II Kings 7: 1Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
Here is some background. The king of Israel was wicked. Israel was suffering. They were in the shape America is now, much of it due to lack of morality. Israel always had enemies, but as long as they followed the Lord he fought for them. When they forgot God he allowed other nations to invade. Benhadad, King of Syria, invaded the middle part of the nation and surrounded the city of Samaria to starve the people out. The devil uses many tactics. Benhadad knew if Samaria fell he could get the north and south of the nation. The siege went on and on. Food got scarce. People were trapped and the only thing they saw to do was give in. Don’t become part of the world again no matter how hard it gets. Remember God is above it all. Instead of turning to God Israel turned the other way. They were eating manure. In Chapter 6 we see some boiling and eating their own children.
We need to hold on and wait on the Lord. There is no need to surrender, no need to get desperate. There is no need to give up. Maybe the people needed to lose a little weight. What we need is what they needed—just to wait on God. Instead of turning to God, the king of Israel blamed God and the people of God. For some reason Christians are a threat to society now days. The devil is whispering in the ears of many. We just need to keep trusting God.
Elisha told the king that by that time the next day prices would drop. God was going to send a noise that would scare the Syrians enough for them to leave their camp and its goods. The promises of God are still good to claim. Have faith. With God all things are possible. When one of the king’s advisors heard the words of Elisha he said if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? He showed what kind of person he was. Our trials show whether we’re all-weather or fair-weather Christians.
In the book of Isaiah, God asked if he had no power to deliver. Think of the power God has. The people in Isaiah’s day were like the people in Elisha’s day. They wanted to blame someone else instead of themselves. If we’ll hold on, the Lord will deliver. Malachi spoke the words of the Lord and said to try him and see if he wouldn’t open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings we couldn’t receive. He was the same God then as now. Jesus said for us to ask and we would receive, seek and we would find.
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts or his ways our ways. We can’t judge God for not moving like we think he should. Stores have open and closed hours. When closed you can’t get in. Heaven is not that way. God isn’t only open certain hours and closed when we need him. Heaven doesn’t have a closed sign. It has a Door—Jesus Christ. There is no other way to get in. Because Jesus is at the right hand of God, the sign is open. Because the Door is not closed, the windows are not closed. If the people had prayed instead of eating their children, the Lord would have worked. They looked at heaven as a closed place and God as one who wouldn’t let them have their way.
I know we get besieged at times. Don’t you dare give in. God has never hurt us. He always helps. IF God would make windows? Of course there are windows and they are waiting to be opened for us. It depends on what we do with the Door.
This man said the wrong thing. Elisha told him he’d see it come to pass, but he wouldn’t eat. When people discovered the Syrians were gone and food was abundant, this man was sent to the gate to control the flow of people. Everyone was so excited they trampled him to death. The same thing happened to the king. It tells us to believe the Lord.
It doesn’t matter how many or how few. God is able. Don’t trust in self. Trust in God. He can deliver us out of our trouble.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 