2 Kings 6 (Part 2) Bible Study (Horses and Chariots of Fire) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

OK, we'll grab your Bibles. Meet me in Second Kings chapter

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

6. Second Kings chapter 6 and verse

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

8 is where we want to place our fingers.

Second Kings 6 verse 8. Let us just begin reading right

2 Kings 6:8

away. Once when the king of Syria was

warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants,

saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp.

But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, Beware that

you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down

there. And the king of Israel sent to

the place about which the man of God told him.

Thus he used to warn him so that he saved himself there more than

once or twice. And the mind of the king of

Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing.

And he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show

me who of us is for the king of Israel?

And one of his servants said, None, my Lord, O king.

But Elijah the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel

the words that you speak in your bedroom.

And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize

him. It was told him, Behold, he is

in Dothan. Lord, we ask.

As we've already prayed, but we pray again that you would guide

us through this study and that there will be a special

empowerment behind it. We need Your help.

We dare not assume that we can open Your word and expound it

and preach it and hear it, thinking that we will be

fruitful apart from Your spirits.

Helm. So we ask that you would make

this an impactful time, and that we would see Christ, and that we

would receive your wisdom, and that we would walk out of here

that much closer to Him and that much clearer in our

understanding of who He is. Although we long for you to help

us, and we need you and we committed in the name of your

Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

It would be a mistake to interpret this passage in

isolation, and the reason why I say that is because this is not

the first time that the Syrians have been mentioned in

connection to Elisha's ministry. Do you recall the last time that

we engaged with the Syrians when it came to Elisha's story?

Anybody know you can answer? If you do know the answer, you

got to say a little bit louder because I'm a little bit

elevated and you're a little bit far if you're answering from the

back. Naman the Syrian in Second Kings

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5. And so this is not our

introduction to the Syrians interacting with this mighty man

of God. And is understanding that

background helpful to approaching this text?

Absolutely. You're saying why read verse

eight once more. Once when the king of Syria was

warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants,

saying at such and such a place shall be my camp.

What you and I discover in the opening verse of our study is

the profound ingratitude and the disregard of the King of Syria

towards the people of Israel and more importantly, the God of

Israel. Why?

Because this follows Naaman the Syrian, who was the general of

the army, who was healed miraculously and returned back

to Syria as a new man. And we have to remember that the

king of Syria was well aware of Naaman's condition and how he

was helped by the God of Israel. Remember, it was Naaman who

approached the king of Syria asking him permission to go to

Israel to receive aid. And the king of Syria himself

wrote a letter and gave it to the king of Israel, saying

receive Naaman my servant and help him.

So how do we tie this together? Well, evidently the King of

Syria was not too concerned about Naaman's healing and how

that should change his perspective on the God of

Israel. There was no lasting impression,

if there was any impression at all.

Right here in verse 8 we learned that he's ready to go to war.

Disappointing, yes. Shocking.

It shouldn't be because this is not unique to the King of Syria

throughout the Old Testament. Do we not see it in the Gospel

accounts? Is it not there in present day

experiences? Do we not have stories of this

where people have tasted of the mercy of God, have been even

bathed by His grace, and still are willing to war against Him,

to be cold towards him, indifferent towards him?

There are various degrees to which a man can harden his

heart. And I was reflecting on the king

of Syria the other night, and I was reminded of a passage that

describes one of the severest forms of stubbornness a person

can. Reach.

It's interesting because this word in the Hebrews only found

in two places in all the Old Testament.

It's found in Zechariah 712 as the prophet was reflecting on

the stubbornness of the people, of the people of God.

We're told there in Zechariah 712, they made their hearts

diamond hard, lest they should hear the law and the words that

the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former

prophets. Therefore, great anger came from

the Lord of hosts. They made their hearts not hard,

diamond hard. I was reflecting on that.

Why would the word diamond be used?

Until I looked into it and realized that diamonds are one

of the most hard material natural stones in our world.

So out of all the things that God could have used as an

adjective to describe the condition of the heart of the

people of God at this time, He says their hearts are not just

rock hard, diamond hard. And who's responsible for that

kind of state? It was the people.

It says they made their hearts diamond hard.

They have allowed themselves to persistent rejection and

resistance to God's Word, God's power, God's mercy, to the point

where it was virtually impenetrable.

And so do not underestimate how a man or a woman's heart can

become so stiff and calloused to the things of God, despite what

the Lord does for them. That's something that we see

over and over in our Old Testament study, what man is

capable of in their rejection of God and their denial of God.

But despite the strategic and heartless plots of the enemies

of Israel, the people of God were a step ahead.

Why? Because we learned that Elijah

was granted supernatural discernment from God.

And it's quite humorous when you actually think about it, because

Elisha becomes the greatest intelligent agency for any

nation in all of world history, single handedly.

