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TOPIC: Pink, Arthur - Gleanings From Elisha (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 23-Fifteenth Miracle - A Great Famine
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FIFTEENTH MIRACLE-A GREAT FAMINE
Chapter 23
The Passage which is now to engage our attention is much longer than
usual, beginning as it does at 2Ki_6:24 and running to the end of 2
Kings 7. The whole of it needs to be read at a sitting, so as to perceive
its connections, its unity, and its wonders. In it there is a striking
mingling of light and shade: the dark background of human depravity and
the bright display of the prophet's faith; the exercise of God's justice
in His sore judgments upon a rebellious and wayward people, and the
manifestation of His amazing mercy and grace. In it we are shown how the
wrath of man was made to praise the Lord, how the oath of a wicked king
was made to recoil on his own head, how the skepticism of his courtier
was given the lie and how the confidence of Elisha in his Master's word
was vindicated. In it we behold how the wicked was taken in his own
craftiness, or to use the language of Samson's parable, how the eater was
made to yield meat, and how poor outcast lepers became the heralds of
good news.
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Were one to invent a story after
the order of the incident narrated in our present portion, critical
readers would scorn it as being too farfetched. But those who believe in
the living and omnipotent God that presides over the affairs of this
world, far from finding anything here which taxes their faith, bow in
adoration before Him who has only to speak and it is done, to will a
thing and it is accomplished. In this case, Samaria was besieged by a
powerful enemy, so that its inhabitants were completely surrounded. The
situation became drastic and desperate, for there was a famine so acute
that cannibalism was resorted to. Yet under these extreme circumstances
Elisha announced that within twenty-four hours there would be an
abundance of food for everyone. His message was received with incredulity
and scorn, yet it came to pass just as he had said, without a penny being
spent, a gift being made, or a blow being struck. The surrounding Syrians
fled in panic and left their vast stores of food to relieve the famished
city. Let us now begin our examination of this miracle.
First, the Reality of the Miracle
After our remarks above it may strike the reader that it is quite an
unnecessary waste of effort to labor a point which is obvious and offer
proof that a miracle was wrought on this occasion. The writer would have
thought so too had he not, after completing his own meditations,
consulted several volumes on the Old Testament, only to find that this
wonder is not listed among the miracles associated with Elisha. Even such
a work as The Companion Bible, which supplies what is supposed to be a
complete catalog of the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, omits this one. We
offer no solution to this oversight, but since other writers have failed
to see in 2 Kings 7 one of the marvels of our prophet we feel that we
should present some of the evidence which in our judgment furnishes clear
proof that a supernatural event was wrought on this occasion, and that we
are fully warranted in connecting it with Elisha.
The first thing that we would take note of is that when the people were
in such desperate straits and the king was so beside himself that he rent
his clothes and swore that the prophet should be slain that very day, we
are told "But [contrastively] Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat
with him" (2Ki_6:32), which suggests to us that they had waited upon
the Lord and had received assurance from Him of His intervention in
mercy. Second, that the prophet was in communion with and in possession
of the secret of the Lord is borne out by the remaining words of the
verse, where he tells his companions of Jehoram's evil intention and
announces the approach of his agent before he arrived. Next, we find the
prophet plainly declaring that an abundant supply of food would be
provided on the morrow (2Ki_7:1), and he did so in his official
character as "the man of God" (2Ki_7:2, 17, 18, 19), which, as we
have seen in previous chapters, is the title that is usually accorded him
when God was about to work mightily through him or for him in answer to
his prayers.
Consider too the circumstances. "There was a great famine in Samaria:
and, behold, they [the Syrians] besieged it, until an ass's head was sold
for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's
dung for five pieces of silver" (2Ki_6:25). Nevertheless the prophet
declared that there should suddenly be provided sufficient food for all;
and the sequel shows it came to pass such an abundant supply. The manner
in which that food was furnished clearly evidenced the supernatural, as
an impartial reading of 2Ki_7:6-7 will make clear, for it was their
enemies who were made to supply their tables! Finally, if we give due
weight to the "according to the word of the LORD" and "as the man of God
had said" in 2Ki_7:16-17 and link with 2Ki_4:43-44 where another
of his miracles is in view and so referred to, the demonstration is
complete.
