By Dan and
Brenda Cathcart
The video
version of this teaching is available at: https://youtu.be/khQj7pErvFk
The scripture reading for this teaching is 2 Kings
7:3-20
Our
haftarah portion this week in Second Kings 7:3-20 tells the story of four
lepers who brought good tidings to the besieged city of Samaria. Samaria was
the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel. At this time, Ahab’s son
Jehoram, who is, also, called Joram, is king of Israel. Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, had been trying to
take over Israel since the death of Ahab. After Elisha stopped an attempted
assassination of Jehoram by Ben-Hadad, Ben-Hadad brought his army against
Samaria and quickly surrounded it.
2 Kings 6:24-25 NKJV 24 And it happened after
this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and
besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they
besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth
of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
The
inhabitants of Samaria were slowly starving to death and many of them had even resorted
to cannibalism. The Samarians were in desperate need of good tidings of
salvation! The improbable messengers of this good news were four lepers. Why
did God choose four lepers to bring this news? Why did God wait so long to
bring deliverance?
Jehoram was
the second son of King Ahab and ruled after his brother Ahaziah’s short reign.
Ahaziah died childless, so Jehoram took over as king. Jehoram removed the
pillar of Baal that his father and mother had placed in Samaria, but he
continued in the worship of the golden calves that King Jeroboam had set up.
2 Kings 3:2-3 NKJV 2 And he did evil in the
sight of the LORD, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the
sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he persisted in
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not
depart from them.
The scripture
tells us that Jehoram continued in and did not depart from the sins of
Jeroboam. This emphasis tells us that Jehoram had the opportunity to turn away
from his sins and chose not to do so. For example, shortly after Jehoram became
king, Elisha warned Jehoram of the plot by King Ben-Hadad to kill him, but
Jehoram did not turn from the ways of Jeroboam. After this, God allowed King
Ben-Hadad to come against and besiege Samaria. During the siege, Jehoram
inspected the walls every day! One day, he came across a woman who called out
to him for help. She related the story of an agreement she had with a friend to
take turns killing and eating their sons. After eating her son, the friend hid
her own son and now the woman wants her friend to produce her son! The king is
broken-hearted and enraged by this story!
2 Kings 6:30 NKJV 30 Now it happened, when the
king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed
by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his
body.
He was
already wearing sackcloth underneath his kingly garments. He was in enraged at
the hardship they were forced to endure and in secret mourning for his people
and his city. However, instead of turning to God, he blames Elisha for the
situation and immediately sends a messenger to take Elisha’s life.
2 Kings 6:31-32 NKJV 31 Then he said, "God
do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on
him today." 32 But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were
sitting with him. And the king sent a man ahead of him, but before the
messenger came to him, he said to the elders, "Do you see how this son of
a murderer has sent someone to take away my head? Look, when the messenger
comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of his
master's feet behind him?"
Notice that
Elisha is waiting in his house in Samaria! He was in the city the entire time
of the siege! Elisha refers to Jehoram as the son of a murderer who was getting
ready to murder him! The seventeenth century theologian, Matthew Poole comments
on these verses in his work, Commentary on the Holy Bible:
This wretched and partial prince overlooks his
own great and various sins, and, amongst others, his obstinate cleaving to the
idolatry of the calves, and the whoredoms and witchcrafts of his mother Jezebel,
2Kings 9:22, and the wickedness of his people, which was the true and proper
cause of this and all their calamities; and lays the blame of all upon Elisha.
King
Jehoram was not satisfied with his messenger just killing Elisha, in his rage
he followed quickly and confronts Elisha.
2 Kings 6:33 NKJV 33 And while he was still
talking with them, there was the messenger, coming down to him; and then the
king said, "Surely this calamity is from the LORD; why should I wait for
the LORD any longer?"
Finally,
Jehoram came to Elisha and through him to God, even though it was only to blame
God! I have to think that Elisha was waiting day after day for Jehoram to come
to him to hear the word of the LORD, especially after God had intervened
through Elisha to stop the earlier assassination attempt. But Jehoram was not
willing, and he wanted God to come to him! How much sooner could this siege
have ended if Jehoram had only come and asked!
