Morning Light – August 25th, 2015: Why Sit Here Till We Die?

Morning Light – August 25th, 2015
Today: [2 Kings Chapter Seven] Why Sit Here Till We Die? In this chapter the city of Samria is besieged and four lepers stand without the gates starving to death. They decide they cannot sit by waiting to die. They make a move and God moves with them and the entire city is delivered. God wants us to make decisions in anticipation of His faithfulness. These lepers exemplify for us the chaos decision God will call upon us to make at times that will bring your miracle.
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[2Ki 7:1-20 KJV] 1 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.
In the previous chapter the Syrians besiege Samaria and the people are starving to the point they are resorting to desperate measures to survive. The king encounters a woman who has resorted to cannibalism and in anger vows to execute Elisha. Elisha however had nothing to do with bringing on the siege other than arranging for the release of the Syrian army that had previously been held captive in the city of Samaria. In the last verse of chapter six the king claims that this “evil” had proceeded from the Lord but there is no indication of this in the passage however now Elisha after being threatened with execution gives the word of the Lord that while God did not bring on this calamity it would be supernaturally solved within 24 hours. One of the king’s retinue scoffs that God would have to make windows in heaven to get this done because the Syrians have sealed off the city completely. Elisha ominously replies that this man will see the miracle of God but not partake of it.
In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians he cautions the church:
[1Th 5:20 KJV] 20 Despise not prophesyings.
From the beginning of time the prophets have come under assault from skeptics and unbelievers. The very next verse continues:
[1Th 5:21 KJV] 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
In our day prophecies about doom and gloom tend to be more quickly validated than a positive word. We often receive a word of promise and deliverance and are hesitant to believe it because it is a good report. How do you prove a prophetic word? The next phrase tells you – “hold fast to that which is good….” This is the character of New Testament prophecy. Is the word a “good” word? Then accept it. Is it a negative word? Then reject it. The word good here means “agreeable, excellent, beautiful, precious and praiseworthy…” In 2 Cor. 1:20 Paul put it this way:
[2Co 1:20 KJV] 20 For all the promises of God in him [are] yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Can you take “yes” for an answer. Will God keep his promises? Yes. Theologians maintain that while God makes certain promises it doesn’t mean that He will keep His promise because He is sovereign and will not be limited to His own word. This is despicable. Religion would rather indict the character of God Himself than point to the problem of unbelief in the hearts of men. In Luke 9:55 the disciples wanted to call down fire on the city of Samaria but Jesus rebuked them operating in an Old Covenant paradigm of judgment rather than a New Covenant paradigm of blessing. In doing this Jesus effectively reconfigured the prophetic says “the son of man came not to destroy but to save…” Did Jesus have the authority to do this?
[Heb 1:1-2 KJV] 1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
If you look at the purposes of God through the lens of the Old Testament prophets you can certainly have precedent for destruction, judgment and death. But in this passage in Hebrews we can see that this is not legitimate. God in TIMES PAST spoke by the prophets but NOW is speaking through His son. Did Jesus EVER call down destruction or death or did He not say (John 10:10) that He came to give life and life more abundantly.
Rev. 19:10 says that the Spirit of Prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. You have to make up your mind if you will accept the prophetic as moving in the character of Christ or in the Old Covenant paradigm of destruction and death?
3 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.
Outside the city walls of Samaria there were four lepers. They were doubly rejected. The army outside the walls wanted to kill them and the people inside the walls rejected them because of their disease. Notice that they decided not to simply sit idly by waiting on death to claim them. They were going to do something if they would do it wrong. They made a decision. God can deal with anything but a refusal to make a decision. In Luke 17:20 Jesus said “… the kingdom of God comes not with observation….” In other words you have to do something. What you do with what God has already said is much more powerful than what you are waiting on Him to do. You must act. If you will act then you give God something to work with and deliverance will come. This is what it means to make a “chaos” decision. Things are the way they are because of what you are doing – if you want something different you must do something different. This was the choice of these four lepers. They decided to go toward the enemy’s camp and when they did God made their feet sound like an approaching army and they fled.
Many times we feel in prayer that we have to cajole and talk God into acting on our behalf. You can see by this account that God is waiting for the merest hint of putting the situation in His hands and He will act. The story here portrays God exactly the opposite of the way modern Christianity presumes regarding answered prayer. The writer of 2 Chronicles put it this way:
[2Ch 16:9 KJV] 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of [them] whose heart [is] perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
You do not have to overcome God’s reluctance to move in your behalf because HE DOESN’T HAVE ANY. If prayers go unanswered it is not because God capriciously chose not to come through for you. It is not enough to ask. There must be corresponding action. We wait for God to answer before we act and consequently nothing happens. You must act. You must act in anticipation of an answer as the four lepers did.
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. 10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, [there was] no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they [were]. 11 And he called the porters; and they told [it] to the king’s house within. 12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we [be] hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13 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. 17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18 And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, [if] the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20 And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
The four lepers were not selfish with their blessing. Gal. 5:6 tells us that faith works by love. These lepers had a heart for those that rejected them and shut them out of the city. You see the law of faith operates within the context of the law of sowing and reaping. The law of sowing and reaping is superseded by the law of love. The blessing you would deny others (your enemies, etc.) is the measurement of your own inability to receive from God. Many people KNOW they have faith to move mountains but they don’t realize that their lack of moving in the law of love denies them their miracle.
The lepers return with the good news and the siege is broken. Food is brought from the camp and the lord who mocked Elisha was killed in the stampede. When this man spoke out against Elisha’s prediction that the siege would be broken he was saying what he saw in front of him. Elisha was speaking the thing desired and the man mocked. He entered not in because of unbelief (Heb. 4:6). Are you ready for your miracle? Are you ready to make a chaos decision? Be bold to make risky decisions if need be to put yourself in a position to receive your breakthrough.