Second, the Occurrence of the Miracle
This was the terrible shortage of food in the city of Samaria, due to its
being surrounded by an enemy, so that none of its inhabitants could go
forth and obtain fresh supplies. "And it came to pass after this, that
Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged
Samaria" (2Ki_6:24). Strange as it may at first seem and sound to the
reader, we see here one of the many internal evidences of the divine
inspiration of the Scriptures. This will appear if we quote the last
clause of the verse immediately preceding: "So the bands of Syria came no
more into the land of Israel." Had an impostor written this chapter,
attempting to palm off upon us a pious forgery he surely would not have
been so careless as to place in immediate juxtaposition two statements
which a casual reader can only regard as a flat contradiction. No, one
who was inventing a story certainly would have made it read consistently
and plausibly. Hence, we arrive at the conclusion that this is no
fictitious narrative from the pen of a pretender to inspiration.
"So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel [of which
'Samaria' was a part, as 2Ki_5:20 shows]. And it came to pass after
this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up,
and besieged Samaria" (2Ki_6:23-24). Now the placing of those two
statements side by side is a clear intimation to us that the Scriptures
need to be read closely and carefully, that their terms must be properly
weighed, and that failure to do so will inevitably lead to serious
misunderstanding of their purport. It is because infidels only skim
passages here and there and are so poorly acquainted with the Word, that
they charge it with being "full of contradictions." But there is no
contradiction here, and if it presents any so-called difficulty to us, it
is entirely of our own making. The first statement has reference to the
plundering and irregular "bands" which had from time to time preyed on
the Samaritans (compare the "companies" of 2Ki_5:2), what we would
term today "commando raids"; whereas 2Ki_6:24 speaks of organized
war, a mass invasion, Ben-hadad gathering together "all his host."
"And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered
all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria" (2Ki_6:24). The
opening clause is far more than a historical mark of time; properly
understood, it serves to bring out the character of this man. The
introductory "And" bids us link his action here with what is recorded in
the context. In the remote context (2 Kings 5), we saw how God graciously
healed Naaman of his leprosy. Naaman was the commander-in-chief of
Ben-hadad's army and had been sent by him into Samaria to be cured of his
dread disease. But little did the Syrian monarch appreciate that signal
favor; shortly after, he assembled an increased force of his bands and
"warred against Israel" (2Ki_6:8). His plan was to capture Jehoram,
but being foiled by Elisha he sent his men to capture the prophet. In
that too he failed, for in answer to Elisha's prayer, they were smitten
with blindness; though instead of taking advantage of their helplessness,
he later prayed for their eyes to be opened, and after having the king
give them a feast, sent them home to their master, who had returned to
Syria.
"And it came to pass after this"; not that Ben-hadad repented of his
former actings, nor that he was grateful for the mercy and kindness which
had been shown his soldiers; but that he "gathered all his host, and went
up, and besieged Samaria." Not only was this base ingratitude against his
human benefactors, but it was blatant defiance against Jehovah Himself.
Twice the Lord had manifested His miracle-working power in grace on his
behalf; and here was his response. Yet we must look further if we are to
perceive the deeper meaning of "it came to pass after this," for we need
to answer the question, Why did the Lord permit this heathen to invade
Israel's territory?
The reply is also furnished by the context. Ben-hadad was not the only
one who had profited by God's mercies in the immediate past; the king of
Israel had also been divinely delivered from those who sought his life.
And how did he express his appreciation? Did he promptly institute a
religious reformation in his dominions and tear down the altars which his
wicked parents had set up? No, so far as we are informed he was quite
unmoved and continued in his idolatry.
It is written, "the curse causeless shall not come" (Pro_26:2). When
God afflicts a people, be it a church or a nation, it is because He has a
controversy with them. If they refuse to put right what is wrong, He
chastises them. God, then, was acting in judgment on Samaria when He
commissioned the Syrians to now enter their land in full force. "O
Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation" (Isa.
10:5-6). So again, at a later date, the Lord said of Nebuchadnezzar "Thou
art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with [or 'by'] thee will I
break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms" (Jer.
51:20). It is in the light of such passages as these we should view the
activities of a Hitler or a Mussolini! Though God's time to completely
cast off Israel had not come in the days of Jehoram, yet He employed
Ben-hadad to grievously afflict his kingdom.
"And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it,
until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the
fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver" (2 Kings
6:25). Troubles seldom come singly, for God means to leave us without
excuse if we fail to recognize whose hand it is which is dealing with us.
Ben-hadad chose his hour to attack when Israel was in sore tribulation,
which serves also to illustrate Satan's favorite method of assaulting the
saints. Like the fiend that he is, he strikes when they are at their
lowest ebb, coming as the roaring lion when their nerves are already
stretched to the utmost, seeking to render them both praiseless and
prayerless while lying on a bed of sickness, or to instill into their
minds doubts of God's goodness in the hour of bereavement, or to question
His promises when the meal has run low in their barrel. But since "we are
not ignorant of his devices" (2Co_2:11), we should be on our guard
against such tactics.
