"why sit here until we die?"(pt.2)

And while he was still talking with them, there was the messenger , coming down to him; and then the king said,"Surely this calamity is from the Lord; why should I wait for the Lord any longer?" Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: 'Tomorrow about this time a seah (about 7 quarts) of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.'" So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said,"Look, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And he ( Elisha) said, "In fact, you shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

2 Kings 6:33 & 7: 1-2

(NKJV)

"Hear the Word of the Lord."

In the last post, I presented for thought, the parallels between the condition of Israel, in Elisha's day, and presently, in our nation. The trials and troubles that we are experiencing, not only as people of this nation, but also mankind all over the world, should serve to remind us, how desperate our human condition is. We, especially in this nation, should realize that, the freedom we have no matter what the state of our economy is, we are still better off than any other nation in the world. We have been blessed as a nation, due in no small part to the Faith of our founding fathers. Their premise, "In God we trust". But over our short history, we have abandoned that premise, whether from outside influence, or our own pride. Pride that says,"I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing..." I don't say these things as political criticism, nor to unbelievers, but to the household of God. The Church.

I say them, to bring awareness to the spiritual state of the world. The things that we have seen, are but writings on the wall, of the things to come. The Church is called to be light and salt, to the world. To bring awareness, preservation to the true purpose of life, relationship with the Lord. But instead of influencing the world around us, the world has, by and large, influenced the Church to a greater degree. In today's text, we see the man of God, addressing the issue of the famine in the land. God often used sieges, diseases, natural disasters, and famine to bring His people to repentance. We see Elisha bringing the Word of the Lord, stating that relief from the famine is coming. He states that tomorrow, commodities will once again be accessible. Instead of rejoicing, and praising the Lord for His provision, His word is met with doubt, possibly with sarcasm, as the officer questioned whether God could do such a thing. I find it ironic, how the king blames God for this calamity, and his "right hand man" sarcastically disputes that God is able to end it. The Word from God foretold that food would be readily available, tomorrow.

Israel had a wrong perception of this whole situation, instead of realizing their sin and repenting, they blamed God and doubted the Word of the Lord. Thinking it was a trap of the Syrians, they trusted their own ways for checking the situation out. The relief from the famine, wasn't a result of God blessing His people because of their repentance. It was a display of His miraculous power, to honor His Word, and show His mercy and loving kindness. That should lead to repentance. But wickedness and and spiritual bankruptcy in the leadership, led to God's judgement returning not too long after. How similar we are today.

Instead of believing the Word of the Lord, and trusting His ways, current leadership relies on their own thoughts and ways. The government today, also relies on man made means and methods. Instead of seeking God's will, wisdom, and direction, as our founding fathers did.They lean on secular knowledge and misinformation. This leads to wrong decisions, and outcomes that are leading our country,down the proverbial dark path, socially, financially and most of all spiritually. As a people, we have never been in more of a spiritual decline than today. The decades of the desensitization process, that I mentioned in the last post, has shifted our focus, and our dependence, from God, to government.

As it was with Israel, as long as commodities are available, and our needs are met, we continue in this spiritual status quo. "Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing- and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked..."(Rev. 3:19), spiritually self- deluded. In spite of what we may think, the Church is not exempt from this trap. Revelation 3:14-22, is the Lord, speaking to the Laodicean church, the lukewarm church, the last church He addresses. It is a harsh rebuke, and chastenning, but not without Grace extended. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous, and repent."(v:19). He ends this message to them, as He did to all the previous churches addressed in chapters 2&3, by saying, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches".

So, Household of Faith, I encourage you to look around, at the national and world situations, and realize that there is only one answer for all of this, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Pray once again, let the fire burn within us, let us repent of our indifference to a lost and dying world, and share the answer. Let each one of us search our hearts, seek His Face and, "Here the Word of the Lord".