FROM FAMINE TO FEAST
Scripture: AMOS 8:11, EPHESIANS 2:12, EZEKIEL 3:18, GENESIS 7:11, I CORINTHIANS 2:9, II KINGS 1:1-18, II KINGS 2:1-3, II KINGS 2:5-8, II KINGS 2:10-21, II KINGS 2:24-25, II KINGS 3:4-9
From Famine To Feast
James Merritt
II Kings 7
INTRODUCTION
1. What is the difference between a feast and a famine? Now your first response would be food, and, in one sense, you would be right. But I want you to learn an even greater difference.
The real difference between a feast and a famine is Faith.
2. Israel was under siege by the Syrian army. All supplies had been cut off. The nation was starving to death. There was no way out. There was no way of escape. They were vastly outnumbered by one of the most powerful armies in the world. So flight was impossible, and fight was out of the question - fright appeared to be the only option.
3. But Israel had forgotten two important things - the might of a Heavenly Father to provide a miracle, and the right of a holy faith to expect a miracle.
4. God did the unexpected and the impossible (He specializes in both). Sending an invisible angelic army, He causes the Syrian army to turn tail and run, leaving behind all of the food, money, and clothing the nation needed. Yet, no one would have ever known it if four lepers had not had the boldness and the temerity to discover what had happened, and to make it known. But because they did an entire nation went from famine to feast.
5. Now keep in mind that Old Testament miracles are like New Testament parables. They are earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. If you will look closely you will see yourself somewhere in this miracle.
I. The Soul That Requires Salvation
1. The nation was in serious trouble. Their predicament would make the Great Depression look like a Sunday School picnic.
A. They Were Hungry
1. "And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels ...
James Merritt
II Kings 7
INTRODUCTION
1. What is the difference between a feast and a famine? Now your first response would be food, and, in one sense, you would be right. But I want you to learn an even greater difference.
The real difference between a feast and a famine is Faith.
2. Israel was under siege by the Syrian army. All supplies had been cut off. The nation was starving to death. There was no way out. There was no way of escape. They were vastly outnumbered by one of the most powerful armies in the world. So flight was impossible, and fight was out of the question - fright appeared to be the only option.
3. But Israel had forgotten two important things - the might of a Heavenly Father to provide a miracle, and the right of a holy faith to expect a miracle.
4. God did the unexpected and the impossible (He specializes in both). Sending an invisible angelic army, He causes the Syrian army to turn tail and run, leaving behind all of the food, money, and clothing the nation needed. Yet, no one would have ever known it if four lepers had not had the boldness and the temerity to discover what had happened, and to make it known. But because they did an entire nation went from famine to feast.
5. Now keep in mind that Old Testament miracles are like New Testament parables. They are earthly stories with a heavenly meaning. If you will look closely you will see yourself somewhere in this miracle.
I. The Soul That Requires Salvation
1. The nation was in serious trouble. Their predicament would make the Great Depression look like a Sunday School picnic.
A. They Were Hungry
1. "And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels ...
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