By Mary Fairchild
1581 Bunting Clover Leaf Map; Israel in the center.
ELISHA AND THE ENEMY—2 Kings 6-8: The first part of the passage seems to ring a note of discontent. They wanted larger living quarters. Elisha consented to help them with their project; however, it was probably not Elisha’s or God’s idea; it was strictly their idea. Problems ensued: they lost the ax head. The ax head was a symbol of power; and therefore, they lost their power. The tragedy was that their ax head, their power, was borrowed.
OUR POWER FROM GOD IS ALWAYS BORROWED; it is not our power, but His power. We may lose the power of God in our lives whenever we go on our own way; and when we lose the power of God in our lives, we also begin to lose our testimony. We must return to that place where we lost our power in order to get it back. We must confess our wrong, make restitution, and begin to obey at the point where we rebelled if we would get our power back. When Elisha cut down a tree branch and cast it into the water, the iron ax head began to float. This, of course, was a miracle of nature. The tree represents Christ’s death on Calvary’s tree; so as we return to the cross and get right with God, He forgives us and again we can have power of God and a testimony before others.
Without the ax head, the builder’s work could not be done. Without the power of God in our lives, we cannot work effectively. We may go through the motions of doing God’s work, but Jesus said “….without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).
It seemed uncanny that Israel always knew the whereabouts of the Syrian army. The Syrian king thought there could be no human explanation except a traitor in the Syrian camp. But one of the king’s servants put the blame on the prophet Elisha, and he was right. Not only did God use Elisha to remind His own people of the will and power of God, but He also used Elisha to be a demonstration of His power to Syria, Israel’s enemy. At that period of history, Israel’s predominant enemy was Syria (to the north). The king of Syrian was Ben-hadad. We have seen how God used Elisha to be the human instrument in healing the leprosy of the Syrian captain Naaman. Naaman was not just healed; he became a believer in the God of Israel, and no doubt he was a living testimony to the power of God in the court of Ben-hadad. Who knows but that these unusual (sometimes even humorous) events between Elisha and Syria may have been due to the prayers of Captain Naaman, who probably was praying that the God of Israel would prove Himself to the Syrian people. Undoubtedly, these unusual events were the table talk of the households of Syria. Thus the knowledge of the true God was spread abroad, and in many areas He was glorified. God graciously gave Syria, a heathen nation, a glimpse of His glory through the miracles of Elisha.
Elisha had great spiritual vision. We need to remember this event when our fears and problems overwhelm us. YOU AND GOD MAKE A MAJORITY. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Evidently, it was not a total physical blindness, but a blinding stupor whereby they did not recognize Elisha nor their whereabouts. When their full sensibilities finally returned to them, they recognized their strange situation. Elisha did not lie to them, for he personally escorted them to the king of Israel, and then he treated them kindly. Elisha had them well treated and then released. How ridiculous their report must have sounded when they got home—not only to their king but to their families. And what a testimony this was of the God of Israel to a heathen nation. The God of Israel was a God of love and kindness as well as power.
WORKS CITED
- Revelation and Church History
- Church Age
- Old Testament Study
- KING JAMES BIBLE
- MATTHEW HENRY COMMENTARY
- A Beka Book High School Bible Series “United Kingdom: Kings of Israel A;” 1995 Pensacola Christian College; www.abeka.com