You would, by your word, do a surgical work on us. Amen. I stopped you right in the middle of the story, so it's a great story again. And I don't want anyone reading ahead. Yes, Jenny. No one reading ahead. If you want to read ahead, you go home and read ahead, but not during the sermon. I want you to hear what we have to say about this. In the next week, we'll get to the end of the story, the rest of the story. It just seems like last week the Arameans had learned their lesson. Do not oppose the people of God, nor God's man, Elisha. That's the lesson they learned. As you recall, Elijah had walked those Arameans kind of stupefied. God had blinded them, not physically, but in their heads somehow. He walked them stupefied into the city of Samaria where they were surrounded by the Israelite army and the king. He led them like a man would lead someone to the electric chair. And then he said, feed them and let them go. In fact, the last word on the Arameans was recorded for us in verse 23, before we read verse 24. We started there tonight. And the last words that were recorded were, so the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory. They'd learned a lesson. lest you become completely disheartened by seeing it all start up again. The Chronicler begins verse 24 by writing, by writing, sometime later. Alright, we get a little bit of a reprieve here. Sometime later, verse 24 says, Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. So, it's good. At least there was some amount of reasoning that was given to them at the end of last week's message. They didn't go right back to warn against Israel, but sometime later they did. So, Aram experienced some grace and Israel was given a portion of peace. But it's been a while. And God's gracious warning has lost its luster in the Arameans eyes. So we read sometime later, Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. We know that a siege is when an army surrounds a place, cuts off its access to food and water from outside of the city, cuts off its ability to communicate with allies or friends. And then the city's inhabitants, when you lay siege to a place, will over the course of time use up all their resources, all their food and water and pretty soon they become very hungry and starving and their bodies will have nothing for fuel and the bodies will begin to feed on muscle, muscle reserves. So dystrophia becomes a problem, this condition of abnormal development malnutrition causes it and it degenerates your muscle. In this idea of a siege in the first place, God kind of painted the picture of it for his people as if he were the one who would bring it upon them. He described the judgment that he would bring against them for their unfaithfulness. He's done this many times. One instance is just Leviticus chapter 26, verses 25 through 33. I'm going to read a little portion and you compare it to what we see happening right here in Israel. God says, and I will bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied. If, in spite of this, you still do not listen to me, but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. Does that sound like God speaking? I will abhor you. I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste the land so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. your land will be laid waste and your cities will lie in ruins. This was God's siege that we're reading about. And listen, the siege, it's not a tactic only for ancient cities. It was actually something that the Nazis did in Leningrad. They surrounded Leningrad for nearly four years when they came up against the Russians, 1941 to 1944. They laid siege to that city. They first began by bombing the warehouses of food and then they just waited it out, waited it out. There's a report In Wikipedia it says this, in the first days, the siege of Leningrad, in the first days after the siege began, people finished all leftovers in the commercial restaurants, which used up about 12% of all fats and up to 10% of all meat that the city would normally consume. Soon all restaurants closed and food rationing became the only way to save lives. And money became obsolete, didn't hold much value when you're starving. Just real quick note, the rationing is what God was talking about when he said that they would be measuring out the bread and he's referring to the women and the baking of the bread in judgment on his people. They'd be rationing out the bread, measuring it out. During the first year of the siege, the city survived five food reductions, two reductions in September of 1941, one in October of 1941, two reductions in November of 1941. The latter reduced the daily food consumption to 250 grams daily for manual workers and 125 grams for other civilians. Is that a lot or a little? I never keep track of that, and I didn't bother looking up any comparison charts. Who's a big diet person? Is 125 grams something you can live on easy enough? Nobody's a big diet person, huh? I should be a big diet person. I'm not a big diet person. The report goes on. Reports of cannibalism began to appear in the winter of 1941 and 1942. After all, Birds, rats, and pets were eaten by survivors. Starvation level food rationing was eased finally by new vegetable gardens that covered most open ground in the city from 1943. So they had to grow fresh food within the city in order to make the most of the siege. But this was the tactic imposed by the Arameans against the people of God. They laid siege to the city of Samaria. Samaria is the northern part of Israel, the northern kingdom's capital city. We would think Jerusalem would be the capital city, but when the kingdom was divided, Samaria became the capital of the northern kingdom. We're told in verse 25, there was a great famine in the city. The siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for 80 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 wine press? And 