With Open Eyes, 2 Kings 6:6-23

With Open Eyes

INTRODUCTION

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1 FRUSTRATION, vv. 8-13

The story begins in frustration. Syria (or Aram) and Israel are warring. The king of Israel is FRUSTRATED because everywhere he goes on his royal business trips, he faces the constant threat of state sponsored guerilla attack coming from Syria. In his own country, there seems to be no security - no guarantee that around the next corner of highway, that in the next city, that there will not be enemy military forces - laying in wait for his life. Who wants to live that way? You can’t rest!

The King of Syria - well, he’s frustrated too - because every time he plans an attack, he sends out his raiding parties across the border, everyone gets into place, they set up the trap, relying on the element of surprise … and somehow, the king of Israel finds out about it and avoids the trap. Israel’s king always seems to be one step ahead of their best plans. One missed trap .... well, that could just be coincidence. But verse 10 tells us that he, ‘saved himself (not just once; not just twice; but...) more than once or twice.’

It’s starting to look like an episode of Wile E. Coyote hunting the Roadrunner. He gets his package from the ACME company - sets up the massive mural on the side of the mountain’s rock face - making it look like a tunnel, rather than a wall. Then he paves the dirt and paints highway lines right up to the wall, trying to entice the roadrunner to run at top speed into the side of a mountain. Sure enough the roadrunner comes racing along, headed straight into the trap. Wile E. is thrilled with anticipation - he’s about to have roast roadrunner for dinner … but lo and behold, the roadrunner runs right through the mural as if it really is a tunnel. Then he comes back through - to rub Mr. Wile E’s nose in his failure. Then to prove the point that there is nothing behind the mural to stop him - he runs back through again. This time Wile E. runs after him - and runs snout first into the wall, ending up with bent beak and seeing stars. In our text, the King of Syria is Wile E. Coyote and The king of Israel is the Roadrunner.

Now that can only mean ONE thing … there’s a security breach.

The King of Syria calls his officials together … sits them around the conference table, looks each one in the eye and demands: “Okay, who is it?! Who’s the mole?! The only way that top secret plans of the military joint chiefs of staff can get to the enemy king .... is if there’s a spy among us, spilling our secrets. So, which one of you is the mole?” “Who of us is for the king of Israel?” (v. 11)

The generals look at each other in stunned silence - one clears his throat: “There are no traitors here, my king … but I know how the enemy is getting our top secret plans” Verse 12, “… Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

“Israel has a secret weapon - that prophet Elijah - he doesn’t just know the plans we make here in the national war-room .... he hears what you are saying, when have the door closed, in your own bedroom - and you’re speaking in a whisper.”

Isn’t it interesting that in the top secret military headquarters of Syria, the name they are most concerned about - is not a military warrior, not an enemy spy … but a prophet. A faithful man of God. You already get a sense here, at the beginning of this story, that when you are dealing with the People of God - there is a power you can’t see with the naked eye.

Well, the king of Syria is not going to give up. This is wartime. if Elisha is the problem - then Elisha needs to be removed.

Oh, but don’t miss the point that God’s word is trying to make here. Verse 13: The king says, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” See the king’s plight - he wants God’s prophet captured … but he doesn’t KNOW where Elisha is - and yet, Elisha always knows where he is!

Well, eventually the king does find out where the prophet is … the city of Dothan … and to Dothan he sends soldiers. Dothan is well across the border into Israel, only 10 miles north of the capital city of Samaria - which shows the extent that the Syrians have penetrated into enemy territory.

And this is no stealth, kidnapping team … intending to silently slip in and slip out without anyone hearing. Look at how v. 14 describes the team the king sends: “So he sent there HORSES and CHARIOTS and A GREAT ARMY, and they came by night AND SURROUNDED THE CITY.” Dothan is a small city on a small hill in the middle of a flat plaiin - so it doesn’t take much to surround the whole thing. All of this ... for a single spy?!

.... This is a massive military force that comes and surrounds an entire city. This is SHOCK AND AWE.

See them there .... SEE YOUR FEARS HERE, CHRISTIAN! Terror on every side. No place to RUN. What is threatening to steal your peace and replace it with fear right now?!

And here, in the night - Elisha has NO idea the trouble he’s in.

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2 THE DIFFERENCE VISION MAKES, vv. 14-17

Verse 14 takes us through the night to early the next morning. The sun is breaking through the darkness, birds start their chorus … and Elisha is still fast asleep.

