THE BLAME GAME

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.

There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.

As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, "Help me, my lord the king!"

The king replied, "If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?" Then he asked her, "What's the matter?"

She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son.' So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden him."

When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body. He said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!"

Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, "Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?"

While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, "This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?"

Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says:

‘About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.‘ "

The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, "Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?"

"You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"

2 Kings 6:24-33, 7:1-2

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we finished the last message, we saw Samaria dining in peace with the soldiers of Aram. Their hospitality resulted in the Arameans ceasing to raid Israeli territory.

Unfortunately, this peace did not last. For as Chapter 6 of 2 Kings closes, we find Israel under siege at the hands of “Ben-Hadad king of Aram” and “his entire army”.

The siege was so severe and prolonged that a “great famine” occurred in the city and desperation set in for the people as quickly as inflation did. Scripture tells us that “a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels”. A lot bought very little.

In the midst of this impoverished scene, we find the king, Jehoram, “passing by on the wall” when he heard a woman cry out to him saying, “Help me, my lord the king!" In response, Jehoram acknowledged the Lord as the One through which the woman’s help should come…not him. We read the king say to her, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?"

Still…despite feeling helpless to aid the woman, Jehoram asked her to tell him what was troubling her. And the woman’s testimony horrified the king, leaving him angry.

For so deep was the famine that the woman had made a deal with another woman to cook and eat their children. The woman talking with the king had given her son up and he was cooked and eaten. But when the next day came, the other woman refused to give her son up and hid him.

Well…Jehoram was so troubled by what he heard that he “tore his robes” and when he did, the people saw that he was wearing “sackcloth on his body” underneath the robe. But as soon as we think Jehoram did this as a sign of repentance for his sins and the sins of Israel…seeing that the siege and famine were all part of God’s judgment on His disobedient people…we see him do quite the opposite.

In fact, he blames the Lord by way of accusing Elisha as being responsible for what was happening to Samaria. And his anger burned so strong that he wanted the prophet executed.

Meanwhile, scripture shifts the scene to Elisha who was “sitting in his house” with the elders. And as Jehoram sent a “messenger ahead”, we read where Elisha already knows what is coming. For he says to his elders, “Don't you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master's footsteps behind him?" The plan was to bar the door and bide time until the king himself showed up.

Well…Jehoram and his messenger showed up and we read where the king asks Elisha, “This disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?"

In other words, Jehoram was blaming the famine on the Lord. He didn’t even stop to consider that the famine was part of God’s judgment on His people for their disobedience. Perhaps the king had forgotten how the Lord had warned about the things that would happen if His people failed to follow His commandments. For there were warnings of consequences like famine…and even how this would result in cannibalism…things that we know had happened in Samaria.

So Chapter 6 ends with the king of Israel blaming the Lord. But notice that he is also leaving room open for Elisha to bring him back to faith and trust.

For as Chapter 7 opens, we see Elisha tell Jehoram, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says:

‘About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.‘ "

In other words, better days were just ahead. All Jehoram had to do was have faith.

But in the midst of this was a naysayer…an “officer on whose arm the king was leaning”. For he said to Elisha, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?" His words smacked of mockery and skepticism although Elisha had never been wrong before when he gave the king information.

Well, Elisha countered the officer’s words by reassuring him saying, "You will see it with your own eyes…but you will not eat any of it!"

Such is what will happen to the skeptic. In the end, they will realize how very wrong they were but they will not be able to enjoy the spoils.

Friends, how much are we like Jehoram? Surrounded by challenge and trial, we quickly turn our blame on the Lord because surely we aren’t receiving any discipline that we deserve because of our sinful nature. Surely, the Lord wouldn’t penalize me…would He?

And as we play the blame game, we begin to lose faith and trust in the only One we can truly count on…in good times and bad.

We also can fall into the sin of skepticism when things don’t seem to be going the way we would like it in life. For we will have people who will try and encourage us…and we will also have the word of God to lift our spirits…but neither of these two heaven sent blessings will be able to help us unless we fully believe that the Lord will deliver us. Even the slightest hint of sarcasm or doubt can doom us to despair and apostasy…just the place where Satan wants us to be.

So how do you deal with difficulties when they arise?

Will you play the blame game and put everything on the Lord?

Or will you like the Psalmist David proclaim, “O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.” (Psalm 143:1)

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com