'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus and to take Him at His word; just to rest upon His promise, and to know, "Thus saith the Lord." --Louisa Maria Rouse Stead, 1882
Thus saith the LORD. This phrase is found in the Bible over 400 times. That's 400 times when people's faith was shaken and/or tested. 400 times when God spoke to a specific issue or problem. 400 times when God's word came to pass, and His words proved true.
Today I want us to look at a story from the life of the prophet Elisha found in 2 Kings 6:24 through 7:20.
Desperate Times
"Afterward Ben-Hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for 80 shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver." --2 Kings 6:24-25
You may have heard stories from your grandparents or great-grandparents about rationing that was imposed during World War I. Commodities were scarce, and people had to do without things we would take for granted. Every adult at the time had already lived through the Great Depression in the 1930s, so they knew how to do more with less. They accepted scarcity because to them it was normal.
In our Bible narrative, we get another lesson in the economics of scarcity. Israel's capitol city experienced a double-whammy of the famine (where food was already scarce) plus the military siege of the city (where they were unable to establish trade with other cities or nations--or even to solicit charitable aid from their neighbors). A shekel of silver was worth about $2.25, and we can see how expensive things were getting. A donkey was an unclean animal, but since all the "clean" animals were gone, the people were forced to eat what they had. A donkey's head had very little nutritional value, but it was selling for about $180. That's a very expensive soup stock.
As for the phrase "dove's dung", it was selling at about $11.50 per half gallon. Some commentators posit that this was a not-so-nice name for a cheap food like falafel. I don't think this theory is supported in this narrative, as it does not communicate the abject desperation that the story portrays. Things were so bad that in verses 26 to 29, a woman complained to the king that they had resorted to cannibalism, having boiled her baby so that the rest of them could eat. A more plausible explanation is that it was literally the dung of birds, who could fly outside the city walls and eat grains from the fields, some of which would be excreted. In better times, dove's dung might be gathered to fuel a fire. As things got worse, it might be used as a salt substitute. In the worst of times, it might be a person's only source of grain food.
Blaming God
"When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes--now he was passing by on the wall--all the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath his body--and he said, 'May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.' Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, 'Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?' And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, 'This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?' --2 Kings 6:30-33
Ahab saw the situation was as bad as it could possibly get. According to the sermons that Elisha had been preaching, God was punishing Ahab and, by extension, Israel. Out of desperation, Ahab wanted to kill Elisha. Yet his own words show that he knew the truth.
"This trouble is from the Lord!" he said. His conclusion was correct. Ahab's own sin had brought about this calamity. His conclusion, though, was incorrect. "Why should I wait for the Lord?" When Ahab's faith was tested, he failed miserably.
A lot of religious people have trouble believing that God brings calamity. Tim Challies, a Canadian Reformed Baptist theologian, pastor and blogger, says, "If God is not sovereign over the bad things that happen, they happen for no reason. If God is sovereign over the bad things, we can be confident that he is working even those things for His glory and our good." Augustine wrote, "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist."
Richard Sibbes, an Anglican exegete from the early 17th century, wrote, "As the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory." We will see how God brought glory from this desperate situation.
Opening the windows of heaven
"But Elisha said, 'Hear the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.' Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, 'If the Lord Himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?' But he said, 'You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.' --2 Kings 7:1-2
God was not so concerned that His people were forced to eat non-Kosher foods. He was concerned that they had forgotten Him. Did they not know that God had provided for their forefathers in the wilderness? Psalm 78: 12-24 says:
In the sight of their fathers He performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime He led them with a cloud and all the night with a fiery light. He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers. Yet they sinned still more against Him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can He also give bread or provide meat for His people?" Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; His anger rose against Israel because they did not believe in God and did not trust His saving power. Yet He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and He rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.
So here's what God did for Samaria. There were four men who had leprosy, sitting outside the gate. They weren't allowed in, because they were unclean (quarantined). They were also hungry because of the siege. They decided to go visit the Syrian camp. The Syrians would either let them in and feed them, or they would kill them--they thought they were going to die anyway, so it was a risk worth taking. When they got to the enemy camp, however, it was deserted. God had brought about a sound of a great army, and the Syrians fled in terror (thinking that Samaria had somehow hired mercenaries to come to their aid).
The lepers went from tent to tent, finding food and clothing, gold and silver. They couldn't believe it. They ate their fill and took away all they could carry. Then their conscience got the better of them; they decided to go into the city and tell the people that the enemy was gone, and more importantly, there was food in the camp.
The king's adviser's were cautious. They thought the Syrians were trying to lure them in, and would be waiting to ambush them. They sent a small squad of fighting men to check it out, but it was just as the lepers had said. They also found, in the direction the Syrians had fled, a trail of clothing and weapons that the soldiers had thrown away in their haste.
When the people heard about it, they rushed out the gate. The king's servant, the one who had been so incredulous about God opening the windows of heaven, was trampled to death by the hordes of hungry people rushing out to plunder the enemy camp. Thus was Elisha's prophecy fulfilled, that he would see the prices reduced for commodities, but that he would not eat from it.
The economics were turned upside-down. Instead of spending $180 for a donkey's head, they now found that $2.25 would buy two gallons of fine flour; instead of $11.50 for digested grain product excreted by birds, they could buy four gallons of barley for that same $2.25. The same God who could bring judgment and calamity can also bring healing, forgiveness, and abundance.
Let me be clear: I am not advocating a prosperity gospel. God is sovereign, and we have no right to "name it and claim it." However, His word does promise in Malachi 3:10, "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." Philippians 4:19 promises, "My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."
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