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2KINGS
CHAPTER 7

1 Then 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 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 said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

Well, things looked pretty grim!
Have you ever been in a situation where you just couldn't see a way out? There is alwasy HOPE! There is NOTHING God can't accomplish!
Elisha told them that TOMORROW God would have a solution. The problem of scarcity would be gone - and that meant the problem of the Syrian army would be gone too.
One man, who was evidently a "somebody" in the court of the king stated the incredibility of Elisha's statement. Immediately, Elisha told him, "It will be SO; but YOU will not partake of it!"
---What a statement about UNbelief!! It WILL BE SO! God WILL COME and judge all sinners one day. There WILL BE an eternal heaven of glory, where people will live forever without sickness, disease, death or any other problems.
---It WILL BE SO!! But those who do not BELIEVE and SURRENDER to God will have NO PART of it!!
PRAISE GOD!! One of these days the sky is gonna split open! The trumpet of God will sound! And the Lord, JESUS CHRIST will descend from heaven with a SHOUT! The REDEEMED He'll bring WITH Him! The LOST He will JUDGE!
We have an INCREDIBLE GOD!

3 And 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? 4 If 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. 5 And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

Outside the gate of Samaria there were four lepers. They decided it was time to DO SOMETHING! If they STAYED where they were, they would die. If they went into the city, they would die in the famine. If they went to the army outside the city, at least they had a chance of receiving mercy. So they got up at dawn and went to the place where the army had been; but NO ONE was there!

6 For the Lord had made the host of the 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. 7 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.

God had caused the Syrian army to HEAR something. It sounded like an army of chariots and horses. They thought Israel had hired an outside army to come and destroy them. So they all ran. They ran and left EVERYTHING in the camp!
They left horses, donkeys, tents and FOOD!
Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth..."
Listen, friends, evil is a scary thing. Evil is awesome. But evil RUNS IN FEAR from righteousness!
And when Christ Jesus comes, the devil's army will RUN at the SOUND of what they hear. They will hear the WORD OF GOD pronouncing JUDGMENT! They will be banished from the Lord's presence forever. That means they'll be banished from the presence of God's saved people forever!

8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. 9 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. 10 So they came and called unto the porter 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, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.

The lepers took what they wanted, and enjoyed themselves for a time. But then they began to think of the people inside the city. So they went and told the men who were at the gate (porters). The porters notified the king's household.

12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew 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. 13 And 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. 14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15 And 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. 16 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.

The king was very suspicious. He believed the Syrians had hidden themselves in the woods and would come out and attack as soon as the Israelites went out to the camp.
But someone talked him into sending what little army they had to investigate. They came back with GOOD NEWS! The Syrian army had indeed fled and left EVERYTHING behind!
So Elisha's prophecy about the scarcity of food being over was true!

17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18 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 to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19 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, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

That man who was the "somebody" in the king's court; you remember him? The king appointed him to oversee the gathering of the spoils that the Syrian army left.
But there was a human stampede! And the man was trampled in the gate!
Elisha's OTHER prophecy came true - the man DIED!
The prophecy of the truth in the Bible will ALWAYS come true!
When God says there's gonna be a judgment day, you can COUNT ON IT!
When God says there's gonna be a glorious NEW JERUSALEM for saved sinners to live in forever, you can COUNT ON IT!
And when God says unbelievers will have NO PART of it -- you can COUNT ON IT!

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