The Arameans Flee
The lesson we should learn is we can take things in our own hands or we can wait for the timing of the LORD. When the lepers decided they had nothing to lose and nothing to gain they made a decision. When they discovered the Syrian’s had left and they pillaged the tents they knew they were not doing the right thing. They corrected their actions and did the right thing.
2 Kings 7:3–7:20
There were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, why do we sit here until we die? 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.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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. And he called the porters; and they told it to the king’s house within.
The king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now show 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.
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.
They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 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.
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.
And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him.
And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, and two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:
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. And so it fell out unto him: for the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.
What Can This Story Teach Us?
There were four lepers who were at the gate of the city. They decided to surrender to the Syrians rather than starve to death. They knew the worst the Syrians could do would be to kill them, and they were doomed to die if they did nothing.
It was to their surprise that the Syrian camp was deserted. The LORD God had caused them to flee because they heard the noise of a great army. The four lepers looted the tents before they remembered their city was starving.
They went back to Samaria with the good news that food was plentiful and the enemy had fled. Elisha’s prophecy of prosperity was fulfilled. The messenger of the king that had doubted had questioned Elisha’s prophecy was trodden under by the people rushing out to get food.
The lesson we should learn is we can take things in our own hands or we can wait for the timing of the LORD. When the lepers decided they had nothing to lose and nothing to gain they made a decision. When they discovered the Syrian’s had left and they pillaged the tents they knew they were not doing the right thing. They corrected their actions and did the right thing.
When we are not doing the right thing we know it and should immediately change to do the right thing. How do we know what is the right thing to do? You first obey your parents, read the Bible regularly, pray frequently, live a righteous moral life and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne “The Arameans Flee:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Feb 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2268,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, February) “The Arameans Flee:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2268,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) “The Arameans Flee:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (February), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=2268, (accessed).
