“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?”
My Notes
What Does 2 Kings 6:33 Mean?
"Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?" The king of Israel (likely Jehoram) speaks during the Aramean siege of Samaria, when famine has become so severe that people are eating their own children. His statement is a theological conclusion born of desperation: if this suffering comes from God, then waiting for God is pointless. He's given up on divine intervention.
The statement captures the logic of spiritual surrender: if God is the source of the problem, then God isn't the solution. But the king's theology is incomplete. The evil IS from the LORD — the siege is judgment for Israel's idolatry. But the LORD's judgment isn't his final word. The very next chapter records miraculous deliverance: the Aramean army flees overnight, and Samaria is saved.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When have you been closest to giving up on God — and how close was the breakthrough you couldn't see?
- 2.How does the king's despair 'the day before deliverance' encourage you about your current situation?
- 3.What's the gap in your theology that lets you see God's judgment but not his coming mercy?
- 4.Why does despair so often strike right before the breakthrough?
Devotional
Why should I wait for the LORD any longer? The king says it in the middle of the worst suffering his city has ever experienced. People are eating their children. The siege has stripped away every resource. And the king decides: God caused this, so God isn't going to fix it.
The logic is understandable. If God sent the suffering, waiting for God to end it seems contradictory. If he's the source of the evil, appealing to him feels futile. The king's theology has a gap: he can see God's judgment but not God's mercy. He knows God is behind the famine but can't imagine God is also behind the coming rescue.
The timing of his despair is devastating: he gives up on God the day before the deliverance. The very next morning, the Aramean army will hear phantom sounds of a massive approaching army and flee in panic, abandoning enough supplies to end the famine in a day. The rescue was less than twenty-four hours away when the king said: why should I wait?
This is the cruelest feature of despair: it often strikes right before the breakthrough. The moment you decide God isn't coming is often the moment just before he arrives. The king's question — "why should I wait?" — gets answered the next day with abundance so sudden and complete that the city goes from cannibalism to surplus in hours.
If you're in a siege — if the suffering has become so severe that you're ready to give up on God — consider that the deliverance might be closer than the despair suggests. Don't give up on the LORD the day before the army flees.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
The messenger - It has been proposed to change “messenger” into “king,” the two words being in Hebrew nearly alike, and…
Behold, this evil is of the Lord - It is difficult to know whether it be the prophet, the messenger, or the king, that…
This last paragraph of this chapter should, of right, have been the first of the next chapter, for it begins a new…
while he yet talked with them He had hardly explained his knowledge and his wish before action became necessary. The…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture