FAMINE IN SAMARIA
FAMINE IN SAMARIA
JT The subject before us is introduced in chapter 6: “And it came to pass after this that Ben-hadad, king of Syria, gathered all his army and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was worth eighty silver pieces, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung five silver pieces” (verse 24). The situation was so dreadful that two women bargained to eat their offspring; one of them addressed the king of Israel and said, “This woman said to me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son to-morrow. And we boiled my son, and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him; and she had hidden her son” (verses 28,29). The Spirit calls our attention to the repulsive food that was available, and to its great cost. The occasion of this famine was not providential, as an act of God directly, but was caused by the Syrian army. It especially exposes the king of Israel, who, while he pretended to feel things, having put on sackcloth, was a murderer; then his captain was an unbeliever in the direct testimony of God. So that the situation was one of evil against evil; but with all that, the prophet Elisha was seated in his house, and the elders sat with him. That was another position in Samaria to be taken into account. Then, as completing the picture, we have these four leprous men outside of the gate. It is for us to compare this state of things with what is current today, and to see that whilst God is over all that is transpiring, the famine condition has arisen not by His withholding food, for there [p. 234] is abundance of it, but as the result of man’s avarice and his inability to cope with its consequences.
AFM You were saying this afternoon that the key to the relieving of this awful position was with individuals who did something; and you referred to the exercises of these four leprous men.
JT That is what I think we may see. The general features of the famine are seen in chapter 6. God is shut out as far as those in authority are concerned. The king of Israel was a murderer ready to take off Elisha’s head; and another king, Ben-hadad, is outside with all his army. We have thus a set of circumstances brought about by human wickedness. But in the midst of this is Elisha representing the mind of God; then there are four lepers outside the gate who, in the midst of all these things have no status at all, and we have to understand whom they represent, which is seen largely in what they do. They become capable of announcing glad tidings, as we shall see; they are marked off as persons who reason out things — putting two and two together, as we say, and rightly concluding, as children of wisdom, what is the best course — indeed, the only course — to take. There is this and that way to go, but death would be the certain result of taking either.
JS They were facing death.
JT Yes; they said, “The famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we abide here, we shall die”. It was negative guidance, but there was one door open affording some hope, and they entered that door; they said, “let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians”.
JS They decided to face the enemy!
AFM The king of Israel was idolatrous; he clave to the sins of Jeroboam. Would you think that on that account Jehovah had a controversy with him and the city of Samaria?
JT God was doubtless allowing the Syrians [p. 235] to chastise him for that reason. With regard to the conditions facing the four lepers, there was not much choice; their position is much like that of the people of God today who find themselves in the midst of most trying circumstances, as morally outside and in reproach.
WB-w This woman was crying, “Help, my lord, O king!” (chapter 6:26); but she was looking to the wrong person.
JT The king could do nothing for her; in fact, the cry only brought out his murderous spirit.
WGT Her request brought to light how serious the conditions were:
JT Yes; showing what awful conditions there are in a moral sense in the world today; think of the food men eat, and for which they pay so high a price! Think of one woman entering into a bargain with another woman with regard to their sons — that they should be alternative food! It shows how terrible the extremities are to which men bring themselves. Although the food in “the great pot” was not the most, refined, apart from the wild gourd, it was healthful food, and involved no disregard of right principles. But boiling one’s child for food is the utmost disregard of all right feeling. The woman appealed but only to enforce her claim that the hidden child should be boiled. The king admitted that he was helpless. With assumed piety he said, “If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing floor, or out of the wine-press?” (chapter 6:27). And then when she tells him her sad tale, it says “he rent his garments; and he was passing by upon the wall, and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. And he said, God do so, and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall remain on him this day!” (chapter 6:30,31). There is a pretence of godliness about him, but a murderous [p. 236] heart within.
AFM It would show that, with all its severity, the famine had not rightly affected him; although it was intended to affect him first and most of all.
ANW Do you think the fact that his name is withheld would suggest that he stands as the head of a system — of a condition that is being dealt with and is exposing itself? His title is given but not his name; you have to go a long way back to get it.
JT You do not get the name of the captain on whom the king leaned either; both are representative of the system, as you say. It is to call attention to the helplessness of those in authority under these circumstances.
AC Why is this special attack aimed at Elisha? His life is threatened.
JT It brings out the wickedness of those in high stations; not that we would speak of such now, but of the principle of it, showing how untrustworthy unregenerate men in the most exalted stations are. Why did the king not blame himself? Instead, he would murder the man of God, by taking off his head. Beheading implies, I think, that the enemy is aiming at the wisdom of God that is there. Satan would get rid of that.