You have one man who didn't send any spies, who was in his own

abode and received downloads from God, knowing exactly the

next move that the Syrians would make, and he would tell it to

the king of Israel. And they evaded their enemies

over and over and over again. And it's no wonder that near

Elijah's death, we've seen this more than once in our study of

Second Kings, where he is referred to as the Chariots and

the horsemen of Israel. The Chariots of Israel were

ascribed as a title to this man Why?

Because he was the true defense of the nation, his connection

with God. As a conduit of God, He was able

to truly lead the people and protect the people.

At this moment not only reflects God's omniscience, it also

serves as a megaphone for His mercy.

Why? Because who the King of Israel

was at this time and the apostate condition of the nation

of Israel. They were spiritually sick and

their leadership didn't help. Them by any means.

Does anybody remember who the king of Israel is at this point?

Go to 2nd Kings 31. You get your answer.

In Second Kings Three one we read and the 18th year of

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jeho Ram, the son of Ahab became king

over Israel and Samaria, and he reigned 12 years.

Jeho Ram, the son of Ahab. True, he was not as evil as his

parents, but he was a compromiser.

He worshipped idols. Be that as it may, God did not

completely abandoned his people. That's what you see here, that

the Lord was still willing to offer guidance and warnings, and

through that He was extending in steadfast invitation for the

people to be reconciled to Him over and over and over again.

And this might shock us, but Joe R.E.M. at this point responds

favorably. He actually does the right

thing. So the word of the Lord comes to

him. Don't go there and he doesn't do

it. And we're told there that he

doesn't do that just once or twice, but numerous times.

So Jahrem, he's not the best king.

He's actually one of the worst kings.

That being said, he's still offering us some wisdom in our

walk with the Lord at this at this point, this juncture.

In what way? The main thing I want you to

take away from this man is how his obedience was consistent.

So he saved himself there more than once or twice.

Elisha's warnings were numerous, which required the King of

Israel to trust him every single time.

Understand this, it wouldn't be enough for the King of Israel to

obey 10 times and on the 11th time to have his own way.

It would require him to submit and trust every single time.

And if he didn't, he would put himself in extreme danger.

And I think here there is some wisdom for our walk with Christ.

If you and I want to see God's favor and protection remain in

our lives, then it would be good to view a single act of

disobedience as a deadly threat. A single act of disobedience as

a deadly threat. Listen, if you want to be

serious about holiness and the rewards of holiness, may I say

something to you? You cannot convince yourself

that you can even nibble for a moment on one transgression or

stray away in a season of sin unscathed.

That would be no less foolish than Jeho Ram momentarily

ignoring Elijah's directions. You would think that the king of

Israel would be a fool to obey 7 times and on the eighth time to

depend on his own wisdom to not trust the word of the Lord.

And you and I are called to that same standard of dependency on

God's Word, that in every place, with any person at any time, I'm

going to trust God's Word. I'm not going to open myself to

anything that can put me in danger.

If you and I cease sin that way, we would know greater rewards.

On the path of steadfast obedience is where we find the

treasures of God's blessing and favor and continual shielding.

Yeah, praise God for his grace. That when we do slip and when we

fall, when we're convinced to do otherwise.

But I'm talking about premeditated foolishness.

Of knowing what God's Word has to say about the matter and to

just go the other way. I see the king of Israel here

obeying, and as long as he obeyed, he was safe.

And it's no different for you and I.

So this is what's so moving about this scene.

Verse 10. The king of Israel sent to the

place about which the man of God told him.

Thus he used to warn him so that he was saved there more than

once or twice. Verse 11.

And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled

because of this thing. And he called the servants and

said to them, will you not show me who of us is for the king of

Israel? So look, this is beyond

coincidence now. Once, OK, Twice, OK, three

times. We're not told them the total

amount of times. But it was enough for the the

king of Syria to be like, something's up here.

We got a rat. There is a spy here.

So he called in and all the services, which of you here is

an informant? Here's what's so funny, verse

12. And one of his servants said

unnamed, right? An inferior individual said,

none, my Lord, O king. But Elisha the prophet who is in

Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your

bedroom. Haven't you?

And I seen this consistently in our study of Second Kings, where

you have a servant who has greater spiritual perception

than somebody who was in a high and lofty position.

Didn't we see that in Second Kings chapter 5, where it was a

2 Kings 5 · chapter mention

slave girl from Israel who was kidnapped from our home that

told Naaman the Syrian, I know somebody who can help you with

your leprosy. Was it not a servant of one of

the kings? When the coalition of kings,

including the king of Judah and Israel, went out to fight

against the Moabites and they were wandering in the

wilderness, they got lost. It was a servant who said, I

know where we can find Elijah and he can help us.

