3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, ‘Why stay here until we die? 2 Kings 7
Why does the Bible account of this great siege mention four men who were outcasts, even in a time of war, in such detail? Surely the flight of the Aramean army would have been discovered the next morning, but we’re told about these men who decided that very night to go to the enemy camp because they had run out of options.
4 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 Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.’
There’s a saying, which I’m paraphrasing, ‘God goes to the junkyard to find His choicest treasures’. God is the master creator, the master artist and He chooses to create His masterpieces using the most unlikely materials. God used these four leprous men to bring His message of deliverance to the people of Samaria.
5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, NO ONE WAS THERE, 6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, ‘Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!’ 7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and ABANDONED THEIR TENTS AND THEIR HORSES AND DONKEYS. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
As it was growing dark the four men walked into the enemy camp and found everything abandoned. The Lord had terrified the enemy into believing a huge army was coming to attack them and they fled leaving everything behind. Many times people are afraid of the devil and his minions, but they’re nothing when compared with the power of Almighty God.
8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, entered one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
Were these hungry men perfect, no their own desires overcame them at the sight of food, drink and riches. However, eventually when their hunger was satisfied they began to think about the starving people inside the city.
9 Then they said to each other, ‘What we’re doing is not right. THIS IS A DAY OF GOOD NEWS AND WE’RE KEEPING IT TO OURSELVES. If we wait until daylight, (DAYLIGHT EXPOSES WHAT’S HIDDEN IN THE DARKNESS) punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.’
These were ordinary fallible men, but they caught on that this great deliverance wasn’t just for them but for all the starving and dying in the city. God will use the weakest of people to fulfil His purposes and to rescue those in need. The enemy fled leaving all behind for the hungry inhabitants of the city.
May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.