The enemy of God’s people never considers himself beaten. If the Syrian bands, convicted of their wrong-doing by the power of the God of Israel, cease making incursions into the land, Ben-Hadad in contrast gathers all his army to besiege Samaria, and this siege brings a great famine in its wake. Such are the consequences of Israel’s sin. The enemy, without knowing it, was sent by God in judgment against this people. But at the same time he is a type of the prince of death, from whom sinful man cannot escape. The famine is a consequence of the presence of the enemy, who certainly would never dream of feeding those whom he is oppressing. It is like another form of death pressing down upon this guilty people. In all this chapter, then, it is death — that terrible, inevitable fate deserved by sinful men — that reigns. But God has resources even against death. He has the prophet to proclaim this, and if He announces that He will bring the famine to an end, we shall see that this is brought about by doing away with the enemy, the instrument of His judgment. This introduces us into the domain of grace and of the gospel.
After this brief summary, let us examine in detail the contents of this interesting chapter.
Samaria was the capital and center of a religious world which still maintained the appearance of upholding the worship of the Lord, but which had corrupted it. We find this same world in our day in another form, and it is precisely on account of its religious pretensions that it is the object of the judgment of God. Every kind of sacrifice was tolerated at Samaria, and the famine, instead of causing the people and their king to reconsider, only manifested the terrible egoism of men’s hearts, who, in order to avoid dying of hunger, were sacrificing even their own children instead of sacrificing themselves for them. If such things could be met with here, it was not because the external features of religion had been banished. The king even wore “sackcloth within upon his flesh” as a sign of mourning and of mortification, probably in hope of averting the danger, but without having his conscience touched and his heart changed. We see the same features taking place in Christendom when nations are smitten with public calamities.
The king was mortifying himself at the very moment when, full of hatred, he was seeking the life of the prophet of the Lord. “God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day!” he said (2 Kings 6:3131Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. (2 Kings 6:31)). He who had had to say to the woman in distress, “If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee?” and who had rent his clothes before the horrible reality, with violence rejected the only man by whom a means of salvation was offered to him. How completely he had forgotten that the prophet had saved his life, “not once, not twice,” and that the Lord with limitless patience had been stretching forth a helping hand to him! All that was meaningless to him, for the only thing he would not admit—and that was exactly the most important thing—was that his sin had merited him death and judgment.
While these things were happening, the prophet was seated in his house, conversing peacefully with the elders; but, as “seer” he does not need for God to open his eyes to know the man’s intentions, or to realize the protection of God. Faithful to his oath, the king sent a messenger with the order to behead Elisha and, himself thirsty for vengeance, followed on the heels of this executor of His sentence. Before he had arrived, the prophet had seen him: “Do ye see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head?” The man, finding the door barred, could not accomplish his mission, and returned to his master. His plans foiled, the king renounced all trust in God: “Behold, this evil is of Jehovah: why should I wait for Jehovah any longer” (2 Kings 6:3333And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer? (2 Kings 6:33)). How many times man, in his state of revolt against God, reasons like Jehoram! Since God does not accord me what I desire, does not grant me the healing of one dear to me, does not bring me out of my material difficulties, I will do away with my obligations toward Him; He no longer exists for me. Ah! it is because like Jehoram, man’s heart does not wish to go to the root of his trouble — sin — and admit of its consequences. He does not want to repent; his pride refuses to cast itself upon the mercy of his judge, recognizing that He would be right to condemn him. The very appeals of God afford him fresh occasions to harden his heart.
How will God respond to so much wickedness and rebellion?—He has His grace announced by the very man whose life the king is seeking! “And Elisha said, Hear the word of Jehovah. Thus said Jehovah: Tomorrow about this time shall the measure of fine flour be at a shekel, and two measures of barley at a shekel, in the gate of Samaria” (2 Kings 7:11Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow 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. (2 Kings 7:1)). Yes, God proclaimed that the following day He would give abundance and satisfy the poor who are hungering, when their very sin was the cause of the famine.
At the proclamation of this good news, one of the king’s aides mocks at God: “And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would this thing be?”( 2 Kings 7:22Then 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 said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. (2 Kings 7:2)). The king did not believe this message, as is seen in what follows (2 Kings 7:1212And 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 that we be hungry; therefore are they 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. (2 Kings 7:12)); he kept his hatred and rebellion intact in his heart. Nevertheless, his state was not as terrible as that of this mocker, when the good news of the grace of God was being proclaimed by His prophet. This latter says to the mocker: “Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.” God has immense longsuffering toward all sinners, but those that mock at Him and His Word are irremediably lost. At the end of this chapter we shall see that this man is the only one who, in a scene of deliverance and abundance, is cut off without sharing in any part of it.
This character of mockers is not as rare as one might think in our day. On the contrary, one may say that it characterizes this time in which we live of which Peter said: “Knowing this first, that there shall come at the close of the days mockers with mocking, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for from the time the fathers fell asleep all things remain thus from the beginning of the creation. For this is hidden from them through their own willfulness, that heavens were of old, and an earth, having its subsistence out of water and in water, by the word of God, through which waters the then world, deluged with water, perished. But the present heavens and the earth by his word are laid up in store, kept for fire unto a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Pet, 3:3-7). Let us not think that mockers are people who laugh at all piety. The unbelief of the past century and a half perhaps bore this character but the times have changed. Today’s mockers display their unbelief very seriously; they reason. For them, the Word of God is null and void, just as it was to Jehoram’s captain, and having no confidence in it, they trust in the stability of visible things, affirming that they will never come to an end. They are willingly ignorant — and that is the character of their mockery — of that which God has revealed to them in His Word. Their judgment is at the door.
