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A Dark and Desperate Situation
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, every contract or agreement we sign – whether it’s the contract with our cable company, our cell phone contact, or our rental lease or mortgage papers -- there’s always what we call “the fine print.”
The fine print refers to all back pages of the contract. On the first page we see the BIG print: our name, all the items and perks we are signing up for, etc. But after that comes page after page of tiny print – it’s all the stuff we ignore, and yet we’re asked to agree to it, to sign our initials here and there, indicating that we will abide by whatever it says (even though we never read it).
The problem with that is this: it’s the fine print spells out all the penalties and consequences and contingencies should we happen to default on our loan or break the lease or have to terminate our contract. Now, it may be true that when we signed those papers, when we agreed to those terms, we could never envision a scenario when we would ever break that contract or default on our loan. That would be unthinkable. Yet, in life, sometimes the unthinkable happens.
I want us to view this passage we just read in the light of the fine print of God’s covenant which he made with his people. In Deuteronomy 28, the Lord spells out both blessings and curses. Please turn to that passage in your Bibles (pg. ).
As you can see, the chapter begins with the blessings. That’s the part that we as God’s people like to read and hear about. That’s the part we pay attention to: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord your God will set you high above the nations. You will be blessed in the city and in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, the crops of your land and the young of your livestock – the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.”
That’s a picture of abundance and prosperity, right?! We hear that and we think: “Where do I sign up! That’s the kind of life I want for me and my family!” But that’s not the whole of the agreement. The covenant not only contains blessings for obedience; it also contains curses for disobedience.
This, I suggest, is the “fine print” of the covenant contract that God’s people so quickly skim over or ignore. Surely it will never come to that, right?
Recall how I said before that the fine print goes on and on? Notice Deuteronomy 28: 1-14 contains the blessings. Then, beginning in verse 15 and following, we find the curses. How long does it go? Until verse 68! That’s 54 verses of “fine print” curses and 14 verses of blessings. Clearly, God wanted his people to be aware of what would happen if they forsook his ways.
And look at verses 49 and following. Look at how closely these verses reflect the situation in 2 Kings 6. Although the strong nation being talked about in verse 49 is almost certainly a reference to Babylon, the Lord used many strong nations to chastise his people over the years.
Verse 52 speaks of this nation laying siege to their cities – basically surrounding them and starving them to death. Vs 53: Because of the suffering that your enemy will inflict upon you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.
While it’s hard for us to fathom the horror and misery of such a situation, we can at least understand now why this was happening; how it all came to this. And yet, even here – in the midst of unspeakable agony and suffering -- God did not forget his people. The Light of the Gospel always shines brightest in the deepest darkness. Here in our text, the Lord Visits the Curses of the Covenant upon the people of Samaria.
1. The City’s Desperate Situation
2. The King’s Outward Lament
1. The City’s Desperate Situation
I first want to address the transition from 2 Kings 6:23, where we’re told that the bands from Aram (Syria) stopped raiding Israel’s territory. That was because of the mercy and kindness shown to them by Elisha and the Israelites – who instead of killing them, prepared a great feast for them and sent them back to their master.
But here in verse 24, it says: “Some time later, Ben Hadad of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.”
One commentator explained it by saying that not all the events recorded in the book of 2 Kings are in chronological order. That’s possible, but not likely given that these two accounts seem closely linked. Another said that there is a difference between those smaller incursions (raiding parties) and all-out war. That’s a weaker argument, but it’s another possibility.
The explanation I believe makes the most sense is offered by Matthew Henry, who simply stated that after a time, the Syrians forgot the kindness showed to them by the Israelites. That’s entirely consistent with human nature, and in my view, the best explanation. So, Ben Hadad mustered his entire force and he marched on Samaria with all his military might.
The result of the siege was devastating. Boys and girls, some of your great grandparents have very vivid and painful memories of what life was like in the Netherlands during WWII when the German soldiers occupied their towns and cities. People still recall eating tulip bulbs because food was so scarce. Things were quite desperate in Samaria as well. There was a famine in the city, a shortage of food and the people were starving.
