The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them. - Psalm 34:7
In last week’s sermon, we read how God extended his kindness to Naaman, the captain of the Aramean army, by healing his leprosy through the prophetic word of Elisha, the premiere prophet in Israel. You might think that such a magnificent act of grace shown to an enemy might change the hearts and attitudes of Aram toward Israel, and perhaps foster an end to their long-standing rivalry. Well, you’d be wrong…
In this morning’s message, we’ll see renewed hostilities between these 2 adjacent kingdoms. Due to the length of the passage today, I will not read every verse aloud so I encourage you to read those I skip over silently as I am preaching. That said, we will summarize and discuss the entire passage and, as always, look for applications.
I. ARAM’S PLOT TO CAPTURE ELISHA (2 Kings 6:8-23)
The king of Aram, most likely Ben-Hadad II, continued to engage in border skirmishes with the Israelites. In advance of these raids, he’d communicate his intentions to his officials. However, the LORD continually revealed his attack plans to Elisha who then relayed them to Jehoram, the king of Israel, so that the Israelites were always a step ahead of Ben-Hadad and able to thwart his efforts. After this happened several times, the king of Aram became upset and believed there to be a spy among his servants. When they explained to him that it was Elisha who foreknew his tactics, Ben-hadad dispatched soldiers to Dothan in hopes of capturing the prophet. They came by night and surrounded the city.
The next morning, Elisha and his servant went out and saw the forces of Aram circling the city. His servant was terrified, but Elisha told him not to be afraid, saying, “Those who are with us are more than those who are against us.” Elisha prayed and the servant’s eyes were opened to see a multitude of angelic horses and fiery chariots on the mountains all around them. As the enemy approached, Elisha prayed again, and the Lord struck them with blindness. Unable to see that it was him, they asked where Elisha was residing and he led them to Samaria.
When they arrived at the capital and were safely enclosed in the midst of the city, Elisha prayed for a third time and their eyes were opened. Immediately the soldiers of Aram were able to see and realized they had been led into a trap. The king of Israel asked if he should kill them all, but Elisha intervened. Instead, they prepared a feast for the captive Arameans, and afterwards released them. They returned to Aram and, as a result of this incident, their marauding bands stopped coming into Israel.
II. ARAM’S SIEGE ON SAMARIA (2 Kings 6:24-33; 7:1-2)
Despite his soldiers' release and safe return, King Ben-Hadad of Aram still felt strong animosity and bitterness towards Israel. Therefore, he sent his army to lay siege on Samaria. On top of the siege, there was also a great famine in Samaria. Due to their scarcity, the prices of food and other needed items skyrocketed. The situation became so desperate that the besieged people turned to cannibalism, with women sacrificing their own sons to eat. The king of Israel felt completely helpless and exasperated, and blamed God and Elisha for Israel’s dire predicament. He angrily planned to execute the prophet.
Jehoram sent an executioner to go find and eliminate Elisha, who at the time was sitting in his house with a group of elders. Once again, however, the LORD revealed what was happening so that Elisha knew in advance the king’s evil intentions. When the executioner arrived, Elisha wisely refused to let him in. The king, who had followed closely behind his executioner arrived also, and speaking through the door exclaimed, “The LORD has sent this calamity upon us. Why should we wait for His deliverance any longer?”
Safely secured inside, Elisha answered, “Tomorrow food and supplies will be so abundant for us that the inflated prices will drop precipitously.” A royal officer of the king (perhaps the executioner) who was locked outside the house openly doubted Elisha’s bold prediction and questioned how this could possibly be. Elisha assured him that it would happen, but added that, because of his doubt, he’d not eat any of it.
III. ARAM’S SUDDEN FLIGHT (2 Kings 7:3-20)
Now there were 4 leprous men seated at Samaria’s entry gate who reasoned to each other that if they stayed there or went into the city they’d surely die. So they decided to surrender themselves to the Arameans, in hopes that they might be shown mercy and allowed to live. At twilight, they arose and went out to the enemy’s camp only to discover that it had been abandoned and no one was there. For the LORD had caused the army of Aram to hear the sound of another great army approaching, and believing that they were about to be ambushed by hordes of Hittites and Egyptians, the Arameans had hastily fled in the night leaving all of their bountiful provisions behind.
