by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him? And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer? 2 Kings 6:24-34

Our text for today is taken from 2 Kings 6:24-34.

In the day that word of the Lord said, those who know their God shall be strong and shall do great exploits, but those same people who should know their God have substituted Him with their earthly rulers. For every trouble they faced, and for the failure of their substitute “God,” their only recourse was blame and the curses rained upon the hapless ruler. Our text very much reveals this. Will a people not turn to their God, except that they have turned their back to Him!

From irritation to anger, the confused ruler(s) will turn upon the spiritual leadership in the land who have left their duty post. Totally disconnected from the reality of the people, they remain coy in their exclusive fellowships. But for the mercy of God, many will pay with their lives for failing to provide direction and comfort to the disenfranchised. Yet, if they will arise with the rod of authority granted them, which they have used, they will see the power of God at work again. Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead … (Ephesians 5:14 AMPC). This is the word of the Lord. Selah.

Photo by Jehyun Sung on Unsplash