Scripture Daily

Context No. 2158 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 7:1-9: in context

1Elisha said, “Hear the LORD’s word. The LORD says, ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’” 2Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if the LORD made windows in heaven, could this thing be?” He said, “Behold, you will see it with your eyes, but will not eat of it.” 3Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? 4If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we will die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let’s surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.” 5They rose up in the twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, no man was there. 6For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear the sound of chariots and the sound of horses, even the noise of a great army; and they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us.” 7Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank, then carried away silver, gold, and clothing and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent and carried things from there also, and went and hid them. 9Then they said to one another, “We aren’t doing right. Today is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let’s go and tell the king’s household.”

During a terrible famine in besieged Samaria, four lepers sitting at the city gate decide they have nothing to lose by surrendering to the enemy Syrian army; they will die if they stay, and might live if they go. But when they reach the Syrian camp, they find it deserted, for God had put the enemy to flight. They feast on the abandoned food and carry off silver and gold. Then their conscience stirs: we are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent. Let us go and tell the king's household.

The turning point in the lepers' story is their realization that they cannot keep such good news to themselves. They had found deliverance: the enemy fled, the famine over, abundance where there had been starvation. And their first impulse was to enjoy it themselves, feasting and hoarding. But then conscience stirred: we are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we keep silent, while the whole city still perishes for want of what we have found. To hoard the good news while others died for lack of it was not right; the good news had to be shared. So they went to tell it. There is a picture here of the good news of salvation and our responsibility to share it. Those who have found deliverance in Christ, who have received the good news of salvation, have found something that others still perish for want of. And there can be a temptation to keep it to ourselves, to enjoy our own deliverance while remaining silent toward those who still perish. The lepers' conscience speaks to us: this is a day of good news, and to keep silent, while others perish for lack of what we have found, is not right. The good news is not given to be hoarded but to be shared with those who need it. How will they hear, Paul asks, without someone to tell them? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. We cannot but speak, the apostles said, of what we have seen and heard. This searches whether we share the good news we have received or keep it to ourselves. We have found deliverance; others still perish for want of it; and like the lepers, we are called not to keep silent but to go and tell. To enjoy our own salvation while remaining silent toward those who need it is, as the lepers saw, not right. Declare his salvation, the psalmist says, from day to day; tell of his glory among the peoples. The good news of what God has done is meant to be shared. The lepers could not rightly keep silent on a day of good news while the city perished; and we too are called to share the good news of salvation we have found, going and telling those who still perish for want of it, rather than hoarding for ourselves the deliverance meant to be proclaimed.

Have I found the good news of deliverance in Christ and yet kept it largely to myself, enjoying my own salvation while remaining silent toward those who still perish for want of it, and can the four lepers, whose conscience stirred them, this is a day of good news, and we keep silent; it is not right; let us go and tell, move me to share the good news I have received rather than hoard it, going and telling those who need the deliverance I have found?

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