2 Kings 7:17
And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him.
2 Kings 7:17 stands at the beginning of the history running from the reign of Joram king of Israel through 2 Kings 23, a period that includes the varied events in the life of Elisha the prophet. It belongs to the mighty miracles wrought by Elisha after Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind and the mantle of Elijah rested upon Elisha. The officer the king appointed was put in charge of the city gate during the distribution of food after the Syrian siege ended, and the starving crowd trampled him there. The verse records the fulfillment of the man of God's prediction, that the officer in charge of the gate was trampled by the people there and died, just as the man of God had said.
The officer had doubted Elisha's promise of food, yet he saw the sudden abundance come. He saw the prophecy fulfilled but did not eat or share in it, because he was trampled and died as foretold. His unbelief did not prevent God's word from being fulfilled, and the verse demonstrates that every part of God's word is fulfilled literally. His death illustrates the consequence of refusing to believe God's word even while later witnessing its fulfillment. His fate warns that those who delay or fall back because they doubt God's word may witness its fulfillment yet miss the blessings it brings, failing to share in it because of unbelief.