Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!” 2 Kings 7: 1, 2, NIV.
Holy God, how hard it is for some of us to take You at Your word! As we draw close to the end of time, please help us to learn to believe what You say, “just because You say so.” This is our prayer, in the blessed name of Jesus. Amen.
I do not know about you, but sometimes, I still find myself doubting that God will do everything He says that He will do. It is not His ability that I doubt. I know that He has the power to do anything! I say that I do not doubt His willingness to bless me. So then, what is it? I want to take Him at His word so badly! Yet from time to time, I find myself doubting Him – even after I have seen how mighty He is! And believe me, in my lifetime, I have seen the power of God displayed! Right after a great victory, when I have just received a unique answer to prayer, I am sure that I can never doubt again! But as the days go by, and new trials loom before me, I find myself wondering if God will come through again. Praise God, He has not given up on me! And by His grace, I am going to obtain the victory! I will learn to “trust Him where I cannot trace Him!”
Today, our Scripture is taken from a story where the prophet Elisha is the principal protagonist. The city of Samaria was besieged by king Benhadad of Aram. It is a time of severe famine. People are cooking and eating their own children, “As the king of Israel was walking on the wall overlooking the misery within the city, and feeling utterly helpless, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” The king replied, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we’ll eat my son.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son so we may eat him,’ but she had hidden him.” When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body” (2 Kings 6: 28, 29). It is a time of sackcloth and ashes!
Things are really bad! And in the midst of these extreme circumstances, the prophet of the LORD stands up and makes this announcement, ” ‘ “Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” ‘ ” Now, it is not difficult to understand why the officer doubted, is it? Today, the king ripped his clothing as a sign of mourning and despair over the abject circumstances in which his subjects are living. He is feeling especially vulnerable because he is the king! He is the one who is responsible for providing for their needs. He is the one who is supposed to protect them from the Benhadads and all other forms of threats. And here he is, as helpless as those asking him for help!
So the officer’s question was somewhat valid, that is, it would have been, if he was talking about a man. But the prophet had made it clear that it was “the word of the LORD!” God’s Word has life-giving faculties! He speaks, and what is not, becomes, at His command! It was God who “said, ‘ “Let there be light” ‘; and there was light” (Genesis 1: 3). It was He who “said, ‘ “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky” ‘ (20), and filled the skies and the waters with living creatures! For “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33: 6-9). The mouth of the LORD had spoken it, and it came to pass just as He said. By the same time the following day, when the four lepers went and told the gatekeepers what they had discovered, and the people left in a stampede to the camp of the Arameans, they found more food than all of them together, could eat, according to the Word of the LORD! But in the midst of the joy, there was sorrow. The officer who had doubted that even the “floodgates of heaven” could provide such a bounty, saw it, but did not live to enjoy it, according to the words of the prophet. He died in the stampede.
God’s “Good News” of the gospel will not fail either! God gave His only Son that you and I may obtain eternal life, and “Whosoever [will, may] believe in Him.” [They need] “not perish,” but can “have everlasting life!”
NOTE: There have been some very important modifications to today’s devotional! If you already read it, please re-read it! Thank you!