Open Heaven 27 August
MEMORISE: But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
BIBLE READING: 2 Kings 6:24-30; 2 Kings 7:1-16 (KJV)
24 And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
26 Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
27 And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” 28 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?”
And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”
30 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.
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.’ ”
2 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.”
3 Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” 5 And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. 6 For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” 7 Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives. 8 And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some [b]punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” 10 So they went and called to the gatekeepers of the city, and told them, saying, “We went to the Syrian camp, and surprisingly no one was there, not a human sound—only horses and donkeys tied, and the tents intact.” 11 And the gatekeepers called out, and they told it to the king’s household inside.
12 So the king arose in the night and said to his servants, “Let me now tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone out of the camp to [c]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, “Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see.” 14 Therefore they took two chariots with horses; and the king sent them in the direction of the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.” 15 And they went after them to the Jordan; and indeed all the road was full of garments and weapons which the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king. 16 Then the people went out and plundered the tents of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord.
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
Ever since the fall of man which led to the ground being cursed for his sake, it has become a matter of divine intervention for him to prosper. Only by divine intervention also known as miracles, can man prosper with ease. In todays bible reading, Samaria was under siege and people could not go out to farm or trade. This resulted in a great famine, which became so severe that people started killing their children for food. The situation brought desperation for a miracle in the city of Samaria. The undeniable truth is that everyone needs a miracle at one time or another whether physical, psychological, material, financial or even more importantly, spiritual. King David knew this and wrote The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want (Psalms 23:1 ).Who is your shepherd? If the Lord is indeed your Shepherd, then you are a candidate for miracles. This Lord is the owner of the cattle upon a thousand hills, according to Psalms 50:10-11
“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.”
As we read in the Bible text today, the people of Samaria desperately needed a miracle and they were so blessed that a prophet lived in their midst. The prophet declared the word of God but it was too good for a member of the kings cabinet to believe and this was to his peril. We need to have faith in God when we are in need of divine intervention (a miracle). The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 20:20
“… Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.”
Beloved, do you need a miracle? Fulfil Gods conditions by obeying all His commandments which include accepting Jesus Christ as your Saviour, living holy, faithful payment of your tithes, cheerful giving of offerings, honouring Him (God) with your first fruits and so on. Trust God for your all-round blessing and you will surely see His glory.
ACTION POINT: Father, please send me miracles to meet all my needs, according to Your riches in glory, in the mighty name of Jesus.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalms 143:1-12 , Psalms 144:1-15 , Psalms 145:1-21
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – Need A Miracle? – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 27 August 2021