The Lord will fight for you

2 Kings 7:1-20 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.’” ² 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.”

³ 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? ⁴ 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.” ⁵ 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. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Arameans to hear a sound of chariots and a sound of horses, eventhe 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.” ⁷ 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. ⁸ 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.

⁹ 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.” ¹⁰ 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.” ¹¹ The gatekeepers called and told it within the king’s household.¹² 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.’” ¹³ One of his servants said, “Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left ^[y]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.” ¹⁴ They took therefore two chariots with horses, and the king sent after the army of the Arameans, saying, “Go and see.”

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ 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.” ²⁰ And so it happened to him, for the people trampled on him at the gate and he died.

In today’s text we see an account of God delivering a city from what seemed to be an unwinnable despaerate situation. It says:    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, eventhe 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… 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.   This was not the first time God fought and won the battle for His people. In Exodus 12:36, when God freed the Israelites from captivity in Egypt, it says:  The Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.  Later when the army of Egypt pursued them, in Exodus 14:13-14 Moses said:   “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”   God delivered the Israelites through the Red Sea, parting the waters so they could pass through on dry land, but when the army pursued the waters closed over them. God fought for and delivered them from their enemy.

There are other accounts too, of battles won completely by the Lord. Additionally there are times when against overwhelming odds, God helped His people obtain victory over more powerful enemies. In the battle of Jericho, God caused the walls of the city to come down. Gideon, with only three hundred men was able to win a victory over a large and powerful enemy. David, a shepherd boy, defeated Goliath, a giant warrior. Over and over we see that God fights for and delivers His people from difficult situations. How many times, in our own lives, has God fought and won for us? We need to remember those victories with thanksgiving and praise. We need to recognize, and heed what Moses said:    “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians (enemies) whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” 

In addition to all the times we can recognize the hand of God in our lives, we should also consider the many times He has delivered us from situations and circumstances we were not even aware of; like times we were running a little late, but just avoided a horrific accident. How often have the unseen hands of God or His angels protected us without our knowing? Of this too we should be thankful. Romans 8:31;35-39 says:  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.    Even among all the great things God has done, by far the greatest victory we have been given by God, is the victory Jesus won for us on the cross. On the cross, Jesus said “It is finished.” (John 19:30) He won the victory for us. We, who could not stand against sin on our own, were given the victory over sin and death on the cross. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 says:  “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” …  thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  If Christ died so that we could live, how much more will He continue to fight for us? In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   By the cross; by the blood of Jesus, we can overcome whatever tribulation we face, because in Christ, “It is finished.”  He has already overcome the world.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for all the victories You have given me over my enemies. Thank You for both what I have seen and also for Your unseen hand of deliverence. I know that You are for me and nothing can separate me from Your love. Thank You most of all for the greatest victory of all; that You conquered sin and death, on my behalf. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may I walk each day in the fullness of the finished work of the cross.   Amen.