On The Edge Of The Prophecy

On The Edge Of The Prophecy 

II Kings 7:3-5 NKJV

[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. 

The lepers were not around when Elisha prophesied. They were by nature regarded as the outcasts of the society. It is by sheer grace that they happened to be where the prophecy was to be fulfilled, at the gate of Samaria. Add the Jewish tradition to this. " Unfounded Jewish traditions say these four were actually Gehazi and his three sons. Gehazi was afflicted with leprosy because of his greed toward Naaman (2Ki 5:27)". Really. If they were, then grace took over the story. 

   John Piper's attempts to describe the grace concept ended with the following words: " It is incredibly encouraging that God’s grace is both the inclination of the divine heart to treat us better than we deserve and is the extension of that inclination in practical help".  So grace is undeserved favour. Someone says it is " ..what inclines God to give gifts that are free and undeserved by sinners". We could drag this, but we are more concerned with being on the edge of a prophecy.

   Living on a prophetic edge means being a part of what God has already designated.  It is "...a place where God initiates, we respond. Our life is to be, what Eugene Peterson calls, “answering speech”. The response must be to what God is doing in and around us. In order to live this way we have to be God-conscious rather than self-conscious like Jesus was". Were lepers the only God - conscious people in that land? The answer appears to be:  yes! They all heard the prophecy, and they went home. Where are you in relation to God's prophecy today? Are you at the gate or on the bed?

   No matter what the economy says, there's still hope at the gate. If those lepers were Gehazi and his sons, then understand that grace will always beat the law. Gehazi?.. anyone on the edge of prophecy can change. Remember him: Gehazi. Grace. Good morning.