You Move God Moves! !
2 Kings 7:1-13
2 Kings 7:1-13, 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.” 10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.
12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have 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 get into the city.’ ”
13 And one of his servants answered and said, “Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like
all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.” Unbelievable announcement.
At this time there were two kingdoms
The southern kingdom was called Judah and its capital was Jerusalem. The northern kingdom was called Israel and its capital Samaria. All of this is taking place in the northern kingdom around the city of Samaria. There was a Syrian general named Ben-Hadad who laid siege to the city of Samaria and said, “I’m going to conquer you by surrounding you nobody goes in and nobody goes out. I am going to starve you to death!”
The scarcity of food had reached a critical point.
2 Kings 6:25, “There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for 80 shekels [two pounds] of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for 5 shekels.” Things had gotten so bad there they were selling donkey heads and dove droppings.
If you want to know the truth, take the time to read 2 Kings 6. It had gotten so bad that mothers had taken to boiling their children and eating them! Cannibalism. When the king heard about this terrible action, he got so angry he went to Elisha and said, “I’m going to kill you, because this is all your fault and it’s God’s fault!
2 Kings 6:31, “He [the king] said, ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!’” Samaria was simply waiting for her long, slow, and painful end to arrive. Hope had long since fled the scene. Motivation to Move With that in mind Elisha makes an amazing prediction. V 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.” This is where we are introduced to our four lepers. V 3-4, 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.” So, these four lepers made an amazing choice. “Why do we sit here until we die?”
Because these men had leprosy of course. They had been excluded from the city. They had to live outside the city gates. They couldn’t come inside the city. They were ceremonially unclean.
Here’s the picture
Famine in the city, The enemy out there in the field which laid siege to the city. They said, things aren’t going to get any better. We are going to die.
Leprosy in the Bible is often spoken of as a type or illustration of sin.
Leviticus 13:1-2, And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2 “When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes on the skin of his body like a leprous sore, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. Leprosy speaks of sin as
- in the blood,
- becoming overt in loathsome ways,
- incurable by human means.
Leviticus 13:44, he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his sore is on his head. Leprosy is a picture of man's totally depraved condition, ruined by sin.
Isaiah 1:4-6, Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. 5 Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment. The lepers were dying. These men were dying of starvation. You, too, are dying. You have the sentence of death in your body right now.
Romans 5:12, "death passed upon all men"
Hebrews 9:27, "It is appointed unto men once to die" Each hour takes you closer to your death. Each day brings you twenty-four hours closer to your death. Each year brings you twelve months closer to your death. Let me share about Samaria. Size 45 by 30 miles Housing around 30,000 to 35,000 people. Historians mentions something like 3% are lepers. So approximately there must have been around 900 lepers in the city outskirts. Only four people congregated together.
Who do you associate?
Where can you go to escape from death?
Why are we just sitting here doing nothing until we die?
Here are their options
- a. We can go into the city and die of hunger
- b. Sit out here and die of hunger or
- c. Surrender to the enemy and maybe they will make us prisoners and then they will feed us.
At least we will be living. Living prisoners is better than being a dead free man! So, let’s get up and go!” They were at a very important point in their lives! At one time or another all of us probably need to come to this same point I call “the point of total desperation.”
They became so desperate they said, “I am not going to just sit here and do nothing until I die! I am going to get up and at least do something!” Did you know that God often meets us at the “point of total desperation?” I have known people who have problems, whether it be alcohol problems, drug problems, addiction problems, marriage problems, and do you know what?
They can’t make any changes in their life and God can’t do anything until they come to the point of total desperation. “If I don’t do something, I’m going to die! I must do something!” Only at the point of total desperation does God meet them.
I thank God that these men came to that point and that was the motivation for them to get up and move! God moves! V 5-8, 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.
Isn’t this just amazing? Here these four lepers think they are heading toward the very best thing that could happen to them. They think they are going to be made prisoners and they walk into this huge camp of Assyrians and suddenly they look around and they don’t see a single person!
They lift the flap of one tent and look in there and all they see is some food and drink on the table. They look around and there is gold and silver and all these treasures and things, and they don’t see a soul. The Bible says what happened–and this is another part of the miracle–sometime just before the lepers got there this mighty Syrian army heard the sound of horses and chariots and they thought the Israelites and the Egyptians, and the Hittites were staging an attack.
They thought they were outnumbered, and they got up and they ran for their lives. They retreated they fled and left their camp intact. As I have studied this and look at the original scripture, it does not say they heard a sound like horses and chariots—it says they heard the sound of horses and chariots.
One of Elisha’s miracles when he and his servant were surrounded by the Syrian army and Elisha said to his servant, “Don’t worry. They that be with us are more than they that be with them.” The servant said, “What? There are only two of us and there are thousands of them!” Then Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of my servant.”
When the servant’s spiritual eyes were opened, he saw that the mountains were filled with horses and chariots and an angelic army. What I and many other people who have studied this believe this was that same angelic army. God just opened the ears of the Syrian soldiers with, and they heard the sound of this angelic army and they turned and ran. Then these four lepers walked into that camp.
So, they sat down, and they started doing what any hungry person would do. They started stuffing their faces they started grabbing all this silver and treasure and burying it for themselves. They said, “Man! We have it made!