Like you can't ignore that. It's a constant thing that

appears in our study, reminding you and I that to be lowly in

the natural but rich in the spiritual is a greater advantage

than those who are noble in this life but are deficient in the

soul. Who cares about what people

achieve in this life if they're bankrupt spiritually be rich

towards God. I was reading now in my in my

own personal reading of Luke and Luke chapter 12 with that man in

Luke 12 · chapter mention

that parable boasted about expanding his homes and retiring

early and relaxing. And God calls that man a fool.

Anybody is a fool who invests so much in this life but is

bankrupt towards God. And that's why he said such as a

man who is not rich towards God, it's possible to be rich in this

life, but to be poor in the spirit.

I'm not interested in that. I want to be rich towards him no

matter what it costs me in this life.

But you know what I thought when I was reflecting on this?

How did the Syrian servant know about Elijah in this way?

How now? We're not told, but I have an

inclination to believe that it had to do something with name in

the Syrian. This is just speculation, but I

think it's a safe one that when name in return.

Remember he returned with a plan to not be ashamed of his

devotion to Yahweh. He would make an altar, it would

be public. He was not afraid to declare

that his allegiance would be to the true God.

And I wonder if the servant heard the.

Testimony of name in the Syrian and I made an impression on him

enough for him to be familiar with the man of God and what God

was able to do through a man. It's just a wonderful reminder

of what our testimonies can do. So he says, listen, the prophet,

he hears your conversation in your own bedroom.

Now you would think that would humble somebody, right?

You would think that would cause him to say, I must know which

God is able to give this kind of ability to His people.

What do you see? Verse 13?

And he said, go and see where he is, that I may send and seize

him. It was told him, behold, he is

in Dauphin. Hold on to that.

Remember we talked about this in previous studies that when a

place appears, the name of a town or city or region appears

in your Bibles. To not disregard it to nothing

is just a historical footnote. No, look at it and consider it.

Meditate on it. So I remember stumbling upon

this Dothan years ago and thought to myself, that's not a

familiar place in the Bible. Now, we're not going to explore

this now. We're going to come back to in a

moment. We have to continue and you'll

see why. But I just want to remind you of

that discipline. Don't skip over names.

Don't skip over cities and towns and you'll see why This is just

going to be another example of why the discipline of seeking

deeper things in the word of God will reward you greatly.

But let's come to verse 15. When the servant of the man of

God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army

with horses and Chariots was all around the city.

And the servant said, Alas, my master, what shall we?

Do, he said. Do not be afraid, for those who

are with us are more than those who are with them.

So you have two men here. We have the servant of the man

of God. That can't be Gehazi.

Why? Because he's an outcast now.

He's crippled and riddled with leprosy.

So this is someone who replaced him, at least temporarily.

We have the. Servant of the man of God, and

we have Elijah with him. And I want you to realize that

they were both standing in the same geographical location.

They were both both facing the same threat.

And you can even argue that Elisha was experiencing a

greater danger than the servant because they were coming after

him. And lastly, they both serve the

same God, but there was one main difference and it was a very

important difference. They had totally different

outlooks, totally different perspectives.

Totally different revelations that were set before their

vision. The same surprise, the same

challenge, the same difficulty, but two different viewpoints

that cause them to interpret the situation so.

Differently, and I want to say it's the same for Christians

today, that you can have two Christian college students at

the same school with the same temptations and the same crowd,

one succumbing to the pulls of the world and another

overcoming. Why?

Because they have two different understandings.

You can have married couples, and if you do counseling with

married couples long enough, you'll realize that their

problems are not very unique. The strains are very similar and

yet you can have some parties who are willing to in faith and

trust in God's wisdom. Achieve reconciliation while

others crumble. You can have two very wealthy

Christians unusually successful in this life.

One is able to live for eternity and not make mammon their God,

and the other can be completely ensnared to the point of

spiritual destruction. Why?

Because of an understanding. And not just an understanding,

but a willingness to frame your outlook with that understanding.

You have the servant of God looking at the same thing, and

you have the man of God looking at the same thing, two different

conclusions. And the servant of God was

visibly fearful, panicked. His eyes were widened as he woke

up early that day, ready to do his chores and his duties as an

assistant to the prophet. And he looks out and he hears

the distant rumblings and an unusual scene of the hills being

littered with Chariots, perhaps even at sometimes hearing the

chants for Elijah's name and learning very quickly.

We're outnumbered here. And so he panics.

And what's so moving is right away we get a a striking

contrast with the man of God who is calm with an other worldly

kind of tranquility when he looks at the servant of God says

don't be. Afraid.

I mean, it's impossible to read Elijah's response with any other

kind of tone. Don't be afraid.

