In 2 Kings 6 we read about Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram. He decided to mobilize his army and attack the city of Samaria, the capital of Israel. His army surrounded the city to cut off any possibility of them getting supplies. To make matters worse for Samaria, there was already a famine in the land and it was so bad a donkey’s head sold for about $3500 CDN. People were so desperate for food that they even called on the king to give up his son for the people to eat.

The king blamed all this calamity on Elisha, God’s prophet. The king decided there was only one solution… Elisha must die. So the king sent some of his henchmen to the home Elisha was staying at. God told Elisha what was going to happen so they blocked the door keeping the king’s servant at bay. Finally, the king arrived and spoke with Elisha. He doubted God’s faithfulness in this chaos. One of the king’s officers said to Elisha, “Could God even open the floodgates of heaven?” In other words, can God do anything? Elisha responded with a prophecy, “You will see it with your own eyes but you will not eat any of it.”

The story shifts to some men with leprosy living by the city gate. They were hungry. They were desperate. It was either stay and starve or go to the Arameans camp and possibly be killed. They reasoned among themselves and decided to take their chances and go to the enemy’s camp and beg for food.

That evening, they got up and went to the edge of the Aramean’s camp and discovered that nobody was there. The tents, the donkeys, the horses were still there but all the people were gone. The lepers thought the king of Israel had contacted the kings of Egypt to rescue them but in reality, it was the army of God. They showed up and the camp was thrown into turmoil causing the soldiers to panic and run.

So the lepers did what any of us would do… they ate, drank and took whatever gold and silver they could carry. But then a thought came over them. They saw the city, full of starving and desperate people and decided to go back and tell them what had happened. They told the gatekeepers what they saw and they reported it to the king. The king was cautious and sent a team of soldiers to check it out. They returned, confirming the lepers’ report and the people ran out there and plundered the camp.

Ironically, the officer who questioned Elisha about God’s faithfulness saw it come to pass, but as Elisha prophesied, he did not eat any of it. He was trampled to death like someone at a Best Buy Boxing Day sale. Shortly thereafter, things were restored to what they had been. What can we learn from this story?

1. Even when things seem hopeless and despair is everywhere, God is at work – they were dealing with famine and an army at their doorstep. People were afraid and desperate even to the point of cannibalism. We are living in unprecedented times with COVID-19 and the economic fallout from it… do we believe God is at work? Read Psalm 121. One large church in California went online and over 1 000 000 tuned in and over 3400 gave their lives to Christ the first week. In the midst of crisis, God is still at work.
2. He will sometimes provide in the most unexpected ways – in the Samarian’s eyes, there was no hope. Logically their options were to fight the enemy themselves, which would have been suicide or to have another army fight them (Egypt). But God provided by scaring the enemy away Himself. He took care of the problem because they could not do it themselves. God works in ways that in our own minds do not make sense. In Numbers, God used a donkey with Balaam. In 2 Kings 3, we read about a widow who was in so much debt her children were going to be taken into slavery. God provided a method of payment for her debt by providing enough oil to cover her debt. In the New Testament, Jesus used spit to heal a blind man and a man who couldn’t speak.
3. God can use anyone to be a vessel of blessing to others – lepers were considered the least in society. Leprosy was a communicable disease that caused nerve damage in your extremities and people’s appendages would rot and fall off. We might be paranoid of COVID, but leprosy was seen as way worse… kind of like what AIDs was seen in the 80s and 90s. Those with leprosy were not treated, rather they had to live outside communities but God used them to be the messengers of hope and salvation for the city. We may see ourselves as pretty insignificant but to God, He can do amazing things in and through us. Remember when Jesus fed the 5000? He did it using a boy’s lunch? Imagine if that was you? How would you feel?

As dark and dire as life may seem now, maybe your parents lost their jobs or you know someone who has gotten sick from this virus, know that God is still God. He is at work in each of our lives and there may come a time where He will call on you to be the blessing to another person in these difficult times. Be open to God’s Spirit. Seek Him through His Word and prayer. Love and care for one another, especially for those in your homes that God would give you grace towards each other. Heed the words of wisdom, “This too shall pass.”