2 Kings 7:2
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. 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.
In Samaria under siege famine, a royal officer judged the promise of plenty by the next day to be impossible even for God to bring by opening heaven, and was told he would look on it but have no share in it. The word came to pass exactly, with food made abundant when the besiegers fled and left their supplies, while the officer was trampled to death at the gate after seeing it. Doubt does not stop the promise, but it shuts the doubter out from its blessing even while he watches it fulfilled. So those who disbelieve God's instruction, hold back His work, or refuse to move with His Spirit may live to see the blessing come yet have no part in it.
Setting, Meaning, and Fulfillment
2 Kings 7:2 belongs to the history running from 2 Kings 7 through 2 Kings 23, opening with the reign of Joram king of Israel. It forms part of the varied events in the life of Elisha the prophet, whose ministry of about sixty years ended under Jehoash. It falls within the account of Elisha's ministry, when God worked notable miracles and reproved and instructed backsliding Israel.
The setting is Samaria under siege and famine, when Elisha promises sudden abundance and deliverance within a single day. A royal officer, the lord on whose hand the king leaned, the king's officer and captain, treats that promise as impossible and rejects it with unbelief. He doubts that even God could provide it by making windows in heaven, judging the promise by human limits and by what he could understand. Elisha answers that the officer will see the promised abundance with his own eyes but will not eat of it or share in it.
Despite that unbelief God's word is fulfilled literally, and food becomes plentiful in Samaria the next day just as Elisha had said. The promised relief comes through ordinary human means when the Syrians flee and leave their provisions behind. The officer sees the abundance but dies at the gate before sharing in it, trampled by the hungry people, showing both the fulfillment of God's word and the judgment of the doubter.
Warning Against Unbelief
The officer answered the promise of sudden food in besieged Samaria with unbelief, doubting that even God could make it possible by opening windows in heaven. Elisha told him in reply that he would see the promised plenty and deliverance fulfilled with his own eyes but would not eat of it or share in it. When the Syrians fled and left their provisions behind, food became plentiful just as promised, and the officer saw the abundance but died at the gate before partaking of it. Doubt can therefore keep a person from receiving a promised blessing even while witnessing its fulfillment, and those who doubt God's instruction and delay the work may live to see it fulfilled yet miss its promised blessings.
So the church itself, even while watching the Spirit bring people to accept the truth, may miss the blessing through unbelief or failure to cooperate with the Spirit's leading. The officer's question about windows in heaven stands for doubt that a great work could ever come to pass, whereas the advance of the mission work in India shows that what had seemed impossible did come to pass. In the same way the image of the Lord opening windows in heaven was used by Andrew Fuller to express doubt that the proposed missionary work could be done, while Carey kept urging that the time had come to begin it.