His servant makes his morning coffee, opens the front door, reaches down to pick up the newspaper from the doormat, and … “BEHOLD” (Hebrew word ‘hineh’ - always a mark of something new breaking into the normal) … v. 15, “… behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city.”

A fully-armed strike force - surrounding your helpless position. Let’s contextualize this:

PERSECUTED CHURCH ....

A massive army, surrounding not just your little house, but your whole city … and you know that it’s there for you.

What do you do? More than likely, you do what Elisha’s servant does - — you run for support - from your mom, dad, boss, government .... and you cry out, “HELP!”

“Alas, my master! (the end of v. 15) WHAT SHALL WE DO?”

I LOVE Elisha’s response! No panic, not stress - gets out of bed, takes a swig of his morning coffee, maybe? And answers in v. 16, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

“Do not be afraid ...”. That’s not an invitation, it’s a command … a command with a reason. “Do not be afraid, BECAUSE … those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Stop here. Let’s think about this for a moment: Did Elisha’s servant sleep through the night? Yes - of course he did. He didn’t even know the army was outside. Well, was he in any LESS danger, lying in his bed, in the darkness of night, than he was when he went out for the morning paper? Of course not - the enemy could have just as easily - MORE easily, attacked under the cloak of darkness.

So, how could Elisha’s servant sleep? He was able to sleep because he couldn’t see what was hiding in the darkness - he was ignorant of the danger on his doorstep. Do you see how that applies to us, today?

Are you in any more danger NOW than you were BEFORE the CORONAVIRUS hit the news? Were you any more secure? Any less danger of death from a heart-attack, stroke, cancer, tumor, getting hit by a car or a stray gunshot in a gang battle?

Ignorance is one of God’s blessed gifts of protection - because if you knew every danger, lurking in the dark outside your door - how would you EVER be able to sleep in peace, any night?!

Oh but now, the servant can SEE the danger … and he’s terrified.

How important is Elisha’s response in vv. 16-17!

FIRST - He states the massively relevant fact - “Don’t be afraid … for THOSE WHO ARE WITH US are MORE than those who are with them.”

THAT’S TRUTH! Whether they have chariots or guns … or germs!

But Elisha doesn’t end by ONLY SPEAKING TRUTH … he goes on to PRAY FOR VISION. Verse 17, “Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.’”

And the LORD answered. The servant turns his eyes from master to the enemy forces amassed around the city …

… the chariots, horses, armed soldiers - - they are all still there .... drooling at the prospects of taking these very men, chaining them … and dragging them back to Syria.

The enemy hasn’t shrunk by a single soldier’s hand. But NOW … NOW … Elisha’s servant sees ABOVE the perched army .... and, on the hills around the city ...

V. 17, “… and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots (not just chariots, but chariots …) of fire all around Elisha.”

Maybe you already recognize this - but FIRE, in the OT, points to God’s Presence. So in the Exodus, God leads His people through a dangerous wilderness - and His presence, in the desert, with His people, is symbolized by a pillar of fire at night. “Sleep well, God is in your camp with you”.

Elisha’s own mentor, the prophet Elijah, was taken up, before his eyes, into heaven, in a single, fiery chariot … God, taking His faithful servant home in His arms. The presence of God.

Now, here is not 1 chariot, but a mountain, filled with flaming chariots. And the text tells us - they are SURROUNDING ELISHA!

If you are Elisha’s servant, can you see how this vision would completely change your perspective on the enemy soldiers at the gate?

“It’s one thing to be told the truth .... it’s another thing to BEHOLD the truth.”

You see an application here, don’t you? Every Scripture has some application for us in life, but there are times, when you’re studying a text to preach and you have really focus and think hard to find the application - - not here. Here, the application reaches up, grabs you by the throat and smacks you in the face, doesn’t it?

You already get it, but let me say it anyway: “It doesn’t matter the situation you are in, Christian. It doesn’t matter the size of the threat … doesn’t matter the number of enemies gathered around your house … doesn’t matter the deadliness of the weapon aimed at you ...

“Do NOT be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

God and you is a majority. Cheesy, but speaks a truth here.

This isn’t just Old Testament history … fast forward to Jesus, in the black of Gethsemane’s night - he’s just been betrayed by his own disciple, Judas .... betrayed with a kiss and handed over to a makeshift army with their clubs and swords.

Peter panics - pulls out his sword and slices off an ear. He’s flailing to protect his dear Lord.

You remember Jesus’ response. He doesn’t say, “Thanks for the help!”.

Matthew 26:53, “Don’t you realize - I can call on my Father and He will send me more than 12 Legions of angels?”

