2 Kings 7:1-20
This chapter is about good news, and about how the different characters in it react to that good news.
- When the king’s officer heard the good news, he doubted it;
- When the four lepers learned the good news, they immediately carried it to their fellow citizens and shared it with them;
- When the king heard the good news, he checked it, and it proved to be true.
The different reactions of the characters in this chapter to the good news press us, too, to think about the question: “What do we ourselves do with the good news we have, with the good news of the gospel?” This question is important, because in the chapter we see that different reactions to the good news lead to different consequences in our lives. Believing it and sharing it with others leads to blessing, while doubting it and rejecting it leads to a curse. So this question is truly a matter of life and death. But let us not speak in the abstract; let us look at the different characters in our text, see what they did with the good news they encountered, and then decide what we will do with the good news of the gospel that we have.
DOUBTING THE GOOD NEWS (vv. 1-2)
The situation at the beginning of this chapter is about as desperate as it could possibly be. King Joram was in despair. He was simply crushed. He was so angry that he decided to kill the prophet Elisha. Seeing the last flicker of hope fading from the king’s eyes, the prophet Elisha said (v. 1):
1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” (2 Kings 7:1)
Hearing Elisha speak these words—too good to be true—the king’s chief officer scoffed at him (v. 2):
2 Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen? (2 Kings 7:2)
Why did the news of falling prices for flour and barley seem so utterly impossible to this royal officer? Because at that time Samaria was under siege. When a city is under siege, it is cut off from the outside world. That means people cannot go out to the fields, and merchants cannot trade. There are no deliveries, no food. People were dying of hunger. The famine was so severe that some in the city even resorted to cannibalism. The previous chapter tells how, as the king was walking along the city wall, a woman cried out to him for help, because she had been wronged by her friend. The king agreed to hear her. What she told him shook him to the depths of his soul. The day before, this woman and her friend had agreed to eat their sons; but after they had eaten the one woman’s son and were somewhat satisfied, the other woman hid her son and refused to give him up to be cooked the next day (2 Kings 6:26-30). This account is truly horrifying, but it shows the degree of hunger and desperation Samaria had reached.
And it was precisely in such an unbelievably desperate situation that Elisha announced a deliverance that would take place within twenty-four hours. Yet even though he was speaking in the name of God, the king’s officer doubted. His words drip with pessimism, skepticism, and even sarcasm: “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “Oh, sure! No chance! Absurd! Deliverance within twenty-four hours?! Never! Impossible!”
Are not the reactions of many of the people with whom we share the good news of the gospel—salvation from sin and eternal life—just like this?
But is such a reaction to the Word of God acceptable? Elisha was no ordinary man. He had every possible credential and warrant of a prophet of God. Everything he had predicted up to that point had come to pass. By then he had already performed many astonishing miracles. There was no ground whatsoever to doubt that what he was now saying would also be fulfilled, for he spoke not in his own name but in the name of Almighty God. Is anything impossible for God? Is anything hard or difficult for Him? The Word of God may sometimes seem incredible, but it is always exceedingly precise and exact. The king’s officer, however, rejected it. This was an insult to the prophet and to God. Such an attitude could not be tolerated. Therefore the one who voiced doubt in God’s words would not taste of His grace. For the one who calls God and His Word into question there is no place at God’s table. Elisha’s words to the king’s officer were exceedingly severe, but deserved (v. 2):
You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it! (2 Kings 7:2)
In other words, Elisha said to the king’s officer: “The Word of God will be fulfilled. The good news will become fact. And you will see it. Sadly, however, you will be only its witness and not a partaker in it! Your skeptical unbelief will keep you from tasting God’s blessing!” This is a terrible thing. But God is clearly especially sensitive when His words are rejected. So may God help us never to call His words into question. For that would be tantamount to signing our own death sentence for eternity.
DISCOVERING THAT THE GOOD NEWS IS TRUE (vv. 3-8)
Look: the Word of God was fulfilled, and the Aramean siege was lifted in a single night. But the people in the city did not know they were already free. They did not know the siege had been lifted and that they could leave the city and be free from their own prison. God used—notice this—four lepers to carry the good news to their fellow citizens. God’s choice of means for salvation and of instruments through which to work has always been like this. As it says in 1 Corinthians 1:25-29:
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. (1 Corinthians 1:25-29)
God is glorified in choosing the weak, the powerless, and the despised—not only to redeem and save them, but also to use them as instruments of blessing to others.
The four lepers were unclean, dying of hunger, and there was no hope for them. There was no cure for their leprosy, and no food for their hunger. If they did not do something at once, the four lepers were doomed to a very swift death (vv. 3-4).
