There is an individual in the Bible that didn’t showcase his life. He didn’t assert his authority as mightily as he could have. He went about his business with a quiet confidence. He had a tight relationship with God the Father. He did miracles like feeding thousands, raising a dead man to life, and calling upon angelic armies. . . . . . . I’m talking about . . . . . . . of course . . . . . you know him . . . it’s Elisha The Prophet! (C’mon, admit it – you thought it was Jesus!) 🙂

I had heard about Elisha, but I really didn’t know a lot about him. His predecessor and mentor, Elijah, was one of the most famous prophets in Israel’s history. Elijah was right up there with Moses. If you read Elijah’s story from 1st Kings chapter 17 to 2nd Kings chapter 2 – you can see the dynamic life he lived: Individually taking on the wicked King Ahab, miraculously calling down fire from heaven, clearly hearing the voice of God, being fed in the wilderness by ravens, and ending his life by riding a chariot into heaven!

So why focus on the next guy, Elisha? Wasn’t he in a way, second place? That’s what is great about God – He can use anyone, anywhere, at anytime for His purposes. Maybe you and I feel like second place sometimes? Didn’t get the promotion, overlooked for a social event, taking the place of someone larger than life, unanswered prayers, and feel like we’re not making much of an impact in a world going bonkers?

I wanted to focus on a three part series featuring Elisha and some incredible and possibly overlooked events in his life:

1) Clearly seeing an angelic army as if were a common, ordinary occurance.

2) Completely reversing the law of physics to help out one man.

3) He tested and challenged a king – and unfortunately, the king failed the test (would you and I also?).

My hope is that by the end of this series – that we might see ourselves in the common, ordinary, and not so exciting events in our own lives. And realize that we have a God that is at work 24/7 (the Bible says He never sleeps – try wrapping your head around that concept), loves us, and wants to use us to further His Kingdom wherever we have been planted. Let’s get started!

Clearly Seeing The Angelic

The entire story is found in 2 Kings Chapter 6: 8 – 23. Please read when you have a free moment to get the context. At this time in history – God’s people and land were divided between Israel and Judah. A large army called The Aramean Raiders were continually trying to attack and overcome Israel. They especially wanted to destroy Elisha the Prophet. The king of Aram (short for Aramean) found out through spies that Elisha was staying in a small town named Dothan. Here is the highlight reel from the story:

“Go and find out where Elisha is,” the King of Aram commanded, “so I can send troops to seize him.” And the report came back: “Elisha is at Dothan.” So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.

When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha. “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of FIRE (2 Kings 6:12-17).

Three points stand out when we take a close look at this passage.

1. Things are not as they seem. It is hard for us to comprehend that there is an entire realm going on beyond what we can see with our eyes. Science fiction does visualize this in shows like Stranger Things, classic movies like The Matrix, and the currently popular Multi-Verse themes in super hero movies and comics. The Apostle Paul wrote about this phenomenon in his book to the Ephesian way back around A.D. 60. He writes: A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12) Elisha’s servant saw an enemy army. But he didn’t see the evil forces ultimately empowering it. Elisha saw the enemy army, but because of his tight relationship with God – he also saw the larger angelic force that God provided to counter attack. Let our prayer be: “God, please help us to see the spiritual and your power in spite of what we can only see in front of us now.”
2. The spiritual realm is weightier and mightier than the physical realm. The spiritual realm is supernatural, the physical realm is natural. The spiritual realm is built upon faith in the unseen, the physical realm is highly visual. The spiritual realm is eternal, the physical realm is temporary. Had any of us been there that day – we probably would have immediately panicked at the sight of enemy troops, horses, and chariots as far as the eye can see. The Apostle Paul also addresses this phenomenon in the book of 2nd Corinthians: We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10: 3-5). In God’s Kingdom, our weapons are prayer, serving, worship, fasting, giving, and reading The Bible. At first, those don’t sound like very powerful or exciting weapons. Usually when we do one or two of these practices – we don’t see any immediate changes or results. That can be challenging when we live in an instantaneous, “Amazon Prime” society. However, they are eternal, they are given by God, and we live by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 – Paul again – he was on to something!)
3. During challenges in life – do we go to ourselves, others, or God? I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve had many times in my life when I make a decision, take whatever action to do it – and then remember, “Oh yeah, I’d better pray about this.” The disciple, Matthew, wrote about Jesus’ perspective on worry and eliminating God from the equation: Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all of your worries add a single moment to your life? . . . Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (Matthew 6: 26-33). We have a God that obviously cares about world events and evil armies that are poised to attack. But we also have a God that cares about flat tires, a child’s scraped knee, when we get rejected by our peers, the big exam coming up, and when we’re down to $5 in our bank account.

Conclusion – In a world that is speeding up faster by the second – maybe we can follow Elisha’s example and be counter-intuitive? We can choose to invite God into every area of our lives – asking Him: “What do you want for me in this situation?” Also, “God – please help me to see this through your eyes.” We can trust in faith that there are angels (fueled by our prayers) fighting battles that we have no idea about. And finally, we can be confident that even if circumstances make it look like we’re not having any impact or making a difference – God has enough room in His heart and His plans to see us as #1. So . . . be on the lookout for . . . chariots of fire!

Blessings,

Dave

https://www.amazon.com/author/davidrische