#154: The Windows in Heaven and the Mercy of God
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.”
II KINGS 7:1-2 NKJV
So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”
Do you know the Deliverer? Have you received His mercy?
Consider the following: Moses placed in a basket in the Nile river; Goliath storming out daily to taunt the Israelite army; the massive Assyrian army surrounding Jerusalem; the first deacon evangelist being stoned outside the walls of Jerusalem; the Savior of the world taken by a band of soldiers and nailed to a tree to receive a cursed death; and in our text today, the starving Israelites surrounded by the Syrians. At each of these times, those present could say with the Psalmist, “Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” Psalms 77:8-9 NKJV
At one level, the opening verse of II Kings 7 does not seem to fit into the context of the later part of chapter 6. The Israelites in Samaria had been rejecting God for generations. Though God gave Israel victory over the Syrians and King Benhadad on many occasions and in miraculous fashion, they kept returning to their foolish idols. In their latest trouble, mothers were killing and eating their own children, the king was ordering the assassination of God’s prophet, fortunes were being spent on a single day’s worth of food, and the army of Syria was waiting outside to pillage what was left of the starving city.
It was in this context that the Lord through His prophet Elisha gave a startling prophecy: tomorrow a seah (about 1.5 gallons in volume) of fine flour will be sold for a shekel (a small piece of silver) and two seahs (about 3 gallons in volume) of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria. The windows of heaven would be opened.
Before researching all the volumes and monetary exchanges involved in this verse, simply compare it to a few verses earlier when the head of a donkey was sold for 80 pieces of silver and a piece of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver (II Kings 6:25). Perhaps in the day Elisha spoke to the king a year’s wages were needed to feed a family for a single day. But the Lord was promising that in just one day’s time, a portion of a single day’s wages would provide food for a family for many days. How could these things be true? The merciful God would show mercy again!
The servant of the King of Israel, perhaps the same assassin sent to kill Elisha, mocked Elisha’s prophecy because he did not know the God of Elisha. Perhaps he heard of Jehovah. Perhaps he acknowledged God sinfully in the past by taking God’s name in vain. Whatever his history, he did not trust in God for salvation or preservation. So the servant mocked God and His prophet with a line that is referenced again in Malachi 3:12 and has been used in many Christian prayers ever since, “Lord…make windows in heaven…”
God shows His mercy to us by not giving us what our sins deserve, death. Instead, giving us life. Samaria deserved death because of its sin. They were evil, did evil, and approved of evil. They were facing the just wrath of God for their sins. While Samaria had rejected God, God would yet again be merciful to them. They had no army capable of fighting Syria, no food to feed themselves, no ruler leading them in the way of righteousness – but God, being rich in mercy, would open up the windows in Heaven and pour out a blessing that there would not be room enough to receive.
At some point in the future, those who received this temporary mercy from the Lord would die. We too will die if the Lord should tarry past our generation. Like Samaria, we deserve God’s wrath for our sin. But the mercy of the Lord was not only shown in Israel that day, it is also shown today. Most of all God’s mercy is shown in the deliverance from sin and death by the Deliverer Jesus Christ. “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.””Romans 11:26-27 NKJV
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ today. In Him the windows of Heaven have again been opened and mercy is poured out upon all who call upon Him in truth.
Do you know the Deliverer? Have you received His mercy?
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