Lesson 25 – Severe Famine in Israel
Read 2 Kings 6:24-33 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/2KI.6.ESV
From 2 Kings 6:33 – This trouble is from the Lord! Why should I wait for the Lord any longer?

An enemy king launched a siege against Israel, causing a terrible famine in one of the cities. Food prices rose. One day the king of Israel was walking along the city wall, when a woman cried out to him, “Your majesty, help!”

The king answered, “If God will not help you, where can I go for help? The grain barns and dairies are empty. But tell me what is bothering you.”

The woman replied, “We are desperately hungry! A woman told me to give up my son and we would eat him for that day’s supper and tomorrow we would eat her son. So I cooked my son and we ate him, but the next day when I told her it was her turn to give up her son, she had hidden him.”

When the king heard the woman’s story, he tore his robe. Everyone could then see he was wearing coarse burlap against his skin, a sign of mourning.

He blamed Elisha for the famine, and vowed, “God do the same to me, or worse, if by the end of the day Elisha still has his head attached to his body!”

The Lord revealed to Elisha what the king was planning, and he told the elders sitting with him what was going on: “Our murderous king is sending a man to take off my head. When he arrives, shut the door and lock it. And I hear the footsteps of the king behind him!”

While he was speaking, the king and his messenger arrived at Elisha’s door, and his messenger said, “This trouble is directly from God as punishment. What is next? I am tired of your God!”

The Name of God Jehovah-Jireh means My Provider. The first time the Name of God Jehovah-Jireh was used in the Bible is when Abraham was called to sacrifice his only son Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19. God provided a ram with his horns caught in a bush as the sacrifice so Isaac could live, but God sacrificed His only Son for us when He died on the cross. God's greatest provision for us is His Son to be our Savior – He is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jireh means to see, and we know God sees our needs and also already sees how He is going to provide them in the future. We can trust Him to take care of us. We need to keep asking our Jehovah-Jireh to provide our needs, and not give up. Philippians 4:19 – And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. The very essence of God's being is to love and to give. And God owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10).

*What is the greatest need in your life?
*How are you trusting God to meet your need?