2 Kings 7:9
In the period of Israel’s history known as “The Divided Kingdom”, (ca. 931-722 B.C.) the nation was divided into two parts. There was the kingdom of Israel in the north with Samaria as its capitol and the kingdom of Judah in the south with Jerusalem for its capitol. The weakened condition of both kingdoms left it open to attacks by other countries. Some near by (e.g., Syria Moab, Ammon). Others from afar (e.g., Assyria, Babylon). We read of one siege of Samaria in 2 Kin 6:24-29 orchestrated by Ben-Hadad, king of Syria which brought a terrible famine upon the city of Samaria. “Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" And he said, "If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?" And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him.' But she has hidden her son."’ Among those suffering in the famine were four lepers.... They discuss their plight - 2 Kin 7:3-4a “Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die? If we say, 'Let us enter the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there.” In desperation they decide to surrender to the Syrians - 2 Kin 7:4b “And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die."’ To their surprise, they find the Syrian camp abandoned - 2 Kin 7:5-7 “So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us." So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.” At first, they splurge in their newfound riches - 2 Kin 7:8 “And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.” Upon reflection, they knew they should tell others what they found, and did so - 2 Kin 7:9-11 “Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household." So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were." Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household.” -- There is a valuable lesson we learn from the four lepers, especially when they said:
“This day is a day of good news...!
In our study, we shall notice some parallels between the lepers then, and ourselves now. We shall note the consequences of keeping silent when we have good news to share. We shall also note why some people may be keeping silent today. We begin, then, with looking at some parallels of then and now. In each case there is a famine. Then, it was a famine for food. Now, it is a famine for the blessings only God can provide! Our famine is related to the problem of sin - Ro 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”. Yet God provides the free gift of salvation - Ro 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In each case, there is an abundance freely available. Then, there was plenty of food in the Syrian camp. Now, there is an abundance of spiritual blessings in Christ! - Ep 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”; Re 22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
In each case, there are those that found what they needed. Then, it was the four lepers. Now, it is the Christians who have experienced the joys of salvation! But here is where the similarity often ends. The lepers knew what was right, and did it. They knew they would be wrong by keeping silent. They knew punishment would befall them if they kept the good news to themselves. -- So they went back to the city and told the good news! Many Christians are not like these lepers.... Despite it being “a day of good news”, they remain silent! While many die of spiritual starvation, they feast on the gospel! -- Do they not consider that what they do may be wrong?
We will do well to learn from these lepers. What they said of themselves at first, may be true of us: “We are not doing what is right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent.” What else they said may also be true of us: “If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us.” In their reasoning among themselves, they considered the consequences of keeping silent in a day of good news. Have we considered the consequences of keeping silent with the good news of the gospel?
Consider the consequences of keeping silent. We fail to keep the great commission. Jesus wanted His disciples to observe ALL that He commanded - Mt 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."’ Included is the command to “Go and make disciples...” -- Keeping silent is not what Jesus commanded!
We fail our mission as the people of God. As the privileged people of God, we are to proclaim the praises of God - 1 Pe 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Especially in regards to:
1) How God “called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”.
2) How we “who had not obtained mercy...now have obtained mercy”.
-- How can God’s “own special people” do this while keeping silent?
We will answer to God for failing our mission. Just as God told Ezekiel, whom He made to be “a watchman for the house of Israel”. Ezekiel was to warn the wicked - Ezek 3:17 ‘"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.” If Ezekiel failed to warn the wicked, the wicked would die for his own sin, but Ezekiel would also be held accountable! - Ezek 3:18-21 “If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul."’ Today, the church is God’s “watchman” to the world! We are to take the gospel to every person! - Mk 16:15 “And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Those who have not heard will die in their own sin, but we will be held accountable if we gave them no warning!
Next week we will continue this lesson looking at what our resposibility is to sharing God's word with those that have not heard it yet.