WGT How is it that in the first part of chapter 6 you get deliverance from the hand of the Syrian, but in the last part you get no deliverance?
JT Chapter 6 brings in resurrection, and is the completion of one subject. The bands of the Syrians did not invade Israel again; this is a great attempt of king Ben-hadad with all his army. The bands of Syrians coming in may be regarded, typically as partisan action, and not as a general attack as this is.
JS The earlier attacks were against the testimony as represented in the man of God (chapter 6:13,14). Here the king himself, while assuming a garb of repentance, would slay Elisha.
JT It is very important, as seeking to maintain [p. 237] things for God to keep this in mind — that persons in high stations cannot be relied upon. Deliverance must come in some other way.
JS The king’s captain was infidel.
WGT The king called Elisha “my father”, (chapter 6:21).
JT That was just outward recognition of his dignity. When the Lord was here, they called Him “Rabbi”, but it did not mean that there was any true faith in the persons who thus addressed Him. This captain is brought in at the end to show that God had not forgotten his unbelief in the mercy and power of God — that it met with His swift judgment “according to what the man of God had said”.
We should direct our attention to these four leprous men, because they are representative of Christians at the present time from the world’s standpoint, and therefore not in a complimentary way. From the standpoint of the children of wisdom, it is most complimentary. They arrive at the right course to pursue on the principle of analysing their surroundings; having considered the different avenues that might be taken, they finally decided on the only one through which there was any possibility of deliverance.
JS Would you say it is a good thing for us, as in like circumstances, to be able to analyse the situation?
JT We should take account of things and, by the process of spiritual reasoning, arrive at a decision as to the way out — for there is a way out for faith. God never allows His people to be definitely circumvented. “Our way not entirely shut up”, Paul says, (2 Corinthians 4:8); but then, the apostle would have to find that way through waiting on God.
JS Therefore if we move forward in considerate faith to meet difficulties, the Lord will show us a way out.
JT Exactly; as soon as we begin to move, God begins to move. It says, “And they rose up in the dusk to go to the camp of the Syrians; and they came to the extremity of the camp of the Syrians; and behold, there was no man there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, a noise of a great host; and they said one to 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”. It is in their moving toward the Syrians that God moved; they found the right way and took it. On arriving at that knowledge through a process of wise reasoning, and moving accordingly, we find that God acts for us.
JS He acts and overwhelms the enemy and they flee.
HSD God’s movements and the lepers’ movements synchronise.
WB-w Say a word about chapter 6:32 — “And Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him”.
JT We have noticed that already; they are not the sons of the prophets, but a development of them, so to speak, being elders. We have seen the sons of the prophets coming into the light of resurrection at the Jordan, but now we have elders, and they are with the prophet in his house. After chapter 6 the sons of the prophets are hardly noticed. One of them is employed to anoint Jehu, and is called a “young prophet”, (chapter 9:l).
WB-w Would the elders sitting with Elisha suggest counsel being taken?
JT I think so; we have in them the thought of experience.
JT They represent one side of our position, Elisha represents another, and the elders still another.
[p. 239] AC Would you emphasise the position of Elisha and the elders? The man of God knows to whom to look.
JT The light is with Elisha. He is sitting in his house. Deliberation is indicated. He knows the king as the son of a murderer, and can anticipate what he is going to do; he is perfectly cognisant of everything; and yet he does not bring about deliverance, for it is not that side here, although he prophesies that it is coming. God has other means of relief before Him.
AFM Do you think that side, as set forth in the lepers, has to be arrived at by us under such conditions?
JT I think it is a question of what we have now — the brethren together taking counsel as children of wisdom. Of course, we have the Scriptures and the Spirit of God, yet we arrive at the divine way on the principle of consideration of the conditions in which we may be. God values this in His people, and makes their decisions effective.
G.McP Why are they leprous men?
JT I think it is to bring out their relative position — that they were ostracised; they had no status at all.
AR Representing the public reproach of the testimony?
JT I think so. We all are leprous morally, for we are of no moral value to heaven unless we have arrived at that estimate of ourselves; and the more we realise it, the more outside the gate we are.
APT Why are there four lepers?
JT They represent something general or universal.
FHL They are unnamed.
JT What they represent is in view, not so much the persons. Here are these men, outside of the city gate, with no status at all, and yet deliverance comes through them! The more we accept our leprous [p. 240] condition (and only true Christians do), the more outside we are, and the less use people have for us.
GMcP Would it be akin to the Lord’s being found in Simon the leper’s house?
