2 Kings 7:2 - Exposition

Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned ; rather, the lord , or the captain , as the word שׁלישׁ is commonly translated ( Exodus 14:7 ; Exodus 15:4 ; 2 Samuel 23:8 ; 1 Kings 9:22 ; 2 Kings 9:25 ; 2 Kings 10:25 ; 2 Kings 15:25 ; 1 Chronicles 11:11 ; 1 Chronicles 12:18 ; 2 Chronicles 8:9 ). (For the habit of kings to lean on the hand of an attendant, see above, 2 Kings 5:18 .) Answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? The king makes no reply; he waits for the result. But the officer on whose arm he leans is not so reticent. Utterly incredulous, he expresses his incredulity in a scoffing way: "Could this possibly be, even if God were to 'make windows in heaven,' as he did at the time of the Flood ( Genesis 7:11 ), and pour through them, instead of rain, as then, a continual shower of fine meal and corn?" Disbelief is expressed, not only in the prophetic veracity of Elisha, but in the power of God. Hence Elisha's stern reply. And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. At once a threat and a warning. If the thing was to be, and the lord to see it and yet not profit by it, the only reasonable conclusion was that his death was imminent. He was thus warned, and given time to "set his house in order," and to repent and make his peace with the Almighty. Whether he took advantage of the warning, or even understood it, we are not told.