There are more with us than those that are before us.

Now I'm thinking, and I'm looking at this, wondering, how

was this man able? You can't fake this.

How was this man able to respond with such a serenity, A serenity

that was able to not just help him, but help others?

And I'll tell you this, it was because of revelation that he

possessed that was able to stabilize his heart.

I was looking at Elijah earlier today and his posture was a

clear reflection of one of the greatest practical promises that

you can find in the Old Testament, Isaiah 26, verse

three. You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you. Now, if you read that carefully,

you'll learn that this is. A verse that is outlining an

equation. Man has a responsibility, and

that contingency will determine God's reward.

You keep him in perfect peace. Who's the one who grants this

peace? God?

You keep it. And it's not just any ordinary

peace. It's a perfect peace now.

Either the Bible is exaggerating or God's word is true and every

man be a liar. You keep them in perfect peace.

What does perfect peace means? It means that it is a peace that

is accessible and applicable to any situation that you can draw

from this peace. You can experience this, this

stability anywhere, anytime, before anyone for anything.

The best quality of peace God is willing to grant upon this for

those whose mind is stayed on you.

So here's how you understand this.

Unbroken peace from God is granted to those who have

unbroken meditation on God. Unbroken peace from God can only

be achieved through unbroken meditation on the Lord.

Elisha saw something. Elisha lived in a reality that

the servant hasn't yet arrived to and that's OK because he's

learning, he's growing, and he had the right teacher in his

life. So here's the thing, you have to

understand what you believe will ultimately determine how you

behave. And I, and I can't again help

but look at a verse like Isaiah 26 three and feel the

responsibility of feeding. My mind and my heart, the truths

of who God is. And not just checking off a box,

saying I read my Bible this morning, but living with that

meditation, singing about those truths, discussing it with

people who actually have a relationship with God.

And you can't have a relationship with God if you

don't have a relationship with the word of God.

Impossible, Impossible. People who have a low view of

the Bible have a low view of God.

No matter what what else they say.

This is the means by which we get to know God, not through

your experiences, as wonderful as experiences are, it's

primarily through His Word. And through His Word will you

know experiences and one of those experiences, a perfect

peace through unbroken meditation on Him.

You stop thinking about the Lord and including Him beyond just a

little bit of time in the morning or at night.

You make more room for things to invade and to live there that

shouldn't be living there. And so here's Elijah

demonstrating, I believe, what it means to live with that lens

of who God is, what He's able to do, who I am in him.

And he's about to teach this young servant what that looks

like. But you know, you can't move on

without considering more inspiring traits from this

prophet. Because here's what I've learned

about Elijah in our past few weeks.

And so many of these scenes where he interacts with people

and performs miracles, he does it in a spirit of compassion,

rich compassion. So he doesn't look at the

servant, right? We don't know how long he was

enrolled in this program, but he surely knew about Elijah long

enough to actually consider it to begin with or to be hired by

Elijah. But you don't see the man of

God. Look at him saying, hey, what's

wrong with you man? Now, you haven't learned

already. You haven't seen things already.

You haven't heard who I am. He doesn't do any of that.

He patiently instructs him. He gently guides him.

Now, there are times where rebuke is necessary.

You know how I know that? Because.

Jesus did it. So there's some people who

think, I mean, there's some people who think that you should

never correct, you should never confront that.

What Bible are you reading? With all due respect, Jesus,

even with his closest disciples who failed to learn things that

he told them over and over again, received from time to

time stern rebuke. But that's not applicable here

because you have this young new assistant who's just starting

out. And Elijah shows each of us.

Who might be a little bit more spiritually mature than another

person to be patient, to be kind.

And there are, there are a lot of people I know who are very

spiritually knowledgeable and have a grasp on things that

don't necessarily demonstrate that.

And Elijah here is a rebuke to us to be patient and listen.

His tenderness and care is not just sown in how he speaks to

the servant. Listen very carefully.

It's shown in how he speaks to God about the servant being

patient, understanding, willingness to teach to those

who are willingness to learn is one thing.

But I'm telling you now that Elijah teaches us that love for

our brethren is also shown in how we speak to God on their

behalf. Notice what he does verse 17.

Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that

he may see. So 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.

Here's how I'm convicted by this Lord, I don't just see with

Elisha. I see it with the Apostle Paul,

with virtually every church that he engaged and interacted with.

He didn't just instruct him. He didn't just teach him.

He prayed for them over and over again.

And Lord, help me come to the place where I love my fellow

brother and sister enough, where I'm willing to bring their needs

and their weaknesses before your throne.

And it's not just a quick thought that Elisha offers up.

It's not just a duty that he fulfills.

You can sense the earnestness. Look at the language.

Oh Lord, please, that's sincerity, that's longing.

