Famine in Samaria

Famine in Samaria

After a brief moment of peace and prosperity for Israel, they were once again thrust into turmoil as Ben-Hedad besieged the city causing severe famine for Samaria. Food became so scarce that women were eating their children. Furious, the King sent for Elisha to be killed. When the King's Commander arrived to lure him out, he received word from Elisha of God’s miraculous deliverance. But, the Commander did not believe the Words of God, and so he would not live to enjoy the blessing.

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2 Kings 6:28
In the last reading, we heard how God blinded the soldiers of Aram who had surrounded Elisha the prophet. Elisha had seen God’s army there to protect him and had not wavered in his faith despite the enemy at his doorstep. When they saw how God worked through Elisha to bring peace between Israel and Aram, as Israel showed mercy and kindness to the enemy and did not kill even when doing so would have been easy and within their rights. Today we’ll turn to an event that’s truly hard to fathom. A famine so intense and the people are so desperate that they turn to unspeakable acts and commit a sin so grievous in a desperate attempt to stay alive.
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