2 Kings 6:24-33 ESV

24 Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. 26 Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!” 27 And he said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” 28 And the king asked her, “What is your trouble?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes—now he was passing by on the wall—and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body— 31 and he said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today.”

32 Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?” 33 And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?”

A DESPERATE KING.
The next siege of Samaria by the Syrian king Behadad was significantly more serious. There was a severe famine so that “a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.” One woman was even prompted to do the unthinkable. She resorted to cannibalism, eating her own son with another woman. She complained that this woman hid her son when it was the time to et her son also. Definitely, there are times that physical hunger may overrule one’s morality. Physical hardships may drive people to neglect moral values and do the unimaginable.

When the king of Israel knew this predicament of the two mothers, he felt helpless. He said, “If the Lord will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” Only the Lord could provide needs. And the king seemed to recognize this by his mourning and wearing of sackcloth.

The king should have waited the Lord but he became impatient. His impatience had led him to blaming Elisha, thereby blaming God. He blamed Elisha for not taking action. This is strange to somebody who invoked the name of God. Does he believe that that the prophet has in control of their own and their destinies? Is removing Elisha would solve the problem?

In this time of pandemic, are we desperate as the king of Israel? However, are we like him who is frustrated for His silence and inaction? The mixed multitude did the same to Moses when they were trapped before the Red Sea.

Let us always remember that God wants us to trust Him and not our notion. Prov 3:5-6 says;
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.”

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