Don’t sit down and die but get up and try!
2 King 7:3 Why sit we here until we die?
2 Kings 6:24-30 and 7:1-16
24 And it came to pass after this, that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria.
25 And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver.
26 And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
27 And he said, If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress?
28 And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow.
29 So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.
30 And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.
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.
2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
5 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.
10 So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were.
11 And he called the porters; and they told it to the king's house within.
12 And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
13 And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.
14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
15 And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king.
16 And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. KJV
Introduction:
There are about 1.3 billion Black People on the planet. Thirteen percent or 41 million blacks make up the United States. Conservatively speaking almost one in every six people on this planet is of African descent. Every second 24 people are born worldwide and 4 of them have African blood.
Africa is the second largest continent on the planet. It incorporates tropical and temperate zones. The longest river on the earth, the Nile, originates in Central Africa, flows north through Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The largest desert on the earth, the Sahara is the border between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa is approximately 11,700,000 square miles. The United States can fit three times in Africa.
The greatest variety of humanity with skin colors that range from ebony black to ivory white, eye colors that span the spectrum of blue and green to grey to alabaster. People with hair textures from curly to straight, from pointed facial features with thin lips to full faced structures, from the short Pygmies to the tall Masai, Africans are beautiful.
The largest deposits of minerals and precious metals are found in Africa. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gold, silver, magnesium, copper, uranium, iron ore, bauxite, chlorides, nitrates, carbonates etc are in abundance. Rivers, prairies, rain forests, mountains, waterfalls, lumber of all kinds, animals great and small abound everywhere. The second largest and oldest structures on the planet, the pyramids are on this continent.
Many Historians just speak of an Africa brutalized, oppressed and vanquished by five slave trades, nexuses of evil that prospered Europe, Asia and the Americas through the capture and subjugation of between twenty-five and twenty-seven millions of Africa’s youth and the dismantling of civilizations that were thousands of years old. Politicians and social commentators speak of a disorganized Africa in the throes of civil wars, political unrest, famine, contemporary slavery, corruption, dependency, poverty, disease and darkness. Some Westerners see the children of Africa in this hemisphere as a nuisance, bound by gang lifestyles, the drug trade, familial pathologies, crime and poverty in European and American cities.
Nevertheless there is another Africa that I am compelled to speak of today, not to ignore the present problems but to highlight the potential for recovery, not only for Africa but for all of Africa’s children and ultimately for all of humanity as well, because a chain is only as strong as it weakest link. Therefore, the world is only as strong as Africa.
The Africa I speak of has supplied primary resource materials for Western consumption for almost two thousand years. The Africa I speak of is the motherland of iron smelting, iron smithing, brain surgery, antibiotics, advanced civil engineering, and in the post-modern era, the fastest generation of computers. It was Bill Gates who invented the microcomputer but an African American man, Mark Dean made it accessible to us all. The Africa I speak of gave us George Washington Carver, inventor of over 300 products from peanuts and 125 others from the sweet potato, Sarah Boone, who invented the ironing board and Jan E. Matzelinger who invented the shoe lasting machine. The Africa I refer to, gave the world Madam C.J. Walker who invented numerous hair care products. The Africa I speak of gave us people like Lloyd P. Ray who invented the dustpan, Thomas W. Stewart that invented the mop. George T. Samon the clothes dryer. John Love the pencil sharpener.
