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Chariots Of Fire
By
Rev. Todd W. Allen
Villa Rica 8/14/05
2 Kings 6:8-23
Nations engage in a
deadly game with perceived enemy forces in this life. We call it
espionage. This game has been popularized and glamorized by the
James Bond double 0 seven movies. James Bond 007 is supposed to be
an agent in British Intelligence who is forever narrowly escaping
from life threatening situations but he always manages to
countermine the enemy forces by some brilliant maneuver. He is a
hero or a traitor depending on whose side you are on.
We have had traitors
in our intelligence branch of government who have sold secrets to
the enemy. One of the most notorious traitors in American history
was benedict Arnold. Benedict Arnold was a major general in the
American army who in 1779 began treasonable correspondence with the
British. In 1780 while he was in command at West Point, a key
position in American defenses, he arranged to surrender West Point
to the British. The plot was discovered by the capture of Major
Andre. Arnold fled to the British and led raids in Virginia and
Connecticut. He ended his life in disgrace and poverty in England.
God does not need
spies for His Kingdom because he knows all things that men scheme
and plan, and he can communicate that secret information to his
prophets when it pleases him to do so. Elisha was neither a spy nor
a traitor. He was a man of faith and boldness, a man who truly
believed God. We get an instance of his faith in our scripture
today.
Elisha knew secret information about the enemy because he was a
prophet with a gift of knowledge. In a very real sense every
Christian has secret information. We are given to know things that
the world does not know, and we know things about the enemy that
arms us against him. We also know things about human nature that
helps us deal with situations and circumstances intelligently.
For instance, every
believer knows that sin is a reality and that Satan is a fallen
angel at war with God and God’s people. We also know that we can be
forgiven and cleansed from our sins and have victory over evil
through the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that we can resist the Devil
and that he will flee from us. This is so because Jesus Christ
spoiled principalities and powers and made an open show of them when
he died for our sins and rose again victorious over death.
Christ has conquered
Satan and triumphed over death. He has the keys of death and of
hell. Through the knowledge we have of his work of redemption and
victory over all the powers of darkness we can be more than
conquerors through him who loved us and gave himself for us.
Elisha had inside,
secret information given to him as God's prophet that enabled him to
warn the king of Israel of the plans and plots of the king of Syria.
When the Syrians planned an ambush Elisha was divinely informed and
was able to relay that information to the king of Israel. This
advance information thwarted the king of Aram's plans. The king of
Israel simply avoided the places where it was dangerous for him to
go.
God warns us to avoid the haunts of sin and the territory of the
enemy. We should take that advice seriously as the king of Israel
did. Unfortunately, the king of Israel did not become a believer
through his dealings with Elisha. Later he even tried to murder
Elisha, but God prevented it. He would have done well to heed the
scripture that says,
“Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” Psa.
105:15 (NASB)
Elisha knew in advance the movements planned by the
King of Aram. The king at first supposed that someone in his inner
circle was leaking secret information to Israel. In other words,
there must be a traitor, a spy, a double agent in the camp. But one
of his servants told him that it was the prophet Elisha who was
supplying the secret information to the king of Israel.
We might ask, how did this person know that Elisha was the
informant, and if so how did Elisha get his information? If you knew
that someone knew what you said in your bedroom wouldn't you at
least ask how he could know such confidential information? We know,
don't we? We know that God is omniscient and that he knows all that
goes on. He has the divine power to read minds, not only thoughts in
men’s minds but every intent of the thoughts of his heart.
Gen. 6:5
That
is pretty heavy stuff. God can see and know at all times in all
places what all men and angels plan and intend to do if they can.
What knowledge! What power! No man or angel can outsmart God or
defeat God's holy purposes because God knows his thoughts and
intents and can either allow those plans to be executed or he can
checkmate them. He can forewarn and forearm his people. He can
frustrate all the plans of evil angels and men because he knows what
they will try to do even before they do it. What amazing
intelligence and power!
God tells us that no
weapon formed against His church shall succeed. He says that the
gates of hell will not prevail against his church. He can overthrow
all the works of the enemy. As Martin Luther put it in his hymn,
A Mighty Fortress is Our God -- One little word shall fell the
grim prince of darkness.
When the king of Aram
found out it was Elisha who was tipping off the king of Israel with
inside information about his plans he decided he would eliminate the
prophet. He sent out a posse to locate him and take him dead or
alive. It was not a small posse but a very large one. He was taking
no chances that Elisha might call down fire from heaven to consume
them as Elijah had done when captains with fifty men were sent to
take him.
Notice that he sent
them by night to Dothan under the cover of darkness. The Devil more
often than not does his work under the cover of darkness.
When you think about
it wouldn't you suppose that the king of Aram would have considered
that if Elisha could know in advance his plans against the king of
Israel that he would also be able to know in advance that he was
sending an armed force to come and get him, so Elisha might easily
have slipped away and evaded the strategy of the enemy king:
apparently that never occurred to the king of Aram.
I believe God did
reveal to Elisha that the king of Aram was sending a posse to get
him. But Elisha was not afraid. He did not run away. He just waited
for the enemy to come.
