00:00In the days of ancient Israel, the city of Samaria stood under a shadow of death,
00:05besieged by the vast Syrian army. Inside the walls, a terrible famine nodded the people.
00:10A donkey's head was sold for silver as mothers wept for their children.
00:14The king of Israel walked the ramparts in sackcloth, his heart filled with bitter despair
00:19and burning anger against the heavens. Blaming the prophet of God for this misery,
00:24the king sent an executioner to take Elisha's life.
00:26But Elisha stood firm. By this time tomorrow, he declared to a mocking captive,
00:32flour and barley would be sold for pennies. Meanwhile, at the city gates, four outcasts,
00:37men afflicted with leprosy, sat in the dust, forgotten by the world, and left to die.
00:43Why sit we here until we die? They reasoned, if we enter the city, we starve.
00:48If we go to the Syrians, we might live. As the sun dipped below the horizon,
00:52the four broken men began their slow, limping journey toward the camp with their enemies.
00:57But unknown to them, God caused the Syrian army to hear the thunderous roar of a thousand chariots
01:03and a great host. Terror gripped the Syrian soldiers, thinking an army had come to Samaria's aid.
01:08They fled into the night, leaving everything behind.
01:11When the lepros reached the camp, they found not soldiers,
01:14but silence and tents overflowing with food, silver, and gold.
01:18They feasted like kings, eating their fill and hiding treasures in the sand,
01:22lost in the wonder of their sudden fortune. But then, conscience struck,
01:27We do not do well, one said.
01:29This is a day of good news, and we are keeping it to ourselves.
01:33A hurry back through the darkness to the city gates,
01:36shouting the news to the watchman high above the stone walls.
01:39The king feared a trap, but scouts returned with word of the empty camp.
01:42The miracle was real. The enemy was gone.
01:45The massive gates of Samaria swung open,
01:47and the starving tide of people rushed out to reclaim their lives and their city.
01:51In the chaos, the sceptical captain who marked the prophet was trampled at the gate,
01:56seeing the abundance but never tasting it.
01:59Just as Elisha had foretold,
02:01the marketplace was suddenly filled with fine flour and barley,
02:04and the famine was broken.
02:06Elisha watched as the prophecy was fulfilled,
02:09while the four lepers stood as the unlikely messengers of God's great salvation.
02:13For in the darkest hour, deliverance came not from the mighty,
02:17but from the most unexpected of places.
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