Famine in Besieged Samaria

Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels [a] of silver, and a quarter of a cab [b] of seed pods [c] for five shekels. As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, "Help me, my lord the king!"As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, "Help me, my lord the king!" The woman told him,"This woman said to me, 'Give up your son so we may eat him today, and tomorrow we'll eat my son.' So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, 'Give up your son so we may eat him,' but she had hidden him."
THAT'S CREEEPY!!!!!!!!!! To kill you're son so that you can EAT!? Was the hate in that land THAT bad? To kill you're son, then eat him?

When the king heard the woman's words, he tore his robes. As he went along the wall, the people looked, and there, underneath, he had sackcloth on his body. He said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!"
Why was it Elisha's fault? Apparently it wasn't, cuz Elisha didn't die. But then why did Ben Hadad think so?

The company of the prophets went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.

Now the king of Aram was angry withh Elisha and wanted to kill him. So they surrounded the town Elisha was in. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked. "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
Elisha told them, "This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for." And he led them to Samaria.
After they entered the city, Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see." Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?"
"Do not kill them," he answered. "Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master." So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory.

I like how Elisha not only helps with people with big problems, but he also helps out with small things as well, like in the first story. That was just amazing how he can have the power to say, make these people blind', or, 'allow him to see, and God will do it.

I am back in second kings 5. Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. [a] Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy."
Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents [b] of silver, six thousand shekels [c] of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy."
As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!"
When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Namaan was mad. WHY?????????? God's giving him a chance to be restored to a hope and future and he's MAD!If anything I would be happy to be cured of disease
Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. Finally Naaman believed.

I cared for you in the desert, in the land of burning heat. When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. So I will come upon them like a lion, like a leopard I will lurk by the path. The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open."
Hosea 14

Repentance to Bring Blessing

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. [e] Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."
"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;
his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. Men will dwell again in his shade. He will flourish like the grain. He will blossom like a vine, and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon.
O Ephraim, what more have I [f] to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me." Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

I like how God is always eager to forgive anyone, even the worst people you could imagine.

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans. "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah?How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.
I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man— the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath. [c]
They will follow the LORD; he will roar like a lion. When he roars, his children will come trembling from the west.
They will come trembling like birds from Egypt, like doves from Assyria. I will settle them in their homes," declares the LORD.

Does that mean he wouldn't punish them?

The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah; he will punish Jacob [a] according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.

Now this is getting really confusing.It seems that in all those chapters He talks about destroying them - then he has compassion, then he goes back to saying how much Israel has sinned.

But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always. The LORD used a prophet to bring Israel up from Egypt, by a prophet he cared for him.
But Ephraim has bitterly provoked him to anger, his Lord will leave upon him the guilt of his bloodshed and will repay him for his contempt.

Hosea 9-10

Even if they escape from destruction, Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.Their treasures of silver will be taken over by briers, and thorns will overrun their tents.....They have sunk deep into corruption, as in the days of Gibeah. God will remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins. What are the the days of Gibeah that it's mentioned like that? "When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved. So God said that they were like grapes in the desert, and then they turned away from Him, and became as bad as what they loved. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious..... Samaria and its king will float away like a twig on the surface of the waters....Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me.
They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds. They gather together [a] for grain and new wine but turn away from me.
I trained them and strengthened them, but they plot evil against me.
They do not turn to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword because of their insolent words. For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.

I like how God made it clear that he still loves them and wants to redeem them, but they turn away.I think we find ourselves in that situation way too often.

Israel cries out to me, 'O our God, we acknowledge you!'

We find ourselves doing that way to often to, 'Okay God we will praise you - if I don't have to do this and that.'

Throw out your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity?
They are from Israel! This calf—a craftsman has made it; it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria.

Now God's working to get it through their heads that it's a statue. I always find it strange that they bowed down to idols, yet God also has to get through our heads so many obvious things to.

Hosea 4 - 6

So God is saying the charge against Irael and what they are doing. But he says that Judah won't come to ruin."Though you commit adultery, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty."

Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

In the next chapter it says,

Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water.

That doesn't make any sense. First God wants to spare Judah then he wants his wrath to come upon them!

Hoea 1 - 3

Mom has given me an assighnment to read Hosea.

2 When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." 3 So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

So he has a prostitute wife and now he's got a son.

4 Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. 5 In that day I will break Israel's bow in the Valley of Jezreel."
6 Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the LORD said to Hosea, "Call her Lo-Ruhamah, [b] for I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. 7 Yet I will show love to the house of Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but by the LORD their God."
8 After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. 9 Then the LORD said, "Call him Lo-Ammi, [c] for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

So now this poor guy has a prostitute wife, and three sons that probably don't even belong to him. Later his wife runs off and gets married to someone else. The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes." Truthfully, if I were him, I'd be boiling over, and probably saying something like this: 'Okay, God, she just got married to someone else!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aparrently she doesn't want me, and don't want her either! God, I give up!' But Hosea knew better, and aparently. had an extreme amount of patience. He devoted his life to be an example to the people.

Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men."
One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it.
Elisha said, "Get some flour." He put it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there was nothing harmful in the pot. How did they know it was poisonous?

Elisha also feeds a hundred people, restores someone to life, and helps a widow repay her debts.
Jesus must have granted the wish for him to be twice as wise as Elijah.

After Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel. He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: "The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?" "I will go with you," he replied. "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."
"By what route shall we attack?" he asked. "Through the Desert of Edom," he answered.
So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.
"What!" exclaimed the king of Israel. "Has the LORD called us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?"
But Jehoshaphat asked, "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?" An officer of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. [c] "
Jehoshaphat said, "The word of the LORD is with him." So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What do we have to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother." "No," the king of Israel answered, "because it was the LORD who called us three kings together to hand us over to Moab."
Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you. But now bring me a harpist." While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha and he said, "This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones."
The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was—water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.
Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to fight against them; so every man, young and old, who could bear arms was called up and stationed on the border. When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites across the way, the water looked red—like blood. "That's blood!" they said. "Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other. Now to the plunder, Moab!"

• Of course, Isreal attacked and Moab fell. I like how Elisha said that what God did was so easy, that God would also prove that he was God by winning the battle for them! I wonder how Joram the king took to this. According to the Bible he was an evil man.