The Four Lepers

2 Kings 6:24

It was bitter darkness. The kind of darkness that looms deep in the soul, when you know that all is lost. It is the final scene of all great trials, when there is no light shining. These are the stories which encourage us to keep moving forward when there is no reason to. This is the power of hope. The people in the Bible encounter a hardship manyfold anything we have endured and yet God shows up. God is good and life is tough; these are the facts we all must wrestle with.

Let us begin with the curtain opening to the rocky desert capital city Samaria. It currently under siege by the Arameans. It has been three months with no message from any of Israel’s allies. Leading to a severe famine in the land and the king beginning to doubt whether the God of Israel is going to save them. The famine has become so severe that mothers are resorting to desperate measures. In a dingy dark shack with only one ray of light, a gruesome pact is made between two of these mothers.

“It’s agreed then. I kill mine today and you will kill yours tomorrow” one says.

“Yes. Yes of course” the other replies handing her a knife.

With a little bit of meat, they may survive for a day longer. But when their bellies once again cried out, the remaining mother reneged on the deal. In her betrayal the first mother runs to the wall of the king’s palace to cry for justice. She sacrificed so that others may live, yet there is no one in the kingdom willing do the same. But the king refuses to help her. The king can only wander his palace pleading with a god he hates and who has abandoned him.

In this very city is the great prophet Elisha. He is meeting with some of the leaders and as they are talking Elisha interrupts the conversation.

“Someone is on their way to kill me right now. Bar the Door!” he says.

Just then, there is banging on the door demanding that he be handed over. The counsel looks at each other and then to Elisha.

“What do we do now?” ask one dirty faced warrior.

“If they kill you, Elisha, we are all doomed.” says another.

Rising slowly Elisha grabs the staff his master had left to him when God whisked him away in a flaming chariot. It is a weapon from long ago and a more civilized era. Going to the door, he opens it slowly, but an unseen force throws back the soldiers sent to retrieve him.

“Lower your weapons… I will speak to the king.” And he leads the way with the soldiers keeping their distance.

“What do you want?” He asks.

“Your God isn’t doing his job and there is going to be a change in management” The king snaps.

“You’re out and I want your head to show that I mean business. Maybe that will appease Baal enough to get us out of this mess.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Elisha softly tells the king. “This time tomorrow it will all be over and there is going to be a giant feast”.

A court adviser standing next to the king laughs, “You’re a crazy old fool! -Just kill him my Lord.”

Elisha turns to the advisor and calmly pronounces his death sentence, “And you’re going to be dead tomorrow too”.

Elisha does not need to say anything more. As a prophet, if his is lying he will be put to death tomorrow. Call it an occupational hazard. But when you are speaking for the creator of the universe; you better be sure you heard him correctly. So, the king lets him go. This siege has been going on for months now, what is one more day’s wait to kill some old crank. As Elisha walks out the door, the king turns to the aide and says “This just makes my job easier, the people are going to tear this guy apart for me”.

Meanwhile, just outside the city gates are four sorely wretched men. One of them is missing his nose. The other is missing most of his fingers. The other two have some broken bones and burns. All of them smell and are covered in rags. Joseph, the oldest of the four, says “Look boys, we are going to die if we stay here.” Another one Sam, the one without the nose, says “Why don’t we go over to those Arameans? If they kill us…so what? We are dead men walking anyhow.” Joseph replies, “That’s about as good an idea I have heard in a long time, this city is dust tomorrow anyways”.

It takes the four men a while to get up and start moving. It’s not that each step hurts. The burns on their feet don’t bother them and the couple of toes missing don’t really bother them either. They lost all feeling a long time ago. It’s just that their bodies don’t work like they used too and moving is very slow.

Far away on the side of the enemy lines, King Hadad of the Arameans is preparing for his dinner. He is a disgusting man. Fat from the spoils of too many easy victories. His legs are beginning to suffer from that most royal of diseases, gout. His men are all lounging about, content to wait a few more days for another easy victory. This time over the capital city, which means that they will all be going home soon. This siege business is so boring and it has led many of them to forget about the actual business of soldiering. ‘It’s almost dinner time’ King Hadad thinks to himself, ‘I’m going to destroy that pig roast.’ He leans back on his pillow, downing another goblet of wine.

A skinny, lone sentry working the outside of the camp throws a rock at jug to pass the time. Missed again. The stone bounces up and he drops the other rock he is holding. There in the distance. ‘No…It can’t be.’ He thinks to himself. His mind races. His legs try to catch up as he runs to tell his commander of the approaching army almost upon the camp. They can see the cloud of dust from the chariots. Egyptians most likely, but maybe Hittites. Either way from the sound of the horses and chariots there are a lot of them.

The sun has fallen below the horizon and as the dust cloud approaches; the Arameans can’t be away far enough, fast enough. Maybe the spoils from camp and the darkness of the desert will save their lives as they flee back toward home.

The four men plod onward, away from the city and the last of the sun’s light turns the brown desert powder into a blood red haze. Each step makes a soft clop like that of a tired old mare. Each one kicking up a puff of dirt. Behind them the vast army of the Lord, huge men made of brilliant light, takes this clop and reverberates it like the rumble of a whirlwind . With each bit of dust the men kick up the army increases it making a giant sandstorm. All slowly advancing toward the Aramean camp. The four men have their heads bowed low from hunger and fatigue. Not one of them notice the massive cloud following close behind them.

Its eerily quiet as they hobble into the camp. No one is there. All of the dinner is prepared and the tents are strewn with the riches of a conquering army, but no one is to be found. Joseph looks at his hungry friends with a new sense of energy, shouting out, “Well boys, eat up!!!” They run from tent to tent eating food and grabbing golden goblets. Its unlike anything they have seen before. Suddenly Sam stops. “Guys, this ain’t right” he says “There are families starving back in the city. If we don’t tell them… We are just as evil as the army which was here.” They all know he’s right.

It was almost morning by the time they arrived back to the city gates and tell the guard about the camp. The king doesn’t believe them, but everyone is so hungry. One of his aides suggest, “Sire, perhaps we send the last of our horses out to check”. “Fine” the king quickly replies. Maybe after they return, he can finally kill that damn prophet.

It’s less than an hour when the horsemen returns at a full gallop. By now, everyone in the city has heard the news and a huge crowd is gathered by the city gates. “ITS TRUE! ITS TRUE!” he yells. The guards struggle to hold back the crowd and soon they too are at a full sprint toward the encampment. Elisha is one of the last to leave the city as the king stands glaring at him from the palace steps. As he walks out, he pauses to poke a body lying still by the gate with his staff. It’s the lifeless body of the king’s aide with foot prints all over it. The crowd trampled him to death. Elisha shakes his head, “The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways” he says to himself as he walks out into the desert.

Who knows how God works? It is worth observing that in this story, God let it get so bad for the Israelites they were eating each other. Elisha is passive in saving the city, its only when the king is going to kill him that he responds. The real heroes do not even know they are heroes. He uses the least of the society to bring his victory. Four simple outcasts with a highly contagious disease, who remember that it is good to share with those also suffering. I think this is our lesson. You do not know if you are a hero or not; but you do know what right and wrong is and sharing abundance is a heroic act in Christ’s kingdom.