11 Aug Recap | Miracles of the Old Testament | Elisha & the Arameans
When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would send forces to attack Israel at various places. However, before the attacks could ever take place, Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel so that the people could be ready. The king of Aram soon grew frustrated and demanded to know who among his officers was the traitor. One of the officers informed the king of Elisha, and the king quickly ordered an attack on the prophet. When the king’s great army surrounded the city of Dothan, Elisha’s servant cried out in dismay at the sight of them. But Elisha kept his faith fixed on God and prayed for the Aramean army to be blinded, and God made it so. Elisha then led the army to Samaria, a place of great strategical advantage for Israel. But instead of conquering the Arameans, Elisha ordered that they be given food and drink and sent home to their master. “After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.” (2 Kings 6:23)
In this account from 2 Kings 6:8-23, there are four individuals who represent four main groups of people: the king of Aram, who was a fool; the servant of Elisha, who was weak; the king of Israel, who was irrelevant; and Elisha, who was powerful.
The king of Aram was a fool; he was a man who believed himself to be at the center of his own story. He put his trust in his own resources and abilities, and he refused to humble himself to seek the truth or align himself with God. All too often, we fall into the same way of thinking of the king of Aram. We live in a society which feeds on its own narcissism and values confidence and security. Yet, James 4:13-17 reminds us that we are but a vapor and that confidence in our own self-sufficiency is actually evil.
The servant of Elisha was weak; his confidence in God was based on his circumstances, and at the first sign of trouble, his faith crumbled. Elisha, however, has a different perspective and prays for the young man’s eyes to be opened. The servant is then able to see that although the enemy is real, God is greater than the reality of the enemy, and there is actually a greater story, a greater deliverance in God’s plan. We also often put our confidence in our circumstances. Christians are disproportionately weak in our time and culture, and with all of our luxuries and scientific advances we make our vapor seem more solid than it really is.
The king of Israel was irrelevant; he was the kind of man who is double minded and unstable in all his ways. (James 1:8) Though he was supposed to represent God in the world, he only half-heartedly worshipped Him and did not live a godly life. The king’s life was simply a position without any real power behind it because God was not really with him. This is a dangerous situation for every Christian today as well. It should be the greatest fear of God’s people that we are irrelevant.
Elisha was powerful; he maintained confidence in hard circumstances because of his deep, abiding relationship with God. Elisha saw the enemy as an opportunity for God to move, and he trusted in God as his deliverer. But the prophet didn’t become this way in a moment of crisis. He was called by God and devoted himself to the Lord for years beforehand. His power came over the course of a lifetime through sacrifice, service, self-denial, and seeing God work. Elisha truly walked with God and put his trust in the power of the Great Redeemer.
The question we have to ask ourselves is do we want to be powerful like Elisha? If we don’t want to be a fool like the King of Aram, weak like the servant of Elisha, or irrelevant like the King of Israel, we have to be confident in God and who He is. We have to know God is sovereign, that He’s the deliverer of people, and that although I am weak, He chose the weak things to shame the strong. Because we’re confident in Him, we are powerful.
-Katie Gural
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Worship Songs from the Weekend
- Open Up Our Eyes: Psalm 118, Psalm 136, Exodus 14:13-14
- Sovereign Over Us: Genesis 50:20, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 8:28
- Our God Will Come: Isaiah 35:3-5
- Dwell: Psalm 91:1, Isaiah 54:17
- This I Believe: 1 Corinthians 15, John 3:16, Romans 1:16-17, Hebrews 1
- Seas of Crimson: Isaiah 53:4-5, Matthew 26:28, Revelation 12:11