A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

“And it all happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and
went up and besieged Samaria” (v. 24). Because of the physical features of the region where the
city had been built, a siege of the city was the only military strategy that had any hope of success
against Samaria. As the army of Syria cut off supplies entering the city, the resulting food
shortage drove up prices on even such undesirable items as the head of a donkey and the
droppings of doves. Things got so bad that mothers agreed to kill their children and eat their
carcasses to survive. As conditions worsened in the city, the king began blaming Elisha for the
invasion and subsequent problems. But when the prophet was confronted by the king and his
officers, Elisha simply responded that there would be an overabundance of food in the city the
next day. One of the king’s officers found that claim too incredible and rebuked Elisha. Elisha
assured him that he would see it come to pass but not eat any of the food.
What no one in the city realized was that God had done something unusual in the camp of
the Syrians. The Syrians had been caused to hear the noise of invading chariots and had fled the
camp in haste, fearing Israel’s allies had arrived to fight on their behalf. The empty camp of the
Syrians was not discovered until four lepers who had depended on the charity of Samaria came
up with their own survival plan (7:6-7).
When the famine hit Samaria, there was a food shortage in the city, which meant the
lepers outside the city were unable to get their usual scraps. Four such lepers concluded they
might be able to get food from the Syrian camp and determined to try their luck. They reasoned
the worst that could happen was they would be killed by the Syrians, which was much better than
dying the slow death of starvation that appeared inevitable. But when they came to the camp,
they found it abandoned. After partaking of the provisions themselves for some time, they
determined to tell those in the city what they had found. They returned to the city walls that same
night and told the gatekeepers what they had discovered (vv. 8-10).
When the retreat of the Syrians had been confirmed the next morning, the people
stampeded to plunder the Syrian camp. Though there was an attempt to keep things orderly, the
starving people of the city panicked and raced through the city gate to the food supply. The
king’s officer who had found the prophecy of Elisha too incredible the day before was trampled
to death in the process (v. 17).
The siege of Samaria would not be the last of Elisha’s dealings with the Syrians. Some
time later, Elisha himself made a trip to Damascus. Ben-Hadad was sick at the time and when he
heard Elisha was in town, he sent his servant Hazael to inquire of the prophet concerning the
sickness and to find out if he would recover. When Hazael asked Elisha, he received two
answers. “And Elisha said to him, `Go, say to him, “You shall certainly recover.” However the
Lord has shown me that he will really die’ “ (8:10). Then the prophet stared at Hazael and began
weeping.
When Hazael asked Elisha why he was weeping, the prophet answered that the Lord had
made him aware of the terrible acts of violence that Hazael would inflict on Israel when he
became king of Syria. Hazael objected to the prophecy, claiming he would never engage in such
gross activities. But the next day Hazael murdered Ben-Hadad. Elisha simply left the city, his
work there completed. “But it happened on the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it
in water, and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned in his place” (v. 15).