Chariots of Fire

Our title for this morning as we think about The Life and Times of Elisha is CHARIOTS OF FIRE and 2 Kings 6 and verses 8-23.

Chariots of Fire will suggest to some older people the 1981 Academy Award winning film about Eric Liddell, the 1924 Olympic Gold medal runner. Publicly known as a Christian, he refused to run in the 100 yards (as it then was) on a Sunday but won a Gold medal in the 440 yards later that week.

The title, of course, comes from 2 Kings 6 and verse 17, where, we are told, “chariots of fire [were] all round Elisha”. And earlier in 2 Kings we read of Elijah, Elisha’s prophetic predecessor, being taken up to heaven in “a chariot of fire”.

With regard to our passage it’s worth thinking about what happened in later life to Eric Liddell. Last year he was voted the most popular athlete Scotland ever produced (he was also a rugby international). However, he gave up his sporting glory the year following the 1924 Olympics to be a missionary to China.

After a few years came the Second World War and the British Government advised British Nationals in China to return home. His wife and children did so in 1941. Eric Liddell, however, believed he needed to stay to help his brother, a missionary doctor. He couldn’t leave with people in need.

But the war escalated in the Far East and the mission station was taken over by the Japanese. And Liddell was interned along with some members of the old China Inland Mission (now the OMF). Things were not good. Food, medicines and other supplies ran short at the camp and there was feuding and bickering among the internees.

Eric Liddell tried to sort out problems. He ran Bible classes. He organized games. And he taught the children. However, if you were Eric Liddell, how would you have felt in that internment camp - with your wife and children the other side of the world, with inadequate supplies of food and medicines, and with people bickering and feuding? You might be tempted to think, “where is God in all this? Why has he allowed all this to happen?” But he didn’t think like that.

One of his fellow internees, Norman Cliff, later wrote a book about the camp. Of Liddell he said this: he was "the finest Christian gentleman it has been my pleasure to meet. In all the time in the camp, I never heard him say a bad word about anybody."

And there was a recent amazing revelation by the Chinese authorities and previously unknown to his family. This was just before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Japanese, it was reported, did a deal with the British, with Churchill's approval, for prisoner exchange. As Eric Liddell was a famous athlete, he was one of those chosen as part of the prisoner exchange. However, he gave up his place so a pregnant woman could be released instead. He then died in the camp just before the end of the war from a brain tumour.

But why do we need to think about Eric Liddell this morning? Answer: he is an example of a regular phenomenon among the people of God. It is being in a desperate situation God allows you to be in, and then facing temptations of various sorts.

You see, it was just such a situation that the first readers of 2 Kings were facing. For 2 Kings ends with the Babylonians capturing and destroying Jerusalem and its Temple and deporting many of its inhabitants to Babylon. So this book, when completed, had a message for people who had lost everything and were in danger of losing hope. Undoubtedly they were in danger of feuding and bickering among themselves. But as Paul tells us, one of the great purposes of the Old Testament is that “through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15.4).

Such encouragement is vital for us when we are in a situation that seems to have no hope. So we should expect encouragement today from 2 Kings.

But let me remind you of the story so far. After the Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the Promised land by God’s people, Judges ruled. Kings then followed the Judges – with Saul, then David and then Solomon, his son. Solomon ended up, however, with a pagan harem that spread idolatry and Baal worship.

Then there was a division of Israel in the North from Judah in the South. And many were being even more seduced by the idolatrous Baal religions of Canaan which included child sacrifice and gross sexual immorality. In the North the prophet Elijah challenged both the king and the people to repent and turn back to the true God, as did his successor, Elisha. All this was in the ninth century BC.

But things went from bad to worse. So in the eight century God brought punishment by allowing the Assyrians to attack and conquer the northern tribes of Israel and to take many of the people away as captives.

In the sixth century the same thing happened in the south, to Judah. This time it was the Babylonians who were the conquerors and the people of Judah who were taken away. And it is these people, the exiles stuck in Babylon, who we must imagine were among the first readers of 2 Kings. So much by way of introduction.

Now for our passage which is about, first, A FRUSTRATED KING; secondly, A FRIGHTENED SERVANT and, thirdly, A FORGIVING PROPHET. They are my headings for this morning.


First, A FRUSTRATED KING

Look again at verses 8-14 of 2 Kings 6:

8Now the king of Aram [or Syria] was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, ‘I will set up my camp in such and such a place.’ 9The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: ‘Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.’ 10So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. 11This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, ‘Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?’ 12‘None of us, my lord the king,’ said one of his officers, ‘but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.’ 13‘Go, find out where he is,’ the king ordered, ‘so I can send men and capture him.’ The report came back: ‘He is in Dothan.’ 14Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

Syria is to the north of Israel and war was on and off between the two states. It was now on. But we do not know which kings are being referred to. What we do know, however, was that the king of Aram [or Syria], verse 11, was “enraged”. He was told that none of his officers were spies but the problem was Elisha, who, verse 12 …
tells the king of Israel [not just about military matters but] the very words you speak in your bedroom.
He was livid. He thought it was like the News of the World having hidden microphones in his pillow! But God knows every “careless word [we] have spoken”, as Jesus says in Matthew 12.36. So he wanted to get rid of Elisha promptly and sent, verse 14: “horses and chariots and a strong force … by night” to surround the city of Dotham where the king of Syria thought Elisha was supposed to be.

So what does this account teach us? What did the exiled people in Babylon learn as they read this account or had it read to them? There are three things at least.

First, as Jesus taught, God’s people must expect to be attacked, opposed and hated by those who reject God.