And so I want to lovingly challenge all of us to re

examine our love for people, not just with our practical deeds,

which I think is very important, but also in our willingness to

pray. Pray for them.

And what a valuable lesson for leaders, including parents,

because Elisha reminds us here that there are certain levels of

transformation that can only be achieved when we pray for

people. I'm not sure exactly how verse

16 led to verse 17, but it makes me wonder that after Elisha

telling him not to be afraid, that he didn't necessarily get

the reaction he was hoping for. Do not be afraid.

Verse 16, right? And then we don't know what

happens with a young man, but look at verse 17.

Then Elijah prayed and said, so I wonder if Elijah still saw

this man visibly disturbed. And so he lifts his eyes to

heaven, says, Lord, can you help him?

Can you open his eyes? So may we also learn to reserve

our energy that after trying to convince and seeing people

convicted even to no avail, to come to God on their behalf

instead a preacher who's not alive.

Most of my favorite ministers are no longer alive.

But this man said it's one thing.

It's 1 honor to speak to men on behalf of God.

It's a whole other honor to speak to God on behalf of men,

and Elijah here shows us that. Not that we have a a permission

to cop out from dealing with people or matters directly, but

to have this understanding that apart from God intervening,

apart from God moving apart from God enabling, apart from God's

hand on someone's mind or heart. We won't see what we want to

see. Here's a wonderful model.

I'm I'm speaking to you and we have we have the reason to

believe here that maybe nothing was achieved in that.

Now let me speak to God for you and ask the God what?

Open your eyes and God is willing to answer that prayer.

Look at Paul's prayers very carefully, specifically in

Ephesians 1, where he asked that the eyes of the hearts of the

Ephesians may be opened. So we have permission to pray

those kind of prayers. It's a prayer that's prayed

every Friday and every Sunday before anybody gets behind this

pulpit, open the eyes of the people.

Men can only go so far with other men, but when men connects

with God, all miracles can take. Place Now what does the servant

see after Elijah prays? Read it again with me in verse

17. The latter portion, the

mountain, was full of horses and Chariots of fire all around

Elijah. Now in the past when I read this

part, I usually imagined that when the eyes of this young man

were open to the spiritual realm.

And this is a good reminder for each of us that there is a realm

that parallels this world, right?

There are things happening beyond our senses, beyond our

immediate understanding behind the scenes, 24/7, right?

And we're seeing that here. We're just getting a glimpse a

little. Window into that world.

But this is how I always imagined that when the eyes of

this young man were opened, he he looked out and he saw the

hills covered. The surrounding mountains

littered, enveloping the city, standing in the, you know, this

translucent kind of army standing in the midst of the

Syrians and outnumbering them. But it's more glorious than

that. It wasn't just this young man

looking under the distance and seeing a canopy of soldiers

covering the enemies of Israel. These horses and Chariots of

fire. We're not surrounding the city.

They were surrounding Elisha. Did you see that?

Look again. The mountain was full of horses

and Chariots of fire all around. Not Dauphin Elijah.

So imagine this. You have this sea of angelic

beings orbiting around the man of God and extending outward to

the hills. That's what he saw.

So it wasn't wow, Look out there.

It was whoa, whoa, whoa. Right here.

And what was it I saw? Horses and Chariots of fire.

Have we seen those for the first time here or have we seen them

before? We've seen them before when God

dispatched the same kind of beings to transport Elijah into

heaven. And So what do we see here?

There's a lesson here. There's a principle here that

the horses and Chariots of fire that protected Elijah from death

as he's being translated into heaven.

Are the same ones who are now protecting Elisha from

potentially being killed. And this is a consistent

support, underscoring a principle that God's protection

extends to his chosen servants, ensuring their safety every

moment, every single moment. And so you see Elisha receiving

the similar kind of divine intervention.

But I want to show you how it wasn't just limited to these two

amazing prophets of God. So where was this miracle taking

place? The name Dauphin Dauphin.

And I look at that and, and I remember this is years ago

looking at that, saying, why have I not seen this place

before? And I'm, I'm not saying every

single region that's mentioned, you're going to arrive to these

kind of conclusions, but this is the case here.

There's only one other place in all of the Old Testament where

Dothan is brought up. Now I'm not going to.

Mention it right away. I'm going to give you a chance

to answer without looking at your Bibles.

Even if you do, it would take a while, I think.

Does anybody know where Dothan is mentioned in the Hebrew

Scriptures? Wow, that was quick.

Did everybody know that was Genesis?

Good, Wonderful. Yes, Genesis, but we're

specifically in Genesis. OK, Wow, I was.

Expecting a little bit more of a delay there, let's turn there.

Genesis 37. The only other.

Place where Dothan is brought up.