3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” (2 Kings 7:3-4)
Despite their leprosy, their hunger, and their dreadful condition, the four lepers possessed something remarkable—logical thinking. They carefully weighed all their options and realized they had nothing to lose. Their first option was to go into the city to look for food, but knowing the situation there, they understood that this option was exhausted. Their second option was to stay where they were, but that too would only mean death. Their third option was to go to the Aramean camp: if the Arameans chose to spare them, they would have to feed them, and if they killed them, the lepers would lose nothing, because, as they said, the worst that could happen to them was “only” to die.
A person who is not yet saved is in the very same position as these lepers. Either way he is a sinner. Either way he is condemned to death. If he reasoned logically, in merely human terms, when he meets Christians who preach the gospel to him, he might say to himself: “Yes, these people tell me there is life beyond the grave, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that if I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ I will have eternal life. True, ‘no one has come back from the other world to tell me,’ but even if there is nothing after death, what would I lose? Nothing. But if there is life beyond the grave and these people are right, and Jesus Christ really is the Son of God and He rose from the dead, and the Word of God is true, then what would I gain? Eternity! So why not try and believe in Christ? Either way, I have nothing to lose. The worst I can lose is the corruption of my life; the best I can gain is eternity with God and a godly, blessed life on this earth!”
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, no one was there, (2 Kings 7:5)
Can you picture them? The sun has already set, and in the twilight they walk desperately toward the Aramean camp, meaning to surrender, hoping to be given at least a piece of bread to eat so that they will not die. They approach the camp, but they see no one there. There are no guards at their posts, no one to be seen walking among the tents—no sign of human presence in the enemy camp. Yet their horses and donkeys are still in their places. What had happened? The Arameans had abandoned the camp (v. 5).
The day before, in the camp of the Arameans, the men suddenly begin to hear a strange noise—the sound of pounding hooves and the rumble of wheels, the sound of thousands of hooves and thousands of wheels. Perhaps the first thought that passed through the minds of the soldiers and their commanders was: “These are our enemies. The king of Israel must have hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings and their armies against us, and they are coming to crush us.” They listen carefully, and what happens is that this noise, instead of fading, grows louder and louder and louder. To them this means their enemies are drawing nearer and nearer and nearer. Panic-stricken, the Arameans leave everything and run with all their might toward the Jordan River. Everyone runs for his life. They are so terrified and panicked that they even abandon their horses and donkeys in the camp. They think that if they cross the river they will be safe. So the camp is left deserted. The author of Second Kings explains this incredible phenomenon this way (vv. 6-8):
6 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!” 7 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. 8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. (2 Kings 7:6-8)
Can you picture these four friends—utterly destitute, lepers in torn and tattered clothes, dying of hunger—and suddenly finding themselves in a place where they can eat and drink their fill, and not only that, but also take gold, silver, and clothing, as much as they can carry? They were overjoyed; they were celebrating. They thanked God and praised Him for His mercy.
THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS (vv. 9-10)
But when the euphoria of finding food and plunder passed, the four lepers suddenly grew sad. As they ate and drank and thought about where to hide still more gold, they remembered that their fellow citizens and their families in the city were dying of hunger. Perhaps they too had heard the horrible stories of cannibalism in Samaria. And this contrast between their own condition at that moment and the condition of the people in Samaria saddened them. They began to think about their responsibilities. They were Israelites, and as such they had a duty to their fellow citizens to inform them of the change in the situation and to tell them that they were not only free now to leave the city, but that they too could come and eat and drink and take as much plunder as they could carry (v. 9).
9 Then they said to each other, “What we’re doing is not 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.” (2 Kings 7:9)
In recognizing their responsibilities, the four lepers can only be an example to us as Christians. As believing and saved children of God, we too have a responsibility toward those close to us—relatives, neighbors, and colleagues—not to keep the good news to ourselves, but to share it with them. Let us not hold back the gospel. Just as these four lepers recognized their responsibility and fulfilled their duty to their fellow citizens, so let us too recognize our duty and carry out our responsibility to share the gospel with the perishing sinners of this world. The apostle Paul is an example to us in this regard. In Romans 1:14 he says:
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. (Romans 1:14)
Notice: it was already dark. It was already night. Even so, the lepers decided they had no time to lose. They refused to delay even until daybreak, but set out for the city in the night. In this the four lepers are an example of what our attitude toward our ministry should be. There is no time to lose, no time to wait, no time to dawdle. The time for evangelism is now! People need salvation now. They need to hear the very message we ourselves have heard! We do not know how long their lives will last, or whether we will have another opportunity to share the gospel with them and to serve them.
Notice something else as well: for some reason the four lepers believed that if they delayed until morning, God’s punishment would overtake them. Notice that in v. 9 they said: “If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us.” They felt responsible not only to those close to them, but also to God for sharing the good things they had discovered. And they not only recognized their responsibility, but also fulfilled it (v. 10).
