Why Sit We Here Until We Die?

October 13, 2013

2 Kings 7:1-11 [Two Life-Changing Truths]

Israel was in the midst of a severe famine due their sin and wicked- ness. It was a dark and desperate time. Food is so scarce donkey heads and bird’s dung were being sold at exorbitant prices for food (6:25). Mothers were eating their children (6:28-29). King Joram, son of Ahab, was blaming the prophet Elisha when sin was to blame (6:31-33).

The prophet Elisha prophesied that the famine would end in 24 hours and food would be sold at rock bottom bargain prices (7:1-2). He doesn’t explain how it is going to happen, but God had a plan.

This is the story of how four starving lepers became God’s evangelists to the city of Samaria! God uses unhealthy, unclean, nameless castaways, to confound the mighty.

These four lepers arrived at two life-changing truths:

1. The inevitability of death (Heb. 9:27). We are dying by degrees— But we have some control about when and where. As long as we are alive, we can take steps that may extend our life.

2. The indebtedness to declare good tidings—It is never right to keep good news to yourself. Good news is meant to be shared.

Four things that lead the lepers to these life-changing truths:

I. The LOGICAL choice (vs. 3-4).

A. The rationale—Discussing their options (v.4).

We’re either going to die sitting outside the gate, or die of starvation inside the city, or we can surrender to the Syrians and possibly survive as POW’s or be executed.

People want to have some control over their death.

On 9/11 when the Twin Towers were on fire and about to collapse, people were jumping to their death out of windows. They knew they were going to die, either by being burned alive, or by jumping to their death. They wanted to be in control of their fate and how they died.

At the Invasion of Normandy during WW2, a group of soldiers were pinned down on the beachhead by Nazi gun fire on a cliff. The commander exhorted his men, “They’re murdering us down here. Come on, let’s attack and get murdered up there!” It was a matter of dying on the beach or climbing the hill. At least they would die fighting!

B. The resolve—Deciding their course.

It was a no brainer. “Why SIT we HERE until we die…” It would be better to eat as prisoners, or be executed quickly, than to starve to death.

How long are you going to sit and let life pass you by?

For the UNSAVED—You are going to die anyway—Why not trust Christ? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
For the SAVED—You’re going to die anyway, if the rapture doesn’t occur first. Why not make your life count for something—”Only one life, ’twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last!”