Lepers find help for the Israelite people

II Kings Chapter 7

Elisha, the man of God, gave a message from the Lord in which the Lord said that by tomorrow in Samarian markets, the price of five quarts of flour would drop to half an ounce of silver and the price of ten quarts of barley would drop to half an once of silver. The officer assisting the king was unbelieving and insisted no such thing could happen even if the Lord opened all the windows of heaven. But Elisha told him to wait and see it happen, but "you won't be able to eat it!"

Now there were four men with leprosy sitting at the city gates. They asked each other why they should just sit and wait to die. And they decided to go surrender to the Aramean army and risk death. So that evening they went to the camp of the Arameans, but no one was there. For the Lord had caused the whole army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and galloping horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. They thought the king of Israel had hired the Hittites and Egyptians to attack them. So they panicked and fled, abandoning their tents, horses,livestock and everything else.

When the lepers arrived at the camp they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine and carrying out silver, gold, clothing and hiding it. Finally they decided something was not right and some terrible calamity would befall them if they did not share. So in the morning they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers that the Aramean camp was empty of men, but everything else was in order. The gatekeepers shouted the news to the people in the palace.

The king got out of bed and told his soldiers that it was a trick. That the Arameans knew the Israelites were starving, so they left camp and hid in the fields. Then they would take the Israelites alive and capture the city. One of the king's officers suggested that they send out scouts to check and if anything happened to them, it would not be a greater loss then if they stayed and died of starvation with the rest of Samaria.

Two chariots with horses were prepared and the king sent the scouts to the Aramean camp. They traveled all the way to the Jordan River, following a trail of clothing and equipment that the Arameans had thrown in their mad rush to escape. When the scouts returned and told the king, the people of Samaria rushed out and plundered the camp. So it was true that five quarts of flour were sold that day for half an ounce of silver and ten quarts of barley were sold for half an ounce of silver,just as the Lord promised. The king's officer was trampled to death at the city gate and the Lord's prophecy about him was true too.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW: Lepers were not allowed inside the city, but depended on charity outside the city gate. However, during the famine, their situation was desperate. When Elisha prophesied, the king's officer's faith and hope were gone and he didn't believe in God's deliverance.

HOW DOES THIS CHAPTER RELATE TO US TODAY? Like the lepers who at first kept the good news at the camp to themselves, we sometimes forget that many of our fellow men are starving for The Good News about Jesus Christ. But we must not be like those lepers and wait until morning to share. People are dying without knowing about faith and Jesus. It is our most important function on this earth, to tell them, to share our knowledge about Christ. It is God who provides our daily food. When our resources are low and our doubts are strongest, remember that God can open the floodgates of heaven.

Yours in Christ,
Mary

Prayer Requests are needed for:
HEALTH: Gabe, Wanda, Janice Long’s parents. especially her mother whose cancer has returned, and Arlene’s nephew David. Pray for my neighbor Al who is nearing the end of his life. Pray for Carolyn’s brother Ronald who has cancer. Pray for our friend Michelle who was diagnosed with MS. Pray for Cyndi Sullivan who was given 14 months to live with cancer, but has made it six years. The pain has returned and she needs our prayers.
UPDATE on Barb who went in for back surgery and had a heart attack and stroke, she has 90 percent of her speech back and is home , but continues to have a problem with one arm and hand. She will require long therapy and insurance may soon be a problem since her job was not held for her.
Pray for Robert Sargent with lung cancer and Marthaline Sargent with serious health issues. Update on Stella: She has shed the feeding tube and is taking formula on her own! But breathing problems are still with her, though improving all the time. She continues to have a long road, so prayers are still needed. She has been moved to a St. Louis hospital.
Pray for Carolyn’s friend Margaret and her husband who were in a car accident. As elderly drivers they may face a life change which may cost them their independence. Let’s all raise our voices to God to hear our prayers.
Pray for Brian and Ashley, as they lost the expected baby boy. It was so sad because she was 4 months and we had seen the sonogram of him moving and sucking his thumb.
Pray for the speedy recovery of Sandy in Minnesota who underwent successful brain surgery for a tumor recently.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTING: Gail, Mary
RESTORATION OF FAITH: Al, John
LOVE AND SUPPORT: Claire, Hunter, Brian
SUPPORT: Haiti, Chile, survivors of Japan’s earthquake, survivors of the devastating tornadoes in our southernmost states. Pray too, for our country’s leaders and our military people who die each day for our freedom.