When the lepers found the vacant camp, they joyfully ate, drank, and plundered treasures for themselves from tent to tent. However, remembering the plight of their countrymen back in Samaria, they felt a bit guilty of their celebratory behavior and decided that they must share this wonderful news with the people in the city. Therefore, they hurriedly returned to Samaria in the dark and told the king what they’d found. The king thought it was a trap, to lure Israel out of the city and ambush them, so he dispatched a small team to go check things out.
These scouts went out to Aram’s camp and then continued tracking all the way to the Jordan River, finding all sorts of supplies and equipment that had been left along the way by the Arameans during their hasty retreat. They then returned to the capital and reported that it was just as the lepers had said. Upon hearing the news, the people of the city rushed out to the abandoned camp for food and supplies. The bounty was so great that the inflated food prices fell dramatically, just as Elisha had prophesied. Furthermore, as they stampeded through the city gate, the people trampled the officer of the king who had doubted Elisha’s words so that he died, just as the prophet had foretold. Miraculously, God had delivered Israel again!
CONCLUSION
Let me close today with 2 brief applications from this passage, though I am sure there are many more we could highlight and discuss. First, if you fear the LORD and are his redeemed child, you can trust that He will protect you from harm (outside of His will, that is). We are to pray accordingly. The LORD surrounds His own with angelic armies, so that those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Do not fear the enemy, because our God is bigger than he is, and His unseen forces are all around us.
Second, God has already defeated the enemy, Satan, and given us a great provision through His Son, Jesus Christ. He has won the victory and provided a means of salvation for everyone who will come and receive it. But friends, there are still many people “back in the city” who don’t know what we know and have not yet heard the good news. So… will we keep the glorious message of salvation to ourselves and selfishly hoard the blessings of God, or will we, like these 4 lepers, go and share it with those who are desperate, sick, and dying that they might be delivered from their sin as we have been?
In last week’s sermon, we read how God extended his kindness to Naaman, the captain of the Aramean army, by healing his leprosy through the prophetic word of Elisha, the premiere prophet in Israel. You might think that such a magnificent act of grace shown to an enemy might change the hearts and attitudes of Aram toward Israel, and perhaps foster an end to their long-standing rivalry. Well, you’d be wrong…
In this morning’s message, we’ll see renewed hostilities between these 2 adjacent kingdoms. Due to the length of the passage today, I will not read every verse aloud so I encourage you to read those I skip over silently as I am preaching. That said, we will summarize and discuss the entire passage and, as always, look for applications.
I. ARAM’S PLOT TO CAPTURE ELISHA (2 Kings 6:8-23)
The king of Aram, most likely Ben-Hadad II, continued to engage in border skirmishes with the Israelites. In advance of these raids, he’d communicate his intentions to his officials. However, the LORD continually revealed his attack plans to Elisha who then relayed them to Jehoram, the king of Israel, so that the Israelites were always a step ahead of Ben-Hadad and able to thwart his efforts. After this happened several times, the king of Aram became upset and believed there to be a spy among his servants. When they explained to him that it was Elisha who foreknew his tactics, Ben-hadad dispatched soldiers to Dothan in hopes of capturing the prophet. They came by night and surrounded the city.
The next morning, Elisha and his servant went out and saw the forces of Aram circling the city. His servant was terrified, but Elisha told him not to be afraid, saying, “Those who are with us are more than those who are against us.” Elisha prayed and the servant’s eyes were opened to see a multitude of angelic horses and fiery chariots on the mountains all around them. As the enemy approached, Elisha prayed again, and the Lord struck them with blindness. Unable to see that it was him, they asked where Elisha was residing and he led them to Samaria.
When they arrived at the capital and were safely enclosed in the midst of the city, Elisha prayed for a third time and their eyes were opened. Immediately the soldiers of Aram were able to see and realized they had been led into a trap. The king of Israel asked if he should kill them all, but Elisha intervened. Instead, they prepared a feast for the captive Arameans, and afterwards released them. They returned to Aram and, as a result of this incident, their marauding bands stopped coming into Israel.
