I remember when I was young watching these cool Chinese dramas of great warriors who can float with the greatest of ease and punch, kick with great force. 2 Kings 6 reminded me of these great men from the Chinese dramas, who can destroy armies. However, that being said this narrative was far from fiction, because the powers that be did not originate from man, but from God. The passage starts with an axe head being recovered due to an accident. Since the axe was borrowed it had to be returned. Easy enough, Elisha threw a stick in the water, the iron floated, and the axe head was retrieved. (vv.1-7) After that, the king of Aram warred against Israel yet again. The king of Israel was repeatedly warned by Elisha to not enter a place where the Arameans guarded heavily. (vv.8-11) In response, the Arameans marched a large army by Dothan to try and kill Elisha. Elisha’s attendant grew fearful when he saw the army, but Elisha prayed and revealed a large heavenly army and fire surrounding him. Elisha for obvious reasons had no fear. The Arameans approached Elisha and according to the text they were no match for Elisha. (v.18) They were immediately struck with blindness, brought down to Samaria (captured), their eyes reopened, and then fed. (vv.20-23) Instead of a mass killing there was mercy. (v.23) In the ensuing verses (vv.24-33) Samaria was raided by Ben-hadad, king of Aram. A great famine had hit the land and the king of Israel surveyed what was left of the land. An encounter with a woman left the king shocked. She had cannibalized and eaten her son along with another woman, but the other woman would not share her son to eat. The king mourned greatly, but wished for the death of Elisha. (v.31) Where I had great visual of one man squelching an entire army, I experienced in equal terror and pain when I read the account of the woman who eats her child. In war and famine there is no silver lining just death and gore. At this point God is using Elisha, but neither the king of Israel or Aram appreciate him. The result of their constant fighting has led to this. Yet, God’s mercy is still evident in this passage. God provides for Elisha and his men, reveals a great army, and preserves Aram’s men. God is good and He is great, but don’t hesitate to respond to Him today for He is mighty to save. #godlylegacy ““It is not great men who change the world, but weak men in the hands of a great God.” –Brother Yun
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 13:28:57 +0000
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