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2 Kings 6 (Part 2) Bible Study (Horses and Chariots of Fire) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  OK, we'll grab your Bibles. Meet me in Second Kings chapter
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  6. Second Kings chapter 6 and verse
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  8 is where we want to place our fingers.
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  Second Kings 6 verse 8. Let us just begin reading right
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  away. Once when the king of Syria was
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  warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants,
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  saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp.
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  But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, Beware that
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  you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down
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  there. And the king of Israel sent to
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  the place about which the man of God told him.
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  Thus he used to warn him so that he saved himself there more than
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  once or twice. And the mind of the king of
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  Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing.
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  And he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show
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  me who of us is for the king of Israel?
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  And one of his servants said, None, my Lord, O king.
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  But Elijah the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel
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  the words that you speak in your bedroom.
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  And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize
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  him. It was told him, Behold, he is
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  in Dothan. Lord, we ask.
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  As we've already prayed, but we pray again that you would guide
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  us through this study and that there will be a special
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  empowerment behind it. We need Your help.
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  We dare not assume that we can open Your word and expound it
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  and preach it and hear it, thinking that we will be
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  fruitful apart from Your spirits.
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  Helm. So we ask that you would make
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  this an impactful time, and that we would see Christ, and that we
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  would receive your wisdom, and that we would walk out of here
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  that much closer to Him and that much clearer in our
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  understanding of who He is. Although we long for you to help
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  us, and we need you and we committed in the name of your
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  Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
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  It would be a mistake to interpret this passage in
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  isolation, and the reason why I say that is because this is not
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  the first time that the Syrians have been mentioned in
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  connection to Elisha's ministry. Do you recall the last time that
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  we engaged with the Syrians when it came to Elisha's story?
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  Anybody know you can answer? If you do know the answer, you
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  got to say a little bit louder because I'm a little bit
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  elevated and you're a little bit far if you're answering from the
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  back. Naman the Syrian in Second Kings
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  chapter 5. And so this is not our
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  introduction to the Syrians interacting with this mighty man
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  of God. And is understanding that
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  background helpful to approaching this text?
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  Absolutely. You're saying why read verse
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  eight once more. Once when the king of Syria was
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  warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants,
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  saying at such and such a place shall be my camp.
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  What you and I discover in the opening verse of our study is
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  the profound ingratitude and the disregard of the King of Syria
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  towards the people of Israel and more importantly, the God of
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  Israel. Why?
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  Because this follows Naaman the Syrian, who was the general of
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  the army, who was healed miraculously and returned back
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  to Syria as a new man. And we have to remember that the
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  king of Syria was well aware of Naaman's condition and how he
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  was helped by the God of Israel. Remember, it was Naaman who
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  approached the king of Syria asking him permission to go to
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  Israel to receive aid. And the king of Syria himself
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  wrote a letter and gave it to the king of Israel, saying
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  receive Naaman my servant and help him.
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  So how do we tie this together? Well, evidently the King of
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  Syria was not too concerned about Naaman's healing and how
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  that should change his perspective on the God of
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  Israel. There was no lasting impression,
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  if there was any impression at all.
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  Right here in verse 8 we learned that he's ready to go to war.
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  Disappointing, yes. Shocking.
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  It shouldn't be because this is not unique to the King of Syria
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  throughout the Old Testament. Do we not see it in the Gospel
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  accounts? Is it not there in present day
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  experiences? Do we not have stories of this
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  where people have tasted of the mercy of God, have been even
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  bathed by His grace, and still are willing to war against Him,
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  to be cold towards him, indifferent towards him?
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  There are various degrees to which a man can harden his
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  heart. And I was reflecting on the king
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  of Syria the other night, and I was reminded of a passage that
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  describes one of the severest forms of stubbornness a person
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  can. Reach.
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  It's interesting because this word in the Hebrews only found
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  in two places in all the Old Testament.
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  It's found in Zechariah 712 as the prophet was reflecting on
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  the stubbornness of the people, of the people of God.
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  We're told there in Zechariah 712, they made their hearts
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  diamond hard, lest they should hear the law and the words that
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  the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former
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  prophets. Therefore, great anger came from
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  the Lord of hosts. They made their hearts not hard,
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  diamond hard. I was reflecting on that.
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  Why would the word diamond be used?
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  Until I looked into it and realized that diamonds are one
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  of the most hard material natural stones in our world.
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  So out of all the things that God could have used as an
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  adjective to describe the condition of the heart of the
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  people of God at this time, He says their hearts are not just
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  rock hard, diamond hard. And who's responsible for that
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  kind of state? It was the people.
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  It says they made their hearts diamond hard.
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  They have allowed themselves to persistent rejection and
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  resistance to God's Word, God's power, God's mercy, to the point
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  where it was virtually impenetrable.