72,000 of Heaven’s mighty angels, armed and ready for the 9-1-1 call. Jesus wasn’t short on help, when he was led away to the cross - but he leaves the angels in heaven … for a purpose: So that He can pay your penalty … so that He can give His righteousness to rebels like you and me .... one of the benefits of that sacrifice being this: when the world around is falling to pieces … and you wonder, “How can I trust that God cares about me?” … you can look back at the cross, recognize your trust in Christ’s finished work there - the exclamation point provided by His resurrection … and you can rest.

Jagjit Grewal: It is after a great deal of thinking about everything about human history, about sociology and the things that happen throughout the world, the only conclusion a sane person can arrive at is that there is something fundamentally wrong with our nature and that is the basic sin. We try our best sometimes to escape the clutches but without His grace that is not possible. So, just to seek the grace of the Lord, I have come here today because I see no other way available – that is the only way that is left to me so that is the only choice, the only path that I can adopt.

Pastor: “Mr. Grewal: Do you stand here this morning as a testimony to God’s grace. Do you declare that by His grace alone, working in you to give you the faith to lead you to repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus Christ and His finished work as you only sufficient salvation?”

Jagjit: “I do”

Pastor: “In view of God’s grace, do you dedicate yourself now, in the presence of these witnesses, to follow Jesus Christ as Saviour and as Lord of your life from this day forward?”

Jagjit: “Oh yes, that is something that I would do.”

Pastor: “Well, upon the good profession of your faith in Jesus Christ and according to His command, I do now baptize you, Jagjit Grewal, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Mr. Grewal quote after the passing of his son, "Everything is by God’s Grace. To live is Jesus. There is nothing else."

“He has made me righteous - given me just as much reason for confidence in heaven’s help as He had”. So rest, Christian.

“Wait a minute” - I can hear some of you saying out loud, “Christians get viruses, too!” “Christians get plagues!” “Christians do get hit by cars and that’s why Christian moms and dads teach their kids to look both ways before crossing the street … and to wash their hands!”

And the answer of the Bible is, “Yes, absolutely. But oh, there is NOT an ENEMY who can lay a FINGER ON A SINGLE HAIR OF YOUR HEAD … EXCEPT as part of God’s GOOD PLAN to care for you.”

Do you get that, Christian?

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3 THE FOLLY OF FEAR, vv. 18-23

Elisha gets that - and in the rest of the story, we get some humor, as God shows Himself to the be the One who is Sovereign and fully in control EVEN over the enemies of his people - so they look like puppets in His hands.

Elisha does some praying in this text - FIRST, he prays for his servant, back in v. 17, “O LORD, please open his eyes”. He wants him to see his heavenly protection.

In v. 18, he prays again. This time, the prayer comes when the Syrian attack force makes its way towards Elisha’s house. The enemy is obviously oblivious to the fiery chariots standing guard for God’s people. The Syrians, who up until now, have been SURROUNDING Dothan, now make their way right into the city - and right to Elisha’s front door and Elisha prays … doesn’t panic, but prays.

Verse 18, “Please strike this people with blindness.” “So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.” That word, ‘blindness’ in the Hebrew, doesn’t mean you can’t see a thing … It means more, a kind of visual ‘confusion’ … ‘disorientation’ … it’s the same word used for the men of Sodom who were banging on Lot’s door and when the angel inside struck them with ‘blindness’ - that’s this word - they didn’t lose all sight - they were disoriented.

In this ‘confused’ state, Elisha says, ‘Hey, you’re in the wrong place. I’ll take you to the guy you REALLY want to see ...”. And then he leads them like a tour guide, on a hike of 16 kms … all the way INTO the capitol city of their archenemy, Israel. Through the city gates, into the heart of the city - Israel’s military headquarters, home of the king of Israel himself.

And Elisha prays again, in v. 20, “As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, ‘O LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.’”

See the prayers and answer in this story - 3 prayers - 3 answers. You belong to a prayer-hearing God, Christian.

The king of Israel hears a commotion. He looks down from his palace window … and licks his lips.

This is like Skip the Dishes - military style - Enemies delivered right to your door!

The king runs down the stairs, out the door, calling, “Dinner is served!” “Dinner is served!”

Elisha says, “That’s no way to treat your guests! Verse 22, “Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” So they serve a banquet for them … Verse 23, “… he prepared for them a great feast ...”.

A feast - “You prepare a table for me, in the presence of my enemies.”

