Biblical Prophets - Bible Study Online
Elisha had prophesied that the siege of the dark famine would end in twenty four hours. The prophet also prophesied that Jehoram's chief official would see this dark famine lift and the food supply restored back towards the land. But because of his unbelief in the one true God he will die before he could participate in the miracle blessing. Now we find that there were four lepers who sat at the gate entrance of Samaria. These four men were not only afflicted with the terrible disease called leprosy, but they were starving to death from the siege of the dark famine that was plaguing the land. So they decided to come up with a survival plan between them all. "Why stay here until we die? If we say, 'We'll go into the city' - the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let's go over to the camp of the Arameanians and surrender. If they spare us we live, if they kill us, then we die," the four lepers agreed. So these four lepers headed over towards the camp of the Arameanians and when they arrived they would find out that there was not one single person that could be found in the camp. It seems that the Lord had allowed their minds to become delusional during the night hours, and the Arameanians thought that they heard a large and powerful army of horses and chariots headed towards them. "Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!" they would fearfully amongst themselves. So they fled for their lives, leaving their camps and everything they had behind. When the four lepers had seen that the Arameanian camp was abandoned, they quickly started looking into the different tents and began eating and drinking from the food that was left behind. Then they began looting the area and hiding the valuable things that they were able to find. Then one of the lepers spoke out, "We're not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let's go at once and report this to the royal palace." So the four men stopped what they we're doing and headed back to the city of Samaria. When the four lepers had reached the city gates they called out to the gatekeepers, "We went into the Arameanian camp and not a man was there - not a sound of anyone, only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just like they were. So the gatekeepers shouted out the news and word quickly spread throughout the palace. When the news had reached Jehoram the Israel king, he arranged a meeting with his top officials that very night. "I will tell you what the Arameanians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left their camp to hide in the countryside, thinking. 'The Israelites will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city,'" Jehoram told his officials while fearing that an ambush might be in the works.
One of Jehoram officials had suggested that maybe they should send out a scout team to go and explore the Aramean camp area. Jehoram agreed with his official, "Go and find out what has happened," the king told the scouts. So the scouts headed out and explored the camp area of the Arameanians. They also followed a trail that was left behind from the Arameanian army. They were able to follow the Arameanian trail all the way back to the River Jordan. Along the way they found that as the Arameanian army was fleeing, they were also shedding their garments and equipment along the way. So the scouts headed back to inform the king about all that they had seen. After the king had heard that the four leper's story had been confirmed, the Israelites went out to the Arameanian camp and plundered and looted all that the Arameanian army had left behind. The dark famine was now officially over in the land of Samaria and a seah (two gallons) of flour sold for a shekel (one dollar) and two seahs of barley grain sold for a shekel (one dollar) just like Elisha had prophesied the day before. Now the king had put the chief official in charge of the city gates and right after he had taken his post, the Israelites in their mad dash to go and gathered food from the abandoned Arameanian camp, trampled him in the gateway and he died. Now this was the same chief official that had doubted God's word the day before. And because of his doubt, Elisha had prophesied that he would indeed see all that he had prophesied but he will die before he himself could partake in any of it. Start at the Beginning: Elijah the Fire Prophet 13) Elijah and the Chariot of Fire 15) Elisha - She Bears Attacking 17) The Blood Water 19) Shunammite's Son Raised From The Dead 20) Elisha and the Pot of Death 24) The Siege of the Dark Famine 25) <-CURRENT PAGE-> 26) The Shunammite's Divine Provision 27) Hazael Anointed Syrian King 29) Jehu Is Anointed King of Israel 30) The Demise of Jehoram & Ahaziah 
|