I am not sure how many of you here have ever eaten donkey head before, but it was almost certainly not very tasty; it had very little meat, and it was not what the Jews would call Kosher. It was ceremonially unclean. But when you’re starving, you can’t afford to be picky - and a little donkey head soup is better than nothing.
The other problem was that the cost of any food – or anything that could be passed off as food – was absurdly expensive. We think that $6.00 for a dozen eggs is expensive, but consider that a donkey head would cost you over a month’s wages. As a point of comparison, D.A. Carson noted that in Solomon’ day a horse sold for 150 shekels. The donkey head was 80 shekels!
The people also ate seed pods – which was the outer shell, the stuff you throw away. It was also referred to as “dove’s dung” which is probably the local name for it. That too sold for an astronomical price. But what is money when you’re starving? You can have all the money in the world, but if you have no food, what value is it? It’s worth nothing.
Lest we think that what’s being described here could never happen to us – recall what happened several weeks ago to the folks in North Carolina. Hurricane Helene brought torrential rains and mudslides. Entire communities and roads around Ashville, North Carolina were completely swept away.
Towns which were already remote, were now literally cut off from everyone else, and many people were without food and water for days. Some needed medical attention. Some people died; some are still missing. So, while situations like this are rare, they are not unheard of. And it is all the more reason that we should be grateful to God each day for the amazing abundance we have. (you can also add: it’s also a good reminder to us of the thin line, the delicate balance between order and chaos, between civilization and lawlessness).
But getting back to Samaria, this was still not the worst of it. As the king was making his rounds, walking the wall which overlooked the enemy position -- something he would have done on a daily basis, he heard a woman cry out to him. “Help me, my lord the king!”
The king (who by this time must have been quite familiar with the cries and complaints of the people) seems to anticipate her need. He says: If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress? In other words, there’s no grain to make bread; there are no grapes to make wine. So, what would you have me do?
Then she tells the king her horrible story. It is a tale so gruesome and barbaric that not even Solomon in all his wisdom could have resolved this case. Two women, both mothers of sons (most likely infants), had struck an unholy bargain. The first day they would cook and eat this woman’s son. And then the next day, they would cook and eat the other woman’s son.
It’s all so sad and tragic and twisted. It’s even ironic – for here, in the midst of this act of pure savagery, after committing cannibalism, this woman is pleading to the king for justice. She wants the king to demand that the other woman give up her son so that they can eat him as well. It shows you just how dark and desperate things have become.
The curses of the covenant have fallen hard on the land and the people. And remember, this was Israel. This happened to God’s own covenant people. So let us be forewarned: if we think we can ever just walk away from God, that we can just decide one day that religion is no longer for me, that we can leave the church and live life on our own terms -- we better think again.
When we were baptized, and for most of us here that was when we were infants, we entered into a covenant with God. And we should know, God takes his covenant seriously. Now, sometimes as we grow older, we can forget about our baptism. Many young adults in their late teens and early 20’s tend to drift away from the church. True, some may join a different church which (so long as it is a faithful church) is fine; but others stop worshipping and believing altogether.
But while we may want to quit following God, and while we’re content to live as a covenant breaker, God doesn’t give up on us – and we should be thankful for that. Our God loves us with a fierce, relentless love. And God will go after us, like Jesus said – leaving the 99 to go after the 1, all to bring us back to the safety of the fold.
And God may do that through the elders, or maybe by sending chastisements, admonishments, and various trials that are meant to wake us up, to move us to call out to Him once more, to remind us that we are His, and to ultimately turn our hearts back to Him! What a wonderful God we serve – that even though we are faithless, God is faithful! We must always remember that.
