Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 8, No. 27
“The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” answered Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it!”” (2Kings 7:2NIV)
One of the things we must train ourselves to do is to be careful of what we say when we are around those who have been well established as true servants of God. It may be, in fact, best for us to be altogether quiet when we are with them than to say something untoward. That is because anything unprofitable we say around them may just be the different between life and death or success and failure for us.
For example, as we see in our opening bible text, an officer of the king of Israel once said something unprofitable in the presence of prophet Elisha. And what he said cost him his life and an experience of the goodness of God.
What exactly happened? Well, as the account goes, there had been a famine in the land of Israel that was so severe that people were eating their own babies. And when news of this got to the king, he suddenly woke up and remembered that there was a man of God in the land that could have spoken to God on their behalf. But instead of going to meet him in humility and asking him to intercede on behalf of the land, it was a death threat that he sent to him. (Cf. 2Kings 6:24-33)
Now that is typical of unspiritual and irresponsible leaders. First, they will not wake up to respond to the yearnings of their people until the crises of the people are brought to their doorsteps. Then even when they are eventually confronted with the magnitude of the distress of their people, they will not admit that they are responsible for it. Instead, they will look for someone else to blame, someone else to make the scapegoat for their irresponsibility.
Well, in spite of this king’s irresponsibility, God, in His mercy, still ministered to Prophet Elisha for the people. He gave him a word for them that there was going to be a supernatural supply of food and other good things that would totally eradicate the famine the following day. According to him, the supply would be so abundant and unbelievable that people would not need much money to get food for themselves. (Cf. 2Kings 7:1)
Now what did the king say in response to that? Nothing! Why did he say nothing? It was because what he heard was totally unbelievable. But then, since he knew Elisha to be a true man of God, one whose words had never failed or fallen to the ground, he just held his peace, hoping that what he had heard would actually come to pass. However, his closest officer would not act like him. He would not hold his peace or keep his unbelief to himself.
So, he told the man of God to go to hell. He told him that even if God were to open the floodgates of heaven and rain down food, as He did for the Israelites in the wilderness, the kind of abundance he had prophesied could never happen. Why did he speak like that? It was must have been because he wanted to prevent the man of God from giving the king and the people false hopes.
Unfortunately for him, the man of God told him that he would actually witness that abundant miraculous supply of God but would not enjoy it. And that was exactly what happened to him. He did witness the abundant miraculous supply of food and other kinds of good things that Elisha had prophesied about. But he lost his life while he was trying to manage that supply. What a shame! (Cf. 2Kings 7:17-20)
What is the point of this? It is that even where we do not believe or are struggling to believe a prophecy of an acclaimed servant of God, we should just keep our unbelief to ourselves. We should not spread it or infect other people with it. And I am not referring to a case in which a so-called servant of God is saying something that is entirely contrary to what is in the bible and misleading people.
In that case, we have a duty to warn people against his lie or error. That way, we will be good ministers of Christ that have been well brought up in the truth (1Tim 4:6).
But where our reason for not believing what a servant of God has said is simply that it is contrary to common sense and not to the word of God, we should keep our unbelief to ourselves and let God Himself prove that person to be telling the truth or lying. Otherwise, if we should voice out our unbelief and infect others with it, God’s judgment is what will surely follow, if such a servant of God happens to be telling the truth. Who, then, knows how He will judge?
So, mind yourself.
Copyright © 2025, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to pastor@abcministryng.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 08146472876)