2 Kings 6

 

1 And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we are living with you is too small for us. 2 Please let us go to Jordan, and every man take from there one beam, and we will make for ourselves a place to live there. And he answered, Go. 3 And one said, Please be willing to go with your servants. And he answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 5 But as one was chopping a beam, the axe head/iron fell into the water: and he cried, Oh no, my lord! It was borrowed. 6 And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, threw it in there; and made the iron float. 7 Then he said, Take it. And he put out his hand, and took it.

 

God warned of a coming invasion

 

8 Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, My camp will be in such and such a place. 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel saying, Beware that you not pass such a place; for the Syrians have come down there. 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place that the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not just once or twice. 11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was enraged for this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?

 

  • God warned where the Syrians were at least three times.

 

12 And one of his servants said, No one, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. 13 And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. And it was told him saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. 14 So he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there: they came by night, and surrounded the city. 15 And when the servant of the man of God rose early and went out, behold, an army surrounded the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Oh no, my lord! What can we do?

 

God’s army is bigger

 

16And he answered, Do not fear: for more are with us than with them. 17 And Elisha prayed and said, LORD, please open his eyes so that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.

 

  • Romans 8:31 If God be for us, who can be against us?

 

18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, Please strike this nation with blindness. And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria. 20 And when they came into Samaria Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

 

  • Psalm 27:3 Though an army camp against me, my heart will not fear: though war rise against me, in this will I be confident.

 

21 And the king of Israel said to Elisha when he saw them, My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them? 22 And he answered, You will not strike them: would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 23 And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the raiders of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.

 

  • God is merciful and longsuffering.
  • He only destroys a people when there is no chance that they will turn from their evil back to Him, like Pharaoh of the Exodus.
  • Nehemiah 9:17 but you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.
  • 2Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance.

 

24 After this, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, gathered all his army, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and behold, they besieged it until an ass’s head was sold for 80 pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a scoop of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. 26 And as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him saying, Help, my lord, O king. 27 And he said, If the LORD does not help you, how can I help you? Out of the barn floor, or out of the winepress?

 

  • Samaria was the name used for the Northern kingdom of Israel at that time. God is our only help.
  • Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

 

28 And the king said to her, What’s wrong with you? And she answered, This woman said to me, Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. 29 So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him: and she has hid her son.

 

  • This was fulfillment of a curse that God warned about if His people turned to idols (Deuteronomy 28:53).

 

30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes; and he passed by on the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth onside on his flesh. 31 Then he said, God do worse to me, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, remains on him this day.

 

  • This king did not take responsibility for his idolatry, but blamed God’s prophet who told him the truth.

 

32 But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from his presence: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? 33 And while he still spoke with them, behold, the messenger came down to him: and he said, Behold, this evil is from the LORD; why should I wait for the LORD any longer?

 

  • God allows our evil to correct us. False gods lead to eternal death.
  • Jeremiah 2:19 Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that you have forsaken the LORD your God…
  • Judges 5:8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates:
  • Psalm 96:5 all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

 

                                             2 Kings 7

 

1 Then Elisha said, Hear the word of the LORD; The LORD says this, Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will 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, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it. 3 Four leprous men were at the entrance of the gate: and they said to one another, Are we going to sit here until we die? 4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we will die there: and if we remain here, we die also. Come on, let us go over to the army of the Syrians: if they keep us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will just die. 5 So they got up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians: and when they came to the outer edge of the camp of Syria, behold, no man was there.

 

  • The Lord had made the Syrian army hear a great noise of chariots

 

6  For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of horses, the sound of a great army: and they said to one another, Look, the king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites against us, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7 So they rose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and ran for their life.

 

  • Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear.

 

8  And when these lepers came to the outer edge of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, and carried from there silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered another tent, and carried from there also, and went and hid it. 9 Then they said one to another, We are not doing what is right: this day is a day of good news, and we are keeping quiet: if we delay until the morning light, some punishment will come upon us: now come, let’s go tell the king’s household. 10 So they came and called to 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 the 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 within king’s house. 12 And the king arose in the night and said to his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; so they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field saying, When they come out of the city, we will catch them alive, and get into the city.

