2 Kings 6:24-8:15
Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria. - 2 Kings 6:24
There seems to have been some time that had passed (maybe years) since the memory of Elisha leading the Syrian band of invaders into the city of Samaria and then having the king of Israel Jehoram (son of Ahab) feed them and let them go. This time was enough to make them forget how powerful the God of Israel was. This time, instead of a small band of invaders, the King of Syria Benhadad gathered a large army and he went with them. The king of Israel was afraid because he was grossly outnumbered. So he shut himself up in the city because the walls of Samaria were strong.
There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter of a cab of seed pods (dove’s dung) for five shekels. - 2 Kings 6:25
There seems to have been some time that had passed (maybe years) since the memory of Elisha leading the Syrian band of invaders into the city of Samaria and then having the king of Israel Jehoram (son of Ahab) feed them and let them go. This time was enough to make them forget how powerful the God of Israel was. This time, instead of a small band of invaders, the King of Syria Benhadad gathered a large army and he went with them. The king of Israel was afraid because he was grossly outnumbered. So he shut himself up in the city because the walls of Samaria were strong.
There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter of a cab of seed pods (dove’s dung) for five shekels. - 2 Kings 6:25
What did these Samaritan people do with the ass's head and with the dove's dung?
As strange and as disgusting as it may seem, they ate them. Many Bible scholars have done their best to make the dove's dung something else. However, there are other records of people collecting and eating dung in times of terrible famine. The head of the ass, or donkey, was not much better. It was one of the unclean animals for Jews and the head of a donkey is its most inedible part. I believe these examples are given to show the extremity of the famine. They were reduced to eating disgusting food for outrageous prices, but that is what people do when they are starving to death.
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” The king replied, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “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.” - 2 Kings 6:26-29
As we can see, verse 25 is followed by this story of two mothers who agreed to cook and eat their babies. The first mother complained to the king when the second mother hid her baby on the second day. This story is no less disgusting than the eating an ass's heads and dove's dung. As I said, these examples are recorded here to show the extremity of the famine, but also how far people will go who do not believe in God. I find no reason to doubt the plain literal meaning of the passage.
Now, what is recorded here that took place on that day in Samaria is indeed terrible and horrific.
However, I believe that something much more terrible and much more horrific is taking place in our world today that we cannot ignore.
Most of us have seen the debt clock on the internet or on the news that keeps track of our national debt. The clock shows that the US has reached the 17 trillion dollars mark in debt and each year congress votes to increase the limit of the amount of debt that we are allowed to incur.
There is another clock on the internet that shows how many abortions have taken place in the United States since 1973. That number is over 56 million now. This clock also shows how many abortions that have taken place worldwide since 1980. That number is approaching 1.3 billion and that is just since 1980.http://www.numberofabortions.com/
As strange and as disgusting as it may seem, they ate them. Many Bible scholars have done their best to make the dove's dung something else. However, there are other records of people collecting and eating dung in times of terrible famine. The head of the ass, or donkey, was not much better. It was one of the unclean animals for Jews and the head of a donkey is its most inedible part. I believe these examples are given to show the extremity of the famine. They were reduced to eating disgusting food for outrageous prices, but that is what people do when they are starving to death.
As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, “Help me, my lord the king!” The king replied, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I get help for you? From the threshing floor? From the winepress?” Then he asked her, “What’s the matter?” She answered, “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.” - 2 Kings 6:26-29
As we can see, verse 25 is followed by this story of two mothers who agreed to cook and eat their babies. The first mother complained to the king when the second mother hid her baby on the second day. This story is no less disgusting than the eating an ass's heads and dove's dung. As I said, these examples are recorded here to show the extremity of the famine, but also how far people will go who do not believe in God. I find no reason to doubt the plain literal meaning of the passage.
Now, what is recorded here that took place on that day in Samaria is indeed terrible and horrific.
However, I believe that something much more terrible and much more horrific is taking place in our world today that we cannot ignore.