JT Pretty much; Simon was of that kind, and had that reputation. Spiritually, he was a confessed sinner. Paul said, speaking of himself, that he was the chief of sinners. It is most interesting to see the debating of these leprous men among themselves, as to what they should do. “If we say, Let us enter into the city, the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we abide here, we shall die. And now come, let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they put us to death, we shall but die”.
JS That was the way of faith.
JT Yes; but it is not put as though God showed them the way. It is not exactly, “This is the way, walk ye in it”, (Isaiah 30:21). It is arrived at inwardly by a process. First, there is a negative outlook with respect to entering the city, but that way cannot be taken. Many an exercised soul is baffled as to what he is going to do; he knows he is a sinner, but what is he to do to be forgiven? And many a Christian is baffled similarly as he looks around at the various religious organisations, and wonders if he will get food if he goes to this one or that one.
AC These four men are united in the way they move.
JT Yes; there is no division among them in judgment or action.
JS Would that be a moral outcome of the counsel with the elders in the previous chapter?
JT The elders were sitting with Elisha in his house, and there must be some spiritual link between them and those who take counsel in this way. If you transfer it to the present time, the brethren who accepted their leprous condition are outside;
[p. 241] they have intelligence and wisdom, and can confer together; they can look this way and that way and take neither. But they can reach a definite decision, like the lepers who said, “And now come, let us fall away to the camp of the Syrians; if they save us alive, we shall live”. They knew the Syrians could save them alive; that is to say, there is food and a means of sustenance there. “If they save us alive, we shall live”.
JS They reasoned and acted as wisdom’s children.
RDG Is it to their credit that they go out in the dusk?
JT I suppose it was part of the wisdom because the enemy was in view; we have, therefore, to move very carefully.
EB Would you say that the public position is like that of the four leprous men?
JT I think so. Do you not find yourself in reproach because you have accepted your place as leprous before God? People do not care for lepers, we well know. Referring again to Elisha, he was sitting in his house. That is another position; there he is in seclusion and dignity.
JS It is like “within the veil” (Hebrews 6:19), but “without the camp”, (Hebrews 13:13).
JT Yes; it is quite remarkable that Elisha is spoken of as having a house in those circumstances.
WB-w He could tell the time of the relief from the famine. He said, “To-morrow about this time”.
ANW The elders are with him in his house. Is the position a counterpart of that of the four leprous men?
JT I think so. Elisha is marked by the inside feature; when Naaman first went to him he was [p. 242] inside. He did not even go out, but sent a messenger to him.
AR Is this instance of the lepers to show that persons might get light as to the unscripturalness of religious systems, and yet have no food? Being outside in itself is not sufficient.
JT There must be movement. There is a spiritual touch in this, in that they moved in the right direction. It is a great thing to know of a place where people are saved alive. The Syrians did not save them alive, for they had left, but the means of sustenance was there. The apostle says, “concluding that the Lord had called us, ...”. (Acts 16:10); by consideration of what is presented, as subject, we find the way of life.
CAM I suppose after having looked death in the face, you are ready to meet the enemy; these men were really prepared to face the enemy on his own ground.
JT They were; but they find no enemy there, God had gone before them, and the enemy had fled.
ARS Is this like the strong man being vanquished and his goods spoiled?
JT Yes; it is God dealing with the enemy so that His people might live. Elisha in his house with the elders before him; he is morally in keeping with this movement of the lepers, in relation to whom God is acting so that there might be relief for all. There is instruction in this, bearing on the present time.
CN You are conveying to us the thought that as we are able to take in the position of Elisha and the elders, and connect them with the lepers, we shall find the way out.
JT Yes; there is a way out. We find it not by carelessly letting things go, but by carefully taking account of every phase of the position and in deciding what to do according to the wisdom that God gives us, and by putting into effect the decision arrived [p. 243] at.
JS It was an extreme exercise that the four leprous men went through, bringing in the morning of plenty.
JTJr May we not reckon on the noise of the chariots — on God’s acting?
JT Yes; we may reckon on God’s acting as we move according to the wisdom He gives us. Of course, He acts sovereignly, too.
JS God caused them to think they were being pursued, as seen in their garments and materials being left on the way of their flight.
JT Yes; the complete clearance of the enemy is very striking. You would think a rear-guard would watch the camp in military fashion; but there was not one left behind, showing the perfection of God’s intervention; the enemy was entirely routed.
AFM Is Jordan suggestive? They traced the Syrians as far as Jordan. Would that refer to the death of Christ?
