Context No. 3002 of 4322 · 2 Kings

2 Kings 7:10-14: in context

10So they came and called to the city gatekeepers; and they told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, not even a man’s voice, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.” 11Then the gatekeepers called out and told it to the king’s household within. 12The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will now show 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 take them alive, and get into the city.’” 13One of his servants answered, “Please let some people take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let’s send and see.” 14Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them out to the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.”

The city of Samaria is under siege and starving, and four lepers have just discovered that the entire Syrian army has fled in the night, leaving the camp full of food. They bring the news to the city gate, and it reaches the king. But the king cannot believe it. He rises in the night and tells his servants it must be a trick: the Syrians know we are starving, so they have hidden in the field to lure us out and seize the city.

God had already routed the enemy overnight, but the king, braced for disaster, cannot receive the good news; deliverance seems too good, so he assumes a trap. His unbelief in the face of rescue is telling. Sometimes we are so hardened by long trouble that we cannot recognize good news when it finally comes. Yet the deliverance was real, and a cautious look would prove it. God had lifted the siege while they still sat in despair, and the empty enemy camp was waiting to be discovered.

When deliverance comes and it seems too good to be true, do I refuse to believe it like the besieged king, or go and see whether God has already acted?

Sources

2 Kings 7:12: "They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field."
2 Kings 7:9: "This is a day of good news, and we keep silent."
Isaiah 52:7: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news."