2 Kings 7:9-15 – What is there to lose?

Driven by desperation, 2 Kings 7:4-8 describe how four lepers took the risk and went into the camp of the Aramean army. Their rationale was simple.  Either way, they would die. If they entered the camp of the Arameans and got caught, the worst that could happen was to be killed. And even if they wouldn’t take the risk and remain passive, they would die of starvation where they were. The burning question they had was “What was there to lose anyway?” So they took a gamble and went into the camp of the Arameans. To their amazement, when they entered the camp, they found it devoid of soldiers, except for their horses, donkey, and belongings. Entering one tent, they ate and drank to their hearts’ content. Then they went and plundered the whole camp going from one tent after another taking away silver, gold, and clothes.

Second Kings 7:9-15, continue and narrate what the band of four lepers did and what took place after that. Verse 9 said that it dawned on those four that they were not doing right by keeping silent about what they had discovered. Besides with time, the fact of the situation of the Arameans would come to light. When that happened, and they were found out to have already plundered the camp, they would risk being punished by the king. So they decided to alert the king of the situation. Being lepers, they could not speak to everyone, so they approached the people they could, the gatekeepers. Calling on them, they said, “We came to the camp of the Arameans, and behold, there was no one there, nor the voice of man, only the horses tied and the donkeys tied, and the tents just as they were.”    

What was told to the gatekeepers went around till the news soon reached the king. But he found it hard to believe what he had heard. Being suspicious and not a risk-taker, he reasoned that it was a ploy of the Arameans. So we read what he said in verse 12, “I will now tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know that we are hungry; therefore they have gone from the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them alive and get into the city.’”  The king falsely believed that the enemy was trying to lure them into their camp and then spring a surprise attack and destroy them. 

Fortunately, he had among him men who were rational. One of his more composed officers suggested that they sent a small team of men as decoys to test the situation out. We suspect that the one burning question that they had was also, “What was there to lose, anyway?” With the king’s agreement, they took two chariots with horses and went to do a reconnaissance. Verse 15 tells us that even as the team of decoys was heading to Jordan, they saw clothes and equipment strewn all the way. The Arameans had thrown them out in a haste to get away. The messengers then returned and told the king about it.

When facing tough circumstances different people would react differently. What would we do personally when we are confronted by a tough situation? Are we like the king or like his men? It all depends on our mentality. We can either focus and imagine the worst or explore solutions and take small steps to overcome them. A good question to consider when facing an adverse situation is: what is there to lose? The four lepers as well as the rational officers of King Jehoram asked that question. It had helped them to formulate solutions rather than be pessimists and be lured into passivity. This is also what we can do. A story was told of two salesmen who were sent to a remote town to survey and see if the shoes their company was making were marketable. So they went and one of them wrote back to his boss and said, “No market, nobody wears shoes here.” The other wrote back and say, “Great market, nobody wears shoes yet!” Which type of these two salesmen are we? We have the best news in Jesus Christ, what we will do with it depends on how we see the market. Jesus said, ‘I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Do we believe that? If we do, let’s act!