2 Kings - Chapters 6-7

In this transcription, Julie Callio discusses chapters 6 and 7 of 2nd Kings. She mentions that the kingdom of Israel is still divided, with Joram as king and Elisha as the main prophet. She highlights a miracle performed by Elisha involving an axe head falling into the river, which is retrieved by Elisha. She also discusses the story of the king of Aram starting a war with Israel and Elisha revealing their camp locations to the king of Israel. Elisha also prays for the Arameans to be blinded and leads them to Samaria. The king of Israel decides to feed and release them instead of killing them. Julie then mentions that the Arameans later besiege Samaria, causing a great famine. She talks about two women resorting to cannibalism due to hunger. Elisha predicts that the next day there will be an abundance of food, which comes true. She also mentions four lepers who discover that I am Julie Callio your host and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. By chance you want to contact me you can do that at dab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are covering chapter 6 and 7 of 2nd Kings. The kingdom of Israel is still divided with Joram as king and Elisha the main prophet of the land. Chapter 6 begins with another miracle of God through Elisha. This helps to fulfill the promise that since Elisha saw Elijah taken up in the whirlwind he would receive a double inheritance of Elisha's spirit and therefore has done twice as many miracles than Elijah. Verses 1 through 3 of chapter 6 start the company of the prophet said to Elisha look the place where we meet with you is too small for us let us go to the Jordan where each of us can get a pole and let us build a place there for us to live and he said go then one of them said won't you please come with your servants I will Elisha replied it does not specify which company of prophets it is but it does seem that their group is growing possibly under the leadership of Elisha they cut trees down around the Jordan river and an iron axe head fell into the river the axe head was borrowed and the iron was very expensive so the one who lost it cried out to Elisha to help he asked where it fell and the man showed him the place Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the Jordan river and the iron axe head floated to the top and the man reached out and grabbed it verses 8 through 23 tell the story that the king of Aram has now started a war with Israel again everywhere they set up camp the Lord revealed to Elisha where it would be and so he told the king of Israel this happened many times so much so that the king of Aram thought they had a mole in their ranks verse 12 says none of us my lord the king but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom at this the king commanded that they find his location so he could send men and capture him they found him in Dothan north of Samaria the capital and the Arameans came at night and surrounded the city in the morning Elisha's servant saw the army and he was afraid Elisha said don't be afraid those who are with us are more than those who are with them verse 16 then Elisha prayed to open the eyes of his servant and then he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha as the Arameans approached Elisha prayed they would be blinded and Elisha said this is not the road and this is not the city follow me and I will lead you to the man you are looking for this makes me think of the Jedi knights Elisha brought them to Samaria before the king of Israel and then he prayed the lord would open their eyes to see the king of Israel didn't know what to do either does he kill them Elisha said no instead he told the king to feed them and give them water and then send them back to their master verse 23 so he prepared a great feast for them and after they had finished eating and drinking he sent them away and they returned to their master so the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory end of quote yet it was not forever actually it wasn't that long until chapter 6 verse 23 says sometime later Ben Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria to lay siege on a walled city means they surrounded it which means the people in the town are trapped inside no food or water can come in and they can't go out and get any they were there so long that a great famine was in the city and the price of food skyrocketed while the king was walking on top of the fortified wall a woman cried out because the hunger was so great that two women made a pact that the first woman would kill her son and they would eat him which they did but when it came for the second woman to kill her son she refused and hid him when the king heard this he tore his robes and said may god deal with me be it ever so severely if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today it is so interesting that the king blames Elisha instead of himself with his idolatry which is why Israel is in the mess they are in Elisha was sitting with the elders in his home and he knew the king was sending a messenger to come to get him and then the king would come and kill him chapter 7 verse 1 Elisha said hear the word of the lord this is what the lord says about this time tomorrow a sea of flour will sell for a shekel and two seas of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria what this means is that tomorrow about this time there will be so much food that it will only cost a few cents the king's officer on whom the king was leaning on said look even if the lord should open the floodgates of heaven could this happen to that Elisha responded you will see it with your own eyes but you will not eat any of it now the rest of chapter 7 tells us how this happened there were four lepers at the city gate of Samaria and they looked at their options stay in the city and die or go to the Aramean camp and possibly die or maybe if they surrender to them they will let them live at dusk they got up and went to the camp but when they got there there was not a man in sight verses 6 and 7 say for the lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army so that they said to one another look the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us so they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys they left the camp as it was and ran for their lives these men were now in heaven they ate and drank carried away silver gold and clothes and hid them they went to another tent and hid more goods but then their conscience got the better of them verse 9 then they said to each other we're not doing right this is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves if we wait until daylight punishment will overtake us let's go at once and report this to the royal palace they did but at first the king did not believe them and thought it was a trap but one of the officers said send out five men and the last five horses we have because if they died there they would have died in here anyway they went out as far as the Jordan river and did not find any Arameans only all their stuff they came back and reported it to the king verse 16 then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans so a sea of flowers sold for a shekel and two seas of barley sold for a shekel as the lord had said the king is officer who doubted Elisha well he was put in charge of the gate and the people trampled him in the gateway and he died he saw it with his own eyes but he did not eat any of it it happened just as the lord said through the prophet of Elisha one of the phrases i loved in this passage was when Elisha said those who are with us are more than those who are with them it makes me think of the song by chris tomlin whom shall i fear god of angel armies we need to pray like Elisha that the lord would open our eyes to see what he is doing if we are the lords and he is our god we have the force of god almighty on our side and it's not some unnamed force like the jedis and star wars the god of israel the god of angel armies goes before us and behind us and by us plus jesus said in john chapter 14 verses 15 through 17 if you love me you will obey what i command and i will ask the father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever the spirit of truth the world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he lives with you and will be in you king joash did not live in truth and he did not know the lord let's not be like that instead let's live in truth with opened eyes and trust the lord and obey him because we are not alone and greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world until next time and thanks so very much for listening