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 he 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 Elijah, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today. People were very hungry in the city. Despair permeated every man, woman, child, and also the king. Matthew Henry writes that the Syrians, or Arameans as our translation calls them, the Syrians designed not to storm the city but to starve it. So great was the scarcity that an ass's head that has but little flesh on it, and that unsavory, unwholesome, and ceremonially unclean was sold for five pounds. See how contemptible money is. when in time of famine it is so freely parted with for anything that is eatable." I would have said edible, but he wrote eatable. We're provided record of how one woman cried out to the king as he walked along the wall. She wanted his help, and quite frankly, he didn't know what to do for her. He couldn't help anyone at the moment. If the Lord does not help us and provide for us, then woman, how can I? Yet surely the king should have recognized by faith the hand of God in this siege. If he was a faithful man, he would have recognized that this was God's doing and would have appreciated it. God promised such judgment. It was foretold to His people. How's that for believing in the promises of God? Well, the king, he checks his spirit at this point. He's saying, how can I help you, woman? But he checks his spirit and he gives her some of his time. What's the matter? And she tells him. But the king was not prepared to hear what followed from the mouth of an Israeli mother. He was in a state of shock. He was dazed by what she described. Perhaps all he could picture was red teeth and blood dripping from her lips as she said, now it's time to give up your son so we may eat him. R.J. Rushduni, he warns, the horrors of sieges soon reveal how real men's faith is. Too often the niceties of civilized behavior give way to rampant evil. He tore his robe in anguish. Even a king who's not a righteous man as our king here, he tore his robe in anguish. And the woman's story sounds a lot like a historical report that was written by Josephus. After they crucified our Lord and Savior, Jesus pronounced, before it happened, he pronounced judgment upon Jerusalem. The judgment that was going to come. That one stone would be left on top of another. Utter destruction would come upon that city, and it did in 70 AD. But an account was written by Josephus, of some of the atrocities, some of the destruction that did occur to his own people. Josephus was a Jew. And he wrote about one incident in particular that just floored everybody. And this took place when the Romans laid siege to the city of Jerusalem. This is what Josephus wrote. Among the residents of the region beyond Jordan was a woman called Mary. daughter of Eliezer of the village of Bethesda. The name means House of Hissep. I'm just reading what he wrote word for word. She was well off and of good family and had fled to Jerusalem with her relatives where she became involved with the siege. Most of the property she had packed up and brought with her from Perea had been plundered by the tyrants, Simon and John, leaders of the Jewish war effort. And the rest of her treasure, together with such foods as she had been able to procure, was being carried by their henchmen in their daily raids. In other words, they were looted by the war effort tyrants within Jerusalem. In her bitter resentment, the poor woman cursed and abused these extortioners, and this incensed them against her. However, no one put her to death, either from exasperation or pity. She grew weary of trying to find food for her kinsfolk. In any case, it was by now impossible to get any, wherever you tried. Famine gnawed at her vitals, and the fire of rage was ever fiercer than famine. She was very angry at these people around her, and perhaps at God as well. It's not specifying. Famine gnawed at her vitals, and the fire of rage was ever fiercer than famine. So, driven by fury and want, she committed a crime against nature. seizing her child and infant at the breast, she cried, My poor baby, why should I keep you alive in this world of war and famine? Even if we live till the Romans come, they will make slaves of us, and anyway, hunger will get us before slavery does, and the rebels are crueler than both. Come, be food for me, and an avenging fury to the rebels, and a tale of cold horror to the world, to complete the monstrous agony of the Jews. With these words, she killed her son, roasted the body, swallowed half of it, and stored the rest in a safe place. But the rebels were on her at once, smelling roasted meat and threatening to kill her instantly if she did not produce it. She assured them she had saved them a share. and revealed the remains of her child. Seized with horror and stupefaction, they stood paralyzed at the sight. But she said, This is my own child and my own handiwork. Eat, for I have eaten already. Do not show yourselves weaker than a woman or more pitiful than a mother. But if you have pious scruples and shrink away from human sacrifice, then what I have eaten can count as your share, and I will eat what is left as well." At that, they slunk away, trembling, not daring to eat, although they were reluctant to yield even this food to the mother. The whole city soon rang with the abomination. When people heard of it, they shuddered as though they had done it themselves. But we've not even reached Jerusalem of 70 A.D. We're still back in Samaria, where the king is mourning and has just declared, May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha, son of Shaphat, remains on his shoulders today. because he'd gone through this experience with a woman calling up to him. Why do the wicked hate? Why do the wicked hate when God keeps His Word? Why do they continue in their disbelief? He will do whatever He says, people of God. Whatever He says, for better and for worse, to bless and to curse. R.J. Rushduni says, the king's reaction was first shock and then anger against God for allowing such things to happen and for allowing Israel to experience these horrors. Unable to strike at God, the king decided to strike at Elisha and to have him executed. I don't get that. And his intention to kill Elisha, well, it's put into motion in verse 32. Now, Elisha was sitting in his house, we read, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent the 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 sea of flour will sell for a shekel, and two seas of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria." In other words, things are about to change. 