Most of us have seen the debt clock on the internet or on the news that keeps track of our national debt. The clock shows that the US has reached the 17 trillion dollars mark in debt and each year congress votes to increase the limit of the amount of debt that we are allowed to incur.
There is another clock on the internet that shows how many abortions have taken place in the United States since 1973. That number is over 56 million now. This clock also shows how many abortions that have taken place worldwide since 1980. That number is approaching 1.3 billion and that is just since 1980.http://www.numberofabortions.com/
To put things in perspective I have compiled the following numbers of deaths due to other events in the last 100 years:
It is estimated that there were 65 million deaths or 3.6 % of the world population that occurred just as a result of World War I. That would be approximately one death per 28 people that lived in the world in 1918.
It is estimated that there were 72 million deaths or 3.1 % of the world population that occurred just as a result of World War II. That would be approximately one death per 32 people that lived in the world in 1945.
From the year 1917 to the year 1953 it is estimated that the Russian Marxist Communist party is responsible for the deaths of 61 million people and I don’t think that is counting the deaths that occurred as a result of World War I and World War II. That would be approximately one death per 43 people that lived in the world in 1953.
From the year 1958 to the year 1962 it is estimated that the Chinese Great Leap Forward by Mao Zedong Red Chinese Communist party are responsible for the deaths of 55 million people starving to death. That would be approximately one death per 57 people that lived in the world in 1962.
This abortion clock estimates the number of deaths worldwide from abortions to be approximately 1.299 billion (that is 1.299 billion babies) since 1980. That would be one death due to abortion out of every 6.46 people that would be living in the world in the year 2013. I have rounded this number up to 1 out of every 7 people since there is no such thing as a 0.46 person. If we look at the number of abortions in the United states of America (56 million) compared to today’s population of the United States of America we find that the number of abortions since 1973 Roe Verses Wade decision is 1 out of every 5.6 rounded up to 1 out of every 6 people that live in the United states today. So percentage wise the United States is responsible for more abortions per capita than the rest of the world.
Even though the US populations makes up only 1 out of every 23 people that live in the world today our country still has more abortions per capita than the rest of the world (i.e., 1 abortion out of every 6 in the US verses the world abortion rate of 1 out of every 7 people).
It is estimated that there were 65 million deaths or 3.6 % of the world population that occurred just as a result of World War I. That would be approximately one death per 28 people that lived in the world in 1918.
It is estimated that there were 72 million deaths or 3.1 % of the world population that occurred just as a result of World War II. That would be approximately one death per 32 people that lived in the world in 1945.
From the year 1917 to the year 1953 it is estimated that the Russian Marxist Communist party is responsible for the deaths of 61 million people and I don’t think that is counting the deaths that occurred as a result of World War I and World War II. That would be approximately one death per 43 people that lived in the world in 1953.
From the year 1958 to the year 1962 it is estimated that the Chinese Great Leap Forward by Mao Zedong Red Chinese Communist party are responsible for the deaths of 55 million people starving to death. That would be approximately one death per 57 people that lived in the world in 1962.
This abortion clock estimates the number of deaths worldwide from abortions to be approximately 1.299 billion (that is 1.299 billion babies) since 1980. That would be one death due to abortion out of every 6.46 people that would be living in the world in the year 2013. I have rounded this number up to 1 out of every 7 people since there is no such thing as a 0.46 person. If we look at the number of abortions in the United states of America (56 million) compared to today’s population of the United States of America we find that the number of abortions since 1973 Roe Verses Wade decision is 1 out of every 5.6 rounded up to 1 out of every 6 people that live in the United states today. So percentage wise the United States is responsible for more abortions per capita than the rest of the world.
Even though the US populations makes up only 1 out of every 23 people that live in the world today our country still has more abortions per capita than the rest of the world (i.e., 1 abortion out of every 6 in the US verses the world abortion rate of 1 out of every 7 people).
It is interesting that today abortions are occurring at 5 times the rate that deaths that were occurring for World War II and the media is either silent on this issue or is quick to portray those who are taking a stand against abortion as extremist radicals.
I have asked myself “Why doesn’t this staggering ratio make the morning and evening news everyday in the US and the rest of the World?”