 

  • The king forgot what God had said through Elisha.

 

13 And one of his servants answered and said, Please let us take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (they are all that are left of the multitude of Israel: all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see. 14 So they took two chariot horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians saying, Go and see. 15 And they followed them to Jordan: and behold, the whole way was full of clothes and equipment, which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. 16 And the people went out, and plundered 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.

 

  • Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

 

17  And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trampled him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. 18 And it happened like the man of God had spoken to the king saying, About this time tomorrow two measures of barley will be sold for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it. 20 And happened to him: for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died.

 

  • The starving people of the city, in their rush for food, trampled over the man who did not believe the words of God.
  • Nothing is too hard for God.
  • Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah will have a son.
  • Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

 

                                             2 Kings 8

 

God sent a faithful woman to a place of safety and provision

 

1 Then Elisha spoke to the woman whose son he had restored to life saying, Get up and go, you and your household, and stay wherever you can stay: for the LORD has called for a famine; it will be on the land seven years.

 

  • When we ignore God’s spiritual food he brings shortage of physical food.
  • He provides for the faithful in famine.
  • Jeremiah 2:19 Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you:
  • Job 5:20 In famine he will redeem you from death: in war from the power of the sword.

 

2 So the woman got up, and did according the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And at the end of the seven years the woman returned from the land of the Philistines: and she went to appeal to the king for her house and for her land. 4 And the king was talking with Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, saying, Please tell me all the great things that Elisha has done. 5 And as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life, appealed to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed to her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.

 

  • God’s timing is always perfect.
  • He provides full restoration.
  • Abraham recovered all from the raiding armies in Genesis 14.
  • David recovered all from the Amalekites.
  • 1Samuel 30:18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

 

7  Elisha came to Damascus; and Ben-hadad, the king of Syria, was sick; and it was told him saying, The man of God has come here. 8 And the king said to Hazael, Take a gift in your hand, go meet the man of God, and ask of the LORD by him saying, Will I recover from this disease? 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a gift with him of every good thing of Damascus, forty loaded camels, and came and stood before him and said, Your son, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, has sent me to you saying, Will I recover from this disease? 10 And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly recover: however, the LORD has showed me that he will surely die. 11 And he settled his countenance steadfastly, until he was ashamed: and the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, Why do you weep my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: you will set their strongholds on fire, you will kill their young men with the sword, and will strike their children in pieces, and rip up their women with child. 13 And Hazael said, What, is your servant a dog, that he would do this great thing? And Elisha answered, The LORD has showed me that you will be king over Syria.

 

  • Elisha could only know this if God had shown him.
  • The Syrians were brutal.
  • Daniel 2:21 And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

 

14 So he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, What did Elisha say to you? And he answered, He told me that you will surely recover. 15 And the next day he took a thick cloth dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died: and Hazael reigned in his place. 16 And in the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat then being king of Judah, Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah began to reign. 17 He was 32 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, like the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.

  • Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

 

God preserved Judah for David’s sake


19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant’s sake, since he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children. 20 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 21 So Joram went over to Zair, and all the chariots with him: and he rose by night, and struck the Edomites that surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots: and the people fled to their tents. 22 Still Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah until this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.

 

  • When people are subdued it is of God.
  • When they revolt the king has usually revolted against God.
  • This is to bring the heart back to God.
  • Psalm 18:47 It is God that avenges me, and subdues the people under me.
  • Romans 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

 

23 And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 24 And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. 25 In the twelfth year of Joram the son of Ahab king of Israel Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah begin to reign. 26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 And he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the LORD, like the house of Ahab: for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab.

  • Acts 17:28 In Him we live and move and have our being.

 

28  And he went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram. 29 And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was sick.

 

 

 

SUMMARY: 2 Kings 6-8

 

  • The LORD warned of coming invasion
  • His army is bigger
  • The LORD made the Syrian army hear the noise of chariots and flee
  • He sent a faithful woman to a place of safety and provision
  • He preserved Judah for David's sake