Yesterday we finished with a desperate mother and a frantic king. The famine was so great in the land that there was actual cannibalism. Because King Jehoram blamed the prophet Elisha for the siege, he said (6:31), “God do so and more also to me if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day.”

When the king’s entourage came to Elisha, the mighty prophet of God had a fresh word from the Lord and we read this in today’s verse.

In other words, within 24 hours God was going to bring an end to the famine and the siege. One of King Jehoram’s trusted officers said cynically, “If the Lord would make windows in heaven might this thing be?” Elisha promised, “Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.”

From the prophet’s house, the scene shifts to the city gate where four leprous men lay. Like the rest of the people of Samaria, they are starving.

Because of their hideous disease, they are not even allowed inside the city. They know they have little strength left. They know that soon they will be too weak to move so they ask, “Why sit we here until we die?” So, they survey their options:

They reasoned, “If they keep us alive [feed us] we shall live; and if they kill us we shall only die.” They thought it would be better to eat in prison than starve in freedom. Hang with me, for tomorrow all of these last few days will make sense. Remember though, God still provides even when we are desperate or frantic.