We ought to know, if
we don't already, that the enemy is armed and dangerous. He wants us
dead. He wants to eat us alive. He is a roaring lion and if he
possibly can he will destroy you and me. He will try and lure you
and me into sinful conduct so that we are at his mercy. Once we
yield to temptation we are his meat. That's why the Lord tells us to
watch and pray, to stay on guard, to be vigilant against the wiles,
craft and deceit of the enemy. We are told to resist the Devil and
he will flee from us. We are always to remember that greater is he
that is in you than he that is in the world.
Elisha did not have
military weapons. He did not have anything but his faith in the God
he served. He was an unarmed man in an unwalled village, or at least
he knew that he could not depend upon the city walls to save him
against such a powerful force as had been sent to get him.
His servant awoke
early and saw the Syrian army with horses and chariots circling the
city. The force that Satan can muster may seem overpowering.
Elisha's servant was filled with dread and foreboding.
"Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" his servant asked. {16}"Don't
be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more
than those who are with them." {17}And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open
his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes,
and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire
all around Elisha. There all around them was the awesome powers of
heaven poised to bring deliverance to Elisha and his servant.
If you have not
already had the eyes of your understanding opened, may the Lord open
your eyes to see the awesome power that protects you from harm, hurt
and danger. The Psalmist wrote:
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, And
rescues them. Psa. 34:7 (NASB) What comforting words!
God does not leave us
to our own strength or power. When we fear him and trust him we are
under divine protection.
Listen beloved, whenever your are in danger, do what Hezekiah did
when the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem and the commander declared
that all the people were doomed –he prayed and God sent an angel to
deliver them. Do what Elisha did -- pray. God is the same yesterday,
today and forever. He will hear and answer.
Elisha had prayed for
his servant and then he prayed something that is really neat. He
didn't pray that the Lord would destroy the Arameans (Syrians).
Instead, the scripture says:
Elisha prayed to the LORD,
18When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and
said, “Strike this people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them
with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Elisha had prayed that his servant might see but he prayed that the
Syrians might not see, just the opposite. Now this was not total
blindness. Rather it was a blindness of direction and orientation.
They could still see physically but they could not orient
themselves. They lost the ability to know east from west or north
from south. They felt lost. They had eyes to see but they could not
see which way to go. They lost their sense of direction. They became
totally disoriented.
As Isaiah
said We grope along the wall like blind men, We grope like those
who have no eyes; We stumble at midday as in the twilight,Among
those who are vigorous we are like dead men. Isa. 59:10 (NASB)
Remember the time the angels had been sent to Sodom to bring Lot out
and the Sodomites tried to break down the door to get at them, and
the angels struck the men who were at the door of the house, young
and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door (Gen
19:11).
Certainly God can
confuse and confound sinners. Perhaps some of you have had an inner
ear infection and have experienced disorientation. Vertigo is a
condition that can afflict a person so that he or his surroundings
are whirling about. Pilots can get vertigo. Something like this
happened to the Syrians after Elisha prayed. .
After Elisha had prayed his prayer to went to the Arameans and offered
to become their guide.
19Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is
this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.”
And he brought them to Samaria.
20When
they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these
men, that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes and they
saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21Then
the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I
kill them? Shall I kill them?” 22He answered, “You shall not
kill them. Would you kill those you have taken captive with your
sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may
eat and drink and go to their master.” 23So he prepared a
great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them
away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans
did not come again into the land of Israel.
The world doesn't know the
God of the Bible and they don't handle things the way Elisha told the
king to handle this situation. But scripture tells us to do what Elisha
told the king of Israel to do. We read in
(Prov 25:21-22 NIV) If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if
he is thirsty, give him water to drink. {22}In doing this, you will heap
burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
So without a weapon in his
hand, armed only with the Word of God and prayer Elisha defeats his
enemies and blesses them. He conquers by the spiritual weapons God had
put in his hand. What is that? The weapon of prayer, the weapon of God's
Word, which is the sword of the Spirit.
Are you relying today, my
friend, on Jesus Christ and the Word of God? Do you rely on prayer and
not your own strength and wits? God has put in your hand the same
knowledge and power he gave to Elisha. We have a King over us who is on
the throne of glory and all power in heaven and in earth belongs to him.
We know that his power is awesome, irresistible and always victorious.
He not only will protect you and be a shelter to you in a time of storm,
he is also able through the faith he has given you in His Son to lead
you to triumph over all your foes.
As Elisha was victorious
in this episode, confounding through prayer the enemies of Israel and
leading them captive to his king, so can we be victorious. We gain the
victory by using those same means of grace that Elisha used.
Jesus Christ is our
Commander in Chief. He is the sovereign and mighty God. He bids us come
to him in prayer about every need, every problem. We know that he who
had the wisdom to create the world and overcome all the forces of evil
by means of his cross can also always devise ways and means to save you
and me from every trial and trouble and bring us safely to our eternal
home.
Let us emulate Elisha and
Elijah and Hezekiah and David and all the saints who have gone before us
who trusted the Lord and found him to be a wall of protection and a
Victor for them over every foe and every adverse circumstance.
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The paper and sermon manuscripts from
Pastor
Todd W. Allen
are made freely available for review and
distribution. We only request that proper
web page attribution be provided if
distributed for any reason. Please be
gracious to forgive typos and errors of
expression. These notes are faithful
approximations of what has been preached.
May God be glorified in the preaching of
His Word. |