There we were about to die thinking that we were going to die of hunger then thinking we were going to become prisoners. Man have we hit the jackpot! God that caused the Syrian army to flee from their tents, leaving everything behind. Suffice it to say that God was behind it.
Ephesians 2:7, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
These men went into the abandoned tents of the Syrians and carried out armloads of silver and gold, and expensive clothing. When you rise up and come to Christ you, too, will get what you need! God will give you "the exceeding riches of his grace."
You will be loaded down with "the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God."You will be saved! Rise up and come to Jesus. True, you are an awful sinner. You have sinned long and dreadfully. Your heart is so hard.
But why sit here until you die?
Why not, now, rise up and come to the Saviour? He will take you in His bleeding arms and save you. God will give you spiritual riches beyond anything you could imagine or hope for. What will you do with grace of our Lord?
Wonderful Witness.
2 Kings 7:9-11, 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.” 10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.
These four lepers could have said, “Forget Samaria! After all, this is the city that excluded us. This is the city that said we were unclean. This is the city that kicked us out. Let’s forget about those people!
Let’s just let them stay in there and starve. Let them keep eating donkey head soup and killing their own babies. We have it made! Forget about those people!” But that’s not what they did. What one of the lepers said is a great lesson for us today.
“You know this is good news and we cannot keep silent about it. We must bear witness of the great gift that we have been given!” We are like those four lepers. We are all inflicted and infected with an eternally fatal disease.
We deserve death but when we by an act of faith say, “Why am I going to sit here until I die?” and we get up and we come to Christ by faith did you know that we receive more blessings than we could ever even imagine. We get forgiveness of our sins, a new home in heaven, a new nature, and a new family.
We receive all these bountiful blessings. It’s just like these four lepers stumbling into all the treasures of this camp.
Just as these four men could not remain silent, we cannot remain silent when it comes to telling others what we have experienced. Silence is sinful! Silence would be sinful. Have you ever heard the expression, “Silence is Golden?”
Did you know in the Christian life silence is cowardly! Because it would have been sinful for these men to have enjoyed all that great food and treasure when just down the road their people were dying. The same thing is true today.
When we do not share the good news of Jesus Christ with a lost and dying world, it constitutes sin. If some scientist discovered the cure for cancer but simply held out for more money, that that would be a crime! It would border on sin because there are people dying every single day of cancer. If somebody has the cure and doesn’t share it, it is criminal—it’s sinful.
The same is true for those of us who know the cure for sin sickness. Silence is sinful!
Because these lepers had their bellies full and because they had all of these possessions, they just couldn’t keep quiet about it. They had to go tell their family their friends the people in Samaria. BELIEVE what we have found!
There’s a whole camp out there full of food, full of treasure and it’s yours for the taking! Come and get it! When you have tasted the bread of life, you will want to tell everybody you come in contact with. You just taste the bread of life who is Jesus, and it will make all the difference in your life!
So, there was a wonderful witness they shared what they knew.
Application
1. Good news is to be shared. Why does the good news of the kingdom need to be shared? Jesus commands us to share the good news.
Matthew 28:18-20, And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Acts 1:8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Do you really love Jesus?
Are you sharing your faith? Heaven and hell are real. Those who are the people of God will enjoy an eternity of joy in God’s presence.
Luke 16:25, But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. Lazarus had lived a sickly and miserable life. Yet, as he is in Paradise, awaiting the final resurrection, he is comforted. That comfort continues after the final resurrection.
Revelation 21:3-4, And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
What a glorious place heaven is going to be! Those who are not the people of God will be tormented forever. How can we have a way to rescue people from the fires of hell and keep silent? 2. The love of Jesus compels us.
2 Corinthians 5:14, “The love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died”
The love of Christ could mean: Our love for Christ, or Jesus’ love for us and those in the world. I think it means both. Because we love Jesus and He loves those lost in sin, we go to reach them with the soul-saving Gospel.
3. Sinner saved by grace.
I stand before you as a sinful man whose only hope is the grace of God and the blood of Jesus. If God has so saved me, do I not owe it to tell others the story of how I have been saved from my sins? How can I share the good news of the kingdom?
We live in an age where everything is easy. Hungry? Pop something in the microwave, and you can eat in just a few minutes. There really isn’t a magic formula whereby we share our faith. We must, however, share the Gospel of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus is what changes lives.
Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”
There can be absolutely no substitute for the preaching of the Gospel. What if you don’t have the gift of evangelism? 4. You can invite people. In that way, you could be like the little slave girl who told Naaman that Elisha could heal his leprosy (2 Kings 5:1-4)!
She couldn’t heal Naaman, but she could tell Naaman where he could find someone who could.
There are many ways to invite people
- Take to social media and invite folks.
- Take some postcards to a doctor’s office.
- Take a flyer and put up in a store.
- Go door knocking with us Saturday morning. 5. We need to pray.
I don’t mean that we use prayer as a copout to keep from doing what we should. Yet, Scripture teaches us to pray. Jesus said to pray for workers.
Matthew 9:38, Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
When was the last time you prayed for the Lord to send out laborers into His harvest? Paul prayed for the lost in Israel.
Romans 10:1, Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
When is the last time you got down on your knees and prayed for your lost friends and relatives by name? 6. We need to live right. Nothing ruins a good message like one who refuses to live by it.
Matthew 5:13-16, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
What we say must match the way we live. Is the way you are living matching the message Jesus needs taken to the world?