When the Going Gets Tough...

2 Kings 6:24–7:20 NASB95

Now it came about after this, that Ben-hadad king of Aram gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, 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. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” He said, “If the Lord does not help you, from where shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the wine press?” And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ “So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body. Then he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on him today.” Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. And the king sent a man from his presence; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him and he said, “Behold, this evil is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?” Then Elisha said, “Listen to the word of the Lord; thus says the Lord, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’ ” The royal officer on whose hand the king was leaning answered the man of God and said, “Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” Then he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it.” Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why do we sit here until we die? “If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ then the famine is in the city and we will die there; and if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they spare us, we will live; and if they kill us, we will but die.” They arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Arameans; when they came to the outskirts of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no one there. For the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, even 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 the Egyptians, to come upon us.” Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life. When these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they entered one tent and ate and drank, and carried from there silver and gold and clothes, and went and hid them; and they returned and entered another tent and carried from there also, and went and hid them. Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, but we are keeping silent; if we wait until morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.” The gatekeepers called and told it within the king’s household. Then the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’ ” One of his servants said, “Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see.” They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.” They went after them to the Jordan, and behold, all the way was full of clothes and equipment which the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. Then the messengers returned and told the king. So the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. Then a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. Now the king appointed the royal officer on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; but the people trampled on him at the gate, and he died just as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. It happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, will be sold tomorrow about this time at the gate of Samaria.” Then the royal officer answered the man of God and said, “Now behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?” And he said, “Behold, you will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat of it.” And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.

INTRO: How many of you have heard the expression, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going?”

The intended meaning behind this is that when the situation gets difficult, people who are strong make moves to address the issues and solve the problems. The thing is, sometimes the situation is such that even the strongest and most influential person or group of people is powerless to rectify the challenges.

This is the kind of situation we see in our text today.

It was a time of war- veterans of our armed forces have some special insights into the horrors of war, but verses 24-30 of chapter 6 make us aware of just how bad things had gotten in Samaria. The city was under siege- this means that there was a foreign army camped around the city, cutting off all supplies and travel. Because of this, the supplies that did exist in the city were in high demand.

There was an absurd inflation rate going on in Samaria. The food supplies were such that all that was for sale was trash food- the writer describes that they sold donkey heads for 80 shekels of silver, and pigeon poop for 5 shekels per pint. That meant that there were a large number of people who could not afford to eat. People were starving and desperate.

How desperate? Well, we see in verse 28 the account of a woman who boiled her own child and ate him. What makes this even worse is that her plea to the king for help was not about this tragedy, but rather because she shared her baby with another woman on the promise that the next day she would boil her child and share it. That’s not only desperate, but it’s absolutely atrocious.

The situation was tough, and even the king recognized that any help that would come would be beyond him. All he could do was stomp grapes or thresh wheat… if they had some that is. (27)

Now, the situation we face in America today is not by any means a physical parallel, but spiritually we truly are in a tough spot. Desperation is expressed in the sacrifice of values- the trash of the world is what people consume on the television and internet. People still sacrifice their babies for the sake of their own autonomy and death seems to lurk at every corner.

Such situations demand a Christian response. We realize that it is beyond us to rescue our nation, but is despair the only answer? You probably already know that the answer is not to despair, but to persevere; to maintain our hope and our witness even though we do not readily see the resolve.

Our scripture today will help us walk through the doubts and questions we have when it comes to perseverance. It’s my prayer that we will be emboldened in our faith and we leave here today not discouraged by the wickedness of the world, but in gratitude and worship of the God who saves, we will be determined to persevere.

The sermon is titled, “When the going gets tough”. You’ll find a sermon guide in your bulletin; I encourage you to use it as we learn together today.

When the going gets tough, the first question we might ask is:

Why Should I Persevere? (6:33-7:1)

As we think about the circumstances in Samaria, there is plenty of evidence that hope was lost. In fact, the king had come to the point that he was determined, before his death, to execute Elisha because he assumed that this was God’s plan to destroy them.

Let’s read the words of the king’s messenger to Elisha in v. 33 (READ)

“Why should I wait on the Lord and longer?” Or, Why should I persevere? Why not just leave all that behind, abandon all values and responsibilities, and fight to survive? Take care of #1, right? Why not eat babies or steal from others? Why not leverage the desperation of others and price gouge?

The rationale is that if this evil is from God, what sense does it make to believe the same God would deliver them? BUT, you see, instead of crying out to God for forgiveness and provision, the king has decided to try and take matters into his own hands.

But look at Elisha’s response in 7:1 (READ)

God is always on time. In this scenario, they had come to the very end of the hard times and relief was just around the corner. Tomorrow! Had the women trusted God, they would have held out, but instead stooped to cannibalism of their helpless babies.

Friends that’s the difference between perseverance and apathy. If you are apathetic, you do not care enough to trust God- you simply have no dedication to God and thus simply resort to your own ways.

Did you know that the Christian life is marked by perseverance? This is the test of our faith- are we trusting God or ourselves?

