Plenty Of Heaps
Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 03/24/2024
Foundation Scriptures:
2 Kings 7:1-20
1. Besieged.
a. 2 Kings 6:24-25 KJV — And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. 25 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.
b. The Israelites were being besieged by the Syrians.
c. On top of that, the land was suffering from a severe famine.
d. Donkeys were one of the “unclean” categories of animals which the Israelites were forbidden to eat.
e. Between the siege and the famine, things were so bad that people were eating donkeys, dove’s dung, and even their own children (2 Kings 6:28-30).
f. Moses had warned them that if they went into sin, this would happen (Lev. 26:29; Dt. 28:53-57).
2. Elisha’s Prophecy.
a. 2 Kings 7:1-2 KJV — 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. 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.
b. Elisha prophesied that in 24 hours the situation would be completely turned around and flour and barley would be sold for their regular price.
c. As if there was no scarcity at all.
d. The king’s second-in-command mocked the Word of the Lord and Elisha told him that he would see it but would not enjoy it.
3. Four Lepers.
a. 2 Kings 7:3-9 KJV — 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? 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
b. Four lepers at the gate decided to take their chances with the enemy, rather than continuing to suffer with their fellow-citizens.
c. They rose up in the twilight to go to the Syrian encampment.
d. When they got to the edge of the camp, no one was there.
4. The Lord’s Intervention.
a. The Lord had made the Syrian army hear a noise of chariots and horses and the noise of a great army.
b. They believed that the king of Israel had hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack them.
c. Finding the camp deserted, the four lepers went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold, and clothing, which they went and hid.
d. Then they entered another tent, stole the contents, and went and hid them.
e. Fortunately, they realized that what they were doing was not right.
f. It was a day of good news and they were keeping it to themselves.
g. They said, “If we wait until daylight to tell it, some punishment might come on us.
h. So, they went up immediately to tell the king.
5. The Lord’s Deliverance.
a. But the king thought it was a Syrian trap (2 Kings 7:12).
b. 2 Kings 7:13-16 KJV — 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. 14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 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. 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.
c. Everything worked out exactly as the man of God prophesied it would.
d. Two measures of barley sold for a shekel and a measure of fine flour sold for a shekel (2 Kings 7:18).
e. And the king’s right-hand man was trampled by the people in the gate.
f. Because he mocked God, he did not get to experience God’s deliverance.