2 Kings 7:1 NKJV 1 Then Elisha said, "Hear
the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah of
fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at
the gate of Samaria.'"
Food, that
was non-existent that day, would be so abundant by the next day that its price
would drop back to normal! God was ready to act! The officer who accompanied
Jehoram scoffed in disbelief.
2 Kings 7:2 NKJV 2 So an officer on whose hand
the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the LORD would
make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he said, "In fact,
you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it."
This was
not just an officer assigned to guard the king. This officer was one on whom
the king leaned! The word translated as “lean” is “shaw-an’, number 8172 in
Strong’s Concordance, meaning to support one’s self, to lean, lie, rely, or
rest on. II kings chapter 5 references this practice as one in which the king leans
on someone’s hand when he bows to worship an idol. Apparently, this captain performed this
service for King Jehoram, and was comfortable enough in the presence of the
king to offer his opinion about Elisha’s prophecy. It seems that Jehoram relied
on the officer’s understanding and counsel as well! The book of Proverbs
reminds us who we should lean on.
Proverbs 3:5-7 NKJV 5 Trust in the LORD with
all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways
acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own
eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
Judgment
against this one on whom the king leaned was immediate! He would see the
salvation of God but would not receive any of the benefits!
At this
time, we are introduced to the four lepers. Leprosy is a serious topic in the
Torah. Instructions on what it is and how to deal with it cover two chapters in
Leviticus. Leprosy is more than a skin condition; it can also infect a house.
The sages teach that leprosy is the physical manifestation of the spiritual sin
of gossip or the evil tongue. First Fruits of Zion in Torah Club Volume 1:
Unrolling the scroll explains:
The rabbis considered biblical leprosy to be
primarily a punishment for the sin of evil speech. The Hebrew term for evil
speech is lashon hara. It literally
means “evil tongue.” The rabbinic association between evil speech and leprosy
is derived from the story of Miriam’s leprosy. Miriam was punished with leprosy
for grumbling against her brother Moses.[i]
For a
person who had leprosy, it was as if he or she was already dead. They were to
tear their clothes, shave their heads, cover their lips and shout “unclean” so
that no one comes near them. Leprosy was considered a type of living death.
These people were the lowest of the low with virtually no status in their
society.
The four
lepers in this passage are living outside the city, but conditions inside the
city were just as bad as the conditions the lepers experienced living outside
the city.
2 Kings 7:3-4 NKJV 3 Now there were four
leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another,
"Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 "If we say, 'We will enter
the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here,
we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians.
If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only
die."
The four
lepers, who were living as if they were dead, were facing an actual death. They
had no hope and chose the only option that gave them even the remotest chance
for life; they would put themselves in the hands of the enemies of their
people!
2 Kings 7:5 NKJV 5 And they rose at twilight to
go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the
Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there.
God had
already acted to bring about what Elisha spoke! God had caused the Syrians to
hear the sounds of chariots, horses and a great army. The soldiers fled in
terror as night was falling leaving all their goods behind.
2 Kings 7:8 NKJV 8 And when these lepers came
to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and
carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they
came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went
and hid it.
The first
acts of the lepers were those of selfishness. After they satisfied their
hunger, they plundered the tents and hid the wealth for themselves. And then,
one man stopped and realized that they were selfishly keeping the incredible
news of the flight of the Syrians to themselves.
2 Kings 7:9 NKJV 9 Then they said to one
another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we
remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon
us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king's household."
While it
was still dark out, they came to realize that their action in keeping the
blessing to themselves was not right. They realized that this day was a day of
good news! The phrase “good news” is from the Hebrew word “bes-o-raw’”, number
1309 in Strong’s Concordance meaning glad tidings, good news or reward for good
news. Isaiah declares that the feet of those who bring glad tidings are
beautiful on the mountain over which they cross.
