LESSON FROM THE FOUR LEPERS by Sunnypraiz

 

Theme: LESSON FROM THE FOUR LEPERS

Text: 2 Kings 7:3-20

³ And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?

⁴ If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

⁵ And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

⁶ For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

⁷ Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.

⁸ And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.

⁹ Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.

¹⁰ So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.

¹¹ And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.

¹² And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.

¹³ And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

 

The story of the four lepers at the entrance of the gate of Samaria is one lesson to learn but before that let establish something about leprosy and the leper, what It means.

 

Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by a type of bacteria, Mycobacterium leprae. The disease predominantly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. Left untreated, the disease may cause progressive and permanent disabilities.

A leper is someone suffering from leprosy. Who are always quarantined from the midst of others to prevent spread of the disease.

 

Note: these four lepers in our bible verse were quarantined out of midst of their brethren, from the camp of other because of the deformity in their body but was not deterred by it.

 

Lesson to learn from the Four Lepers at the gate of Samaria.

1.      Unity: Unification is key in all spheres of human life; King David having known the power of Unity wrote in Psalm 133 “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in Unity!” the power of unity can never be over – emphasized because where there’s unity success of anything that the people set their mind to do or achieve are all done and achieved seamlessly. Remember the sons of Babel and the tower wit oneness of mind have agreed to build a tower that will reach up to heaven Genesis 11. Can two (2) walk together unless they be agreed? Amos 3:3 “Absolutely NO” there’s a saying “a house that is divided against itself cannot stand no matter what. These lepers did something striking in verse 4 of 2 Kings 7 ⁴ If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. It is quiet unfortunate how divided body of Christ was these days, family rooting against itself, in the small church you will see over two (2) to three (3) factions working against each other; no wonder we don’t see the mighty move of God anymore.

 

2.     Shared ideas: another common goal of these lepers was “the ideas there shared”. Probably one of them heard that there was food in the camp of the Syrians and he shared it with each other. One thing that I have got to discover in our days is “fear of losing your so-called position” “greed” “jealousy” “envy” and “lack of contentment” maybe if I tell this person about this, he/she may probably be greater than me and thereby keep the idea to yourself even when there’s no capital to execute it. One thing I know is and I always pray to God is don’t let my seat be given to another. But these lepers did not do so but rather bring it to dialog and root a massive result as a result of the shared idea in verse 9 … now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.

 

3.     Strategic planning: the lepers does not just share the idea but also strategically planned on how to execute the idea shared. “there’s no idea without a strategic planning on how to execute the ideas that will yield a better, tangible result” – Sunnypraiz. I was imagining them saying to one another this is how we’ll go about this is how we’re going to go about it 2 kings 7:4-5 “⁴ If we say, we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. ⁵ And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there”, I want you to know this God is a God of process and strategic planning; you cannot afford jump any process and expect to get the desired result.

 4.    Determination: your strong feeling that determine the fate of the success you want to achieve in order words it is the feeling that gear you toward achieving a desired result is called Determination. – Sunnypraiz. The success you witness first start with your mindset, if your heart is not made-up there’s no way success can be recorded. A determinant heart is the heart that takes risk and a risk taker is the one who dare to succeed in life. The ten lepers were determined by taking a risk by placing their lives on the line. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. ⁵ And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there”

5.   Timely execution of Ideas: It is good to unite, sharing idea is ok, strategic planning is good and it is also good to be determine but an idea tat is not birthed (executed) is as good as dead. By the actions of these lepers the famine in that land ended. Because they ¹ Unite ² Shared Ideas ³ They planned Strategically ⁴ They were Determine and ⁵ there were able to execute their plans despite all odds.

 

Conclusion

for every unity there’s a shared idea and for every idea that is shared, it is for the people to strategically plan and for every planning there must be a mind that is made – up (geared – up) for execution which has to be timely. No one is destined to fail in life because all that you need to success God has given you. It is now on you to discover who you are, what you can better than other, where your strength lies so that you can activate them for use.

There’s no excuse whatsoever anyone has that is genuine for him/her to fail if these ten lepers can succeed with their plans then you can as succeed it is therefore, for you to start something.

N.B: the bible says in 1 Cor. 1:27-31 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.