Thought for 8 April 2024

 2 Kings 6:14-17

So one night, the King of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city. 

When the servant of Elisha, the man of God, got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses and chariots everywhere.  ‘Ah, my lord, what will we do now?’ he cried out to Elisha. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ Elisha told him.  ‘For there are more on our side than on theirs!’  Then Elisha prayed, ‘O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!’  The Lord opened his servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

The passage that came to my attention today is a wee bit longer than usual but it’s one of the great and fascinating stories from the Old Testament.  Elisha was a disciple of Elijah and when Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha was chosen to be Elijah’s successor.  If you have time, look at this part of the bible to find out other miraculous things God accomplished through this prophet, indeed, throughout this part of scripture, Elisha is referred to as ‘the man of God’.

This story begins (at verse 8 in this chapter) with the King of Aram being at war with Israel.  When he was deciding where to mount his attack, God made Elisha aware of his plans.  Elisha then warned the King of Israel.  When King Aram turned up at the place where he planned to attack the Israelites, they were always prepared and had enough resources deployed there that convinced Aram that it would be too risky to launch an attack.  This happened several times and King Aram came to the conclusion that one of his officers was a traitor, so he called them all in asking which one was the traitor.  Of course, they all rightly denied that they were traitors and one of them told the king that he had heard that it was Elisha that was passing this intelligence to the King of Israel.  King Aram then sent his officers away after having commanded them to find out where Elisha was and capture him.

The King’s spies discovered that Elisha was at a place called Dothan so he sent a great army with many chariots and horses to travel by night then surround the city where Elisha lived.  When Elisha’s servant got up in the morning and went outside, there seemed to be troops, horses and chariots wherever he looked.  He immediately panicked and went back inside, Elisha was quite relaxed and his servant just couldn’t understand why.  Elisha then prayed to God that he would let his servant see what he could see.  When the servant went back outside, he could see the armies of heaven God had sent to protect Elisha and the Israelites which greatly outnumbered the forces of Aram.

Elisha prayed to God so that the Arameans had a form of blindness that would not let them recognise Elisha and allow Elisha to convince them they were at the wrong place.  Elisha then led them to Samaria which was the capital of Israel, took them to the King of Israel.  He then prayed to God that he would open their eyes to this new reality.  The King of Israel asked Elisha if these prisoners should be killed but Elisha said they had to be fed and sent back to where they came from.  As a result, they stayed away from Israel for a time.

I hope you found this story as interesting as I did and there was one bit that really stuck with me.  I remember loving a hymn I used to get at Sunday School, Lifeboys and Primary School, it was ‘God is always near me’.  Elisha’s servant had no idea that God’s army were there but they were, and in greater numbers than Aram’s army and, obviously with much greater power.  Will it not be the same when we pray asking for God’s intervention in the difficulties we face in this life?  We may not see his angels or messengers but if they can turn up in great numbers for Elisha when he prays, might they not turn up for ourselves just by asking through prayer?  They might even be there when we ask, but with our limited human senses we just can’t see them.

Prayer – Heavenly Father, Lord God Almighty, the Creator and Perfecter of all things. We raise our voices in praise to you today.  For you are all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present.  Your thoughts are wider, higher and deeper than my thoughts, you see all things from beginning to end and you know all our life’s stories already.  You are bigger than any enemy or struggle we are facing today.  You love us and are by our sides, no matter what trials we face in this life. Lord, thank you for loving us and surrounding us with your presence. Carry us through all the challenges we face in this life.  In the name of your Son Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.