2 Kings 6:8 – 23 “Now the king of Aram (Syria) was at war against Israel. After consulting with his servants, he said, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
Then the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had pointed out. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. For this reason the king of Aram became enraged and called his servants to demand of them, “Tell me, which one of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
But one of his servants replied, “No one, my lord the king. For Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” So the king said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send men to capture him.”
On receiving the report, “Elisha is in Dothan,” the king of Aram sent horses, chariots, and a great army. They went there by night and surrounded the city.
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early in the morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. So he asked Elisha, “Oh, my master, what are we to do?” “Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.”
And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
And Elisha told them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are seeking.” And he led them to Samaria. When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men that they may see.”
Then the LORD opened their eyes, and they looked around and discovered that they were in Samaria.
And when the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”
“Do not kill them,” he replied. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and then return to their master.”
So the king prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. And the Aramean raiders did not come into the land of Israel again.”
The king of Aram (Syria) is frustrated beyond belief! A crack team of Syrian warriors has been cleverly setting up ambushes to catch the king of Israel and yet every time the Syrians go into hiding in a new location, the king of Israel finds out about it and avoids them. The king of Syria can’t understand this and is certain there must be an Israelite informer among his troops. But there’s no spy among the Syrian forces; instead, God is showing Elisha where the Syrians are lying in wait so that Elisha can warn the king of Israel.
The king of Syria decides to eliminate Elisha and sends an enormous army to surround the city of Dothan in the northern Samarian hills, where Elisha and his servant are staying. When Elisha’s servant wakes up and sees the Syrians, he panics! Nobody ever told this young man that working for a prophet could be so dangerous. But Elisha sees the situation with the eyes of faith. “Do not be afraid,” Elisha answered, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the hills were full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
The same God who has been telling Elisha where the Syrian troops are hiding has also sent His forces to counter any attack from the Syrians. Now Elisha asks God to strike the Syrians blind and then tells them that they are in the wrong city. Elisha leads the Syrians to Samaria, 15 kilometers from Dothan. Imagine how the Syrians feel when their blindness lifts and they find themselves in Samaria!
The king of Israel stands amazed and almost sounds like a Labrador retriever. “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” Wisely, Elisha advises the king to make a feast for the Syrians and then send them back to their master. Elisha knows that once the Syrians have eaten food from the king of Israel, traditionally, they can no longer attack him. The plan works and the Syrians return to their master in Damascus. The account ends by stating that Aramean raiders do not attack Israel again; however, we will soon see that the Syrian king will mount another attack.
APPLICATION: Psalm 37:4 tells us, “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them.” Here God protects and delivers Elisha and his servant as well as the Israelites. “But,” you ask, “what about all those Christians who are being martyred for their faith? What about those in northern Nigeria who have been murdered in their churches? What about Christians in Southern Sudan?” Those are valid questions.
In 1978, Edith Schaeffer wrote a book entitled Affliction. The main thesis of that book was that at the end of time, we would find that the grace of God has been proven sufficient for all circumstances. There are people who are miraculously healed and miraculously delivered, demonstrating that God can indeed heal and deliver. On the other hand, there are also those faithful who die with cancer or other diseases or who are martyred for their faith. The lives of these people demonstrate that God’s grace has proved sufficient even for these extreme circumstances.
Even at the time Edith Schaeffer was writing that book, her husband, the famous theologian and Bible expositor Pastor Francis Schaeffer, was suffering from the cancer that eventually killed him a few years later. When Edith Schaeffer was writing, she was speaking out of her own experience; this was no mere theory.
There are those Christians who have narrowly escaped dying for their faith, demonstrating that God still can deliver. But there are others who have died refusing to renounce Christ.
“The Christian bishops, chiefs, commanders, clergy and people of Sudan declared, on May 16, 1983, that they would not abandon God as God had revealed himself to them under threat of Shariah Law imposed by the fundamentalist Islamic government in Khartoum. Until a peace treaty was signed on January 9, 2005, the Episcopal Church of the Province of the Sudan suffered from persecution and devastation through twenty-two years of civil war. Two and a half million people were killed, half of whom were members of this church. Many clergy and lay leaders were singled out because of their religious leadership in their communities. No buildings, including churches and schools, are left standing in an area the size of Alaska. Four million people are internally displaced, and a million are scattered around Africa and beyond in the Sudanese Diaspora. Twenty-two of the twenty-four dioceses exist in exile in Uganda or Kenya, and the majority of the clergy are unpaid. Only 5% of the population of Southern Sudan was Christian in 1983. Today over 85% of that region of six million is now mostly Episcopalian or Roman Catholic. A faith rooted deeply in the mercy of God has renewed their spirits throughout the years of strife and sorrow.” (http://satucket.com/lectionary/Sudan.htm)
Corrie ten Boom and her family sheltered a Jewish family in their home in Haarlem during World War II. Corrie’s father assured her that if they were captured by the Nazis, God would give them the grace necessary to bear up in the concentration camps. Eventually, Corrie’s family was taken, and Corrie’s father and her sister Betsie died in the concentration camps. But Corrie and her sister were able to share their faith with their fellow prisoners and give them hope. After the war, Corrie embarked on thirty – three years of ministry, during which time she went around the world speaking in sixty – four countries.
We do not know what lies ahead of us, but this one thing we do know: no matter the circumstances that we will have to face, God is already there and His grace will be sufficient. Let us praise Him and trust Him!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust that Your provision will always be there for us and that Your grace will be sufficient for any trouble that we encounter. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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