Isaiah 52:7 NKJV 7 How beautiful upon the
mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who
brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"
The imagery
is of a runner crossing a mountain to bring the news of a victory in battle!
The news that the lepers bring is that God was victorious over the Syrian army;
God sent them running from Him in fear! The good news is that salvation had
come to Samaria! This news was so important that the four lepers could no
longer remain silent! They returned to the city and announced that the Syrian
camp was deserted.
2 Kings 7:10-11 NKJV 10 So they went and called
to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, "We went to the
Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound-only horses
and donkeys tied, and the tents intact." 11 And the gatekeepers called
out, and they told it to the king's household inside.
Yeshua,
also, used lepers to carry good news—the good news of the coming kingdom of
God! The cleansing of lepers was one of the signs Yeshua gave to John the
Baptist’s disciples as proof that He was the awaited Messiah. One leper that
Yeshua cleansed could not remain silent about his good fortune.
Mark 1:42-45 NKJV 42 As soon as He (Yeshua) had spoken, immediately the
leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent
him away at once, 44 and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone;
but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing
those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 45 However,
he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that
Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted
places; and they came to Him from every direction.
Yeshua
instructed the cleansed leper to show himself to the proper authorities to be
examined and proclaimed free of leprosy. The cleansing from leprosy was a
testimony to the priest that Messiah had come! The four lepers of our passage
presented themselves to the proper authorities at the gates of the city and
testified that God had acted on behalf of the city! The people’s response in
Samaria sounds a lot like the response of the people of Yeshua’s day to the
testimony of the leper; they rushed to receive the good news!
When Yeshua
came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, his disciples who were chosen from
among the common people not the rich or influential, could not remain silent.
They shouted praises to the one who came in the name of the LORD! When rebuked
about their loud shouts of praise, Yeshua stated that if they were silent the
rocks would cry out.
Luke 19:39-40 NKJV 39 And some of the Pharisees
called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." 40
But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep
silent, the stones would immediately cry out."
If the four
lepers would have remained silent, God would have used another means to carry
the good tidings. The lepers were not silent and the king was awakened to hear
the good news. However, the king did not believe the report, perhaps because
the report came from lepers who would have been known for their evil speech and
gossip. Could the word of a leper be trusted? Perhaps the king did not believe
because of the scornful words of the officer whose hand he leaned on. Paul
tells us that God chooses the foolish and the weak of this world to demonstrate
His wisdom, power and authority.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NKJV 27 But God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are
mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised
God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things
that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
We can see
God’s choice of the four lepers as choosing the despised things of the world to
humble the people of Samaria especially the king. But why did God choose four?
The Jewish Encyclopedia says that four is the number of completeness and
sufficiency.[ii]
E. W. Bullinger in his book Number in Scripture describes four as the
number of the fullness of creation referring to the fullness of the material
creation on the fourth day while the fifth and sixth days served to populate
the creation.[iii] In
this case, the four lepers demonstrate the completion of the siege and the end
of the famine. Perhaps, this also signifies Jehoram’s last opportunity to
repent and turn back to God. Shortly after this event, Elisha will anoint Jehu
and appoint him the task of destroying the entire house of Ahab including
Jehoram!
In our
passage, King Jehoram decided not to believe the report of the four lepers, and
he conceived of a reason for the Syrian camp to be deserted.
2 Kings 7:12 NKJV 12 So the king arose in the
night and said to his servants, "Let me now tell you what the Syrians have
done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the
camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, 'When they come out of the city,
we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.'"
However,
things in the city were desperate! Like with the lepers, the residents of
Samaria would die if food was not found immediately. One of the king’s servants
points out the dilemma.
2 Kings 7:13 YLT 13 And one of his servants
answereth and saith, `Then let them take, I pray thee, five of the horses that
are left, that have been left in it--lo, they are as all the multitude of
Israel who have been left in it; lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel
who have been consumed--and we send and see.'
The
phrasing of the Hebrew in this verse indicates that there were only five horses
left! They might as well send men with the five remaining horses or the people
of Israel would be as the population of horses—reduced to only five!