"And there was a great famine in Samaria." It needs to be pointed out in
these days of skepticism and practical atheism that the inhabitants of
earth are under the government of something infinitely better than
"fickle fortune," namely, a world which is ruled over by the living God.
Goodly harvests or the absence of them are not the result of chance nor
the effect of a blind fate. In Psa_105:16 we read that God "called for
a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread." And my
reader, when He calls for a "famine," neither farmers nor scientists can
prevent or avert it. We have read in the past of famines in China and in
India, but how faintly can we conceive of the awful horrors of one in our
day! As intimated above, the Lord called for this famine on Samaria
because the king and his subjects had not taken to heart His previous
chastisements of the land for their idolatry. When a people refuse to
heed the rod, then He smites more heavily.
"And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it."
Their design was not to storm but to starve the city, by throwing a
powerful military cordon around it, so that none could either go out or
come in. "And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall
[probably taking stock of his defenses and seeking to encourage the
garrison], there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king"
(2Ki_6:26). And well she might, for they were now deprived of the
bare necessities of life, with a slow but painful death by starvation
stating them in the face. Ah, my reader, how little we really value the
common mercies of this life until they are taken from us! Poor woman, she
turned to lean upon a broken reed, seeking relief from the apostate king,
rather than making known her need to the Lord. There is no hint anywhere
in the narrative that the people prayed to God.
"And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out
of the barnfloor or out of the winepress?" (2Ki_6:27). That was not
the language of submission and piety, but, as the sequel shows, of
derision and blasphemy. His language was that of anger and despair: the
Lord will not help; I cannot, so we must perish. Out of the abundance of
his evil heart his mouth spoke. Calming down a little, "the king said
unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman [pointing to a
companion] said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we
will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I
said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she
hath hid her son" (2Ki_6:28-29). This shows the desperate conditions
which then prevailed and the awful pass to which things had come. Natural
affection yielded to the pangs of hunger. This too must also be regarded
as a most solemn example of the divine justice, and vengeance on
idolatrous Israel.
It must be steadily borne in mind that the people of Samaria had cast off
their allegiance to Jehovah and were worshipping false gods, and
therefore according to His threatenings, the Lord visited them with
severe judgments. They were so blockaded by the enemy that all ordinary
food supplies failed them, so that in their desperation they were driven
to devour the most abominable offals and even human flesh. Of old the
Lord had announced unto Israel, "If ye will not for all this hearken unto
me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in
fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins, and ye
shall eat the flesh of your sons" (Lev_26:27-29). And again, "The LORD
shall bring a nation against thee... And he shall besiege thee... And
thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of
thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and
in the straitness" (Deu_28:49, 52-53). This was even more completely
fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. No words of God's
shall fall to the ground; His threatenings, equally with His promises,
are infallibly certain of fulfillment!
"And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he
rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked,
and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh" (2Ki_6:30).
According to the customs of those days and the ways of Oriental people,
this was the external garb of a penitent; but what was it worthwhile he
renounced not his idols? Not a particle in the eyes of Him who cannot be
imposed upon by any outward shows. It was a pose which the king adopted
for the benefit of his subjects, to signify that he felt deeply for their
miseries; yet he lamented not for his own iniquities, which were the
underlying cause of the calamity. Instead of so doing, the very next
verse tells us that he took an awful oath that Elisha should be promptly
slain. "Rend your heart, and not your garments" (Joe_2:13) is ever the
divine call to those under chastisement, for God desires truth (reality)
in "the inward parts" (Psa_51:6).
As it is useless to wear sackcloth when we mourn not for our sins, so it
is in vain to flock to church on a "day of prayer" and then return at
once to our vanities and idols. Israel later complained, "Wherefore have
we fasted,... and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul,
and thou takest no knowledge?" And God answered them by saying, "Behold,
in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors . . .
Ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on
high" (Isa_58:3-4). Thus there is such a thing as not only praying but
fasting which God pays no attention to. At a later date He said to them,
"When ye fasted and mourned... did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former
prophets!" (Zec_7:5, 7). While a nation tramples upon the divine
commandments, neither prayer and fasting nor any other religious
performances are of any avail with Him who says, "Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice" (1Sa_15:22). There must be a turning away from
sin before there can be any real turning unto God.
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