2 Kings 6:24; 7:3-10 MSG At a later time, this: Ben-Hadad king of Aram pulled together his troops and launched a siege on Samaria. This brought on a terrible famine, so bad that food prices soared astronomically. Eighty shekels for a donkey’s head! Five shekels for a bowl of field greens! … It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
So after the sun went down they got up and went to the camp of Aram. When they got to the edge of the camp, surprise! Not a man in the camp! The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, “The king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!” Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeys—the whole camp just as it was—running for dear life. These four lepers entered the camp and went into a tent. First they ate and drank. Then they grabbed silver, gold, and clothing, and went off and hid it. They came back, entered another tent, and looted it, again hiding their plunder. Finally they said to one another, “We shouldn’t be doing this! This is a day of good news and we’re making it into a private party! If we wait around until morning we’ll get caught and punished. Come on! Let’s go tell the news to the king’s palace!” So they went and called out at the city gate, telling what had happened: “We went to the camp of Aram and, surprise!—the place was deserted. Not a soul, not a sound! Horses and donkeys left tethered and tents abandoned just as they were.”
Observation
This is one of my benches on the path of life, a place I stop and listen and reflect on Who and What I allow God to be and do in my life. It reminds me always that God is not limited by what I consider possible but able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what I can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Let’s look at this story.
Ben-Hadad is the king of Aram-Damascus has come to conquer Samaria, a territory ruled by King Arab of Israel. Both of these men are bad kings, ruthless, idolaters. Ben-Hadad has surrounded the city for a long enough period of time to create such famine within the city walls that people are eating human flesh to survive. The prophet Elisha has predicted a sudden and complete overturn from famine to feasting through God’s miraculous intervention. This seems unbelievable and impossible even for God. Enter the four lepers into the story.
Lepers were pariahs, shunned, usually forced to live away from the general public, often wretchedly poor and malnourished without family caring for them. True leprosy affects the nerves and lepers often lost fingers, toes, noses, and became lame or otherwise struggled physically. There would have been no hope for food from inside the city during the famine. As they look at their options: “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.” So, close your eyes and imagine it – four hobbling, shuffling starving beggars struggle to their feet and head off toward the enemy camp. Here is where God enters the picture.
Over in the enemy camp, “The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march.” This is miraculous, something impossible without the direct intervention of God. Every soldier in the army of Aram panicked and fled leaving behind all of their equipment and supplies, enough to feed the entire city that was in famine.
Impact on Me
So, I come and sit at this bench often to contemplate this story because I am reminded of several critically important keys about Who and What I need to be and do to allow God to be large in and through my life.
First, God is not limited by my Possibility Box; He wants me to experience and live in His wide open possibilities no matter how impossible it may seem to me.
Second, it is better to be obedient than ready or fully equipped. Who else would choose the weakest, most despised outcasts to save the entire city? (I am always reminded here of Jesus’ crucifixion – the most shameful of deaths – that was always God’s way to save us.)
Third, look past the skin, the current condition, of a person and seek to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit to encourage, bless and assist him or her to become what God dreams for him or her. I am sure there is so much more for me to learn and pray that I will on future quiet times on this bench.
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, merciful and gracious, wonderful and so, so good, help me to stop at the benches You set in my life to sit, listen and contemplate what You would have me understand. Will I ever understand reason for the pathways on which you lead me? Will I ever stop worrying about my ability to do what You ask and trust absolutely in Your ability to equip me as needed to accomplish Your will and purpose? Will I ever stop telling You how and what should be done and instead ask You what You would have me do and be in every circumstance? Remind me always about this story and how simple it is to just be obedient and leave choosing the team, the plan and the execution to You. Make it so. Amen.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 