The enemy is sent home … with doggy bags for everyone. End of v. 23, “… and the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.” Well, I guess not!

It’s a funny story - but it has a serious point: NOBODY can so much as touch the hair on the head of a child of God, UNLESS your Sovereign Protector allows it.

This story didn’t first come to us - it first came to Israel. Question: “How would this account - vv. 16-17 especially - how would it have spoken to Israel - especially after the Babylonians had destroyed the country - left the temple in ruins and taken the People of God into exile in 587 BC? 2 Kings 24-25 tell us the story of the end of Judah and Jerusalem.

It’s after that - probably 25 years later, that the books of kings are finished - an explanation to Israel for how they ended up here. But in this book are passages like this. So how does this

Oh friend, do you see the radical, peace-inspiring freedom of a child of God, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ? … the confidence that comes from the unshakeable assurance that the God who cared enough about your situation - when you were paralyzed - dead in your sins … “He who did not spare his own Son; but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him GRACIOUSLY GIVE US ALLL THINGS?” Paul writes that in Romans 8:32, and in the verse right before it, v. 31, he gives the conclusion that we should come to, in light of that eternity-altering truth: “If God is for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?”

Foreign military forces surrounding your city? God takes them into .... and feeds them.

This is good news for the persecuted Church in our world. There is NO enemy that can crush a single child of God - let alone the unstoppable Church of Jesus Christ. And we see it all around the world:

The family in the closed Muslim country from the video earlier: “You cannot abandon Islam and join yourself to Jesus Christ.” But they did. “We will arrest you and stop you.” They did arrest, but they cannot quench the worship of this seemingly powerless family.

We see it in Haiti: 17 missionaries from Canada and the US, kidnapped a month ago -

We see it India:

We see it in Afghanistan: When western armies were there for protection, it was difficult to live out your faith as an Afghan Christian. Now that the Taliban is in charge, the vulnerability has increased exponentially. Foreign Christian workers have been forced to flee and now the Taliban is sending letters saying: “We know where you live and we are watching what you do.” They’ve also been going door-to-door in search of people who profess the Christian faith. And the Taliban has no qualms about throwing around the death penalty to anyone who disobeys their interpretation of Sharia law. But even here - there’s good news - reports are coming out of the country that Afghan Christians are leading small church fellowships, meeting in their homes, risking their lives every day … while they take God’s Word to the people o Afghanistan. There may not be foreign workers … but the Church of Jesus Christ is still there - and He’s building it from the INSIDE.

In China, Chen Wensheng is a former drug addict who came to Christ and now can’t stop sharing the Good News of Christianity with everyone he meets. He’s earned the nickname of ‘Gospel Warrior’ for his evangelistic work. He’s also earned the attention of the Communist party. He was approached in June by a government agent who confronted him about having proclaimed the Gospel to more than 1,000 people. And showed him a foreign news report about his evangelistic work. They thought leaning on him would shut him up, but Chen responded with the words of Luke 21:15: “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which NONE of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”

Well, they may not have been able to contradict him - so instead, they arrested him. In fact, Chen has been arrested and put in jail SIX times - IN THIS YEAR ALONE! On September 26, officers took him to the police station to keep him from going to Sunday worship at church. They hoped he would give up spreading the Gospel, but instead,he shared Jesus with the officers. They rewarded him by keeping him in jail for 15 days. When he was finally released on October 11, he took out his phone and posted this message on his social media: “Thank you (friends) for your prayers … No I can go out to spread the Gospel again.” Don’t you just love the guy?! Chen Wensheng’s eyes are wide open - He sees the horses and chariots of fire from heaven

Please hear me right - this doesn’t mean we don’t face trials, struggles, heartaches , pandemics- persecution even.

What it DOES mean, is that you live in the blessed lightness and freedom of knowing that your days and the days of your loved ones, are NOT determined by how well everybody else does at keeping you safe. Your days are determined by the God who loved you enough to take on your flesh, live in this very world of suffering … to die for you and rise for your eternal life and joy. Living through these crazy days, with eyes wide open - will make all the difference in the world.

We, who are bought for Eternal joy at the cost of Jesus Christ’s own blood - - we will not be driven by fear in this crisis, or any other … but we will live in an upward-looking worship and an outward-looking love, driven by indestructible freedom and joy. So let’s in the days ahead – look for ways to radically love this world, for the sake and glory of Jesus Christ.

“Within the shadow of Thy throne, still may we dwell secure. Sufficient is Thine arm alone, and our defence is sure.”

~ Isaac Watts