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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangey, and today we're in Second King's chapter six,
Speaker 1: and this is what we read. One day, the group
Speaker 1: of prophets came to Elisha and told him, as you
Speaker 1: can see, this place where we meet with you is
Speaker 1: too small, Let's go down to the Jordan River, where
Speaker 1: there are plenty of logs. There we can build a
Speaker 1: new place for us to meet. All right, he told them,
Speaker 1: go ahead, please come with us. Someone suggested I will,
Speaker 1: he said, so he went with them. When they arrived
Speaker 1: at the Jordan they began cutting down trees. But as
Speaker 1: one of them was cutting a tree, his axe head
Speaker 1: fell into the river. Oh, sir, he cried, It was
Speaker 1: a borrowed axe. Where did it fall? The Man of
Speaker 1: God asked. When he showed him the place, Elisha cut
Speaker 1: a stick and threw it into the water. At that spot,
Speaker 1: then the axe had floated to the surface. Grab it,
Speaker 1: Elisha said, and the man reached out and grabbed it.
Speaker 1: When the King of Aram was at war with Israel,
Speaker 1: he would confer with his officers and say, we will
Speaker 1: mobilize our forces at such and such a place. But
Speaker 1: immediately Elisha, the Man of God would warn the King
Speaker 1: of Israel, do not go near that place, for the
Speaker 1: Aramians are planning to mobilize their troops there. So the
Speaker 1: King of Israel would send word to the place indicated
Speaker 1: by the Man of God. Time and again Elishah warned
Speaker 1: the king, so that he would be on the alert there.
Speaker 1: The King of Arim became very upset over this. He
Speaker 1: called his office together and demanded, which of you is
Speaker 1: the trader who has been informing the King of Israel
Speaker 1: of my plans. It's not us, my lord the king.
Speaker 1: One of the officers replied, Elisha, the prophet in Israel
Speaker 1: tells the King of Israel even the words you speak
Speaker 1: in the privacy of your bedroom. Go and find out
Speaker 1: where he is. The king commanded, so I can send
Speaker 1: troops to seize him. And the report came back Elisha
Speaker 1: is at Dothan. So one night the King of Aram
Speaker 1: sent a great army with many chariots and horses to
Speaker 1: surround the city. When the servant of the Man of
Speaker 1: God got up early the next morning and went outside.
Speaker 1: There were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. Oh sir, what
Speaker 1: will we do now? The young man cried to Elisha.
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid, Elisha told him, for there are more
Speaker 1: on our side than on theirs. Then Elisha prayed, Oh Lord,
Speaker 1: open his eyes and let him see. The Lord opened
Speaker 1: the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he
Speaker 1: saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses
Speaker 1: and chariots of fire. As the army and army advanced
Speaker 1: toward him, Elisha prayed, Oh Lord, please make them blind.
Speaker 1: So the Lord struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
Speaker 1: Then Elishah went out and told them, you have come
Speaker 1: the wrong way. This isn't the right city. Follow me
Speaker 1: and I will take you to the man you are
Speaker 1: looking for, and he led them to the city of Samaria.
Speaker 1: As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, Oh Lord,
Speaker 1: now open their eyes and let them see. So the
Speaker 1: Lord opened their eyes and they discovered that they were
Speaker 1: in the middle of Samaria. When the King of Israel
Speaker 1: saw them, he shouted to Elisha, my father, should I
Speaker 1: kill them? Should I kill them? Of course not. Elisha replied,
Speaker 1: do we kill prisoners of war, give them food and drink,
Speaker 1: and send them home again to their master. So the
Speaker 1: king made a great feast for them, and then sent
Speaker 1: them home to their master. After that, the Ramian raiders
Speaker 1: stayed away from the land of Israel. Sometime later, however,
Speaker 1: King ben Hadad of Aram mustered his entire army and
Speaker 1: besieged Samaria. As a result, there was a great famine
Speaker 1: in the city. The siege lasted so long that a
Speaker 1: donkey's head sold for eighty pieces of silver, and a
Speaker 1: cup of doves dung sold for five pieces of silver.
Speaker 1: One day, as the King of Israel was walking along
Speaker 1: the wall of the city, a woman called to him,
Speaker 1: Please help me, my lord the king. He answered, if
Speaker 1: the Lord doesn't help you, what can I do. I
Speaker 1: have neither food from the threshing floor nor wine from
Speaker 1: the press to give you. But the king asked, what
Speaker 1: is the matter. She replied, this woman said to me,
Speaker 1: come on, let's eat your son today. Then we will
Speaker 1: eat my son tomorrow. So we cooked my son and
Speaker 1: ate him. Then the next day I said to her,
Speaker 1: kill your son so we can eat him. But she
Speaker 1: has hidden her son. When the king heard this, he
Speaker 1: tore his clothes in despair, and as the king walked
Speaker 1: along the wall, the people could see that he was
Speaker 1: wearing burlap under his robe next to his skin. May
Speaker 1: God strike me and even kill me if I don't
Speaker 1: separate Elijah's head from his shoulders this very day, the
Speaker 1: king vowed. Elijhah was sitting in his house with the
Speaker 1: elders of Israel when the king sent a to summon him.
Speaker 1: But before the messenger arrived, Elishah said to the elders,
Speaker 1: a murderer has sent a man to cut off my head.
Speaker 1: When he arrives, shut the door and keep him out.
Speaker 1: We will soon hear his master's steps following him. While
Speaker 1: Elisha was still saying this, the messenger arrived, and the
Speaker 1: king said, all this misery is from the Lord. Why
Speaker 1: should I wait for the Lord any longer? Let's pray, Lord,
Speaker 1: thank you for your word, and thank you for the
Speaker 1: privilege to be able to look at this today. And Lord,
Speaker 1: as we look at this portion of scripture, we see
Speaker 1: a variety of things. We could see your power at
Speaker 1: work in and through Elisha. We could see how you
Speaker 1: protected the King of Israel many times through the work
Speaker 1: that you were doing through Elisha and what you were
Speaker 1: communicating to him. But we could also see the depths
Speaker 1: of the depravity of humanity, as people were willing to
Speaker 1: kill their own children just to satisfy their hunger. And Lord,
Speaker 1: we know that this is the state of the human
Speaker 1: heart when left in its natural state. Apart from you,
Speaker 1: apart from your intervention, we are so thoroughly corrupted by
Speaker 1: sin that it's possible for a human being to hurt
Speaker 1: another human being like that. But Lord, we're grateful that
Speaker 1: through faith in your son Jesus Christ, we're given new eyes,
Speaker 1: we're given a new mind, we're given transformed thinking, we're
Speaker 1: given a brand new life. And it's all because of
Speaker 1: what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf and the gift
Speaker 1: of salvation that's granted to us through faith in him.
Speaker 1: So Lord, we pray that we would live out this
Speaker 1: faith each and every day. We thank you for the
Speaker 1: new life and the new thinking and the new mind
Speaker 1: that you have graced us with through faith in your son.
Speaker 1: And Lord, we pray that, by your grace that we
Speaker 1: would put these things into practice, that we would live
Speaker 1: them out day by day in every context that you
Speaker 1: place us in. We love you, Lord. We thank you
Speaker 1: for your presence with us today, and we commit this
Speaker 1: day to your care in Jesus' name. Amen,