It's in there ~
How does GOD win a war?
2 Kings 6:24 - 7:20
Do you want suspense? It's in there.
Do you want tragedy? It's in there.
Do you want drama? It's in there.
Do you want mystery? It's in there.
Do you want intensity? It's in there.
Do you want special effects? It's in there.
Do you want comedy? It's in there.
Do you want justice? It's in there?
Do you want good story? It's in there.
Do you want characters? It's in there.
2 Kings 6:24 reads:
Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.
"Some time later . . . ? After the last story, he doesn't seem clever to me...but at any rate ~
Ben-Hadad lays siege to Samaria, and it was a very effective siege. Slowly the supplies run out and there is such extreme poverty and starvation that two women decide to eat their own children. The horror of it is more that I can really comprehend. When the king of Israel finds out about this grizzly situation he tears his robes and...get ready to say "what!?!"... OK ~ he tears his robes and says "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!" WHAT ! ? ! Right? We are surrounded by an enemy -- oh yeah and recently God did the whole crazy tell us the enemy's plans and then blind the enemy and deliver the entire army to us on a silver platter--but I am ticked off at God now and so I think I will kill His prophet. Elisha tells him, "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." Basically, the siege will be over and the poverty and starvation will be at an end. There is an officer attending the king who, basically, says "Not even GOD could do that" ... which as it turns out is terminally stupid. Elisha says to him, "You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"
Ok, now the story gets funny. In fact I have a mental picture of God sitting on his throne saying, "hey, Gabriel -- watch this" then God and all the angels start laughing hysterically -- pointing, laughing, hooting and gaffawing! Can you 'high-five' God? I'd love to, when I read this.
Outside the gate there are 4 lepers. When you live with leprosy, I guess you become a stark realist. They say, 'Well, things are bad! If we stay here we will die of starvation, but even if we go into Samaria, we would -- oh yeah -- die of starvation. Look, what do we really have to loose? Let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and see if they will feed us. At worst, they will kill us but MAYBE they will feed us first." Now I want you to imagine four decrepit lepers shuffling across the sand together. (And the Oscar for best special effects EVER goes to ... ) God, it seems, put microphones by the leper's feet and HUGE, GYNORMOUS speakers in the Aramean camp so the shuffling sound is amplified like a gabazillion times until it sounds like the advance of the biggest army ever ever ever. The soldiers in the camp don't hear "shuffle-shuffle-shuffle" they hear galloping horses, and yelling and banging, and roaring, and ...until all the warriors in the Arameans camp are screaming and strangling in their terror. They all jump from their beds, and card games, and meals and watch posts and ... well from what ever they are doing and hysterically run for their lives. By the time these four decrepit lepers get to the camp -- it is as empty as a ghost town.. . . but! ALL the food and armor and weapons and stuff is ALL still there. The lepers were, at first I am sure, cautious, then after a bit of examination they scream, "Wooo HOOOOO!" and go crazy eating and drinking and grabbing loot. They eat and ransack tents for gold and silver and sets of clothing. And then, when they are on ... well let's be realistic ... their third or fourth helping or so, when they say, "hey guys -- we can't just keep all this to ourselves. Let's go tell the guys in Samaria!"
Can you see them, gnawing on drumsticks, silk robes on over their rags and gold draped on their necks and arms standing yelling up at the guards at the gates of Samaria, "no really ... gone! Yeah, ALL gone. No, we don't know where, but the tents are empty and all the stuff is just left there...NO! We are NOT crazy: Where exactly do you THINK we got these robes and this food....really. OK, just go tell the king and have him check it out."
Of course, despite what Elisha said, the king does not believe it. He thinks its a trick. He thinks the Arameans are waiting beyond the next ridge for Samaria to open its gates and come to check things out. He sends out 5 scouts to go check it out. What they find is ". . . 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. "All the way to the Jordan" ! ~ that is like 25 miles. Can you imagine?
See, THAT is how God ends a siege and a war! 4 lepers and some sound effects.
2 Kings 6:24 - 7:20
Do you want suspense? It's in there.
Do you want tragedy? It's in there.
