The Alternative

Mark Dunagan
07/04/11 - Sunday Morning

 

The Alternative

In Second Kings chapter 6 the king of Aram is furious, for the Israelite king seems to be anticipating his every move (6:12). It was one of his servants who had to tell him that there was a prophet in Israel, and even the words he spoke in his bedroom were no secret. Instead of realizing, "Oh" - l think I better leave that guy alone", he comes up with the plan to capture this prophet who somehow knows his every plan. He surrounds the city where Elisha is staying resulting in the army he had sent being struck with blindness and led by Elisha to the Israelite capital city of Samaria (6:20). Instead of being executed, this hostile army is served a great feast and then sent home. For a while the Arameans leave Israel alone (6:23), yet, as is often the case, human memory is short-lived. And without genuine repentance lessons are not taken to heart and lives are not transformed. So when the Arameans come again (6:24), and once again it looks like they have the nation of Israel on the ropes, the capital city of Samaria is surrounded and famine breaks out within the walls (6:25).

Forgotten Lessons

I am impressed that God had demonstrated His power and mercy to the Arameans:

• He heals Naaman - their top general - of leprosy (Chapter 5).
• They know all about Elisha's power (6:12).
• They witness his power and are treated with mercy (6:23).
• Yet all these valuable lessons can be lost on a generation or the one that follows it.
• A mere 10 or 20 years can pass by and people can start erroneously thinking that something in history never really happened.

If I say to myself, "How can I believe in events that happened thousands of years ago?" - that really is not the problem. When it comes to disbelief, time can also be irrelevant. If I don't want to believe, then believing in Jesus even just five years after His resurrection would be a problem. If I want to believe - time is never an issue, for the same evidence remains for all generations to see (John 20:30-31).

Anger - But Not Repentance

The king tore his robes when he heard the terrible story of cannibalism, and the people standing by observed that the king was wearing sackcloth beneath the robes (6:30). The next verse quickly informs us that this sackcloth had, unfortunately, nothing to do with repentance, for he blames all his troubles not on his own sinful choices, but on Elisha (6:31). "The king blames Elisha for the siege, perhaps reasoning that Syria still wants to eliminate the prophet. Ironically, the king seems to forget how Elisha protected Israel from the Syrians in those instances" (House, p. 278). In addition, the king may have been mad at Elisha for allowing the Syrian army to escape and go back home, rather than letting him kill them.

"Why Should I Wait for the Lord Any Longer?" (6:33)

Apparently Elisha had been telling the Israelite king that the siege would be lifted, and that God would intervene. But his attitude is, "Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?" (Isaiah 40:31). Here we see political helplessness. In my lifetime I have seen many people reach the point where this king arrives. They just don't want to wait any longer, they complain that God isn't doing anything or that faith isn't working for them, yet this king, just like us, has no excuses:

• God had proven Himself to all during Elisha's lifetime (5-6).
• God was working out in the camp of the Arameans (7:6).

What is the Alternative?

"Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, 'Why do we sit here until we die?' If we say, 'We will enter the city', then the famine is in the city and we shall die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we shall live; but if they kill us, we shall but die'' (7:3-4).

This is probably about the first intelligent thing that anyone besides Elisha has said in this section. I wish more people thought this clearly. As someone noted, we do not need "deathbed clarity" on our deathbed, rather we need it right now when it can do us some good. Here four lepers that find themselves in what we might call "no man's land". No one wanted them in the city, and obviously no one would give them anything if they entered, and they did not know how the Arameans would receive them, whether with death or mercy. Yet they did know this essential truth, staying put meant certain death, as did entering the city, so at least going out to the Arameans gave them a chance at life.

"We shall but die"

This statement reminds me of what Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul" (Matthew 10:28). Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person, in fact for believers, death makes us immune from anything else that man might try to do to us (Luke 12:4). Yes, death seals a person's eternal fate, yet this is all positive for the faithful child of God. Once we die, we become untouchable.

I remember years ago struggling with the decision to obey the gospel. On the one hand there were the things that I knew I would have to give up to be a Christian, yet I also pondered the alternative, which was eternal death. All of a sudden what I had to give up didn't look like a very impressive list, in fact, I swiftly found myself confronted with a list of all the things I would gain.

I Wish...

More people would really think through the alternative:

• Don't like the idea of God? What is the alternative?
• Don't like the concept of absolute truth? What is the alternative?
• Don't understand why God allows the innocent to suffer? What is the alternative?
• Don't like the rules the Bible places upon man? What is the alternative?

Where Did Everyone Go?

The lepers show up to the camp and everyone is gone! (7:5) No battle, it is just that the Lord caused this army to hear a noise that sounded like another army approaching and rather than standing their ground, they fled and left a trail of discarded items miles long (7:15).

In the Moment

"They entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver and gold and clothes and went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also; and went and hid them" (7:8).

The initial response of all four men is absolute selfishness. At first these diseased men gorged themselves and hid the loot they gathered from the enemy tents, then afterward they came to themselves (Luke 15:17). They were lepers and could have easily convinced themselves that this was "pay-back time" and that their suffering and exclusion from the Israelite community justified such hoarding. They could have said to themselves, "Why should we help the people in Samaria? We have lived on their handouts long enough!" Yet even having leprosy had not made these men bitter or resentful.

"What are we doing?"

"Then they said to one another, 'We are not doing right. This is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent, if we wait until morning light, punishment will overtake us" (7:9).

I am so impressed by these men:

• Many people do not want to hear about "what is right" while they are gorging themselves and living it up in the moment.
• They realized that even remaining silent for a few hours was wrong. They could have easily thought, "We will tell them, but let's live it up a little bit more".
• Even though they were lepers, there was no situational ethic here.

They plainly said, "Punishment will overtake us". Having lived miserable and deprived lives did not change the rules. Operating in a famine climate did not change the rules. Stumbling across more wealth than you have ever seen in your life after having absolutely nothing did not change the rules.

"But deliverance needs evangelists to proclaim it... They needed to tell" (Dale Ralph Davis, p. 124). These lepers had the news that could save an entire city. Today, we have the gospel message that can save the entire world! Are we keeping silent? "To have a great gift - wealth, education, freedom - and not share it is evil. Using such gifts only for selfish purposes without regard for the needs of others is a serious sin. Never is that more true than with the gift of salvation. Do we think that we are important enough that we are the ultimate end of God's mercy?" (Dilday, p. 328).

"That Could Never Happen"

Elisha had predicted all of this (7:1), and it was met with unbelief (7:2). Even when the lepers showed up in the city, the news was still rejected (7:12), and was viewed as a complicated but clever plot. Finally, some clear thinking servants point out that nothing is to be gained by not taking a look (7:13). Well, the story was true (7:15, 18), and everything turned out just as Elisha had said - as it always does with the words of prophets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net