“Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent;” 2 Kings 7:9a
During the last 6 Chapters, Elijah is taken up to Heaven by a Chariot of Fire, his servant, Elisha, has now assumed his role as Israel’s Prophet, and we have several Stories confirming his anointing. If you remember, Elijah had said to Elisha “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you” to which he responded “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me”. Well, Elijah had told him “if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you” which he was indeed a witness to.
Today, in Chapter 6, we read of how “Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria” and how “There was a great famine in Samaria; … until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver”. The Story today focuses on 4 lepers outside the gate. They reason among themselves that whether they go into the city, or stay outside of it, they are going to die. So, in desperation, they resolve to go to the Aramean’s for aid. As they arrive, they find their camp abandoned and filled with food and treasure. So, they begin looting. Today’s Verse is them coming under conviction.
Isn’t this a picture of the Church? Beggars telling other beggars where they have found bread? Accumulating the “Stuff” of this World is meaningless. When the Sinner truly discovers the Glory of the Gospel, he is Compelled to share it; he cannot “keep silent”! It is Much More Important than any Riches he may enjoy in this Life. Oh God, help us to see ourselves as these Lepers and “Do what is Right”!!!