And now God shows us that if man does not want Him, not only does He prepare, as in the preceding chapter, a great feast for His enemies, but He also prepares souls in view of the enjoyment of the feast.
“And there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate, and they said one to another, Why do we abide here until we die?” (2 Kings 7:33And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? (2 Kings 7:3)). These four men were unclean, for leprosy is the picture of sin which defiles a man. As such, they could not dwell with the people; their uncleanness placed them outside the gate of Samaria. They were, at the same time, as being completely leprous, excluded from the presence of God. Moreover, their condition was such that they could not ignore it; their sickness had this special feature of being well-known in Israel so that one could not hide it from God, nor from others, nor from oneself. Lastly, apart from the direct intervention of God outside of all human resources, it would inevitably lead to death.
Such was the personal state of these four men at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. That which made it the more terrible was that death surrounded them on every hand. “If we say, Let us enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if abide here, we shall die. And now come, let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall but die” (2 Kings 7:44If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. (2 Kings 7:4)). If they could have entered into the city, they would have found famine and death. To stay where they were was, without contradiction, death. To go to the enemy, representative of the judgment of God and wielding His sword, would this not still be death? But on that side, at least, there was a glimmer of hope. “If they save us alive, we shall live.” Their lives were dependent on the good will of their enemies. Perhaps they might not pronounce the death sentence?—
Do we not encounter the same circumstances today? The sinner, convicted of sin, cannot find help and deliverance from the world, even in its religious aspect. He meets only famine and death there. He cannot remain in his present state: it is death also. Before him is the threat of the judgment of God, and that is death — terrible and fatal death! But perhaps the Judge may have pity upon him — let him go then and cast himself down at the feet of the Judge! Let him go; he will learn that this God who is Judge is the God of love, the Savior God!
But our account does not go this far. These lepers do not rise up to meet God. They advance, uncertain and fearful, come “to the extremity of the camp of the Syrians; and, behold, there was no man there” What had happened? “The Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, a noise of a great host,” and believing it to mean an attack by Israel’s allies, they had fled, abandoning their tents, asses, and horses, and the camp just as it was in order to save their lives.
The enemies themselves, the instruments of God’s judgment, had disappeared. Judgment had fallen upon them. There was no more judgment. How had this come to pass? The noise of a great army had been heard, something weak and insignificant in reality, in no wise comparable to the horses and chariots of fire at Dothan, but a most mighty thing because it came forth from the Lord Himself. He was in this noise, and that was enough to bring to naught all the power of Ben-Hadad.
For us, dear Christian readers, this noise has been heard at the cross, where the Son of God had to do with all the power of the prince of death and all his army. He vanquished him with his own weapons, but without any display of strength. In the death of one Man, crucified in weakness, was found God’s power to conquer, to bring to naught, to destroy this terrible enemy. Such was the death of Christ. Satan held men captive through the fear of death, and he was conquered by his own weapons, just as Goliath’s head once was severed by weak David with the giant’s very own sword.
Death was conquered, judgment annulled for these four lepers. Tremblingly they advanced toward these. In their place they found life, an abundance of goods, riches, and that with which to appease their hunger, all the spoil of the enemy, at no cost to themselves. They gather the fruit of victory which for us is that of the Lord. There is peace in the camp; no one opposes them; they are satisfied, discovering the treasure which they appropriate. But can they keep silence and keep them for themselves? No, the joy of salvation must be communicated; these men become messengers of good news to others. “This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace!”
That which characterizes this chapter is not a God who removes the defilement of sin; else these lepers, like Naaman, would not have remained such as they were; but a God who removes judgment in the person of the enemy and at the same time destroys the power of death, in order that poor, defiled creatures might live and enjoy the blessings of which they had been deprived.
Let us notice another characteristic of the gospel in this account. When Elisha made known that “tomorrow” the famine would cease, he said, “Hear” (2 Kings 7:11Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow 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. (2 Kings 7:1)). This word is addressed to all without distinction, to the people, to the king, to the mocking lord, just as the sower’s seed falls indiscriminately upon every kind of ground. It is the same for the victory won. All are invited. Its results are offered without distinction to all. The people, the whole city, the king and his servants are all invited to this feast. The famous “tomorrow” announced by the prophet has been changed to “today.” All may come, feast, and enrich themselves, but are far from sharing the joy of the lepers. These lepers, in the presence of the marvels of their salvation cannot remain silent; they must speak: “We hold our peace!” We see how the king and his servants receive the announcement of deliverance (2 Kings 7:12-1512And 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 that we be hungry; therefore are they 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. 13And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see. 14They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. (2 Kings 7:12‑15)). For them, this salvation which costs them nothing hides a snare. Let us at least, they say, do something on our part, and they engage to pursue the enemies. With two chariots and five run-down horses! All they can do is to delay the hour of deliverance in seeking to ascertain that which the lepers had laid hold of before their investigation. Their thought, in the presence of the good news, is pure unbelief. The king says: “Let me tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry, and 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” (2 Kings 7:1212And 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 that we be hungry; therefore are they 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. (2 Kings 7:12)) Then, at the proposal of one of his servants, he adds, “Go and see.” Sight, for them, replaces faith, and if they have part, like the others in the results of the deliverance, sight does not save them; it has never saved anyone. The captain is a frightening example of this. The prophet had said to him: “Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof” (2 Kings 7:1919And 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, but shalt not eat thereof. (2 Kings 7:19)). “And so it happened to him; and the people trampled upon him in the gate, and he died.” For him, seeing was the immediate prelude of death.