Scripture Reference: 2 Kings 6:8-7:20

4. The God Who Keeps His Covenant

Please read 2 Kings 6:24-33 for the background to this section.

The border raids stopped, but Ben Hadad II decided it was time again for war. Rulers have to prove themselves to their people, and defeating and looting a neighbor is one of the best ways to reveal your strength and wisdom. This time he sent the full army and he seems to have caught Joram totally unprepared. Perhaps the peace along the borders lulled Joram into thinking that Syria was no longer a threat. Joram doesn’t seem to have been very astute when it came to military matters.

The siege of Samaria lasted so long that the people in the city were starving. It seems that Elisha had counseled the king to wait, promising that the Lord would do something, but the longer they waited, the worse the circumstances became. But it must be remembered that God warned that He would punish His people if they failed to live up to the terms of His covenant. Among His punishments were military defeat and famine (Leviticus 26:17, 25-26, 29, 33, 36-39; Deuteronomy 28:17, 25-26, 48-52), and Israel was now experiencing both. Had King Joram called his people to repentance and prayer, the situation would have changed (2 Chronicles 7:14). People were reduced to eating unclean food, such as a donkey’s head and dove’s droppings, and for these they paid exorbitant prices—two pounds of silver for the head and two ounces of silver for the dung.

But even worse, people were eating their own children! This, too, was a predicted punishment for breaking God’s covenant (Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53-57). King Joram met two such women as he walked on the wall and surveyed the city. One woman called to the king for help, and he thought she wanted food and drink. Joram’s reply really put the blame on the Lord and not on the sins of the nation. God alone could fill the threshing floor and the winepress and provide food and drink. But the woman didn’t want food and drink; she wanted justice. Her friend hadn’t kept her part of the bargain but had hidden her son!

Joram was appalled that the nation had fallen so low, and he publicly tore his robe, not as a sign of sorrow and repentance but as evidence of his anger at God and Elijah (see 2 Kings 5:7). When he did, he exposed the fact that he was wearing a rough sackcloth garment beneath the royal robe, but what good is sackcloth if there’s no humility and repentance in the heart? His next words make it clear that he took no responsibility for the siege and the famine and that he wanted to murder Elisha. He even used the oath that he learned from his evil mother, Jezebel (1 Kings 19:2). Joram’s father, Ahab, called Elijah “the one who troubled Israel” (1 Kings 18:17), and Joram blamed Elisha for the plight Samaria was in at that time. The king sent a messenger to arrest Elisha and take him out to be killed.

To Be Continued

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Distinct, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.