I think the answer is because as a result of Satan’s lies, history is once again repeating itself.
This can be seen by looking back again at today’s passage and seeing the King’s response in Samaria.
I have asked myself “Why doesn’t this staggering ratio make the morning and evening news everyday in the US and the rest of the World?”
I think the answer is because as a result of Satan’s lies, history is once again repeating itself.
This can be seen by looking back again at today’s passage and seeing the King’s response in Samaria.
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. - 2 Kings 6:30
It is interesting here that the king was wearing sackcloth under his royal robes. It is thought by some theologians that Elisha had previously warned the king to repent of his sins in sackcloth and ashes and that if he did so, that God would deliver him and the city from the invading army and the Syrian king (Benhadad). If that were the case, it would appear that King was trying to have it both ways. He was wearing sack cloth to please Elisha the prophet and God but he covered up the sack cloth with his royal robes to protect his royal image.
If that is true then it would explain the next verse.
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!” Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Don’t you see how this murderer is sending someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold it shut against him. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?” While he was still talking to them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?” - 2 Kings 6:31-33
Here the king finally acknowledges that the disaster is from the LORD and that he the king was waiting for the LORD to deliver him and the city from it (supposedly because he was repentant in sackcloth and ashes). However, as we have seen, his repentance was not sincere and the situation continued to get worse and worse.
But the Lord said “…man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” - I Samuel 16:7
Nevertheless, God did not allow the Syrian army and its king to triumph over His people even though he knew that king Jehoram’s repentance was insincere.
Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.”- 2 Kings 7:1
These prices are in sharp contrast to the going prices of eight shekels for a donkey’s head and five shekels for a fourth of a kab of dove’s dung.
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!” Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!” So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.” So they went and called out to the city gatekeepers and told them, “We went into the Aramean camp and not a man was there—not a sound of anyone—only tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents left just as they were.” The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported within the palace. The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’” One of his officers answered, “Have some men take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their plight will be like that of all the Israelites left here—yes, they will only be like all these Israelites who are doomed. So let us send them to find out what happened.” So they selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. He commanded the drivers, “Go and find out what has happened.” They followed them as far as the Jordan, and they found the whole road strewn with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown away in their headlong flight. So the messengers returned and reported to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a seah of flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley sold for a shekel, as the LORD had said. Now the king had put the officer on whose arm he leaned in charge of the gate, and the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king came down to his house. It happened as the man of God had said to the king: “About this time tomorrow, a seah of flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.” The officer had said to the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” The man of God had replied, “You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it!” And that is exactly what happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died. - 2 Kings 7:2-20
Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, because the LORD has decreed a famine in the land that will last seven years.” The woman proceeded to do as the man of God said. She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years. At the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to the king to beg for her house and land. The king was talking to Gehazi, the servant of the man of God, and had said, “Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done.” - 2 Kings 8:1-4
The Bible doesn’t say anything more about Gehazi’s leprosy after Elisha cursed him and his family. But according to Talmudic teaching the four lepers outside the city gate in 2 Kings 7:3 were Gehazi and his 3 sons. They’re the ones who discovered that the Arameans had abandoned their siege against Samaria. Because of their honesty in promptly reporting this, they wound up saving the entire population of the city of Samaria from starvation.
Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the LORD through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael felt ashamed. Then the man of God began to weep. “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.” - 2 Kings 8:5-12
Here again the WORD of God is very graphic on what is happening to the little children and the pregnant mothers. As I said earlier history is repeating itself in our world today.
Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, “This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” Elisha went to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram was ill. When the king was told, “The man of God has come all the way up here,” he said to Hazael, “Take a gift with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult the LORD through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover’; but the LORD has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael felt ashamed. Then the man of God began to weep. “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the harm you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women.” - 2 Kings 8:5-12
Here again the WORD of God is very graphic on what is happening to the little children and the pregnant mothers. As I said earlier history is repeating itself in our world today.
Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog, accomplish such a feat?” “The LORD has shown me that you will become king of Aram,” answered Elisha. Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as king.- 2 Kings 8:13-15
So Elisha’s prophecy came true and Hazael did succeed Ben-Hadad and the prophecy about Hazael being responsible for the deaths of the little ones and ripping pregnant women apart also came true.
The sentence in verse 11 and the question in verse 12 struck me. “Then the man of God began to weep.” “Why is my lord weeping?”
The following passage written by King David Psalm 139: 13-16 gives us a clue as to why Elisha the Man of God was weeping when he saw the little children being dashed to the ground and the pregnant mothers being ripped open:
or you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -Psalm 139:13-16
or you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. -Psalm 139:13-16
King David knew that he was fearfully and wonderfully made while in his mother’s womb. The child that was cooked and eaten for food in Samaria that day by his mother and her friend, the ones that were later dashed into pieces to the ground by King Hazael, and the ones who were killed when their pregnant mothers were ripped open with the sword were also fearfully and wonderfully made.
one of this brought pleasure to God. Remember, God is the one that spared the whole city of Nineveh when Jonah wanted God to destroy the city including every man woman and child. God through His patience and mercy extended more time to the people of Nineveh to repent. They did repent and their city was spared for a time. In the same way God, through His patience and mercy, has extended more time to the people of this world to repent. Only He knows when the time of His patience and mercy will be fully completed. When that happens He will judge all the people in the world for the part that they played in these gruesome acts of abortion.
I am not judging or condemning these two women in today’s passage for what they did. Nor am I judging or condemning the men of Samaria for standing by and doing nothing to stop them. God will do that Himself at Judgment Day. They did not know God, and Satan had deceived them and the people in their city into believing that there was no God and that they were all going to starve to death because there were more people in the city than there was food.
I am not judging or condemning the women of today that have had abortions. Nor am I judging or condemning the men of today for standing by and doing nothing to stop them. Again God will do that Himself at Judgment Day. I know that many men and women have been deceived in the same way by these two lies of Satan.
I know that a few of these men and women have had their eyes opened and are now strong supporters of the pro-life cause.
I am not judging or condemning the doctors or healthcare people of today who perform or assist in performing these abortions today. Again God will do that Himself at Judgment Day. They too have been deceived by these two lies of Satan.
I read this week about an abortion doctor named Bernard Nathanson who from 1973 to 1979 performed more than 60,000 abortions. He also co-founded what is now the National Abortion Rights Action League Pro-Choice America, as well as directed New York City’s Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health, formerly the biggest abortion provider in the western world. Then, in 1979, Bernard Nathanson saw for the first time, using the first generation of Ultrasound devices used on pregnant women. He then realized that he was actually killing unborn children. From 1979 till his death at age 84 in February 2011 Bernard Nathanson was one of the leading voices to speak out against abortion. Even so he was not able to change neither what he had done nor what is being done in the name of pro-choice by the medical community both here in the US and around the world.
Hopefully the women who have had one or more abortions, the fathers of these children, the abortionist, and the abortionist assistants will receive forgiveness for their sins by repenting and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before it is too late. The Day of Judgment will come. Those who do not have Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be judged. In that day they will all have to stand before God and give an account for their actions and be judged by Him for the sins that they committed.
As I have said, the majority of these 1.299 billion abortions are due to the lies of Satan being believed by the unbelieving world. The two biggest lies that Satan has used repeatedly throughout history are the same two lies that he used with these two women of Samaria in today passage. Satan has caused the unbelieving world to believe that there is no God and that there are more people being born into the world than the world can feed therefore the people of the world need to limit the world’s population growth by whatever means they can. In this case Satan has chosen to use abortion rather than the sword to rip open the pregnant women or the cooking pot to kill and destroy what was fearfully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God. Regardless of the method used 1.299 billion innocent unborn children have been put to death due to Satan’s lies.
So we must combat the lies of Satan and the world with the truth.