The Africa I speak of gave us John Burr who invented the lawn mower, Richard Spikes who invented the automatic gear shift, Joseph Gammel who invented the supercharge system for internal combustion engines and Garrett A. Morgan who invented the traffic light and the lawn mower. The Africa I speak of gave us Elbert T. Robinson who invented the electric trolley, precursor to the city bus, Alexander Miles who invented the elevator, Phillip Downing who invented the letter drop mailbox and William Barry who invented the postmarking and canceling machine. The Africa I speak of gave us Lewis Howard Latimer who invented the filament within the light bulb, Charles Drew who developed blood storage and the blood bank, Daniel Hale Williams who performed the first open-heart surgery , the gifted hands of Ben Carson one of the world’s leading neurosurgeons. The Africa I speak of gave us Dr. Patricia Bath, the first African American woman doctor to receive a patent, devised the laser to remove cataracts from the eyes. We all know that the first man to get to the equator was an African, but how many people know that the first man to get to the North Pole was an African, Matthew Henson.(1)
The Africa I speak of gave us William J. Seymour leader of the Azusa Street Revival that spawned the modern Pentecostal Movement now close to 700 million strong worldwide. The Africa I speak of gave us Martin Luther King jr.,that led the non-violent American Civil Rights movement which was the inspiration for the South African and Chinese students’ resistance movement as well as the model for non-violent social transformations worldwide. The Africa I speak of gave us space medicine technology, space craft interior design, space ship waste matter disposal systems, the camera used on the trip to the moon as well as the space buggy used for the first moon walk and the stellar map that guided Neil Armstrong and his crew to the moon. (2)
The Africa I speak of has given the world some of the best golfers, boxers, tennis players, track and field athletes, basketball stars, football players, soccer stars, baseball players, cricketers, musicians, singers, actors, businessmen and women, doctors, lawyers, engineers, preachers, military leaders, politicians, diplomats, scholars, educators etc.
The Africa I speak of gave Moses to the world. From the fertile delta of Goshem, this African prince became God’s instrument of liberation for the chosen of God and one morning he appeared on the doorsteps of Pharaoh and said God told me to tell you, to “Let My people go!” The Africa I speak of gave us the basis of justice and law for humanity. Do you remember Moses and the Ten Commandments? The Africa I speak of gave us the philosophies and logics of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle all who studied in Egypt in Africa or studied African philosophy in Greece. The Africa I speak of gave us the ancestors of the present Queen of England. Yes one of Queen Elizabeth’s forebears was a black woman named Charlotte after whom Charlotte North Carolina is named. She was the wife of King George III. Queen Elizabeth is a sister too.The Africa I speak of, most of all protected Jesus and in that sense gave us the Messiah when the wicked Jewish king, Herod, tried to kill Him God spoke, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” This is the Africa I chose to speak of today.
I speak of a land of challenges that has produced a resourceful and resilient people who are physically beautiful, bodily strong, intellectually progressive, academically rigorous, spiritually inclined and unbelievably creative. That is why in spite of any negativity I see in the Black World I still say "Don't sit here and die but get up and try."
Like the four leprous men of the text, I want to say to those who are discouraged, despondent and distraught, there is a way out, there is a solution and there is an answer to the dilemma. The blood that runs in your veins ran in the veins of those that built the pyramids and those that built the great Empires of Egypt, Ghana, Mali and Songhai. You are not a weak, defeated people, but a strong victorious people that God has graciously endowed with the potential needed to succeed. This prescription is not just for Black people but for all of God’s children so I would simply recommend that we all do two things to refuse to sit down and die and to get up and try and they are (1) Know who you are (2) Know who God is and Look to God.
1. Know who you are
Hear what the word of God says to us, whether we are Black, Brown, Red or White. Know that God made us.
Psalms 100:3 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
Why did God make us?
The only satisfactory answer to the question according to Augustine is that, God made us for Himself.
Isaiah 43:21 “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”
We exist for the glory of God, to reflect who He is to all of humanity, that God be seen in every face regardless of race is the Divine purpose. We belong to God, voluntarily committed to Him as His permanent possession in one sense but in another sense, we are more than just servants, we are the sons and daughters of God.
12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12
We are made His children by His adoption
Romans 8:15—16 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:”
Know who you are. Know that you are a child of God.
Lift up your right hand now and say,
“I am a child of God.”
Say it again,
“I am a child of God.”
Say, “I am born again.”
Say, “I am redeemed.”
Say, “I am a new creation, because I am in Christ.”
Say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”
Say, “I am His workmanship created in His image.”
Say, “I am of the chosen generation.”
Say, “I am of the royal priesthood.”
Say, “I am in God’s holy nation.”
Say, “I am walking in the light of God.”
Say, “I am an heir of God.”
Say “I am a joint-heir with Christ.”
Say, “I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.”
Say, “I am well protected.”
Say, “I am led by the Spirit of God.”
Say, “I am a child of God.”
Say, “In God’s eyes I am a jewel.”