As Elisha doesn’t immediately challenge the king of Israel to repentance when attacked by the King of Aram [or Syria], this does not seem like a time of gross apostasy. We cannot say these attacks were God’s judgment on Israel’s sin. They seem unprovoked. As Jesus said in John 15.18:

if the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

And remember that the God of the Old Testament is the God who we now know is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So when you are trying to stand up for the Lord for the truth or for Christian standards, don’t be surprised if you are attacked. Daniel was attacked for being a believer in ancient Babylon. Many others would have been as well.

Secondly, these verses show us that God is concerned with national affairs. So must we be. Elisha certainly was.

Of course, you are not only to be concerned with national affairs. Last time we looked at 2 Kings we saw how Elisha was wanting to build a college for his school of young prophets. That was Elisha concerned for the local church of those days. And before that he was helping an individual, Naaman the leper. So we, too, need to be concerned about individuals, the church and the nation. As we say at JPC we need Godly Living, Church Growth and Changing Britain.

And the third lesson from these verses is that the enemies of God’s people particularly seek to destroy or silence God’s prophets, whose calling is to teach God’s word.

They will also try to silence those who do not have a special calling, but, as any believer, they have a role (as they can) of witnessing to friends, colleagues and neighbours.

Don’t, therefore, be surprised when the Government is trying to pass legislation to prevent Christians from speaking freely about Jesus Christ and his teaching. Instead join campaigns to stop the Government. Make sure you are up-to-date with the latest information from the Christian Institute and the Barnabas Fund and so on.

So, one, God’s people will be attacked; two, Christians need to be concerned and focused about national issues as well as individual and church issues; and, three, the enemies of God’s people try to silence the proclamation of God’s word and truth. That was true in Elisha’s time. It was true in Babylon. It is true today. But this time the King of Syria was frustrated.


Secondly, A FRIGHTENED SERVANT

We come now to verses 15-19. And there are also at least three lessons here.

The first lesson is that God’s protection is real but often unseen. We have wonderful promises that Christ will always be with us to the very end of the age; that his Spirit is with us; that God will never leave us or forsake us, even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But often there is nothing to see. The protection of God is often invisible.

Here Elisha’s servant went out early in the morning after the king of Aram’s force had surrounded the city of Dothan the previous night. And he just saw this army. He was terrified. Verse 15 is his reaction:

‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don't be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’

There is protection, Elisha is saying, but it is unseen.

The second lesson is that God sometimes gives us great encouragements; and, so to speak, he lets us see his working for us or his protection of us. He did this for this servant. Look at verse 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 [presumably an angelic force].

Do you believe in angels? The Bible is quite clear there are two sorts of personal beings that God created, humankind and angels (literally the word “angel” means messenger). Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane when his disciples were wanting to use force to defend him (Matt 26.53-54):

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels [more than 60,000]? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?

Jesus is saying that he could be protected by angels, but God’s will was for his Cross, for him to bear our sins to secure his great victory over sin and death that we celebrate at every Communion service. At the time his death seemed, to many, a defeat. But God knew best. And he always knows best, even when we cannot understand it. God’s protection for reasons we sometimes cannot understand is not always used in ways we would like.

Here, however, Elijah had divine angelic protection that his servant was now privileged to see. The week before last there was a request for A-I-D (Anglican International Development) to help persecuted Christians in a place where there has been terrible suffering. After a phone call and within a very short time the needs were being remarkably met. So rejoice at those times when God’s protection and help is particularly evident.

And the third lesson here is the importance of prayer. Elisha had learnt from his master, Elijah. The New Testament cites Elijah as an example of a “righteous man [whose prayer] is powerful and effective” (James 5.18). Elisha prayed for the servant to see the horses and chariots of fire. But then he prayed a second time. Look at verses 18-20:

18As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, ‘Strike these people with blindness.’ So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked. 19Elisha told them, ‘This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.’ And he led them to Samaria. 20After they entered the city, Elisha said [he prayed], ‘LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see.’ Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.

I think the technical name for such a trick is a “ruse of war”. And it raises questions about the miraculous in the life of Elisha. Some say these stories are legends with the prophet’s supporters concocting them to make their hero seem better than he was. But there are two difficulties with that.

One, many Old Testament literary forms have ancient Near Eastern parallels. So Hebrew poetry is like the poetry of other nations. It is the same with the Wisdom literature. Also there were prophets in neighbouring countries and many prophetic texts have survived. But no prophetic legends have been discovered in these texts.

Difficulty number two is that these miracle accounts are written up in exactly the same way as the historical material in 1 and 2 Kings.

It just is hard to explain away the miraculous. It is easier to believe that as a result of Elisha’s prayer the visual phenomenon we are told happened, happened. And this Syrian army ended up in Samaria. And the frightened servant was frightened no more. He knew that God’s protection was not only real when unseen, but sometimes clearly evident. And he (and we) should learn the importance of prayer from Elisha as Elisha seems to have learnt from Elijah.


Thirdly, and briefly, there is A FORGIVING PROPHET

Look at verses 20-23:

20After they entered the city, Elisha said, ‘LORD, open the eyes of these men so they can see.’ Then the LORD opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria. 21When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, ‘Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?’ 22‘Do not kill them,’ he answered. ‘Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.’ 23So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory.

Jesus says (Matt 5:44):

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Paul says (Rom 12:21):

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is what Elisha was saying and doing now as there was no need for punishment. This fundamental New Testament lesson needed to be learnt then. And it would be needing to be learnt in Babylon by the first readers of 2 Kings. And we need it today. As it is God’s will, not surprisingly it so often pays off. Look at verse 23:

The bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.:

May we all mean it, therefore, the next time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say,

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.