Remember what God’s Word says in Genesis 1:27-29 is just the opposite of what Satan has convinced so many people to believe today.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. - Genesis 1:27-29
Over 400 years after the cursed officer at the gate of Samaria made the statement, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” God, speaking through the prophet Malachi, said to the Israelites in Malachi 3:10-12
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit before the time in the field,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. - Malachi 3:10-12
one of this brought pleasure to God. Remember, God is the one that spared the whole city of Nineveh when Jonah wanted God to destroy the city including every man woman and child. God through His patience and mercy extended more time to the people of Nineveh to repent. They did repent and their city was spared for a time. In the same way God, through His patience and mercy, has extended more time to the people of this world to repent. Only He knows when the time of His patience and mercy will be fully completed. When that happens He will judge all the people in the world for the part that they played in these gruesome acts of abortion.
I am not judging or condemning these two women in today’s passage for what they did. Nor am I judging or condemning the men of Samaria for standing by and doing nothing to stop them. God will do that Himself at Judgment Day. They did not know God, and Satan had deceived them and the people in their city into believing that there was no God and that they were all going to starve to death because there were more people in the city than there was food.
I am not judging or condemning the women of today that have had abortions. Nor am I judging or condemning the men of today for standing by and doing nothing to stop them. Again God will do that Himself at Judgment Day. I know that many men and women have been deceived in the same way by these two lies of Satan.
I know that a few of these men and women have had their eyes opened and are now strong supporters of the pro-life cause.
I am not judging or condemning the doctors or healthcare people of today who perform or assist in performing these abortions today. Again God will do that Himself at Judgment Day. They too have been deceived by these two lies of Satan.
I read this week about an abortion doctor named Bernard Nathanson who from 1973 to 1979 performed more than 60,000 abortions. He also co-founded what is now the National Abortion Rights Action League Pro-Choice America, as well as directed New York City’s Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health, formerly the biggest abortion provider in the western world. Then, in 1979, Bernard Nathanson saw for the first time, using the first generation of Ultrasound devices used on pregnant women. He then realized that he was actually killing unborn children. From 1979 till his death at age 84 in February 2011 Bernard Nathanson was one of the leading voices to speak out against abortion. Even so he was not able to change neither what he had done nor what is being done in the name of pro-choice by the medical community both here in the US and around the world.
Hopefully the women who have had one or more abortions, the fathers of these children, the abortionist, and the abortionist assistants will receive forgiveness for their sins by repenting and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior before it is too late. The Day of Judgment will come. Those who do not have Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be judged. In that day they will all have to stand before God and give an account for their actions and be judged by Him for the sins that they committed.
As I have said, the majority of these 1.299 billion abortions are due to the lies of Satan being believed by the unbelieving world. The two biggest lies that Satan has used repeatedly throughout history are the same two lies that he used with these two women of Samaria in today passage. Satan has caused the unbelieving world to believe that there is no God and that there are more people being born into the world than the world can feed therefore the people of the world need to limit the world’s population growth by whatever means they can. In this case Satan has chosen to use abortion rather than the sword to rip open the pregnant women or the cooking pot to kill and destroy what was fearfully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God. Regardless of the method used 1.299 billion innocent unborn children have been put to death due to Satan’s lies.
So we must combat the lies of Satan and the world with the truth.
Remember what God’s Word says in Genesis 1:27-29 is just the opposite of what Satan has convinced so many people to believe today.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. - Genesis 1:27-29
Over 400 years after the cursed officer at the gate of Samaria made the statement, “Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” God, speaking through the prophet Malachi, said to the Israelites in Malachi 3:10-12
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit before the time in the field,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. - Malachi 3:10-12
If God can do this for the nation of Israel He can do this for any and all the nations who put their trust in Him today.
So what was the man of God’s response in today’s passage?
So what was the man of God’s response in today’s passage?
“Then the man of God began to weep.”
What was the man of the world’s response to what he saw?
Why is my lord weeping?
What should our response be as children of God to what we see regarding abortion in our world today?
With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him. - Daniel 11:32
The New American Standard Bible translates this verse as:
And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.
With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him. - Daniel 11:32
The New American Standard Bible translates this verse as:
And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.
Let’s pray for strength and wisdom on how to combat the lies of Satan with the truth of God’s Word.
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