Every letter in to the churches recorded in Revelation has a line that says something like, “He who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life...” or “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death” “He who overcomes, and keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations...”

That’s the idea of perseverance. Church, we must persevere! Though the world around us is broken and desperate- though the times become overwhelming and difficult- folks hang in there!

As the great theologian, little orphan Annie said, “Tomorrow... is only a day away!”

Why should we persevere? Because our hope is in God.

Psalm 121:1–2 NASB95

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

Hebrews 10:37–39 NASB95

For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

What a day that will be!!

Having answered the “why” question of perseverance, we must address potential doubts. When the going gets tough we might ask:

Is God Able? (7:2-7)

Now, you’re probably looking at me thinking, DUH! But hang on.

You see, knowing something does not eliminate feelings of doubt- especially when we are facing new challenges.

When things are bad, it’s not rare that we lose sight of the God we serve. This was the case for the king of Israel. He had stated that the situation was such that only Yahweh could bring relief (6:27), yet with all that he was facing the king’s messenger figured that the circumstance was too great for rescue.

Look with me at 7:2 (READ)

Now, perhaps the messenger and king had sat in their study and tried to call for backup help from allied nations or they sought ways to bring about a covert military operation that would give them some chance against the Arameans that were camped all around the city. But, their enemy’s resources far outweighed Samaria’s.

And so when Elisha tells the king’s servant that TOMORROW all would be well- inflation gone, hunger gone, fear gone - well, that was better than he could dream, but it just didn’t seem possible. This man doubted God and perhaps even assumed Elisha was making the whole thing up.

Sometimes we can feel the same way. Perhaps you or a loved one is at war with sin- perhaps there is an addiction you cannot overcome, or a trap that you cannot seem to avoid. Maybe you look back on your life and recognize that you are in fact spiritually impoverished.

ILL: I remember sharing the gospel with some folks who were a little older. I remember the man said, well I don’t think that is possible for me- I’m at the end of my life and don’t believe there is any hope where I am.

Oh, but friends- God is able to save!

I want you to look back at how God saved the Israelites in Samaria. READ 7:3-7.

Look here - God not only rescued the people from death, but he provided for life as well. This was more than any could have hoped or dreamt!

That’s the offer God has for us as well. He has given His Son as a sacrifice to atone for our sins; He has made new covenant with us- that we can live today as sons and daughters of the king- no longer slaves to sin! Folks, when it seems like there is no hope; that things are beyond rescue or repair, you and I need to turn our eyes upon Jesus!

We persevere because God is our hope and He is able!

Finally, we deal with one more doubt. Here we ask:

Is It Too Good To Be True? (7:12-20)

I’ve always heard that a healthy amount of skepticism is a good thing. After all, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Well, that seems to be the mindset of the king. (READ v.12) Let’s consider the scenario:

4 lepers claimed that the whole army is gone and they left their food, horses, and other supplies. These lepers were unclean and thus cast out of the city, so it’s not unreasonable to think that maybe they had struck a deal with the Arameans and were trying to lure the army out of the city so that the Aramean army could ambush them.

This is plausible- I could see that happening, couldn’t you?

ILL: When you get a phone call telling you you’ve won a million dollars, chances are it’s actually a scam. And if you do give them your bank info, not only will you NOT receive a million dollars, but you’ll lose whatever you have in there.

Was this too good to be true? Could the army really have fled? Or is this just a clever trap?

I am convinced that this is the same mindset of those who hear the Gospel. Could it be that God would forgive my sins? Could it be that He would give eternal life? It sounds too good to be true. Perhaps it’s the mindset of some of you who are sitting here today.

You know what? It does sound too good to be true. So what do we do? Let’s return to our passage. (READ 13-14)

After expressing his hesitation, the king’s servants reasoned with the king. Look, we are in a place where death is imminent. Let’s at least check it out- we will lose nothing by sending out a few men. The choices were simple: certain death by doing nothing, or possible restored life if this were true. The only way to know whether or not this was true was to GO & SEE.

Of course, God indeed did send the Aramean army running away and the people in Samaria rejoiced and marveled over this.

So too with us. We are like the lepers sharing good news. I cannot force you or anyone else to accept it And neither can you. We can, however, invite them to GO & SEE.

Folks, if you are having doubts about this whole Christianity thing- I want to invite you to dig in. I’d love to spend some time with you so you can ask questions and we can explore them together.

If you have a friend, family member, or neighbor that you know has these doubts, invite them to come and see.

Give them a Bible. (I’ll even buy one for you to give them!) Invite them to a bible study or to church. Invite them to ask questions and don’t scoff at them.

Invite them to watch the Jesus film with you. And invite them to see how God has transformed your life.

Folks, perseverance isn’t simply waiting for something to happen- it’s acting upon our faith.

We are a Great Commission Church and even when the going gets tough, we MUST persevere in the mission Christ has given of making disciples and taking the Good News to the world.

[Pray]

Discuss: Describe the spiritual famine that exists in your circle of influence.

Discuss: Describe a time you doubted God could rescue you?

Discuss: If the Gospel seems to good to be true, how do we know it isn’t?