The king
reluctantly sends out men to check the story. They find that the Syrians did
indeed flee leaving their possessions in the camp and scattered along the road
as they fled. When word reached the people of Samaria, they raced out to
satisfy their hunger.
2 Kings 7:16 NKJV 16 Then the people went out
and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a
shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the
LORD.
The city of
Samaria was saved! The army that had caused the shortage of food in the city was
gone leaving enough food for the city to get back on their feet until they
could either buy more food from other cities or have access to their own fields
and food supply.
There is
one last loose end however. Elisha had prophesied that the officer on whom the
king leaned would not be alive to eat the now plentiful food. King Jehoram had
giving this officer the duty of taking charge of the gate. Imagine the swarms
of people as they raced out of the city to find food for themselves!
2 Kings 7:17 NKJV 17 Now the king had appointed
the officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. But the people
trampled him in the gate, and he died, just as the man of God had said, who
spoke when the king came down to him.
First
Fruits of Zion in Torah Club Volume Three explains the judgment against the
officer:
The Talmud tells us that, “Four classes shall
not see God—the scoffer, the liar, the slanderer, and the hypocrite.” In this
case, it was the one who scoffed at God’s man that received the punishment.[iv]
After God’s
miraculous intervention for the good of the people of Samaria, you would think
that the people would turn back to God. You would think that the results of
Elisha’s prophecy being fulfilled would have an impact on the nation of Israel.
However, the scripture does not record any change in behavior of either the
king or the people. We are taken back to the words describing Jehoram’s
kingship as that of following after Jeroboam who caused Israel to sin.
God waited
for King Jehoram to seek Him out before He acted. The entire time God was
waiting, Elisha was also in the city waiting. He suffered along the rest of the
city waiting for Jehoram to repent and turn to God. Then God chose the lowest
of the low to be the first to receive the good tidings! He chose the lowest of
the low to spread this good news to the rest of the population. We may not
think that we are qualified or good enough to spread the good tidings of
salvation through Yeshua haMeshiach, but if God could use the lepers, He can
use you!
Study
Questions:
1. Discuss the connection of
this teaching to the Torah Portion Metzorah, Leviticus 14:1-15:33
2. King Jehoram’s officer
doubted that there could possibly be food by the next day even if the windows
of heaven were opened (2 Kings 7:2). Matthew Poole compares this to when God
opened the windows of heaven and rained down manna from heaven. How does this
situation compare to Yeshua’s words in John 6?
3. The Talmud mentioned four
types of people who would not see God, the scoffer, the liar, the slanderer,
and the hypocrite. Where else do we see a group of four types of people? What
is the significance of the number four in these situations?
4. Why did God delay in sending
deliverance? How James’ words in James 4:1-6 apply in this situation?
5. God sent the four lepers,
the lowest of the low to bring the good news of salvation. Where else do we see
God or Yeshua choose those of low position? Why does God choose the low?
6. What new insight did you
gain by watching this video? How do you respond to this new insight? How will
you realign your life based on this new understanding?
Bonus Question: Metaphorically, the night or
darkness refers to spiritual darkness and the morning refers to the coming of
spiritual light or enlightenment. Metaphorically, why was it important for the
lepers to bring the good news of God’s victory over the Syrians before morning
came?
Bonus Question 2: King Jehoram was unable to receive
the good news. What did Yeshua say were barriers to hearing and receiving the
Word of God?
© 2019 Moed Ministries International. All rights
reserved.
[i]
Torah Club Volume 1: Unrolling the Scroll. First Fruits of Zion. ©First
Fruits of Zion. P. 436.
[ii]
Jewish Encyclopedia. “Numbers and Numerals”. Caspar Levias. 1906. http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11619-numbers-and-numerals
[iii]
Bullinger, E. W. Number in Scripture. Cosimo, Inc. ©2005. P. 123.
[iv]
Torah Club Volume 3: The Haftarah. Boaz Michael. First Fruits of Zion. ©1999.
P. 459.