2. The King’s Outward Lament
That is first. Now we consider the King’s Outward Lament. When the king heard the woman’s words, all he could do was grieve and mourn. His heart was so full of anguish that he tore his robes. As he went along the wall people could see that he had sackcloth on his body. Ordinarily, this would have been a good sign – a sign that the king was ready to repent and cry out to the Lord pleading for forgiveness.
But that was not the case. Instead, as verse 31 says, his heart was filled with anger. He wanted to blame someone, to hurt someone, to punish someone for all this misery and despair, and Elisha, the man of God, was the perfect target. The king declared an oath saying: “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today!!”
In 2 Corinthians 7:10 the Apostle Paul wrote that: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Yes, Israel’s king is overwhelmed and exhausted by the sheer weight of the grief and hopelessness all around him as the siege dragged on.
Yes, the king is wearing sackcloth and he tore his robes, but his lament, his sorrow is not to be confused with sincere repentance. His is a worldly sorrow. And where does it lead? As the apostle Paul wrote: it leads to death. He's angry. He's so angry he wants to kill Elisha. In reality he's angry at God; he's blaming God and lashing out at God for bringing this trouble upon Israel.
Yet, consider what Joel 2:13 says: “Rend your hearts not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity!”
Why is the king so angry with Elisha? I believe a clue is revealed in verse 33. This is where the king pretty much says, I am done waiting. He says -- “Why should I wait on the Lord any longer?” We can only speculate – but I think this is very likely – that wat happened here is that Elisha had prophesied that this siege was coming, that God’s judgment was going to be upon the people of Samaria for their wickedness and idolatry. But the king and the people should not fear or despair, for the Lord God would also deliver them from their enemy in a miraculous way.
And of course -- God’s Word is true -- and all that Elisha prophesied had come to pass thus far. But now in the midst of the anguish and suffering, the king’s patience has run out. He has no faith that God will deliver. He has no trust in God.
So, all he can think of is to kill the man who prophesied that such horror would take place. Kill the messenger; kill the bearer of bad news. That’s the way of the fool. And isn’t this typical, people of God? Yes, this is to be expected among those who do not believe, but isn’t it true that we are prone to do the very same thing? Don’t we also grow weary beneath the hand of God’s trials and tribulations?
Now, just to be clear, I’m not suggesting that every form of affliction or trial we experience is a result of God’s judgment against us. Thankfully, Jesus had paid the full price for our sin, and we are no longer under God’s judgment. But as Hebrews says God disciplines those he loves. God sends trials and afflictions to sanctify us and purify our faith.
And sometimes we don’t endure those trials with faith and patience and trust. Instead of humbling ourselves before the Lord and asking God to teach us the lesson we need to learn, instead, of waiting upon the Lord and trusting in our Father’s wise bestowment of grace and mercy and power, we lash out at God; we accuse God of being uncaring and unsympathetic or even unjust.
But let’s remember that in good times and in hard times, God is always faithful; God is always just; God is always loving. We have even more reason to believe this than the king of Israel, because we know that Christ has come; we know what Christ has done; and we know that (come what may in this life) -- Christ has already given us heaven! He has already given us the kingdom, the power, and the glory!!
And I know that this is a lot easier said than done – but we know that no matter what perils and calamities and heartaches may come our way, we must wait upon the Lord. Perhaps for some, this might mean deliverance and a resolution to your trials in the short term. But for others, maybe even for most of us, this might mean that we must wait for the Lord to return, for Him to make all things new.
Yes, that might seem like a long time. That might also mean a lot of sleepless nights “pacing the walls”, so to speak. But do not fear; be of good courage. Even though our ultimate deliverance will not come until the great day of the Lord, each day, every moment, God gives small deliverances.
Each day God imparts grace; God gives strength; God gives faith; and God even gives us “joy in the journey” so to speak – so that not a moment of our trials is a wasted moment. So that not a day goes by that we do not experience God’s amazing power and grace and goodness and love! That is the blessing and benefit that comes in being a child of God. Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Pastor Keith Davis, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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