There are many lessons to be learned from stories of Elisha. This is the 22rd in a series focusing on the life of this great prophet of God.
“Elisha said, ‘Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: 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.’ The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, ‘Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?’ ‘You will see it with your own eyes,’ answered Elisha, ‘but you will not eat any of it!’” (2 Kings 7:1-2)
There was a great famine in Samaria. With an enemy army surrounding the city, the people couldn’t replenish their supplies. They had become so hungry that some of them were actually killing and eating their own children (2 Kings 6:28,29)! So when Elisha received a revelation of the Lord: “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”, it should have brought great joy!
But it was too unbelievable for the idolatrous king, and his officer defiantly cried out: “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?”
But Elisha’s revelation wasn’t finished. Because of the officer’s unbelief, Elisha said, “You will see it with your own eyes . . . But you WILL NOT eat ANY of it!”
Sure enough, the next day the army mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind all of their gear, including plenty of food for the entire city. The city gates were opened, and “the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the LORD had said.” (2 Kings 7:16)
But what happened to the doubting officer?
“Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and HE DIED, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house.” (2 Kings 7:17-18)
Has God told you something unbelievable? Maybe it is good news, or perhaps it is a warning or a call to repentance. Either way, it doesn’t matter. God has told us: “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:11) NKJV. Friend, if God says it, it WILL happen! Our only job is to believe!
If you are having trouble believing something God has revealed to you, or has perhaps revealed to someone else about you, remember the story of the king’s officer. Remember his fate. He would see it with his own eyes, but would not taste any of it. God’s blessings will go forth as He has commanded. Whether we receive of them or not is totally up to us. It is simply a matter of belief!
Please see next Saturday’s edition of The Nugget, for Elisha, Part 23.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org
(To access the entire “Lessons From Elisha” mini-series, please click here.)