1. II Kings 7:13-14. A very difficult passage. What is being proposed?

The King of Israel (Jehoram) has just been informed that the Syrian camp, besieging Samaria for some time, to the point of awful starvation and even cannibalism, has abandoned their tents and left incredible amounts of food and treasure behind.

The king is suspicious. He thinks it is a trick. He believes the Syrian commander is only hiding somewhere, and, knowing that the city-dwellers are hungry, he will swoop down on them when they enter the Syrian Camp.

A slave of the king makes a suggestion similar to the one made by the four lepers who first made the discovery of the abandoned camp: we’re going to die one way or another, so let’s take a chance. We have a few horses left in the city that have not succumbed to hunger. Get a couple chariots attached to them. Bring them into the camp to see if they are attacked. They can suffer no worse fate than the multitudes that have already perished from hunger.

So it was. Two bedraggled drivers pulled by two bedraggled teams of horses left the city and approached the camp. Their courage paid off.

2. II Kings 10:31. Why did Jehu do such a mighty work against Ba’al, if his heart was not really for God?

Here is a sad question. A seriously important question. And one of those questions again to which we know, in our hearts, the answer. Especially recognizable is this Jehu condition to those who have served for any length of time in Christian ministry.

I say “ministry”, knowing it has so many definitions. I speak here of preaching, teaching, public sorts of endeavors meant to broadcast the Word of God to believers and the lost. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

The trouble is that ministry gets into the hands of those whose heart is not right with God, and turns into quests for power and glory and riches. Much good is done. The ministers are effective, successful. And they receive their reward. Here.

But see them in their private life, and it is not as pretty a picture. The ministry is their profession, but Christ is not their life. They love their escape from things Christian, and they spend those times in the world’s activities. They bring their sense of “liberty” to new heights as they indulge in carnality of every sort. When not “working”, they appear to be just as much a part of this world as any one of their neighbors.

The warning to us here is clear. Yes, it is good to fight the Lord’s enemies and defeat them. But if the enemy of our soul is not also being fought on a personal level, the end is a tragic one.

3. II Kings 13:19. Why was Elisha angry with Joash for only striking the ground three times? How could Joash know what was being asked of him?

Elisha could see beyond the seeming disinterest of the King in this strange exercise, to a lack of zeal on Joash’s part for the victories God Himself wanted to win for Israel. A disinterested leader brings the people to a serious end. Elisha could see that the Syrians would be a constant threat to Israel, yet the King was content to limit Israel’s victory over them.