2 KINGS LESSON 7


     We will begin this lesson in II Kings 7:1 "Then Elisha said, Hear
ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this
time [shall] a measure of fine flour [be sold] for a shekel, and two
measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria."

     We will see, in this chapter, the deliverance of Samaria out of
the hands of Syria. This measure of fine flour would be about a peck
and a half of flour. A shekel was 10 penny weights of whatever metal
this is speaking of. This would be a drastic change from the inflated
price of food, we saw in the last lesson. This would be the price of
flour in times of plenty.

     II Kings 7:2 "Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered
the man of God, and said, Behold, [if] the LORD would make windows in
heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see [it]
with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."

     This lord, upon whom the king leaned, was a very close servant.
His doubt in what Elisha had said would cause him not to eat of the
food. Remember, this is not spoken to the king. The servant was
denouncing Elisha and God. It was almost as if he was denying that
Manna fell from heaven before.

     II Kings 7:3  "And there were four leprous men at the entering in
of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we
die?" II Kings 7:4 "If we say, We will enter into the city, then the
famine [is] in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still
here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host
of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill
us, we shall but die."

     The 4 lepers were sitting around waiting to die. They happened to
be, just outside the city gate. They knew, if they entered the city,
there was nothing but famine there. If they went to the camp of the
Syrians, the worst thing that would happen to them would be that they
killed them. They were dying anyway, what difference did it make when?

     II Kings 7:5 "And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the
camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of
the camp of Syria, behold, [there was] no man there."

     They went in the twilight, so no one would see them. To their
amazement, when they got into the camp, there was no one there. They
had all left during the night.

     II Kings 7:6 "For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to
hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a
great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath
hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the
Egyptians, to come upon us."

     They had heard the chariots alright, but it had been the army of
heaven they had heard. They were so frightened, when they heard the
noise of the many chariots, that they fled for safety. They assumed
this was the army of Egypt and the army of the Hittites coming against
them.

     II Kings 7:7 "Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and
left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as
it [was], and fled for their life."

     It appears, they fled so fast, that they took nothing with them
that might slow them down. They left in the middle of the night. They
must have run away on foot, because they left their horses and asses.

     II Kings 7:8 "And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of
the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried
thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid [it]; and came
again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence [also], and
went and hid [it]."

     They had been starving with the people of the city of Samaria.
The first thing they did, was eat and drink, until they could hold no
more. They took some of the wealth {all they could carry} two
different times out of the camp, and hid it for later.

     II Kings 7:9 "Then they said one to another, We do not well: this
day [is] a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry
till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore
come, that we may go and tell the king's household."

     Probably, not their honesty, but their fear of being killed
caused them to go, and tell the city of the good fortune. Of course,
they would report it to the king and his house first.

     II Kings 7:10 "So they came and called unto the porter of the
city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians,
and, behold, [there was] no man there, neither voice of man, but
horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they [were]."

     It is strange, that they would have left their horses behind,
because they could have travelled faster on their horses. Sometimes,
people do strange things, when they are terribly frightened. The
lepers report all of this to the porter, for him to tell the king. The
king had no idea, neither did these lepers, why the Syrians had fled.

     II Kings 7:11 "And he called the porters; and they told [it] to
the king's house within." II Kings 7:12  "And the king arose in the
night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the
Syrians have done to us. They know that we [be] hungry; therefore are
they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying,
When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get
into the city."

     When the porter tells the king, he does not believe that they had
fled. He believed they had set a trap to catch them, when they came
out to the camp. Undoubtedly, it had slipped his mind, what Elisha had
told him.

     II Kings 7:13 "And one of his servants answered and said, Let
[some] take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are
left in the city, (behold, they [are] as all the multitude of Israel
that are left in it: behold, [I say], they [are] even as all the
multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and
see." II Kings 7:14 "They took therefore two chariot horses; and the
king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see."

     There were very few horses left in the city. These were kept for
emergencies. They were so hungry, there was very little to lose by
going to see, if it was true they had fled and left their goods for
the taking. The king sent a chariot and men to check this out.

     II Kings 7:15 "And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all
the way [was] full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast
away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king."

     They left so fast, they left articles all along the way. Anything
they thought might slow them down in their getaway, they left on the
side of the road. It was obvious that something had frightened them so
badly, they had fled home as fast as they could go.

     II Kings 7:16 "And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of
the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was [sold] for a shekel, and
two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the
LORD."

     The prophet had spoken the truth. You can easily see why the
whole town emptied, and ran for what food they could find. They would
be like the lepers. They would eat first, and spoil the other things
in the camp after.

     II Kings 7:17  "And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he
leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him
in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when
the king came down to him."

     The lord, in the verse above, is speaking of the arrogant servant
of the king, who laughed at Elisha and at God for saying, God would
open the windows of heaven and send food to them. He was left to watch
the gate, and the stampeding people ran over him, and killed him. He
truly would not eat of the food.

     II Kings 7:18 "And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken
to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a
measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time
in the gate of Samaria:" II Kings 7:19 "And that lord answered the man
of God, and said, Now, behold, [if] the LORD should make windows in
heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it
with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."
     This repeats what Elisha had said to the king and his arrogant
servant. This was a reminder to them, and to us, that Elisha truly was
a man of God. His words were spoken as an oracle of God.  They were
God's Words in the mouth of Elisha.

     II Kings 7:20 "And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode
upon him in the gate, and he died."

     It is a dangerous thing to speak against God's anointed. This
servant found that out, by paying with his life. He saw this with his
eyes and had time to regret it. He died, before he ate of the food.











































                        2 Kings 7 Questions


1.  What word of encouragement does Elisha speak to the king of
    Israel?
2.  How much was a measure of fine flour?
3.  What does a shekel weigh?
4.  Who doubted what Elisha said?
5.  What did Elisha say to him?
6.  How many leprous men were at the gate of the city?
7.  Why did they decide to sneak into the Syrian camp?
8.  What did they find?
9.  Why had the Syrians left?
10. What had they left behind?
11. What chariots had they really heard?
12. What did the lepers do at first, when they found the Syrians gone?
13. What caused these lepers to go to the city, and tell that the
    Syrians were gone?
14. Who did they tell?
15. What did the king think, when he heard they were gone?
16. What did one of the servants of the king suggest they do, to find
    out if they were gone?
17. Who went to check it out?
18. What was strewn along the way?
19. Who went out to the camp to spoil the camp?
20. Where did the servant, that the king had leaned upon, stay?
21. What happened to him?