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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 7:3–11, “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? 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. 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. 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. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household. 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.”
While the city was besieged there were some men who leprosy, who were unclean under the Law. They had to remain outside and couldn’t have any association with other people. They couldn’t get any food from inside the city and the Syrians wouldn’t give them any as they lived just outside the city gate. They decided that they would throw themselves on the mercy of the Syrian armies. If they stayed where they were then they would die and the Syrians couldn’t do any more than kill. They went to the place where they Syrians had camped and were surprised that no one challenged them and they couldn’t see any soldiers anywhere. These men went into the first tent they saw and found that it was full of food, wine and riches. The Syrians heard a sound of a great army, caused by the Lord during the night, and they retreated because the army sounded far to large for them to fight against. All the tents were empty because the soldiers ran away in such a hurry that they left everything behind. The men, who had leprosy, took as much as they could carry and hid it away then went to the next tent, had another huge meal and hid as much as they could. After a while they realised that they were doing the wrong thing. They had the most important news for Samaria and they weren’t telling anyone what they knew. They went back to Samaria and called out at the gates, telling the guard at the gate that all the Syrians had left their camp in a hurry and the place was empty. The guard went to the king and gave him the good news.
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