2 Kings 7

12The officer assisting the king said to the man of God,“ That couldn’t happen even if the Ta a4 LORD opened the windows of heaven!” 2Kgs 5:18 But Elisha replied,

6You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won't be able toeat Mal 3:10any of it!”6:25 Hebrew sold for 80 shekels [2 pounds, or 0.9 kilograms] of silver, and 1/4 of a cab (0.3 liters] of dove’s dung soldfor 5 shekels (2 ounces, or 57 grams}. Dove’s dung may be a variety of wild vegetabie. 6:30 As in Greek version;Hebrew reads wearing burlap next to his skin from the house. 6:33 Hebrew he. 7:1a Hebrew 1 seah [6 liters] ofchoice flour will cost 7 shekel [0.4 ounces, or 11 grams}; also in 7:16, 18. 7:1b Hebrew 2 seahs [12 liters] of barleygrain will cost 1 shekel [0.4 ounces, or 11 grams]; also in 7:16, 18.a6:21, 22 Flisha told the king not to kill the Arameans. The kingwas not to take credit for what God alone had done. In setting foodand water before them, he was heaping “burning coals” on theirheads (Proverbs 25:21, 22).6:23 How long the Arameans stayed away from Israel is notknown, but a number of years probably passed before the invasionrecorded in 6:24 occurred. The Arameans must have forgotten thetime their army had been supernaturally blinded and sent home.6:24 This was probably Ben-hadad I!, whose father had ruledAram in the days of Baasha (

7Kings 15:18). Elisha constantlyfrustrated Ben-hadad Ii in his attempts to take contro! of Israel.6:25 When a city like Samaria faced famine, it was no smallmatter. Although its farmers grew enough food to feed the peoplefor a specific season, they did not have enough to sustain themin protonged times of emergency when all supplies were cut off.This famine was so severe that mothers resorted to eating theirchildren (6:26-30). Deuteronomy 28:49-57 predicted that thiswould happen when the people of Israel rejected God's leadership.6:31-33 Why did the king blame Elisha for the famine.andtroubles of the siege? Here are some possible reasons: (1) Somecommentators say that Elisha must have told the king to trust Godfor deliverance. The king did this and even wore burlap (6:30), butat this point the situation seemed hopeless. Apparently the kingthought Elisha had given him bad advice and not even God couldhelp them. (2) For years the kings of Israel and the prophets ofGod had been in conflict. The prophets often predicted doombecause of the kings’ evil, so the kings saw them as troublemak-ers. Thus, Israel's king was striking out in frustration at Elisha.(3) The king may have remembered when Elijah helped bring anend to a famine (1 Kings 18:41-46). Knowing Elisha was a manof God, perhaps the king thought he could do any miracie hewanted and was angry that he had not come to Israel’s rescue.7:1,

9When Elisha prophesied God’s deliverance, the king’sofficer said it couldn’t happen. The officer's faith and hope weregone, but God’s words came true anyway (7:14-1 6)! Sometimeswe become preoccupied with problems when we should be look-ing for opportunities. Instead of focusing on the negatives, weshould develop an attitude of expectancy. To say that God cannotrescue someone or that a situation is smpossible demonstrates alack of faith.

Lepers Visit the Enemy Camp

3Now there were four men with leprosy* sitting at the entrance of the city gates. “Why should we sit here waiting to die?” they asked each other. 4” We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army. If they let us live, so much the better. But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.” 5So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans. But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there! ®For the LORD had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sounds of a great army approaching. “The king of Israel has hired the Hittites and Egyptians* to attack us!” they cried to one another. 7So they panicked and ran into the night, abandoning their tents, horses, donkeys, and everything else, as they fled for their lives. 8When the lepers arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and hid it. 9Finally, they said to each other, “This is not right. This is a day of good news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone! If we wait until morning, some calamity will certainly fall upon us. Come on, let’s go back and tell the people at the palace.” 10So they went back to the city and told the gatekeepers what had happened. “We went out to the Aramean camp,” they said, “and no one was there! The horses and donkeys were tethered and the tents were all in order, but there wasn'ta single person around!” 11Then the gatekeepers shouted the news to the people in the palace. israel Plunders the Camp 12The king got out of bed in the middle of the night and told his officers, “I know what has happened. The Arameans know we are starving, so they have left their camp and have hidden in the fields. They are expecting us to leave the city, and then they will take us alive and capture the city.” 130ne of his officers replied, “We had better send out scouts to check into this. Let them take five of the remaining horses. If something happens to them, it will be no worse than if they stay here and die with the rest of us.” 14So two chariots with horses were prepared, and the king sent scouts to see what had happened to the Aramean army. They went all the way to the Jordan River, following a trail of clothing and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their mad rush to escape. The scouts returned and told the king about it. 16Then the people of Samaria rushed out and plundered the Aramean camp. So it was true that five quarts of choice flour were sold that day for one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain were sold for one piece of silver, just as the LORD had promised. 17The king appointed his officer to control the traffic at the gate, but he was knocked down and trampled to death as the people rushed out. 7:3 Or with a contagious skin disease. The Hebrew word used here and throu ugnout this passage can describe various skin diseases. 7:6 Possibly and the people of Muzur. a district near Cilicia So everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted when the king came to his house. 18The man of God had said to the king, “By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost one piece of silver.” 19The king's officer had replied, “That couldn't happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!” And the man of God had said, ” You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won't be able to eat any of it!” 20And so it was, for the people trampled him to death at the gate!