2nd Kings Chapter Six

 2Ki 6:1  And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, See, now, the place where we are living with you is too narrow for us. 

2Ki 6:2  Please let us go to the Jordan, and we each one shall take a beam from there. And we shall make for ourselves a place there, to live there. And he said, Go. 

2Ki 6:3  And the one said, Please be willing, and go with your servants. And he said, I will surely go. 

2Ki 6:4  And he went with them. And they came to the Jordan, and cut down trees. 

2Ki 6:5  And it happened that one was felling the log, and the iron fell into the water. And he cried out and said, Alas, my lord! For it was borrowed. 

2Ki 6:6  And the man of God said, Where did it fall? And he made him see the place. And he cut a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 

2Ki 6:7  And he said, Take it up to you. And he put out his hand and took it. 

2Ki 6:8  And the king of Syria was fighting against Israel, and rose up with his servants, saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp. 

2Ki 6:9  And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Be on guard in passing by this place, for the Syrians are coming down there. 

2Ki 6:10  And the king of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God spoke to him and warned him. And he protected himself there not once nor twice. 

2Ki 6:11  And the heart of the king of Syria was enraged over this thing. And he called his servants and said to them, Will you not tell me who of us is for the king of Israel? 

2Ki 6:12  And one of his servants said, No, my lord O king, For Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your sleeping room. 

2Ki 6:13  And he said, Go and see where he is, and I will send and seize him. And it was told him, Behold, he is in Dothan. 

2Ki 6:14  And he sent horses and chariots there, and a heavy army. And they came in by night and surrounded the city. 

2Ki 6:15  And the servant of the man of God rose up early and went out. And, behold, an army was surrounding the city, and horses and chariots. And his young man said to him, Alas, my lord! What shall we do? 

2Ki 6:16  And he said, Do not fear, for those with us are more than those with them. 

2Ki 6:17  And Elisha prayed and said, I beg You, O Jehovah, open his eyes so that he may see. And Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man. And he looked, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

2Ki 6:18  And they came down to it, and Elisha prayed to Jehovah and said, I beg You, strike this nation with blindness. And He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha. 

2Ki 6:19  And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you seek. And he led them to Samaria. 

2Ki 6:20  And it happened, when they came to Samaria, Elisha said, Open the eyes of these, O Jehovah, and they will see. And Jehovah opened their eyes, and they looked; and, behold, they were in the middle of Samaria! 

2Ki 6:21  And when he saw them, the king of Israel said to Elisha, Shall I strike? Shall I strike, my father? 

2Ki 6:22  And he said, You shall not strike. Would you strike those whom you have captured with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master. 

2Ki 6:23  And he prepared a great banquet for them, and they ate and drank. And he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the companies of Syria did not come into the land of Israel any more. 

2Ki 6:24  And afterwards it happened that Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his army and went up and laid siege to Samaria. 

2Ki 6:25  And there was a great famine in Samaria. And behold! They were laying siege to it until the head of an ass was at eighty silver pieces, and a fourth of a cab of dove's dung at five silver pieces. 

2Ki 6:26  And it happened, the king of Israel was passing by on the wall. And a woman cried to him, saying, Save, my lord, O king. 

2Ki 6:27  And he said, If Jehovah does not save you, from where shall I save you? Out of the threshing floor, or out of the winevat? 

2Ki 6:28  And the king said to her, What ails you? And she said, This woman said to me, Give your son and we will eat him today; and tomorrow we will eat my son. 

2Ki 6:29  And we boiled my son and ate him, and I said to her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him. But she hid her son. 

2Ki 6:30  And it happened when the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his garments. And he was passing by on the wall, and the people looked. And, behold, the sackcloth was inside on his flesh. 

2Ki 6:31  And he said, So may God do to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him today. 

2Ki 6:32  And Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from before him. Before the messenger came to him, even he himself said to the elders, Do you see that this son of the murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes in, shut the door, and you shall hold him fast at the door. Is not the sound of the feet of his lord behind him? 

2Ki 6:33  While he was speaking with them, then, behold, the messenger came down to him. And he said, Behold, this is the evil from Jehovah. Why should I wait for Jehovah any more? 

2Ki 7:1  Elisha answered, "I have a message for you. The LORD promises that tomorrow here in Samaria, you will be able to buy a large sack of flour or two large sacks of barley for almost nothing." 

2Ki 7:2  The chief officer there with the king replied, "I don't believe it! Even if the LORD sent a rainstorm, it couldn't produce that much grain by tomorrow." "You will see it happen, but you won't eat any of the food," Elisha warned him. 

Verses 1-7 Summary: The sons of the prophets need to build a house for themselves. They go to the Jordan to cut down the necessary trees. Elisha is with them. One of the cutters looses his axe in the Jordan and calls to Elisha. Elisha performs a miracle and has the axe float to the top so it could be retrieved.

Note: Do we see the Christ message here? There are some things that only God can recover...like our salvation, righteousness, our very souls. It may seem all is lost, only God can make us whole.

Verses 8-23 Summary: Syria wars with Israel. The Syrian king is looking for an occasion to kill the king of Israel and sets up camp. Elisha warns the king of Israel and the king does not engage the Syrian army (he stays away). It happens more than once. The king suspects a traitor among his army. His officials tell him it is Elisha who is warning the king of Israel. The Syrian king sends some elite troops to find Elisha. They surround the city. Elisha's servant wakes up, goes outside and sees the army and is terrified. He warns Elisha. Elisha explains that the Syrian army is outnumbered by Elisha's (God's) army. Elisha prays to God to open the servant's eyes. He sees that the hills are filled with warriors. Alisha asks God to blind the Syrian army. He does. Elisha leads them to Samaria. Once in Samaria Elisha prays that the army's eyes would be opened. The king of Israel asks if he should strike the Syrians. Elisha says, no. He reasons with him and convinces him to feed them. The king prepares a banquet for his enemies. They return home and stop warring with Israel for a time.

1. What should we learn from verse 17? There may be an appearance of hopelessness in our lives, but God has us covered. Paul reveals our real situation in Ephesians 6. He states that our struggle is not with flesh and blood, but with the spiritual realm. For us, it is a matter of faith in Jehovah through the Christ that enables us to "see" God's army ready to fight for us.

Note: Solomon taught the concept of feeding your enemy in Proverbs 25:22. Jesus references it in Matthew 5:44 (love your enemy) as the proper way to view everyone. Paul uses it to teach the Roman church in Romans 12:20 as a message of proper Christian behavior. 

Verses 24- 7:2 Summary: Syria besieges Samaria. There is also famine. The condition becomes so desperate that citizens are committing cannibalism. When the king learns of it, he despairs and sends a messenger to kill Elisha. Elisha knows he is coming and has him detained at the door. He tells the messenger that Israel will have a bounty of food available the next day. The messenger does not believe him. Elisha tells the messenger that it will happen but that the messenger will not have any.

2. In verse 25 why does the writer use a donkey's head and dove droppings as examples of the severity of the famine? What should these things be used for? None of these items were to be eaten, they were unclean. Dove dung may have been used for fire. The point is that the conditions were dire. During a siege, no one could leave, nor could goods be brought in. All the clean food had been consumed. They were down to eating working livestock, even the unclean animals. This condition leads to the "why" the practice of cannibalism. 

Notes: It's interesting to see the compassion the king has for his people. Being the king, he may be eating unclean food, but he was not yet needing to eat human flesh. The big misunderstanding he has is thinking that if he rids himself of the messenger (Elisha), he will get back at Jehovah. Do we see people today blaming God for the woes of the world? How do we address those who foster this opinion?