A Journey through the Bible with Tiglath

64. The 2nd Book of Kings, Chapters 6 and 7

Chapter 6 begins with a strange little story.

Elisha is helping some people to build their

homes in a new situation by the River Jordan.

While one man was felling a beam his axe head

fell into the water. The man was very upset

because he had borrowed the axe. When he was

shown where this had happened, Elisha cast a stick into the water and the iron axe-head came to the surface and swam (v. 6).

The chapter continues with an account of a war between the Syrians and the

Israelites. Elisha has to warn his king about an ambush set by the king of Syria.

This king is very angry because Elisha seems to know all his plans and so he

determines to capture him. Read verses 13 - 23 to discover how Elisha thwarted

the king of Syria.

Verse 25 to the end of chapter 6 makes grim reading because it tells of a great

famine in Samaria. It became so bad that one family boiled and ate their own son

(v. 29). When the king of Israel heard this he became incensed and determined to

behead Elisha, whom he blamed for the famine. He did not succeed in his plan.

Chapter 7 opens with Elisha

prophesying that there is going to

be plenty to eat in Samaria. Elisha

told the king that he would see this

but he would not eat any of it. We

now come to the story of the four

lepers. They were sitting in the gate

of the city, not being allowed to

mix with the general populous.

Talking amongst themselves they decided

that, because of the famine, they would die if they were in or out of the city.

They determined to take a chance and go to the camp of the Syrians. To their

amazement, they found it empty. The Lord had made the noise of a great host

and, at twilight, the Syrians had fled, leaving everything behind. The lepers ate

and drank all they could and stole gold and raiment, which they hid. They then

became uneasy because of their actions and told the king what had happened. At

first the king did not believe them: he thought it was a trick to get his men out

into the open. He was soon persuaded otherwise. When he sent some of his servants to follow the Syrians they reported that the road to Jordan was ‘full of garments and vessels which the Syrians had cast away in their haste’. The chapter ends by describing what happened to the lord who did not believe that there would be plenty in Samaria. The people trod upon him and killed him.

In the next part of our journey we shall learn what happened to the Shunammite woman.