There is a story in 2 Kings 6 & 7 that summarizes the human condition and its relationship to the gospel. Israel had been unfaithful to their covenant with God and they were experiencing a famine. God had called heaven and earth to witness his covenant relationship with Israel, and when the stipulations were violated, God was honor-bound to enforce the penalties. This included acts of nature that God controlled for his purposes. Famine was one of the penalties that heaven and nature enforced because Israel treated lightly their dealings with the God of the universe.
(Some wonder today if natural disasters are God’s punishments for a nation’s disobedience. As we confront this question, we must remember that God was in covenant with Israel. He has not made such a covenant with America or other political entities. Of course he uses all circumstances to confront us with our need of him. He alone can satisfy our deepest longings. His love moves him to expose and eliminate our idols that offer unsatisfactory fulfillment.)
The conditions were awful in Samaria. Women were killing their babies and eating them. A donkey’s head was selling for the equivalent of several thousand dollars and ½ cup of dove’s dung was more than the average person could afford. In any estimation, that was a bad diet and very expensive.
This story reveals several characters that are predisposed to doubt. They represent us all because from the limited human perspective we tend to doubt good news. Afraid to extend our hope after the pain of disappointment, we doubt the good news of gracious benevolence. And we have all been disappointed. Life has not always treated us fairly. We can’t seem to understand why a sovereign good God can manage such an unruly world. Of course, we can see why Israel was in such a predicament, but why us? It helps to know that Israel was the micro-model of the whole world. You will remember that the sin of Adam and Eve brought curses on the whole creation. We still suffer the consequences of that fall. Israel in the time of this story is serving the whole world by demonstrating what happens when people are in a covenant with God. They are preparing the world for a new covenant, which will be based on the merits of the perfect servant; the ultimate Israelite, the final Adam. Like Israel, we need a covenant keeper who can actually keep covenant.
Notice the skeptical response of all the characters in the story. First, the king is enraged that such a thing is happening and blames it on the prophet of God. He vows to kill Elisha. He gives up on God. Since God is behind this pain and won’t alleviate it, he decides to dismiss God. It is not uncommon for us to be “done with God.” He won’t perform as we design, so we decide to move on without him.
When things are as bad as they can get, the prophet declares a gospel: “Tomorrow at this time wheat will be selling at $.50/bushel and barley at $.50/two bushels.” Notice that the declaration is not dependent on the repentance of the king or the people. It is God’s initiative! There is no mention of prayer meetings or intercessors paying the price for God’s intervention. God acts in mercy. It sounds like the New Testament gospel. “In the fullness of time God sent his Son…” We needed it desperately but we did not earn it by our repentance or our prayers. The true gospel includes the proclamation that God has done something beyond man’s ability and the benefits can be accessed by simply believing.
Now notice the king’s assistant. He hears the proclamation from the prophet and almost laughs in his skepticism. “If God were to open the windows of heaven this could not happen.” He simply cannot imagine how this radical proclamation could possibly come true. He could understand the windows of heaven being opened and rain falling on the parched ground ultimately producing food for the people, but that would take days, weeks, and even months. He just couldn’t believe beyond his understanding.
Sound familiar? We have trouble believing beyond our understanding. We even get angry with God for not explaining himself to us. “If he would just explain it, I could submit,” we cry. Sometimes he does explain, but not always. It is enough that he is good and in charge.
The trouble with the assistant’s skepticism was that it rendered him a spectator in the fulfillment of God’s word. The prophet declared, “You will see it, but not participate in it.” He saw it come true but didn’t get to partake of the benefits. The people who were enjoying the abundance trampled him. Maybe we can see how devastating such an attitude is when we adopt it. Skepticism is the default mode of human thinking. We pride ourselves in being shrewd. Nobody is going to pull the wool over our eyes. We doubt and demand evidence from God while buying the lies of Satan wholesale. Skepticism toward God is costly.
The scene moves to some lepers who are camped outside the gates of the city. They aren’t allowed to come inside because of the fear of their disease. They are hungry, as well as being rejected. Their options are even less than the residents of the city. They aren’t any more apt to faith. All they are thinking about is survival. Death is on their minds. “If we stay here we will die. If we go into the city we will die. If we go into the camp of the enemy we will probably die.” Skepticism is in them, too, but they are desperate. They are no more qualified for God’s mercy than the king or the king’s assistant. They are just hungrier.