Genesis 37 verse 16 Joseph was sent by his father to seek for

Genesis 37:16

his brothers and he bumps into a man who gives him directions.

Verse 16 of Genesis 37 I am seeking my brothers.

He said tell me please where they are pastoring the flock.

And the man said, they have gone away, for I heard them say, let

us go to Dauphin. So Joseph went after his

brothers and found them at Dolphin.

By the way, this is personally one of my favorite examples of

Providence in the Old Testament. If that man had not been there

and gave him these instructions, who knows what would have become

of Joseph's future? But because that man was right

there at the right time and gave those specific instructions,

that's what turned Joseph's life around.

There are no coincidences in the will of God.

So here's this man who says, yeah, actually, I heard that

they were going to Dolphin. And do you remember what happens

when he arrives at Dolphin? The brothers take him and they

throw him into a pit, and they leave him there like a wild

animal. And it was in Dauphin where

Joseph tasted the venomous envy, the murderous jealousy of his

own relatives. So listen.

There are only two places where Dauphin is mentioned in the Old

Testament. So now, now, now, now, now, this

is where it gets exciting. I step back and I think about

Elijah and what I read about Elijah in Second King 6 and I

say, Lord, is there something here?

And surely there is, because in Dauphin.

With Elijah, it was a place where he was ambushed by the

enemy in Dothan. For Joseph, it was a place where

he was abandoned by his family. And I believe that the divine

protection that wrapped around Elijah was no less true for

Joseph when he was in Dothan hundreds of years before saying,

can you prove that? I can prove that you're still in

Genesis, right? Go to Genesis 49 and look at the

prophecy that was granted to Joseph when Jacob was ready to

go and be with his father's, Genesis 4922.

Joseph is a fruitful bow, a fruitful bow by spring.

A bow is like the main branch of a tree.

His branches run over the wall. The Archers listened to this

language. The Archers bitterly attacked

him, shot at him and harassed him severely.

Yet his bow remained unmoved. His arms were made agile by the.

Hands of the mighty one of Jacob.

From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.

So here's when I learned that the.

Truth about this place called Dothan, mentioned only twice in

all of the Old Testament, is that God is with us at all

times, in all places, through every experience.

When that experience is being betrayed by our loved ones or

being attacked by those who are enemies, the Lord is there.

He was there with Joseph. He was there for Elijah.

He is with you. Psalm 125 verse two.

You don't have to turn there, but as the mountains surround

Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth

and forever more. So why are you afraid?

You know, it's one thing to look at these things and be moved by

them when you see the connection and the promise is another thing

when you experience being outnumbered by enemies and

serving ministry long enough and you'll know a few share of

enemies. I can tell you with great

confidence, not just by the authority of the Word of God,

which is my primary way of communicating this truth, but by

way of experience that I've seen the Lord surround my life.

And I pray that he always will. And I pray that you would know

that, especially when you need that truth the most.

So what happens next? Because the miracle doesn't end

here. Verse 18.

And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to

the Lord and said, please strike this people with blindness.

So the armies of Syria came rolling down those hills at some

point like a freak tsunami ready to crash into Dothan.

And Elisha is unfazed by it. I wonder what that looked like.

And he prays again and again. This is just another humorous

thing. So in the verse preceding this

he prays for his servants eyes to be open.

And in the following verse, he prays for the eyes of thousands

of people to be blind. What are you supposed to take

from that? Here's what you're supposed to

take from that. The power of prayer, the prayer

of the righteous can open the eyes of one man and close the

eyes of 10,000. No matter who or what you pray

about, God is willing to do as long as it's according to his

will. And it shows what God is capable

of doing. He's, he's able of opening eyes

and he's able of closing eyes. So you have this army coming

against a man who had something greater than Chariots, greater

than javelins, greater than bows.

Prayer and God hurt him. And if we didn't know this

story, perhaps we would think that the next thing that Elisha

would pray for is maybe some form of humiliation or some kind

of show before he would ask those invisible Chariots and

horses to slay these enemies. But the miracle is greater than

that. So these men experienced this

temporary blindness, and I don't think it was a complete

blindness because they were able to grope their way towards this

next destination, but it was enough for them to not make

sense of what's happening or understand who's before them.

So Elijah prays that they would be struck with blindness.

And we're told here at the end of verse 18.

So we struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of

Elijah. Look at that last part in

accordance with the prayer of Elijah and what happens next?

What would you do? If you're in Elijah's position,

here's what he does. Verse 19.

And Elijah said to them, this is not the way and this is not the

city. Follow me and I will bring you

to the man whom you seek. Some people really try to get

clever and say, look at Elijah. He's supposed to be a man of God

and he's lying to the Syrians. He's not lying.

He left Dolphin and he's going somewhere else and he's saying,

you want me to come and follow me?

