The Day of Good News

The times we live seem to require extra good news. Thankfully, 2 Kings 7 has some for us.

At the beginning of the chapter, with certain death imminent due to the Syrian siege on Israel, four lepers are faced with certain death. They are the weakest members of Israel and outcasts from normal society. The king has been weakened and turned against Elisha. Elisha has promised food but no one believes him. The question becomes, how will the Word of the Lord prove true once again?

The answer comes from a simple equation made by four lepers who have NOTHING to lose.
2 Kings 7:3–4 (ESV) Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.”

You have to see the humor in this passage as the case is made for these lepers entering the camp of Israel's enemies in the midst of a siege. The only option left is the option they take. And when they come into the camp, they find the Lord has already proved good on His promises. He has scattered the enemy for Israel:
2 Kings 7:6–7 (ESV) For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us.” 7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives.

Isn't it thought-provoking here that the enemy had already been scattered and yet no one in the places of power could believe it? It seems like our present season. Jesus is alive and the grave has been defeated but we live like this world is our home and we have to hold on for dear life. When we do, we sacrifice really living for security and end up with a lifetime of regret.

The lepers decide to jump on the opportunity. 

2 Kings 7:8 (ESV) And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.

But after a while of experiencing this wonderful blessing, a thought occurs to them which becomes the theme of the chapter. I love how they say it...

2 Kings 7:9 (ESV) Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.”

The four lepers experienced the unmerited grace of God. They did nothing to be saved and in fact, could not even be useful because of their condition. They are a picture of salvation. We do not save ourselves. God saves us. We cannot bring anything to God's work of salvation except our sin. Even their decision was only an act of self-preservation devoid of any spiritual ambition. They are truly a picture of being saved by grace. But knowing this gave them pause. They had to share it. 

That's the effect of salvation by grace. It's impossible not to share. Why? Because you're not talking about something you've joined or something you've accomplished. You're telling people what happened to you as you would tell them about any other fortunate event in your life, only this one matters for eternity. Now they may not believe you as the king of Israel doubts the testimony of the lepers in this story. But it doesn't mean it won't eventually be effective. Good news is easy to share, hard to believe, and eventually impossible to stop.