II. ARAM’S SIEGE ON SAMARIA (2 Kings 6:24-33; 7:1-2)
Despite his soldiers' release and safe return, King Ben-Hadad of Aram still felt strong animosity and bitterness towards Israel. Therefore, he sent his army to lay siege on Samaria. On top of the siege, there was also a great famine in Samaria. Due to their scarcity, the prices of food and other needed items skyrocketed. The situation became so desperate that the besieged people turned to cannibalism, with women sacrificing their own sons to eat. The king of Israel felt completely helpless and exasperated, and blamed God and Elisha for Israel’s dire predicament. He angrily planned to execute the prophet.
Jehoram sent an executioner to go find and eliminate Elisha, who at the time was sitting in his house with a group of elders. Once again, however, the LORD revealed what was happening so that Elisha knew in advance the king’s evil intentions. When the executioner arrived, Elisha wisely refused to let him in. The king, who had followed closely behind his executioner arrived also, and speaking through the door exclaimed, “The LORD has sent this calamity upon us. Why should we wait for His deliverance any longer?”
Safely secured inside, Elisha answered, “Tomorrow food and supplies will be so abundant for us that the inflated prices will drop precipitously.” A royal officer of the king (perhaps the executioner) who was locked outside the house openly doubted Elisha’s bold prediction and questioned how this could possibly be. Elisha assured him that it would happen, but added that, because of his doubt, he’d not eat any of it.
III. ARAM’S SUDDEN FLIGHT (2 Kings 7:3-20)
Now there were 4 leprous men seated at Samaria’s entry gate who reasoned to each other that if they stayed there or went into the city they’d surely die. So they decided to surrender themselves to the Arameans, in hopes that they might be shown mercy and allowed to live. At twilight, they arose and went out to the enemy’s camp only to discover that it had been abandoned and no one was there. For the LORD had caused the army of Aram to hear the sound of another great army approaching, and believing that they were about to be ambushed by hordes of Hittites and Egyptians, the Arameans had hastily fled in the night leaving all of their bountiful provisions behind.
When the lepers found the vacant camp, they joyfully ate, drank, and plundered treasures for themselves from tent to tent. However, remembering the plight of their countrymen back in Samaria, they felt a bit guilty of their celebratory behavior and decided that they must share this wonderful news with the people in the city. Therefore, they hurriedly returned to Samaria in the dark and told the king what they’d found. The king thought it was a trap, to lure Israel out of the city and ambush them, so he dispatched a small team to go check things out.
These scouts went out to Aram’s camp and then continued tracking all the way to the Jordan River, finding all sorts of supplies and equipment that had been left along the way by the Arameans during their hasty retreat. They then returned to the capital and reported that it was just as the lepers had said. Upon hearing the news, the people of the city rushed out to the abandoned camp for food and supplies. The bounty was so great that the inflated food prices fell dramatically, just as Elisha had prophesied. Furthermore, as they stampeded through the city gate, the people trampled the officer of the king who had doubted Elisha’s words so that he died, just as the prophet had foretold. Miraculously, God had delivered Israel again!
CONCLUSION
Let me close today with 2 brief applications from this passage, though I am sure there are many more we could highlight and discuss. First, if you fear the LORD and are his redeemed child, you can trust that He will protect you from harm (outside of His will, that is). We are to pray accordingly. The LORD surrounds His own with angelic armies, so that those who are with us are more than those who are against us. Do not fear the enemy, because our God is bigger than he is, and His unseen forces are all around us.
Second, God has already defeated the enemy, Satan, and given us a great provision through His Son, Jesus Christ. He has won the victory and provided a means of salvation for everyone who will come and receive it. But friends, there are still many people “back in the city” who don’t know what we know and have not yet heard the good news. So… will we keep the glorious message of salvation to ourselves and selfishly hoard the blessings of God, or will we, like these 4 lepers, go and share it with those who are desperate, sick, and dying that they might be delivered from their sin as we have been?