See how simple that is? People are really desperate to

try to criticize the word of God.

And where did he lead them? And he led them to Samaria.

That's the headquarters. That's where the king of Israel

is going to be. And the king of Israel is going

to get a surprise himself. Look at verse 20.

And as soon as they entered Samaria, Elijah said, O Lord,

open the eyes of these men that they may see.

So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw.

And behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

And as. As soon as the king of Israel

saw them, he said to Elijah, My father, shall I strike them

down? Shall I strike them down?

So the king doesn't even know what to do here.

And notice again, Jeremy has a problem, but he still respects

the prophet, at least at this point.

My father, that's a, that's a, that's a term of endearment.

That's a term of honor. My father, what do I do here?

The natural thing to do is to slay them, kill them.

They try to kill you over and over again.

And the king receives a rebuke. From the man of God, he

answered, You shall not strike them down.

Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your

sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them,

that they may eat and drink and go to their master.

So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten

and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.

And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of

Israel. So Elijah here prays that they

would be blind, leads them into Samaria, prays that their eyes

would be open. And we're moved by that miracle,

right? It's very amazing.

Like whatever Elijah said, the Lord did it.

But please understand that the miracle here is beyond the

physical restoration of their sight.

The miracle here is that their eyes would be opened to the

mercy and the compassion of the God that Elijah served, not just

to see again, but to see something about the true God.

And when the Syrians realized that Elisha and the king of

Israel responded with a feast instead of a fight, they were

baffled. Think about this.

The instruction from the king of Syria was go and seize him,

right? They wanted to get Elisha and

probably kill him, probably interrogate and probably in

prison. We don't know.

How many men does it take to seize one person?

A little excessive to send an entire army, isn't it?

But I wonder if the people of Syria were aware of what God has

done on behalf of His prophets and not for them to be a little

bit cautious in the way they approach this situation.

Do you remember what happened to the people who were sent by the

king of Israel to arrest Elijah in Second Kings chapter 1?

2 Kings 1 · chapter mention

He was there on the top of the hill and he sends captain after

captain with a band of 50 men. And all it took was one word

from Elijah and fire came down from heaven and consumed them

and turned them into ash. So I wonder if with a little

Intel that they got about Elijah and who his predecessor was,

that they were being very, very strategic here, Maybe we should

send more than five 5500. Let's send thousands so that

even if God does intervene from heaven, we'll have some kind of

a fighting chance. They don't encounter a fight.

They don't encounter fire from heaven.

They're invited to a feast. Well, let me say it this way.

There was a kind of fire that was sent in this moment.

Same. What are you talking about?

As much as Elijah here is standing out.

As. He's reflecting the mercy and

compassion of God. He is also obeying the word of

God saying what are you talking about?

I'm talking about a verse that another king wrote down that

gave instruction about situations like this.

Proverbs 25, verse 21, some more Proverbs from King Solomon and

Proverbs 25:21

consider these two verses and how they connected this

experience. We know these verses in the New

Testament, but they originated in the old Proverbs 2521.

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is

thirsty, give him water to drink.

For you will heap burning coals on his head.

That's the fire I'm talking about.

For you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will

reward you. The Lord will reward you.

You know what that verse teaches, teaches many things.

One of them is if you really want to make a lasting mark on

your enemies, be strategic in your kindness.

This is really, really difficult.

This is extremely demanding and challenging.

It requires the help of the Holy Spirit to even entertain the

first step. But notice this, that to go out

of your way to act, I mean, think about this.

If you really want to apply the Bible, this is what this verse

is. Demanding of us, people who have

hurt you have sought your harm. The way God wants you to respond

is to think back and to not rehearse their harm, but to

actually plan a way to respond to them with love.

That when the opportunity arises, that you would move in

that opportunity in a way to actually melt them with mercy.

And what's the incentive here? God will reward you.

Now the the the burning coals on their head speaks of the the the

the piercing power of conviction.

Potentially them being so moved by their lack of mercy and and

response. Seeing your mercy there's

creates a clash that creates a. Cutting a pricking of the heart.

That doesn't necessarily mean that there's a promise there of

conversion or even repentance necessarily, but the incentive

is God will reward you. God will see that and he will,

He will be pleased with that. And here's what Elijah is doing.

Elijah is doing something very profound, something that we've

seen over and over with his miracles, that they would be

recorded in Holy Scripture and that generations following would

read about them. Not just seeing what God is able

to do in His power, but God's heart for the Gentiles and for

those who are outside of covenant with Him and those who

are lost and blind, not just in this physical instance, but

spiritually. And so as we're going through

the Old Testament, we're seeing more and more instances of

gospel preparation that in different periods of redemptive

history, God is making his ultimate desire known that I'm

willing to reach out beyond these borders and I'm willing to

touch a people that are not from the seat of Abraham.