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  And so do not underestimate how a man or a woman's heart can
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  become so stiff and calloused to the things of God, despite what
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  the Lord does for them. That's something that we see
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  over and over in our Old Testament study, what man is
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  capable of in their rejection of God and their denial of God.
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  But despite the strategic and heartless plots of the enemies
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  of Israel, the people of God were a step ahead.
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  Why? Because we learned that Elijah
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  was granted supernatural discernment from God.
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  And it's quite humorous when you actually think about it, because
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  Elisha becomes the greatest intelligent agency for any
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  nation in all of world history, single handedly.
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  You have one man who didn't send any spies, who was in his own
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  abode and received downloads from God, knowing exactly the
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  next move that the Syrians would make, and he would tell it to
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  the king of Israel. And they evaded their enemies
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  over and over and over again. And it's no wonder that near
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  Elijah's death, we've seen this more than once in our study of
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  Second Kings, where he is referred to as the Chariots and
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  the horsemen of Israel. The Chariots of Israel were
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  ascribed as a title to this man Why?
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  Because he was the true defense of the nation, his connection
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  with God. As a conduit of God, He was able
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  to truly lead the people and protect the people.
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  At this moment not only reflects God's omniscience, it also
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  serves as a megaphone for His mercy.
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  Why? Because who the King of Israel
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  was at this time and the apostate condition of the nation
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  of Israel. They were spiritually sick and
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  their leadership didn't help. Them by any means.
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  Does anybody remember who the king of Israel is at this point?
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  Go to 2nd Kings 31. You get your answer.
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  In Second Kings Three one we read and the 18th year of
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  Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jeho Ram, the son of Ahab became king
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  over Israel and Samaria, and he reigned 12 years.
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  Jeho Ram, the son of Ahab. True, he was not as evil as his
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  parents, but he was a compromiser.
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  He worshipped idols. Be that as it may, God did not
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  completely abandoned his people. That's what you see here, that
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  the Lord was still willing to offer guidance and warnings, and
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  through that He was extending in steadfast invitation for the
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  people to be reconciled to Him over and over and over again.
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  And this might shock us, but Joe R.E.M. at this point responds
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  favorably. He actually does the right
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  thing. So the word of the Lord comes to
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  him. Don't go there and he doesn't do
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  it. And we're told there that he
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  doesn't do that just once or twice, but numerous times.
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  So Jahrem, he's not the best king.
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  He's actually one of the worst kings.
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  That being said, he's still offering us some wisdom in our
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  walk with the Lord at this at this point, this juncture.
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  In what way? The main thing I want you to
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  take away from this man is how his obedience was consistent.
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  So he saved himself there more than once or twice.
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  Elisha's warnings were numerous, which required the King of
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  Israel to trust him every single time.
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  Understand this, it wouldn't be enough for the King of Israel to
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  obey 10 times and on the 11th time to have his own way.
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  It would require him to submit and trust every single time.
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  And if he didn't, he would put himself in extreme danger.
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  And I think here there is some wisdom for our walk with Christ.
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  If you and I want to see God's favor and protection remain in
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  our lives, then it would be good to view a single act of
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  disobedience as a deadly threat. A single act of disobedience as
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  a deadly threat. Listen, if you want to be
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  serious about holiness and the rewards of holiness, may I say
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  something to you? You cannot convince yourself
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  that you can even nibble for a moment on one transgression or
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  stray away in a season of sin unscathed.
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  That would be no less foolish than Jeho Ram momentarily
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  ignoring Elijah's directions. You would think that the king of
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  Israel would be a fool to obey 7 times and on the eighth time to
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  depend on his own wisdom to not trust the word of the Lord.
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  And you and I are called to that same standard of dependency on
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  God's Word, that in every place, with any person at any time, I'm
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  going to trust God's Word. I'm not going to open myself to
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  anything that can put me in danger.
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  If you and I cease sin that way, we would know greater rewards.
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  On the path of steadfast obedience is where we find the
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  treasures of God's blessing and favor and continual shielding.
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  Yeah, praise God for his grace. That when we do slip and when we
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  fall, when we're convinced to do otherwise.
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  But I'm talking about premeditated foolishness.
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  Of knowing what God's Word has to say about the matter and to
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  just go the other way. I see the king of Israel here
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  obeying, and as long as he obeyed, he was safe.
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  And it's no different for you and I.
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  So this is what's so moving about this scene.
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  Verse 10. The king of Israel sent to the
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  place about which the man of God told him.
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  Thus he used to warn him so that he was saved there more than
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  once or twice. Verse 11.
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  And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled
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  because of this thing. And he called the servants and
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  said to them, will you not show me who of us is for the king of
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  Israel? So look, this is beyond
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  coincidence now. Once, OK, Twice, OK, three
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  times. We're not told them the total
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  amount of times. But it was enough for the the
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  king of Syria to be like, something's up here.
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  We got a rat. There is a spy here.