Do you want drama? It's in there.
Do you want mystery? It's in there.
Do you want intensity? It's in there.
Do you want special effects? It's in there.
Do you want comedy? It's in there.
Do you want justice? It's in there?
Do you want good story? It's in there.
Do you want characters? It's in there.
2 Kings 6:24 reads:
Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.
"Some time later . . . ? After the last story, he doesn't seem clever to me...but at any rate ~
Ben-Hadad lays siege to Samaria, and it was a very effective siege. Slowly the supplies run out and there is such extreme poverty and starvation that two women decide to eat their own children. The horror of it is more that I can really comprehend. When the king of Israel finds out about this grizzly situation he tears his robes and...get ready to say "what!?!"... OK ~ he tears his robes and says "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!" WHAT ! ? ! Right? We are surrounded by an enemy -- oh yeah and recently God did the whole crazy tell us the enemy's plans and then blind the enemy and deliver the entire army to us on a silver platter--but I am ticked off at God now and so I think I will kill His prophet. Elisha tells him, "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." Basically, the siege will be over and the poverty and starvation will be at an end. There is an officer attending the king who, basically, says "Not even GOD could do that" ... which as it turns out is terminally stupid. Elisha says to him, "You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"
Ok, now the story gets funny. In fact I have a mental picture of God sitting on his throne saying, "hey, Gabriel -- watch this" then God and all the angels start laughing hysterically -- pointing, laughing, hooting and gaffawing! Can you 'high-five' God? I'd love to, when I read this.
Outside the gate there are 4 lepers. When you live with leprosy, I guess you become a stark realist. They say, 'Well, things are bad! If we stay here we will die of starvation, but even if we go into Samaria, we would -- oh yeah -- die of starvation. Look, what do we really have to loose? Let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and see if they will feed us. At worst, they will kill us but MAYBE they will feed us first." Now I want you to imagine four decrepit lepers shuffling across the sand together. (And the Oscar for best special effects EVER goes to ... ) God, it seems, put microphones by the leper's feet and HUGE, GYNORMOUS speakers in the Aramean camp so the shuffling sound is amplified like a gabazillion times until it sounds like the advance of the biggest army ever ever ever. The soldiers in the camp don't hear "shuffle-shuffle-shuffle" they hear galloping horses, and yelling and banging, and roaring, and ...until all the warriors in the Arameans camp are screaming and strangling in their terror. They all jump from their beds, and card games, and meals and watch posts and ... well from what ever they are doing and hysterically run for their lives. By the time these four decrepit lepers get to the camp -- it is as empty as a ghost town.. . . but! ALL the food and armor and weapons and stuff is ALL still there. The lepers were, at first I am sure, cautious, then after a bit of examination they scream, "Wooo HOOOOO!" and go crazy eating and drinking and grabbing loot. They eat and ransack tents for gold and silver and sets of clothing. And then, when they are on ... well let's be realistic ... their third or fourth helping or so, when they say, "hey guys -- we can't just keep all this to ourselves. Let's go tell the guys in Samaria!"
Can you see them, gnawing on drumsticks, silk robes on over their rags and gold draped on their necks and arms standing yelling up at the guards at the gates of Samaria, "no really ... gone! Yeah, ALL gone. No, we don't know where, but the tents are empty and all the stuff is just left there...NO! We are NOT crazy: Where exactly do you THINK we got these robes and this food....really. OK, just go tell the king and have him check it out."
Of course, despite what Elisha said, the king does not believe it. He thinks its a trick. He thinks the Arameans are waiting beyond the next ridge for Samaria to open its gates and come to check things out. He sends out 5 scouts to go check it out. What they find is ". . . 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. "All the way to the Jordan" ! ~ that is like 25 miles. Can you imagine?
See, THAT is how God ends a siege and a war! 4 lepers and some sound effects.
Come on! Get real! No way!!! Four lepers in the sand? Ever heard feet in sand? There's no noise. Really. No noise. How'd he do that?
ReplyDeleteWell...he is God! I will ask him when I get to the wedding supper though!
ReplyDelete