So they decide to risk. They move toward the enemy’s camp. They stumble into a drama that had already been going on in the heavenlies. God had made a sound that scared the Syrian army into running away quickly. They left all their supplies and animals in a rush to avoid what they concluded was an ambush. God was fighting an enemy that Israel could not fight -- and when he fights, he wins. The hungry lepers found an abundant supply of food and wealth. They ate all they could and hid treasure until they were embarrassed. Then they decided to tell the officials in the city. After more doubt and skepticism by the king, they test the waters and send out a delegation to see if the report is true. It is and wheat and barley sell for what the prophet had said. The party is on. The king’s assistant gets trampled, but the people are fed on the supplies that a few hours before were in the hands of the enemy.
So, what is the message in this story for us? First, we all tend toward skepticism. Good news is abrasive when it falls on the raw pain of disappointment. We want reasons, revenge and rewards. We can’t believe such good news as the radical mercy and grace of God revealed in Jesus. We will believe TV commercials enough to spend our money on what they pitch, but accepting the unconditional love and forgiveness of God through Christ is a stretch. We get angry at the famines in our lives, and blame God and others for our pain. But when the solution (maybe not the explanation) is proclaimed, we doubt. It is the human dilemma. We inherited it from Adam. He doubted the sovereign goodness of God first. It has been the story of our race ever since.
But there has been a drama going on for a long time that can change our situation. God made a promise to Abraham several thousand years ago. He promised to reverse the curse on creation and replace it with blessing. God worked through history to prepare the world for a day when his Son, Abraham’s Seed, would confront the enemy of God’s people and defeat him. He would strip him of all authority and leave the spoils of the battle for us. That day came when Jesus was lifted on a cross and died as the end of Adam’s race. Three days later he was raised from the dead as the firstborn of a new race. When we by faith in Christ stumble into the drama, we get the inheritance. The gospel announcement is that the battle is won.
But having leftover tendencies from Adam, we still have trouble believing such outlandish news. Jesus comes to help here too. He lives as our intercessor before God and continues to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He can believe! He has proven it. Remember when he went to the garden to pray before his crucifixion? This was difficult. He was facing separation from the Father. Unthinkable! How could God the Father reject God the Son? Unexplainable! But that was the issue. We have never faced such a daunting possibility. Our troubles pale in light of this. But he prayed, “Not my will but yours be done.” This level of trust allowed him a few hours later on the cross to breathe, “Into Thy hands I commit my spirit.” He still prays like that. When we can’t find the strength to trust in the face of disappointment and delay, he will pray for us. Sometimes the best we can do is to simply rely on him. In becoming our Savior, he becomes our faith when we have none. Like the beggars, we simply get the benefits of a battle we did not fight.
And like the beggars, we get to participate in the drama as it continues. Now we are players, as we become messengers of the good news. We have found something that will save the city. We didn’t create it. We simply found it when we were so hungry our options were reduced to taking a major risk.
The good news of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension is as radical and outlandish as the news announced by Elisha. It is beyond reason or explanation. It is our privilege to hear it, believe it, and promote it. It is being attacked by both friend and foe. Some try to make it more relevant to the contemporary culture by reducing it to a more believable religious formula for obtaining good things. They proclaim that God loves us and regardless of our attitude toward Jesus, we are in his favor as long as we believe he loves us. They have left out the necessity of a mediator between God and man. Some focus on what we must do in order to get God to respond in favor. They insist that we believe the right formulas and say the right mantras. Others find the gospel laughable. They contend that God has given many ways to heaven and we can choose the way that best suits us. They mock at a bloody Savior. All religions are different ways of viewing the same deity, they say.
It is our privilege and responsibility to be true to the good news we have experienced. We cannot afford to dilute or distort the gospel. When the church distorts the gospel of Jesus Christ, it curses the world. I urge you to immerse yourself in the gospel. Believe it. Proclaim it. Invest your money in it. It is the only hope for a world beset by a famine that will eternally destroy all who don’t receive it.
SYNERGY - Better Together: October 01, 2010 click for more > Five Pillars of New Testament Discipleship: : October 15, 2010 click for more > Family Reunion Retreat: December 03, 2010 click for more >