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 Elijah. But you will not eat any of it." He's speaking to the servant. Why Elisha, of all people, for the king to want to kill? Ask yourself that question. I think there's an answer. Why Elisha, of all people, for the king to want to kill? Here he sits with the elders of Israel, verse 32. These are the men who are presumed to be godly and just judges of Israel. They're holding conference with God's prosecuting attorney, Elisha. They're like Mary, sister of Martha. Which one was the right one? Mary or Martha? I always mix that up. Mary? Did she sit at Jesus' feet? Right? OK. Here they were, like Mary, sister of Martha, having chosen to sit at the feet of the one who possessed the words of life. And friends, there's no better place to be when under God's siege. If you're going to be involved in the work of God or attend some prayer gathering, then put yourself in the eye of God's storm. Frequent those places where the Word of God is most highly esteemed. And for Israel right now, it's not in the king's court. but it's in Elisha's house. Lock the door until the king gets here. I have a word for him. Elisha confidently responds. You see, Elisha has a word from God already. Everything changes by tomorrow. A sea of flour, he will sell for a shekel again. And two sea of barley will also sell for a shekel at the gate of Samaria. Oh, that the king and his entourage would hear those words and believe what was being said by the prophet and then back out slowly. That would have made some good sense for them. Hear what he had to say, believe the prophet, and back out slowly. But no. Because people who think they have the power to run their own lives always like to get in the last word. And so the officer on whose arm the king was bleeding said to the man of God, look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen? Idiot. God just wants you to believe what he says, so shut up and listen and obey him. Quit satisfying yourself that you can keep him in his place. He does not answer to you. You answer to Him. It's as the Apostle Paul writes, who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? Who do we think we are sometimes? Elisha assures the man Now, the Word of God is true. You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it. You see, God hates when people don't believe Him in any of His Word. In any of His Word. When we don't believe it, God hates that. It's a grave dishonor to Him. We dishonor Him. And we must be careful not to think we know better than God. There's too many in the church today that knows better than God. And they discarded portions of his word because they know better than he does. And this servant of the king has just called into question the king of kings. He's made a lethal decision. as you'll see in the second half of the story. Let us pray. You know, before I do that, it's curious to me. Sometimes you wonder when God orchestrates things, how He goes about it, timing-wise. There are four men, that's why I read that little extra piece of passage, Four men read leprosy and they're standing outside the city gate because they're not allowed into the city because of the leprosy. And they're having a conversation and they decide to work up some courage with this conversation. And they decide to head for the Aramean camp. Those are the people who laid siege against Samaria. And this is what they were saying to each other, and I'm not sure when they were carrying on this conversation, but it was somewhere in the mix of all this. And it's almost like a Monty Python scene to me. Why stay here until we die? If we say we'll go into the city, the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we will live. If they kill us, then we die. But I wonder sometimes, did that kind of conversation, was that conversation and that trip out to the camp of the Arameans, which we'll read about next week, was that taking place before Elisha spoke the word of God to the king? Was that going on before the king even got so angry that he decided that Elisha's head should come off? Or did it happen somewhere in between? And do you know why I think on these things? because it encourages my obedience to God's Word and confidence in His sovereignty when I see these things totally unrelated or seemingly unrelated from each other going on with one group having no clue what the other group is doing. These four lepers are carrying on a conversation about how to proceed in life While the king and Elisha are having their face to face and the servant is making an idiotic comment that's going to cost him his life. These four Monty Python lepers are going to stumble on something significant. Sometimes we cannot fathom how God might keep his promises. or what the outcomes of our obedience might produce in a wicked world. Sometimes we don't know. So what? It's the same today as it's ever been. God wants you to believe what He says. Period. And act upon it. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, I pray that we would be faithful. That we would believe all Your counsel. No matter what anyone else is willing to believe or not believe, because You hold us accountable. And I pray we'd be faithful. Because that pleases You. In Jesus' name, Amen.