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. 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. 7 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. 8 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. 9 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.

Lepers Rejoicing At the Camp

They quit sitting and dying, instead the stand up and seek life. The go to the Syrian army’s camp and find it deserted. The Lord caused them to hear the noise of a greater opposing army moving against them and they ran for the Jordan river, leaving everything behind.

The lepper find the deserted camp and they spoil it, they loot it, they eat, they drink, and they take treasure and hid it.

Then realize that they can’t keep this to themselves a moment longer. If they wait till someone in the city discovers the enemy host gone and all these blessings then the people in the city will hold them responsible for not sharing what God had done.

Just the day before Elisha the prophet who had been in the city during the siege had made this prophecy. 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.

Someone would remember the words of the prophet of God and they would pay the price for not spreading the good news. Or even worse the Lord God of Israel would deal with them for their greed and unconcern for others who were dying as they had been.

Zilches to Riches

If you were in the place of the lepers would you not go back to the city? Would you not take the good news to your family and friends, in fact to anyone, even someone who you considered an enemy? Why would you hold back the good news when the blessing of God was so rich and deep?

Not hard to see the application here is it? People are dying spiritually from a famine of the Word of God. They are dying from the sickness that comes from being cut off from the supply of God’s love. They are killing one another and acting worse than animals because they are starving away from God’s grace.

And we, the redeemed of the Lord, the people of God, the church of Jesus Christ, we have found the enemy’s camp deserted. There is no power there anymore. God has driven away Satan and his host by the power of Calvary. And it is our task now to go to those who are still starving and dying and tell them the Good News, the Gospel. “Come and see, God has driven away the enemy. You only have to believe, leave death behind and accept the gift of eternal life He has provided in His Son Jesus Christ.”

The Lord put those unimportant lepers right where they needed to be so that they could go from zero to hero. And he has put you and I and our church right where we need to be that we might also be Gospel heroes.

Just like the lepers we must realize that God has blessed us, chosen us and will requires from us duty of telling others the Good News, The Gospel. What is a camp full of earthly treause in comparison to eternal life in Glory. We bear the greater responsibility, a duty with eternal consequences.

This is what Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, 12 -- That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

Walk worthy not sit comfortably. Walk worthy of the blessing God has given us.

Dead Sea Christians

If we fail in this task, instead of being Gospel Heroes, we will be Dead Sea Saints. The Dead Sea receives the same fresh, life giving water that the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan river receives. Yet it is not living. No fisherman fish it’s waters not crops are grown from on it’s shores. Why, because the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River pass on the life giving water but the Dead Sea holds all the water that come to it.

We don’t want to be Dead Sea Saints. We want to be a church filled with Gospel Heroes. We are people who had nothing, no better than those lepers at the gate, just waiting to die, but we have found the blessing of salvation. Now its time to be Heroes in the sharing of God’s grace. If we wait too long, sit too still then as the lepers understood, the blessing will turn on us.