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? 2Kings 7:3
This story is for people who are hemmed in by sickness, fear, frustration, inner conflict, defeat, hunger or poverty. It is a message of hope to anyone who has a need. The city was blockaded, and no one could leave or enter. The food supply was gone; the people were starving to death. Even the rich could not find food. The Bible tells us that they had begun to eat the flesh of their own children. The people cried to Elisha who was there. Elisha prophesied that within 24 hours they would be delivered. Not only would the city be free but there would be plenty of food for all. He said that food that would cost hundreds of dollars today would cost pennies tomorrow. OK, I know they didn’t use dollars but you get the point.
There was standing next to the king a man who said, “If the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be? His doubt had blinded his faith in the promise of God. Elisha says, “Thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shall not eat thereof.” Martin Luther said, “Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but - more frequently than not - struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God” This man could not see past the problem and his reasoning said it is not practical for this to happen.
It is always easy for the minister to tell you that God will supply you with a roof over your head, food on the table, a good job with plenty of income, when they are living off the hopes and dreams of the people they are mistreating- I mean ministering. More often than not God works through people we least expect.
In 1957 my father was unemployed for 17 months. He couldn’t find a job. Our family was going through some very hard times. But things were going to get harder when my dad’s unemployment ran out. We were looking at nothing.
We lived in a rural community near Grant City. The neighbor down the road was not a church going man nor had he ever been. He was in fact in the words of some of the more religious neighbors a “hardened sinner”. One day he stopped by the house to tell my dad if we needed wood to burn for the winter he would supply the wood, the saw, the tractor and wagon. All dad needed to do was kick-off a full blocks of wood for him. Every time we cut wood and would kick-off a few blocks, he gave us a big White Rock rooster for our Sunday dinner.
That same winter when the temperature was below zero and the wood was burning almost as fast as you put it in the stove we woke up one morning to find we had two tons of coal in our drive. My dad rushed out of the house to stop the truck driver to tell him he had not ordered the coal or the money to pay for it. The driver assured him it was paid for and he need not worry—same neighbor bought the coal. Reasoning would say you are going to freeze to death. God said, "You'll be warm."
How was God going to use these four men to change the condition of an entire city? Look at these four men and consider them in the light of the problems you face. They were limited in number only four. All were sick and dying. They had suffered along with everyone inside the city. Could their position be any worse? I doubt it. Could their lives be any more intolerable? I think not. Could they have any less hope in their hearts? I really don’t see how. But here they are looking hunger, desperation and death in the face. Sitting there with sickness, starvation and death all around them they put their faith into action and started asking the important question. “Why sit we here until we die?” They were not of the entitlement crowd or they would have said, “Why is God picking on me?” “Why can’t I have the advantages others seem to have?” You can sit and die in your misery and problems or you can do what the lepers did. Lay aside your self-pity, your doubts, and your fears and get up a do something to change your situation.
They got up and begin to move around. They had been sitting for so long that they had become familiar with their surroundings, it was their security. It was the very place where they were they dispatched their wisdom, watched the people starving around them die and where they had resigned themselves to the fact they too would soon die. But they got up. It was frightening to get up and move towards the enemy. They were sick, they were dying, they were headed toward danger, they were alone, they were walking in the night without light and every step they took was in agony, but they marched on.
The Syrian army had gone to sleep and was not expecting an attack from the city. But God had stirred four ragged, desperate, dying lepers to find the faith and hope they needed to change what was happening in their lives. They marched towards the Syrian army. As God looked over the balcony of heaven I can hear him saying, “That’s my army!”
There was a rumble of chariots, the earth begins to shake, and Syrian army woke up to the cry, “The king of Israel has hired against us the armies of the Hittites and others. Let us flee for our lives.” They didn’t know it was only four desperate dying men who were approaching their camp—only four men. By the time they arrived at the camp the Syrian army was gone. Not a soul was to be found. These four men had a party. Then they remembered the others back in the city that were dying. So they stagger back to the city to share the good news and the victory God had given them.
The news was received with gladness and by the end of the day the city was full of food. However, there was one sad note to all the good news and the blessing that God had given to so many people. The man who mocked Elisha was dead. He had tried to restrain the people from leaving the city and was trampled to death. It is a fearful thing to block the door of others faith when God has opened the doors and sent deliverance to those who have trusted him.
So get up and march toward your problems for God will give you victory!
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