2 Kgs 6:8-23 · Read 6 min · think and write 20 min
In the last lesson, Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, washed seven times in the Jordan and came back saying “See now, I know” (2 Kgs 5:15). This is in Lesson 3.
In this lesson, Syria is at war with Israel again.
8Now the king of Syria was at war against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.”
9The man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.”
10The king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once or twice.
11The king of Syria’s heart was very troubled about this. He called his servants, and said to them, “Won’t you show me which of us is for the king of Israel?”
12One of his servants said, “No, 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.”
13He said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” He was told, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”
14Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night and surrounded the city.
15When the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city. His servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
16He answered, “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
17Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, please open his eyes, that he may see.” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
18When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” He struck them with blindness according to Elisha’s word.
19Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, neither is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” He led them to Samaria.
20When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “LORD, open these men’s eyes, that they may see.” The LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and behold, they were in the middle of Samaria.
21The king of Israel said to Elisha, when he saw them, “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?”
22He answered, “You shall not strike them. Would you strike 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, then go to their master.”
23He prepared a great feast for them. After they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel.
Such and such a place. The king of Syria took counsel with his servants: “My camp will be in such and such a place” (v. 8); the man of God sent to tell the king of Israel, “Beware that you not pass this place” (v. 9), “not once or twice” (v. 10). The king of Syria asked who was for the king of Israel, and a servant said: “Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom” (v. 12).
He is in Dothan. The king of Syria wanted to seize him, and was told, “Behold, he is in Dothan” (v. 13); “Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. They came by night and surrounded the city” (v. 14).
What shall we do? “When the servant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was around the city”, and he said to the man of God: “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (v. 15). The man of God said: “Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v. 16).
Open his eyes. “Elisha prayed, and said, ‘LORD, please open his eyes, that he may see’”; “The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha” (v. 17).
Blindness. When the enemy came down, Elisha asked the LORD, “Please strike this people with blindness” (v. 18), and led them to Samaria (vv. 18–19). In Samaria he prayed again: “LORD, open these men’s eyes, that they may see” (v. 20). The same prayer, to open eyes, is prayed twice in this lesson: once for his own servant, and once for the men who had come to seize him.
Bread and water. The king of Israel asked: “My father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?” (v. 21). Elisha said: “You shall not strike them … Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, then go to their master” (v. 22). “He prepared a great feast for them” and sent them away; “So the bands of Syria stopped raiding the land of Israel” (v. 23).
Afterwards. Many years later, “Elisha became sick with the illness of which he died; and Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, ‘My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’” (2 Kgs 13:14). When Elisha saw Elijah taken up, he had cried out these same words (2 Kgs 2:12, see Elijah, Lesson 7). The rest of Elisha’s life is in the Life.
The book of Proverbs says: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (Prov 25:21).
Readers can see this: in this lesson, what Elisha said to the king was “Set bread and water before them” (v. 22).
Perhaps something has you surrounded right now: an illness, a debt, a relationship, something you cannot bring yourself to speak of. You get up early, and something in you is asking: ‘What shall we do?’
This lesson does not say that people who trust God are never surrounded; nor does it say that if you only pray, the trouble will go away. What it shows you is this: what the servant saw was “an army with horses and chariots was around the city” (v. 15); Elisha said “Don’t be afraid” (v. 16), and prayed for him, “LORD, please open his eyes, that he may see” (v. 17); and Elisha prayed the same for the men who had come to seize him: “LORD, open these men’s eyes, that they may see” (v. 20).
This week: Think of one thing that frightens you right now. This week, spend a few minutes each day telling it to God just as it is, and ask God to open your eyes; if you want to, write down what you see.
Scripture: World English Bible.