10 So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and no one was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” 11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace. (2 Kings 7:10-11)
VERIFYING THE GOOD NEWS (vv. 12-16)
And so, we are speaking about what the various characters in this chapter do with the good news they encounter. The king’s officer flatly rejected and mocked the good news he heard from the prophet Elisha. The four lepers learned the good news that Elisha’s words had been fulfilled and immediately went into the city to share it with the king and their loved ones. Now let us see what King Joram did with the good news the four lepers brought him.
The author of the book describes the following scene for us here. The servant comes and knocks on the door of the royal bedchamber: “O king, O king! Wake up! We have urgent news from the Aramean camp.” The king wakes up. Drowsy, he gets up from his bed, hears the news, and must make a decision. Is this true, or is it some provocation? Is it not a little strange that the men are gone, yet their horses and donkeys are still there, tethered? If their “means of transport” are there, surely they themselves have not gone very far. At first the cautious King Joram was not so sure that what he was being told was really so. At first he decided it was a trap (v. 12).
12 The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’” (2 Kings 7:12)
One of his servants, however, says: “Would it not be wisest to check? Let us send men and see!” (v. 13).
13 One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.” (2 Kings 7:13)
The king agreed (v. 14).
14 So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” (2 Kings 7:14)
“Come and see!”—this is exactly what our invitation to the people of this world should be. When Philip found Nathanael and told him excitedly that he had met the one about whom “the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph,” Nathanael answered him rhetorically: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” But what did Philip say to him? “Come and see!” (John 1:45-46). After her meeting with Jesus at Jacob’s well, what did the Samaritan woman say to her fellow townspeople? “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29). Come and see! Come and see! This must be our invitation to the people we long to bring to Jesus.
King Joram took the trouble to check the good news of the four lepers, and he was not disappointed (v. 15).
15 They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. (2 Kings 7:15)
The good news of the four lepers was confirmed. Those who take the trouble to check the truth of the gospel will likewise not be disappointed (v. 16).
16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of the finest flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said. (2 Kings 7:16)
The king checked the good news, and it proved to be true.
THE FATE OF THOSE WHO REJECT THE GOOD NEWS (vv. 17-20)
The word of the Lord was fulfilled to the letter. The impossible, the incredible, became fact. But what happened to the man who called the prophetic word into question? It seems the narrator of 2 Kings wants to draw particular attention to his fate, for at the end of the story he brings us back to its beginning (vv. 17-20).
17 Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. 18 It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” 19 The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” 20 And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died. (2 Kings 7:17-20)
The good news of the gospel provokes different reactions in those who hear it. In this story we have five characters who are bearers of good news—Elisha and the four lepers. In it we also see the reactions to the good news of two men who represent two groups of people.
The first is King Joram. Although in his despair he had set out to take Elisha’s head, when he heard the Word of God from the prophet’s mouth, he humbled himself and did him no harm. Later, when he heard the news of the empty Aramean camp, he did not refuse to believe, but accepted the advice to check the truth of the report. He sent his soldiers with the words: “Go and see!” In this story King Joram represents that group of people who, when they hear the gospel, do not reject it on the spot, but ponder it and decide to check it. Those who sincerely decide to try and taste of God’s grace, to trust the Word of God—they are never disappointed.
The second interesting character in this story is the king’s officer. He is a typical representative of prejudiced skeptics. Even before they have heard, even before they have understood, they stamp their seal of denial upon God’s good news. What is their sin? Unbelief. There are people who do not regard unbelief as a sin at all. When we tell them they are sinful, they say: “I am not sinful; I have not done anything bad. I have not killed, I have not stolen, I have not lied.” But do you believe in the Son of God? If not, then know that you are committing a particularly grave sin—a sin that will surely lead you to hell if you do not repent of it. How do I know this? From 1 John 5:16. There it says that “whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar.” Unbelief is an insult to God. Unbelief is a truly grave sin. God cannot tolerate the rejection of and disobedience to His Word. Notice that at the end of the story not only was the good news for the king and for Samaria fulfilled, but also the bad news for the king’s officer, for the man who mocked God’s prophet and rejected his words. Twice, as if to drive it into our heads, in v. 17 and v. 20, the words are repeated about him: “the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died.”
Whatever the fate of the king’s officer was, such will be the fate of those who categorically reject the good news of the gospel. For the gospel contains not only good news for those who accept it, but also bad news for those who reject it. And just as the king’s officer saw the deliverance of Samaria from its siege and the fulfillment of God’s promise, but could not taste of it, so too those who reject the gospel will see with their own eyes the resurrection of the righteous and the Second Coming, but will have no part in them. May God help us so that the decision we make today concerning the good news will be the right one—not to doubt it and reject it, but to believe it and not to keep it only for ourselves, but to share it with others.