So this is the deeper thing of this miracle here.

It's not. It's not just look what God can

do. Yeah, it's wonderful.

But what's the message behind the miracle?

And there are many of them, as we just learned.

And there is a gospel truth in here, is there not?

That you have these people warring against the man of God

who represents God on earth, the anointed 1 of this time, and the

warring against him, the rebelling, Though experiencing

the common graces of life, you still put up arms against this

God. And how does God respond?

He leads you to a banquet. He leads you to a feast of

forgiveness. He brings you to the foot of the

cross, and he invites you to be reconciled to him.

And look at this wonderful picture.

You have the king who says, kill them, should I kill them?

And you have an intercessor who says no, give them mercy.

And so even in this vignette, you have Christ, where though we

deserve the wrath of God, says no.

I want to extend friendship with these enemies.

I want to establish a covenant with these ones.

But just 10 seconds ago, they were willing to slice your head

up. I know.

But this is my heart. Yes, they're physically blind in

the distance, but there's a deeper blindness at play here.

And I want them to know that I'm willing to forgive them still,

no matter what their history or their record looks like.

And when you experience the mercy of God in the person of

Jesus Christ, you should have the same reaction that these men

did. What happens?

We're told at the end of our study that they never made a

raid on them again. When you truly taste of God's

mercy, you're changed. You're changed.

You're a different person. You can't go back to the things

that once positioned you to experience God's judgment.

You relinquish them, you repent of them now, and you walk

differently. Why do you walk differently?

I say this all the time to people who never heard the

gospel. I don't live the way I live.

I don't do what I do to earn God's grace.

I do it because of God's grace. I walk differently because I

tasted of His forgiveness. How could I not give myself over

to Him completely? So how many people put the cart

before the horse? So even in this do we see

something so wonderful, something that's applicable to

the spiritual world, the spiritual realm, the spiritual

realities of who we are? You sinned against God

offensively, disgustingly. And Elijah here shows us that he

leads his people not into wrath, but into fellowship, not into

judgement, but into reconciliation.

I really wonder what that feast was like.

Must have been very uncomfortable in the beginning.

I wonder if they looked over the shoulders like are they just

fattening us up before they slaughter us?

What is this trickery? No, it wasn't.

Imagine they ate together and at some point Elisha and the king

looked at him, said, we're glad that you can join us.

You can go back home. What was that walk like back

home? What was the conversations like?

See before this. The Syrians, I'm sure, discussed

how the God of Israel healed one of their generals, Naman.

And I believe that Naman wasn't a part of this expedition.

There's no way he was. So there's this murmurings that

the God of Israel healed, but what was it like when these guys

got back home? How did they explain this one?

I I wish that the story with the Syrians ended here, but we're

going to learn in the coming weeks that just like the King of

Syria, there wasn't a lasting impression.

And again, we're going to be reminded that there are those

who can genuinely experience something of the grace of Jesus

Christ. Some were not moved to begin

with, and some were temporarily moved only to return back to

their ways may never be so of us.

I hope that if you truly experienced what Christ did on

the cross, you would never go back and that you would always

remember the kindness that was extended to you while you're

enemies of God. Christ came and died for you.

This is who we are in Jesus Christ.

This is who God is. And I pray that it would move

you once more. Let's pray.

Oh please, I beg you, take the time to meditate on these

truths. I don't, I don't want to abort

this. I don't want to just speed

through it. I want us to take the time to

relish in it. So you know the praise team will

come up in a moment, but truly, truly, truly, truly reflect and

talk to the Lord. Thank Him for these truths.

Thank Him for who He is. Apply the warnings.

Rejoice in the promises of it. Lord, words can't express.

Your word is amazing. Thank You that every time we

come to it, we receive another miracle that our eyes are open

yet again and our vision is clear and her perception is more

precise. Though we thank you for this

word. It is your voice.

It's not just black ink on white pages.

It is spirit. There's power behind these words

and in these words. And we felt the force of it

tonight. And we pray that we would not be

like the Syrians in this story where we we taste of something

only to to forget and to return to all ways.

We ask, oh God, that you would change us like you changed

Jacob, that we wouldn't walk the same, that you would give us a

holy limp leaving this place. We need you to you need, we need

you to help us to live like this.

Lord, that you would etch these things in our hearts, the

tablets of our hearts, O Lord, would never forget these truths.

May you do it by your spirit. Lord, we do thank you, we honor

you, we glorify you. We can spend all night just

glorifying you for how you spoke to us through this message

tonight. Receive these songs, Lord, as we

say thank you in Jesus name, Amen.

Let's stand and sing to the Lord.

Give him glory and honor and thanks.