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2 Kings 7 Commentary
by Hank Workman
“Hear the word of the Lord…”
Elisha proclaimed boldly that within a 24 hour time frame God would bring a miracle. Even though the economic situation for Israel had brought widespread famine – God still had the last word… the final word. Miraculously He would bring about circumstances where their food shortage would find relief.
Looking upon the situation realistically, the king’s officer doubted this to ever happen. It was indeed a ludicrous prophecy where by all sense, made none. He doubted the very power of God that could make something out of nothing, as He had with the creation of the world even.
Doubts come in many shapes and forms for us. Sometimes when we get stuck in that rut or stuck in a situation we question how God could actually do something. Yes, we may plead for it, we may beg for a change – but do our requests have laced with them doubt?
Sometimes problems we face bombard us so much it’s all we think about and live. We may even become preoccupied with the situation rather than continuing to put our trust in God. Focusing on the negatives never gets us anywhere. Drawing into the Spirit of God each day and redirecting our prayers and mindset toward an expectancy makes all the difference.
Where do we need to redirect our focus despite what the facts may state or what the reality of the situation is? Where do we need to draw ourselves to God in expectancy who sees every situation we are facing, every dilemma of difficulty and wait in expectation of His creative answer?
“Hear the word of the Lord…” What is He saying to you in your own situation?
2 Kings 7 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
What I love most about this story is the creativity of God’s faithfulness. Of course, we know that God is a God of miracles. Rarely those miracles take place exactly the way we think they will. Most times they come about through our cooperation through less-than-ideal circumstances. The personal attendant of the king doubted God because he failed to take into consideration the unlimited degree to which God could work a miracle.
He was wrong in assuming that God could not or would not drop food from the sky, but he was also wrong in thinking God could not or would not weave his providence into their day-to-day lives. Do we do the same today?
What’s even more striking about this story is that He chooses to use four lepers to reveal his glory. In the world’s eyes, these lepers would have been the least likely “heroes” of the story. By faith and logic, they left Israel in search of what they needed. They correctly concluded that to stay there and do nothing would only lead to death. Often, it is the meekest and most humble individual who can see God the most clearly.
“When God sends blessings to His people, He rarely takes methods that we might expect. Rather, He chooses the weak and foolish things, yea, those that are not, to confound those that are, so as to prevent flesh from glorying in His presence.”
F.B. Meyer
The sad part of the story is that there were some, like the personal attendant, who did not have faith in the power of God. The same is true today. Just like the previous chapter where Elisha reveals God’s army in the spiritual realm that waits to attack, we must believe there is much more going on behind the scenes. He is the God of the impossible.