Title Are You a Person of Hope?
Contents
title ; Are you a person of hope?
main text ; 2 Kings 7:1-20
Today, in 2 Kings 6:24-33, we find that everyone is in despair. Looking back at that time full of despair, it is as follows. Beth-hadad, king of Syria, gathered his entire army and went up to besiege Samaria, the capital of the divided kingdom of northern Israel.
Because the city had been under siege by Beth-hadad king of Syria for a long time, everyone in the city became very hungry. At that time, there was hardly any food available, and it was sold at a high price of eighty shekels of silver for a donkey's head, which is not normally eaten by the Israelites, and five shekels of silver for a quarter pack of a donkey.
As for the amount of 80 shekels of silver per donkey's head, since 1 shekel of silver is the wages of an ordinary worker for 5 days, 80 shekels of silver is equivalent to about 400 days' wages of an ordinary worker. In today's terms, that's about 30 million won (40,000 dollars).
According to Leviticus 11:4, the donkey was never used for food because it was an unclean animal, and the head was the cheapest part because it was the worst part to eat compared to all other parts. Nevertheless, the fact that he usually does not eat at all and the price of one of the cheapest donkey heads was about 30 million won gives us an idea of how severe the famine was at that time.
They also paid five shekels of silver for a quarter pack. If it was five shekels of silver, it was being sold for about 2 million won (3,000 dollars) at a price that an ordinary worker could receive after 25 days of work.
Hapbuntae refers to food waste or leftover food with little nutritional value, such as pigeon dung or unripe soybeans. And the pack is about 1/2 liter.
Can you imagine? It is impossible for a donkey head to cost 30 million won, and that 1/2 liter of leftover food is being traded for 2 million won. Moreover, when the city is surrounded in this way, in 6:26 and below, even more miserable things happen.
Due to extreme hunger, there are things that humans who eat their children shouldn't be doing. In the midst of such extreme despair, the king of Israel fails to give the people hope, but rather gets caught up in despair and tries to kill the man of God Elisha. And the minister who assists the king is only complaining of despair.
When the king, his servants, and the people are all speaking of despair and acting of despair, Elisha, a man of God, delivers a message of hope as follows. “Tomorrow at this time at the gates of Samaria I will pay a shekel for a shekel of fine flour and a shekel for two sheaves of barley.”
Ladies and gentlemen, what a welcome message of hope to the people of Israel who were starving for lack of food, and to the people who had to kill and boil their own children. How precious is it to be able to give a voice of hope to these hungry people, "God will give you something to eat."
Dear brothers and sisters, who can speak of hope on a land where there is no hope? It is a man of God. Everyone is in despair, but who is the only person who can speak of hope? It is a man of God.
Just as in the past and today, God's people must be able to speak of hope. No matter how desperate the world is, God's people must be able to see hope in the midst of despair. Let's say hello to each other. "You are a talker of hope."
Just as Elisha exclaimed, “At this time tomorrow, the city of Samaria will be full of hope” and “At this time tomorrow the city of Samaria will have plenty of food” in a desperate situation. ” should be shouted.
Everyone, please. If you truly believe in God, I pray that you will shout the voice of hope. Just as Elisha said, “At this time tomorrow the city of Samaria will be full of hope” and “At this time tomorrow the city of Samaria will be filled with food.”
Ladies and gentlemen, there is always hope in God. There is no despair in God. God is speaking to us. “I know the thoughts I have toward you, saith the LORD, not evil, but peace, and a hope for your future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
And to become a person who gives hope to others, you must first become a person who lives with hope. Is it not possible for yourself to live a life without hope and tell others to “live with hope”? In other words, when I first experience hope and then speak and act of hope, can I not inspire others to inflate hope?
In today's text, we see four lepers who get up from their seats of despair and set out in search of hope.
Ladies and gentlemen, the lepers were the most desperate when the war broke out with the Arameans. Do you know who suffered the most misery when war broke out in Israel at that time? It was the lepers. Because they are isolated from society.
In other words, they were isolated from the areas where people lived, so they had to bring food from their family and friends every day to survive. But when war breaks out, it is difficult for even normal people to make a living, so who can take care of the lepers and bring them food?
Perhaps it was these lepers who suffered the most miserably, and found themselves in the most desperate situation when they were besieged by the Arameans. But these four lepers no longer lamented their plight or resented others.
Rather, they are people who have recognized their miserable and hopeless current situation and set out together in search of hope. And these are the people who eventually found hope.
Guys, is there anyone among them who is living a desperate life? Do some people find it difficult to live in this foreign land? I pray that you too, like the four lepers, look to hope and set out in search of hope. And may you find hope, just as these four lepers have finally found hope.
God does not want his children to be raised only in a greenhouse, but he wants them to be raised as protagonists of hope who can create hope even in the harsh wilderness of despair.
Do you guys think that your life has now entered a tunnel of despair? Do you feel hopeless because of the problems you are facing? But would you just sit down in that despair and sigh?
Or will you eat your own children like the Israelites in today's text, or do something desperate like the king of Israel who is trying to kill Elisha? Or are you going to escalate the negative situation like the Israeli minister who says, "There is no hope for us"?
However, in today's text, four lepers get up from their despair, and decide that if they die, they will die, and they all go forward with hope. In other words, if we die of starvation here, we should go to the Syrian camp where there is food.
With this hope, they got up at twilight and came to the town of Syria, and behold, strange things have happened there. Not a single one of the Syrian army men was seen.
Today's text explains why. “For the Lord made the Syrian army to hear the sound of chariots and horses and the sound of a great army, and the Arameans said to one another, The king of Israel was against us, and he paid the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to bring them to us. He got up at twilight and fled, leaving the tent and the horse and the donkey, and leaving the camp as it was, and fled for his life."
After the Syrian army fled, the place was full of food. Lepers, who set out in search of hope, ate and drank there, and shared the spoils with gold, silver, and clothing. In other words, you have found hope. God has given hope to the most miserable people, the lepers.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we depend on God and seek hope, God will help us. Even if it seems impossible, God makes it happen. Are there people among them who are frustrated and desperate because they have no hope in life?
Try to meet the God who gives you hope. God is definitely with those who seek hope. And he is saying this. “If you seek and seek me with all your heart, you will find me. I will find you, says the LORD” (29:13-14).
Everyone, let's all set out to find hope Let's encourage each other so that family members and members of the Church do not lose hope. Let parents encourage their children to be strong, and husbands and wives to encourage each other to be strong in this foreign land.
Also, please encourage each other to move forward with hope. And finally, I pray that all of us will discover and rejoice in hope in this foreign land and become people who spread that hope.