JT It seems so; as seen in this book, the meaning of Jordan has to be arrived at. It means the power of death overcome by the power of God. The messengers see only “garments and materials” all the way to Jordan, but no Syrians. The ground is clear, and so we have “good tidings”; there is plenty of food.
FHL It is remarkable how God moved with the lepers; they rose at dusk, and the enemy fled in the dusk.
AR They spoke with one another about going out to the Syrians, but now they speak to one another about coming back.
JT We must note the kind of counsel they took in the midst of plenty. They were failing men, as we all are; they ate and drank, and took silver and gold and garments, and hid them. But they were capable of better thoughts. It is a pleasure to see a brother or a sister, who has acted unworthily, being [p. 244] capable of better thoughts and returning to those thoughts. These lepers said, “We are not doing right; this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace”. That side of the truth is presented in those four men.
AFM I suppose the eating and drinking were all right; it is right for us to appropriate so that our needs are met. It says that they ate and drank, and later became evangelists; is that the order?
JT Yes; they were living by eating and drinking, but the hiding of things was selfish; however, they judged that. God has great regard for people who judge themselves. If I say, I am doing something wrong, and confess it to God, He has great regard for that. These men, as judging themselves, became evangelists.
WGT They said, “the iniquity will find us out”. They were now morally right.
WB-w The enemy was easily frightened. They said that the king was hiring the Hittites and the Egyptians to fight against them.
JT It was false reckoning. These were probably not the ordinary Hittites left in Canaan, but a powerful people in the north, as were the Egyptians in the south. Why should the kings of those great nations hire themselves out to the king of Israel?
AD Why did they leave the horses and asses behind?
JT That they were left was part of the good tidings. Horses and asses are useful creatures; they can be employed in the testimony. You may be sure they were used later to carry the food into the city. It is said they were tied; they were thus available and do not represent what is lawless.
JS They were available for service connected with the glad tidings.
JT Yes; the Lord had need of the young ass tied in the village near [p. 245] Jerusalem.
CN Whom do these Syrians represent?
JT I suppose they represent the enemy in a governmental character. It is Ben-hadad king of Syria and all his army. You get the king’s name — it is a characteristic enemy.
CP The prophetic word at the beginning of the chapter exposes the infidel captain, and then the glad tidings at the end of the chapter corresponds with 2 Corinthians 2:16, “... to the one an odour from death unto death, but to the others an odour from life unto life”.
APT The king of Israel was a poor reasoner in view of this remarkable situation. He possessed no ability to take advantage of this God-given victory.
ARS He was, virtually, in the dark.
JT Although he made a pretence of godliness in having sackcloth within upon his flesh. He said here, in effect, “The Syrians are resorting to a ruse”, thinking he knew. His wisdom was of the kind the apostle refers to as “the wisdom of this world”, (1 Corinthians 3:19). Notice that in his reasoning he assumes that the Syrians would catch the Israelites “alive”; whereas, one of his servants rather intimates that there was not much evidence of life; the horses, as well as those left of Israel, were dying rather than living.
ANW It is interesting to see that the leprous men have life in mind; they say, “if they save us alive, we shall live”.
AR The Syrian horses and asses would represent, as was said, the colt of which the Lord had need; (Luke 19:31). It was ready for service.
AFM The basis of this plentiful supply in Samaria would be from the camp of the Syrians.
JT That is where the relief came from: “Out of the eater came forth food, And out of the strong came forth sweetness”, (Judges 14:14). Relief comes in as the enemy [p. 246] is overthrown.
WGT Has not the current stringency been brought in through a demoralised condition abroad, so that men are no longer able to think rightly? It is the kind of thinking which marked the king that is in the world today.
JT I think we should be impressed with that; and thinking powers of men have been unable to meet the situation. Administrative efficiency has broken down, and the Lord would say to us, “But ye shall not be thus”, (Luke 22:26). He has given us the power of right thinking. The four lepers had the power to reach a solution; they found a way out. It is a question of using the wisdom God has given us; Peter said, “I stir up, in the way of putting you in remembrance, your pure mind”, (2 Peter 3:1). That is an important thing, “your pure mind”. Paul speaks of renewing our minds. As children of wisdom, we shall not be circumvented; the way out may be a humiliating and a heart-searching one, as seen in these four men, but it will become a clear way to us. If the world is suffering, we ought not to expect to be immune from it, God intends this to be a heart-searching time for the saints. You can understand the heart-searchings of these four men, and as we transfer the idea to the Lord’s people, we become immense gainers.
AFM So that the solution of present difficulties in which we find ourselves lies in the saints coming to self-judgment and right action.
