I Kings 6:24-7:2
“And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.” (II Kings 6:24-25)
Though small groups were afraid to invade Israel, the Syrian king still wanted to take control. He attacked, besieging the capital and cutting it off from outside help. Before long the food was depleted and people became desperate for food. Finally a donkey’s head, which Jews would not even consider eating was selling for almost a year’s wages. A quart of a plant called doves dung because of it’s appearance would sell for about two weeks wages even though it served only to make the stomach feel full. Sawdust would have been as nutritious.
“And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee?
And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.” (II Kings 6:26-30)
People were so hungry they had even begun to kill and eat their own children to avoid starvation. The two women had agreed to eat their two children, but when it came time to eat the second woman’s child she refused to keep her agreement even though she had helped eat the first child. The first woman was asking the king to force the second woman to live up to her agreement and kill her child.
He couldn’t conscientiously comply with her request although he fully sympathized with her situation. He just ripped his clothing and walked away in frustration, and the people observed that he was wearing the traditional signs of sorrow and distress. He was aware of his people’s suffering.
“Then 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.
But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? And 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?” (II Kings 6:31-33)
Like Ahab in I Kings 18:17-18, Jehoram blamed the prophet for what the problems they were having and decided to have him killed. One of the biggest problems in modern society is the tendency to blame others for our own faults. We don’t like to consider the possibility that it is our actions causing the problem. For forty years under Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, Omri’s descendants had led Israel to do wickedly. There had been crisis after crisis, although this was the worst they had ever experienced.
The elders of the city had already gone to Elisha for help and were present when the king’s hit man came to kill Elisha. Elisha directed the leaders to seize the hit man. If he didn’t report back, the king would come to see that the job was finished.
Elisha recognized that the situation was the result of their sin, but even he was frustrated by the ongoing famine and felt he couldn’t take any more, questioning why God didn’t stop it. Why did they have to keep suffering? Christians often feel this same way.
“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.
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.” (II Kings 7:1-2)
God took pity on their despair, promising that the following day, about two bushels of good flour would sell for less than a tenth of what a quart of the doves dung was selling for that day, and about four bushels of barley for the same.
One of the kings top officials figured it was impossible unless it actually rained grain and flour from heaven. There was no way he could imagine them being able to even ship in enough to feed everyone in such a short time.
Elisha warned him that because of his unbelief, he would see it happen, but not get to partake of it. A lot of us miss out on God’s blessing because we don’t trust him.
While I was in Bible college, I found myself short of enough to pay off some fees so I could graduate. Desperate, I went and borrowed the money. Just a few minutes after I had made the payment, the man in charge of the financial affairs met me and asked if I had been able to pay my bill. I told him I had just done so. He then told me that someone had donated the money for to do so, but that if I had paid it off, it was to be given to someone else. I spent the next two years paying off the loan because I didn’t trust God to keep his promise.
“And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.” (II Kings 6:24-25)
Though small groups were afraid to invade Israel, the Syrian king still wanted to take control. He attacked, besieging the capital and cutting it off from outside help. Before long the food was depleted and people became desperate for food. Finally a donkey’s head, which Jews would not even consider eating was selling for almost a year’s wages. A quart of a plant called doves dung because of it’s appearance would sell for about two weeks wages even though it served only to make the stomach feel full. Sawdust would have been as nutritious.
“And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee?
And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.” (II Kings 6:26-30)
People were so hungry they had even begun to kill and eat their own children to avoid starvation. The two women had agreed to eat their two children, but when it came time to eat the second woman’s child she refused to keep her agreement even though she had helped eat the first child. The first woman was asking the king to force the second woman to live up to her agreement and kill her child.
He couldn’t conscientiously comply with her request although he fully sympathized with her situation. He just ripped his clothing and walked away in frustration, and the people observed that he was wearing the traditional signs of sorrow and distress. He was aware of his people’s suffering.
“Then 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.
But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? And 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?” (II Kings 6:31-33)
Like Ahab in I Kings 18:17-18, Jehoram blamed the prophet for what the problems they were having and decided to have him killed. One of the biggest problems in modern society is the tendency to blame others for our own faults. We don’t like to consider the possibility that it is our actions causing the problem. For forty years under Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, Omri’s descendants had led Israel to do wickedly. There had been crisis after crisis, although this was the worst they had ever experienced.
The elders of the city had already gone to Elisha for help and were present when the king’s hit man came to kill Elisha. Elisha directed the leaders to seize the hit man. If he didn’t report back, the king would come to see that the job was finished.
Elisha recognized that the situation was the result of their sin, but even he was frustrated by the ongoing famine and felt he couldn’t take any more, questioning why God didn’t stop it. Why did they have to keep suffering? Christians often feel this same way.
“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.
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.” (II Kings 7:1-2)
God took pity on their despair, promising that the following day, about two bushels of good flour would sell for less than a tenth of what a quart of the doves dung was selling for that day, and about four bushels of barley for the same.
One of the kings top officials figured it was impossible unless it actually rained grain and flour from heaven. There was no way he could imagine them being able to even ship in enough to feed everyone in such a short time.
Elisha warned him that because of his unbelief, he would see it happen, but not get to partake of it. A lot of us miss out on God’s blessing because we don’t trust him.
While I was in Bible college, I found myself short of enough to pay off some fees so I could graduate. Desperate, I went and borrowed the money. Just a few minutes after I had made the payment, the man in charge of the financial affairs met me and asked if I had been able to pay my bill. I told him I had just done so. He then told me that someone had donated the money for to do so, but that if I had paid it off, it was to be given to someone else. I spent the next two years paying off the loan because I didn’t trust God to keep his promise.
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