2 Kings 6:33 And while he yet talked with them, behold, the
messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD;
what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
I was preaching last Sunday on 2 Kings 6 and was struck by
the Puritan exegete Matthew Poole’s interpretation of the words of the king’s
messenger, the king's speech let's call it, to the prophet Elisha, after the king (likely Jehoram, though he is
unnamed) had seen the despair of his besieged people (the terrible account of
the woman who boiled and ate her son in vv. 28-29) and threatened the life of
the prophet (v. 31).
Here is Poole’s interpretation of the king’s message:
This evil; this dreadful famine, which is now so extreme that women are forced to
eat their own children.
Is of the LORD; he hath inflicted it (and for aught that I see) he will not
remove it. Thus he lays all the blame upon God, not, as he ought, upon his own
and his mother’s wickedness, which provoked God, who doth not willingly
afflict, to send his heavy judgment upon him.
What should I wait for the LORD any longer? Thou biddest me wait upon God for
help; but I perceive I may wait long enough before deliverance comes; I am
weary with waiting, I can wait no longer.
JTR
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