JT I believe as soon as that is reached there will be relief — as we take things home to ourselves, and go through the thing with God, as these men did. It says here, “And they said one to another, We are not doing right”. That is a word that ought to come home to every one of us.
FHL They had reached the extremity of the camp. How far would that take us?
JT [p. 247] They were beginning to enter into the sphere of plenty.
FHL The extremity of the camp would not go so far as Jordan.
JT No; it would not; but the lepers went through Jordan in principle when they took previous counsel, owning that death was on them. They were accepting death in going to the Syrian camp, but it was life. This indicates the divine way.
JTJr They realised, too, that their iniquity would be found out. They were judging in a moral way.
ANW Have you any idea about the order of the recovery of the spoil. They ate and drank, and carried away thence silver and gold and garments.
JT I think eating and drinking means that they were going to live; it is the way to life. Through want of something to eat, death was facing them; but in the camp of the Syrians there was abundance, and so it was a question of appropriating that first.
JS It no doubt helped them in their reasoning.
JT Yes; you can understand that when they had had something to eat, they could reason more clearly and definitely, for we eat to live. The silver and gold and garments would be right spiritually, but under those circumstances it was no time for hiding; and that brought out the reasoning. “And they came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence, and went and hid it”. That is the second time, but now they had a conscience about the hiding. They said one to another, “We are not doing right”. It is a fine thing, morally, when people come to that point.
WGT The principle of hoarding during a famine is a selfish one; it takes what is needed out of circulation.
ANW Their very instincts should have told them that what was in the camp was universal in its [p. 248] aspect; it was not for them only. The Christian knows that what he has in Christ is for all.
CP If life is brought in through food, testimony would follow that.
JT You feel that there was a moral thread in their fibre — the thread of righteousness — which is an important thing in evangelists; it gives them a good conscience.
AFM In order to preach the righteousness of God, we must do what is right.
JT You must have “put on the breastplate of righteousness”, (Ephesians 6:14).
WFK The gospel message is urgent; it cannot wait even for the “morning light”.
JT Quite so. It is to be proclaimed “in season and out of season”, (2 Timothy 4:2).
ANW Why does “iniquity” suggest itself?
JT It is to bring out the moral fibre, as has been said, so important in those who preach.
JTJr If we do not admit it, the government of God will bring it out.
JT Quite so; so it says, “if we tarry till the morning light, the iniquity will find us out; and now come, let us go and tell the king’s household. And they came and called to the porters of the city, and told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one there, no sound of man, but the horses tied, and the asses tied, and the tents as they were”. You can hardly conceive of anything more like the glad tidings than that report to Samaria, as under those terrible conditions.
RAL These four men had left the enemy’s camp and had come to the city.
JT They had already reached the sphere of life. There is no danger after you get to the sphere of life, having acted on God-given wisdom.
AC They used further wisdom in announcing it to the king’s household despite the fact that he was a murderer.
JT In telling the king’s household these men did what was right; it was the authoritative connection, for, after all, the king was king of Israel.
GMcP God was coming in for the city, too.
JT He was delivering the city, in mercy.
HSD Those glad tidings had effect; there was movement as a result. I suppose we cannot move others beyond the measure in which we are affected ourselves.
JT At the end of the chapter the Spirit of God goes back to the “captain”, so as to rebuke infidelity. We all are prone to unbelief as to God’s faithfulness, and so need this rebuke:
AR Will you say a word about these two kinds of food in verse 16, the fine flour and the barley.
JT I suppose they point to the Lord Jesus — the beautiful kind of humanity seen in Him. The meal cast into “the great pot” (2 Kings 4:38), is a cognate thought.
AFM Could not verse 9 be applied to our delinquency in evangelism?
JT I am sure it could.
ANW Mr. Darby said that if we cease to be evangelical the Lord will cease to be with us.
JS I suppose we see that Jehovah deals not only with the enemy outside, as seen in the Syrians, but with the enemy within. The captain came under God’s governmental dealing.
ANW The captain’s doom is like Mark 16:16 “He that disbelieves shall be condemned”. The Spirit dwells very much on the unbelief of this man.
JT The king leaned on him. It is like “modernism”.
JS Those publicly responsible in christendom today are leaning on [p. 250] modernism.
AFM We should not omit to present in the gospel the warning side to those remaining in unbelief; (John 8:24).
WGT In chapter 8 of this book we see Gehazi telling the king of the great things Elisha had done. He is with the king and no longer with Elisha.
JT He represents another modern element. Although no longer in the testimony — the leprosy of Naaman being upon him by the government of God — he can speak of past exploits.