Now say, “I belong to God. I did not choose Him first. He chose me.”
We are God’s own people. We are God’s children. When we truly understand this and really know who we are, we will be able to fulfill our God-given role on this planet.
2. Know who God is and Look to Him
One thing that fascinates me about George Washington Carver is that he never patented his inventions. He was an Agricultural Scientist and an accomplished artist when people would encourage him to patent his inventions he would argue that God gave them to him so he could not sell them. Sojourner Truth a great Black preaching woman escaped slavery and became an itinerant evangelist, touching many lives for Christ. Booker T. Washington author of the book, Up from Slavery and founder of the Tuskegee Institute was a man of humility, wisdom and deep Christian faith. These Africans had a deeper understanding of what was needed in the struggle. They learned to take their eyes off the situation and look to God for their help, and when God helped them they gave God the glory.
So my admonition is “Know your God and Look to Him.”
Look to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel…” Look to the “Creator and Ruler of the universe; the eternal, the infinite Spirit; the Supreme Being, the Almighty and the Omniscient.”
Look to:
Elohim God Almighty.
El Shaddai God of eternity
Adonai Lord and Master
Yaweh Lord
Jehovah-Jireh God the provider (Genesis 22:8-14)
Jehovah-Rapha The Lord that heals us (Exodus 15:23-26).
The healer of physical and spiritual
sicknesses, or the Restorer of health.
Jehovah-Nissi The Lord our banner (exodus 17:8-15)
Jehovah-M’Kadesh The Lord Who sanctifies (Leviticus 20:7-8)
Jehovah-Shalom The Lord our peace (Judges 6:24)
Jehovah-Sabaoth The Lord of Hosts, the Lord Who commands a mighty army (1Samuel 1:3, 11).
Jehovah-Elyon The Lord Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth (Psalm 7:17).
Jehovah-Tsidkenu The Lord our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6).
Jehovah-Shamma The Lord is present, the Lord Who never leaves us alone (Ezekiel 48:35).
Look to Him for He alone is God. In her song Miriam, Moses’ sister, sang:
“Who among the gods is like you, O LORD?
Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? Exodus 15:11.
With heartfelt cries king David declared: Every bone in my body will shout:
“No one is like the LORD!”You protect the helpless from those in power; you save the poor and needy, from those who hurt them.
Psalm 35:10.
No one is like you!
God is God because there is none like Him.
God is “Incomprehensible.” God cannot be contained, limited, fettered or restricted by anything. God cannot be reduced to any form of human manageability. God is incomprehensible.
God cannot be built, bought or borrowed. God cannot be created, conceived, conceptualized or concocted. God cannot be conjectured, constituted, constructed, construed, contrived, copied or correlated. God cannot be compared, converted, conveyed, condensed, congealed, consigned, consolidated or corresponded. God cannot be contradicted, contaminated, convicted, convinced, counteracted, convulsed, crumpled, crushed, or curtailed.
God cannot be deposed, dethroned, detained, defaced, defamed, defeated, defaulted, deleted, denigrated or desecrated. God cannot be decreased, deceased, defiled or demised. God cannot be deterred, dethroned, devalued, disabled, disarmed disgraced or disarrayed. God cannot be disassembled, dismantled, discarded or disintegrated. God cannot be discommoded, displaced, disposed, dispossessed, disrupted, distorted, distressed or disturbed. God is God and we all need to know God and look up to Him.
Stop looking anywhere else or to anyone else. Look to God. In Psalms 121:1 The Psalmists asks poignantly, “Should I look up to the hills for help? And by the Spirit he answers profoundly, “My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear... Psalm 124:8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. KJV
So like the four leprous men of 2 Kings 6:24-30 and 7:1-16, who were put out of the society, even if you think you are expelled, evicted, sidelined, disenfranchised, marginalized, dispossessed, demoralized, subjugated, exploited, oppressed or suppressed, you need to get up and say, “I will not sit here and die but I will get up and try,” because the truth is, you will not only save yourself by getting up to try but you will also save those who have locked you out of their world, in an attempt to secure themselves from you. They have not realized that the ones they have ostracized are the only ones who can rescue them!
References and Notes
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