Key Verse Spotlight
2 Kings 7:12 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing-and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. "
2 Kings 7:12
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.
And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.
They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
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We have now gone through the earlier part of this letter, which contains several important truths about Christian doctrine in the three chapters before this. We are coming to the later part, where Paul gives the most serious and weighty instructions for daily life. As in most of Paul’s letters, the first part teaches doctrine, that is, the truths of the gospel meant to shape the mind, and the second part gives practical directions for life and conduct. All Christians should aim for both sound belief and a faithful way of living.
What comes before this has shown us Christian privileges, the blessings that bring comfort to believers. What follows will show us Christian duties, the things the Lord our God asks of us because of those blessings. The best way to understand the deep truths we have already read is to obey the duties that come after them. In the same way, a careful belief in the doctrines taught in the earlier chapters gives a strong foundation for putting these duties into practice. Christian faith and Christian practice help each other.
In this chapter, we find several important exhortations, that is, urgent appeals to live in a worthy way. There is one broad call to duty (Ephesians 4:1). There is also an appeal to mutual love, unity, and harmony, along with the means and reasons that support them (Ephesians 4:2-16). Then there is a call to Christian purity and holiness of life, first in general (Ephesians 4:17-24), and then in several specific ways (Ephesians 4:25 to the end).
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From This Chapter
2 Kings 7:1
"Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria."
2 Kings 7:2
"Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof."
2 Kings 7:3
"And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?"
2 Kings 7:4
"If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die."
2 Kings 7:5
"And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there."
2 Kings 7:6
"For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us."
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