Faith to Capture an Army

II Kings 6:14-20

I know Elijah is the famous Old Testament prophet, but my favorite prophet is Elisha.  He did many great things by his faith in God, but this one is one of my favorites.  Can you imagine having your town surrounded by an enemy army?  Not only was the town surrounded, but Elisha was their target.  They had orders to kill him.  He was not afraid though.  He had walked with God long enough that he saw what others could not.

Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

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.

So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, “LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!

II Kings 6:14–20

The young man that Elisha was mentoring was terrified. Under ordinary circumstances, any ordinary person would be. However, Elisha did not want him to fear.  Elisha prayed that the young man’s eyes would be open.  Before he prayed, he told the young man that those that were with them outnumbered the whole army that surrounded them.  When God answered Elisha’s prayer, the young man could see the army of God in the mountains with chariots and horses of fire.

We would think that Elisha would stand back and let God’s army destroy the enemy army, but what does Elisha do?  He prays for God to blind the army.  Then, he walked out of the walled city out to the enemy army.  He tells them that they are in the wrong place to find the man they are looking for and to follow him.  Apparently they could still see, but there was a blindness of perception that struck them.  Elisha then leads them right into the middle of Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom where the Army of Israel surrounds them.  Then Elisha prays for God to open their eyes.

Can you imagine being one of those soldiers? “Hey old man, what did you do to us?  You said you were going to take us to Elisha.  Oh, you are Elisha.”  If that wasn’t all strange enough, Elisha then tells the King of Israel to feed them and send them home.  He treated them like guests when they were there to kill him.  That is some kind of faith!

We spend so much time scared of the “what if’s” of life.  If we have faith in God, there is no reason to fear.  As Christians, the worst that can happen is we go to heaven.  The best that could happen is God could answer our prayers like he did for Elisha and people see God’s mighty hand at work.  Greater still would be if they came to a saving faith in Jesus.  Before this can happen though, we have to trust God enough to face our enemies and know that God will take care of us.

Father, help me to trust you more.  I do not want to face an entire army, but if You call me to such, give me the faith to stand against them all for Your glory.  I pray that I never fear opposition, but trust that You are using that opposition to glorify Your name and to draw people to You for salvation.