2 Kings 6:24-33

This passage tells us about Ben-Hadad, King of Syria, who was around Samaria. They besieged Samaria such that there was a great famine, such that a donkey’s head was sold for 80 shekels of silver and a quarter of a kab of dive droopings was for five shekels of silver. The donkey was in fact an unclean animal, which shows how desperate the people were for food now.

Something else happens that was more disturbing. A woman they king of Israel then that another woman suggested they boiled the first woman’s son to eat him then boil the second woman’s son on the next day to eat, but the second woman had hidden her son.

Then comes the prophecy in 2 Kings 7:1.
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.’ ”
II Kings 7:1

[Go on to read the whole of 2 Kings]

Firstly, let us read Deuteronomy 28:15.

‘But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you’
Deuteronomy 28:15

And now some of those curses:
‘“Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you. “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.’
Deuteronomy 28:47‭-‬57

This was a curse from God. And with this in mind, we understand that the siege was allowed by God to punish them.

Now, let us look at some of the characters to understand what God wants us to learn from them.

THE KING OF ISRAEL

First, the king of Israel. The Bible does not tell us who this king is, for in 2 Kings 3-8, he is just referred to as the king of Israel. But it is likely that he is King Jehoram (2 Kings 3:1-3). He is the son of King Ahab, the evil king. This king had a lot of encounters with God. In 2 Kings 3, he inquires of God through Elisha. In 2 Kings 6, the king of Syria wrote to the king of Israel to heal Naaman. The king of Israel first thought that this was an impossible task and that the king of Syria was causing him trouble. But nevertheless, at the end of it, he realised how God was with Elisha, who healed Naaman. In 2 Kings 7, the king of Israel realises how God saved them from the Syrians.

He definitely experienced the power of God firsthand. He also recognised that Elisha was a man of God.

In chapter 6, the king of Israel mentions God many times. But what was his reaction to the people eating their sons? He tore his clothes and put on sackcloth. This is supposed to be an action of remorse, like what the king of Nineveh did when Jonah told them of their impending punishment from God. King Ahab also tore his clothes and had sackcloth on after Elijah spoke to him for killing Naboth. However, what King Jehoram did was to blame Elisha, and saying that God would punish Elisha if he did not solve this. Although King Jehoram knew these were from God, he did not do what faith would have expected of him.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
James 2:19‭-‬20

The demons believe and know God yet they do not do God’s will. This king of Israel believed that the disastrous famine was from God. But he did not truly repent to find out why they were encountering this famine. If he had gone to speak to Elisha to inquire of why they were encountering this, he would have learnt that this was happening because God had pronounced the curse. There was no desire to do actions that pleased God - he was only waiting for God to act.

In our faiths, we should not just sit and wait around to please God. We do not only seek God when we have need, but we should only seek God and please him when we have need.

THE OFFICER ON WHOSE HAND THE KING LEANS

This officer would have been one of the most trusted aides of the king and someone close to him. However, we see he came to a very tragic end. Being trampled to death is a very tragic way to go. It is likely you will not die immediately, unless you have a crushing blow to your head. This officer would have felt a lot of pain - a long slow way to die. Additionally, this officer was able to see the scene of there finally being food, but he was not able to enjoy it. The siege had been going on for days, and people were even eating their children and surrendering to the Syrians.

Why did he meet such a tragic end? Some may say that what this officer said was very rational - it could not be that within 24 hours, things could change so drastically. The speaker is unsure how long this officer was with the king, but with his ranking it likely would have been for a long time. And we know that in Chapter 3, when they were fighting the Moabites, they had ran out of water. The king, being desperate, sought Elisha. In verse 17, God said that the valley would be filled with water! It was likely this officer was there. However, the officer was still not fully convicted in the power of God. The officer in 2 Kings 6 was making a mockery of God. After Elisha made a judgment upon him, he just left, as if nothing would happen.

1 Kings 21:27-29

Even though Ahab did something very terrible, he knew how to show remorse before God. He humbled himself and God relented a little to not punish him immediately. The officer did not show any form of repentance and hence his punishment was great. He, being a high-ranking officer, had to serve in an administrative role of standing at the gate. And eventually, he met with this tragic end. We are warned of the importance of repentance before God. We need to repent quickly, lest we too meet with a tragic end. We know that heaven will come, but will we meet there eventually?

THE FOUR LEPROUS MEN

This coincidence was a miraculous one from God. The day that Elisha prophecised to the king was the day they decided to surrender to the army of Syria. And that day, the army of Syria had been allowed to hear from God the sound of chariots and horses - the noise of a great army (2 Kings 7:6-7). If they had gone any earlier, these men would have met with the army rather than them being gone.

We also see that God uses all kinds of people. During this famine, these leprous men were outcasted and left to fend for themselves. It was because they were outside the camp that they were able to wander to the Syrian camp, since the gates of the Israelites would have been closed. This was miraculous!

When the four leprous men first came to the camp, they were overjoyed! They ate and drank, taking gold and silver to hide. All this would have taken time, especially since this would have been at night. Then it dawned on them that they were not doing what was right - they thought of their fellow Israelites, even though these four leprous men had been cast out of their camp. They even thought that if they waited till morning light, something would have happened to them. Even though this news may have been so unbelievable, such that the gatekeepers could mock them for it, they still went to share it because they believed such news was good.

This reminds us of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:16.

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!
I Corinthians 9:16

Do we feel that woe is upon us if we do not preach the gospel? God has chosen us to be His children and to share the good news. We may be like the leprous men at first who keep this to themselves. But the leprous men realised not sharing this was a great sin. Today, we must preach this great news. We know this news is good and true!

A SEAH OF FINE FLOUR SOLD FOR A SHEKEL

What does this mean for us? The speaker wanted to find the normal price of flour and barley back then, but he could not. But this officer who heard this found this unbelievable. So this would have definitely been a miracle, for prices to reduce from 80 shekels of a donkey’s head to a shekel for a seah of fine flour. This is a good reminder for us. Flour and barley were daily necessities. We should not take daily necessities for granted. It is God’s blessing that we are able to worship God comfortably. We are relatively blessed that here, we do not worry about finding food nor coming to serve God comfortably.

Let us not just seek God’s blessings. We must learn to reflect and repent always, and to preach the gospel. Otherwise, woe is upon us.