provision, just as the man of God would
say, and they all fled and There it was, the messengers returned
and told the king, and the people went out and spoiled the tents
of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was
sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according
to the word of the Lord." You see, everything is according
to the word of the Lord. And that's how this miracle takes
place. And this is a miracle. I mean,
you think about it, everybody's starving to death. 24 hours later,
there's plenty. And I love the way it's pointed
out that there was garments, full of garments. A garment for
everybody. That's the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Food for everybody. Christ is
our food and drink. Silver and gold. Christ our commerce. I mean, when we come in to the
Lord's presence, we don't come pleading anything but Him. He's
our commerce. We don't give Him, you know, offer anything of our
own. He's the trade of heaven. And
they come and find all this. Verse, according to the word
of the Lord, verse 17, and the king appointed the Lord on whose
hand he had leaned to have a charge of the gate. That's interesting
that this man who said this couldn't happen, the king appointed him
to kind of charge the gate, get people to come out orderly to
get this food, but they were so overjoyed to get this food
that they rushed through the gate and they tread this man
and it kills him. The one the Lord said, you're
going to see it because of this unbelief, you're going to see
it, but you're not going to eat. They tread on this man, they
kill him. And he died as the man of God
had said, who spake when the king came down to him. And it came to pass as the man
of God had spoken to the king saying two measures of barley
for a shekel. measure fine flour for a shekel. Food is going to
be so cheap and inexpensive. Everybody can afford it. Everybody
can have some of this. It's going to be sold at this
price. It happened exactly as the man
of God said. I'm so thankful for the scriptures. Everything is going to happen
exactly as the scripture says. Let me remind you of one scripture.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I'm a sinner,
he came to save me. Are you a sinner? He came to
save you. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? What the word of God says, do
you believe that Jesus is the Christ? God's prophet, God's
priest, and God's king. And you're relying on him as
such. You're relying on Him to be the Word of God, for Him to
bring you into God's presence, for Him to cause you to do His
will as God's King. If you believe that He's the
Christ, you're born of God. You're born of God. You've been
born again. You're a new creature in Christ Jesus. I'm so thankful.
Everything happens exactly as the Word of God says. I love the Word of God. Verse 19, and that Lord that
answered the man of God said, now behold, if the Lord shall
make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? Now he was questioning
God's ability. In other words, he had a small
God. He had a weak God. He had a God who couldn't do
things unless we let him. He questioned the ability of
God. Now understand this. Faith is
believing his ability. Do you believe he's able? That's
the issue. Do you believe he is able to
save you without any help from you? You believe that? That's
what faith is. It's believing his ability, and
this man didn't believe his ability. He can't do this. He can't do
it with, and that's, people look at, God can't save me unless
I fill in the blank, and that is the wrong view, and that man
died because of that. He didn't believe God. There
is no salvation apart from faith. Does faith save me? No. Am I
saved without faith? No. You believe he is able. And if you don't believe he is
able, you will not be saved. It really is that simple. And
this man died just as the word of God, the man of God said.
Now, I don't want to see God's provision and not taste thereof. May the Lord give me and you
this faith, believing his ability, believing his word, and eating
the provision of God that we didn't work for, that was provided
for us supernaturally. And there's something so exciting
about this. I'm thrilled with this thought.
Whatever's going on, If the Lord's pleased, He can change it just
like that.