Bible Studies for Life: May 25

God’s Hand in Facing Opposition • 2 Kings 5:6-12; 15-23 

By Clay Anthony

As we close out our look into the life and times of Elisha, we must remember that the star of this production is God Himself. Each miracle and power-filled moment we have read have their beginning in the greatness of God. No person will ever take away His glory and honor. This same sentiment runs the course from the Old Testament through the New Testament. 

With this thought in mind, we read today of an imposing force that has pitted itself against the man of God. The king of Syria is on a warpath that leads right through Israel. He makes plans to build an encampment of troops to take on his conquering vision. This is nothing new for a king to meet with his trusted advisors to discuss military plans. Surely he can trust these advisors with top secret troop movement and plans of attack. All plans are set for launch until Israel reacts in an unplanned way. 

Israel has received word that the enemy was on the move and basically moved out of their way. How could Israel have known what the top-secret plans were? Elisha had warned the Israelite king of what Syria was up to and in short, the evil planned against Israel was thwarted. Again, this does not spotlight the brilliance of Elisha but the goodness of God. Only through God’s word did Israel learn what lay ahead. God’s knowledge is boundless against the human mind. 

We can imagine the anger the king of Syria felt toward Elisha. The man of God has disrupted his plan of attack and now Elisha would face the full brunt of the Syrian army. After locating the prophet’s home, the army surrounded the property as a sign of the power that Elisha was up against. Elisha would rue the day that he opposed Syria. What was one man against a mighty army? 

Elisha’s assistant is the first to notice the scene. Horses, chariots, and soldiers armed to the teeth had come against the man of God. There was no visible way out. You can note the fear in the young assistant’s voice, “What shall we do?” (vs. 15) Again, to the untrained eye there was no way out of this predicament. Elisha faced certain enslavement or possible death at the hands of the giant army. Yet, to the eye that is trained on God alone, there was more to see. 

After praying for help, Elisha and his young assistant were showing the true nature of this battle. Yes, the Syrians had them surrounded but more important was the fact that God had them protected. The veil between this realm and the spirit realm was pulled back ever so briefly and the eyes of God’s servants could see clearly that they had the upper hand. Throngs of angelic warriors, shimmering in light alongside of chariots of fire stood ready for the command to protect God’s people. If God opened our eyes to the true nature of the battles we face, we too would be convinced that no power of hell could overtake us. 

Now the question of what to do with a vanquished enemy? Did Elisha pray that the evil army would meet its demise? Did God release the powers of heaven to destroy the enemy of Israel? He did not. Instead, God gave these enemies a reprieve. After Elisha prayed for blindness to befall them, the army of Syria was led to an unknown location. Could it be that we are facing a certain death? Indeed, they probably knew that what lay ahead was not going to end well for them. Yet, just as He always does, our gracious God shows kindness to those intent on evil. Along with the restoration of eyesight, these men received a meal and a one-way ticket back home. This “killing them with kindness” mindset worked to save God’s people and prove that He always knows more and better than His followers. 

We would be wise to follow God’s leadership in showing mercy to those who would do us harm. Offering forgiveness and kindness is the least we can do seeing that this proves to be the default position of Jesus when it comes to dealing with you and me. Who has done you wrong recently? Perhaps an untruth was told or even a truth that was told in privacy was shared. Whatever the case, we have a blessed example to follow in how to love people with the actions of Jesus. 

Anthony is Missions Pastor at Harrisburg Church, Tupelo.