2Kings 6:8-23, “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them”
And Elisha called on God to cause the Syrian men on chariots and horses be blind vs. 18. If someone was pursuing you then all of a sudden something happens to them, they will stop pursuing you and begin to worry or attend to what has just happened to them. Here we see men pursuing Elisha and because they became blind, their priorities changed, they needed to be led by someone. Elisha prayed his servant’s eyes would be opened and then he prayed that the Syrians Armies eyes would be made blind.
Vs. 19, “Now Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek”. But he led them to Samaria”. Very interesting if you think about it. The army knew of no man except Elisha and his servant were the only ones present with them. They knew who Elisha was and his voice the reason they came down from the mountain to capture him. When their condition changed, the eyes they could see by was gone. All blind, helpless and confused seeking help, Elisha offered to bring them to the one they were seeking, the one who happens to be offering them help. Once again I believe Elisha saw beyond the natural to see that these were misguided men who needed help and direction. May be no one had ever showed them kindness, love and acceptance, maybe where they came from they were trained to hate but here is an enemy who first brings them to a place where they discover they can do nothing of themselves and then offers to help them. We meet many people who at times are tough to handle or relate to, some are family members. Their attitude, character and the like makes it hard to work or be around them, they became our enemies in one way or another. If we were to see beyond the present to see that some are not actually enemies but poor misguided people looking for acceptance, affirmation, encouragements and love. I would rather not fight them but pray that God would blind their eyes from seeing the bad things they want to see in me and reach to that place where they become helpless and need someone to show them the way, kindness and love. Love covers multitude of sins the bible tells us. This where we ought to be different, Christ is with us and in us.
Vs. 21, “Now when the King of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? shall I kill them?... Finally Elisha led these men to Samaria to meet the king of Israel, what happens when an enemy after you is handed over to you in a helpless state? revenge comes to mind. You have a chance to gossip, be mean, do evil and desire something worse to happen to the ones you would call your enemy, however you chose not to. You may have had those days when you had a chance to destroy your enemies and you came under conviction to drop your charges against them. The bible says love your enemies and that is true but at the same time we need to know the enemy we can love and the devil is not one of them. Vs. 22 So Elisha told the king not kill them. I would imagine the king’s his disappointment with Elisha, he may have thought something like this, “well if we can’t kill them, we will make them our slaves or we will make them pay for having troubled us; how about making them suffer until they wished they were dead“. Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you”. What a word!!
Is it easy to forgive and love your enemies? Of course not, however it is a key to release. Elisha at his disposal could have destroyed these men. After all they came to capture him to destroy him. Instead of rending evil for evil, he chose to do something out of the ordinary, I will share the final piece in the last part. God with us enables us to see what we were blind to see and deal with people in ways our natural sense would not allow. Blessings Ev
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- The Lord Is With Us, Part 1of5, Evans Olang (magnifyhisword.wordpress.com)
- I Am Persuaded, Part 1of3, Evans Olang (magnifyhisword.wordpress.com)
- I Am Persuaded, Part 2of3, Evans Olang (magnifyhisword.wordpress.com)
He Has Magnified His Word 