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  So he called in and all the services, which of you here is
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  an informant? Here's what's so funny, verse
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  12. And one of his servants said
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  unnamed, right? An inferior individual said,
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  none, my Lord, O king. But Elisha the prophet who is in
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  Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your
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  bedroom. Haven't you?
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  And I seen this consistently in our study of Second Kings, where
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  you have a servant who has greater spiritual perception
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  than somebody who was in a high and lofty position.
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  Didn't we see that in Second Kings chapter 5, where it was a
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  slave girl from Israel who was kidnapped from our home that
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  told Naaman the Syrian, I know somebody who can help you with
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  your leprosy. Was it not a servant of one of
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  the kings? When the coalition of kings,
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  including the king of Judah and Israel, went out to fight
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  against the Moabites and they were wandering in the
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  wilderness, they got lost. It was a servant who said, I
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  know where we can find Elijah and he can help us.
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  Like you can't ignore that. It's a constant thing that
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  appears in our study, reminding you and I that to be lowly in
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  the natural but rich in the spiritual is a greater advantage
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  than those who are noble in this life but are deficient in the
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  soul. Who cares about what people
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  achieve in this life if they're bankrupt spiritually be rich
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  towards God. I was reading now in my in my
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  own personal reading of Luke and Luke chapter 12 with that man in
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  that parable boasted about expanding his homes and retiring
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  early and relaxing. And God calls that man a fool.
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  Anybody is a fool who invests so much in this life but is
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  bankrupt towards God. And that's why he said such as a
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  man who is not rich towards God, it's possible to be rich in this
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  life, but to be poor in the spirit.
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  I'm not interested in that. I want to be rich towards him no
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  matter what it costs me in this life.
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  But you know what I thought when I was reflecting on this?
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  How did the Syrian servant know about Elijah in this way?
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  How now? We're not told, but I have an
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  inclination to believe that it had to do something with name in
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  the Syrian. This is just speculation, but I
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  think it's a safe one that when name in return.
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  Remember he returned with a plan to not be ashamed of his
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  devotion to Yahweh. He would make an altar, it would
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  be public. He was not afraid to declare
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  that his allegiance would be to the true God.
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  And I wonder if the servant heard the.
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  Testimony of name in the Syrian and I made an impression on him
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  enough for him to be familiar with the man of God and what God
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  was able to do through a man. It's just a wonderful reminder
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  of what our testimonies can do. So he says, listen, the prophet,
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  he hears your conversation in your own bedroom.
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  Now you would think that would humble somebody, right?
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  You would think that would cause him to say, I must know which
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  God is able to give this kind of ability to His people.
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  What do you see? Verse 13?
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  And he said, go and see where he is, that I may send and seize
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  him. It was told him, behold, he is
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  in Dauphin. Hold on to that.
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  Remember we talked about this in previous studies that when a
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  place appears, the name of a town or city or region appears
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  in your Bibles. To not disregard it to nothing
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  is just a historical footnote. No, look at it and consider it.
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  Meditate on it. So I remember stumbling upon
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  this Dothan years ago and thought to myself, that's not a
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  familiar place in the Bible. Now, we're not going to explore
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  this now. We're going to come back to in a
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  moment. We have to continue and you'll
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  see why. But I just want to remind you of
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  that discipline. Don't skip over names.
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  Don't skip over cities and towns and you'll see why This is just
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  going to be another example of why the discipline of seeking
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  deeper things in the word of God will reward you greatly.
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  But let's come to verse 15. When the servant of the man of
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  God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army
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  with horses and Chariots was all around the city.
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  And the servant said, Alas, my master, what shall we?
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  Do, he said. Do not be afraid, for those who
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  are with us are more than those who are with them.
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  So you have two men here. We have the servant of the man
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  of God. That can't be Gehazi.
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  Why? Because he's an outcast now.
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  He's crippled and riddled with leprosy.
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  So this is someone who replaced him, at least temporarily.
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  We have the. Servant of the man of God, and
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  we have Elijah with him. And I want you to realize that
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  they were both standing in the same geographical location.
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  They were both both facing the same threat.
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  And you can even argue that Elisha was experiencing a
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  greater danger than the servant because they were coming after
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  him. And lastly, they both serve the
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  same God, but there was one main difference and it was a very
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  important difference. They had totally different
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  outlooks, totally different perspectives.
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  Totally different revelations that were set before their
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  vision. The same surprise, the same
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  challenge, the same difficulty, but two different viewpoints
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  that cause them to interpret the situation so.
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  Differently, and I want to say it's the same for Christians
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  today, that you can have two Christian college students at
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  the same school with the same temptations and the same crowd,
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  one succumbing to the pulls of the world and another
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  overcoming. Why?
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  Because they have two different understandings.
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  You can have married couples, and if you do counseling with
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  married couples long enough, you'll realize that their
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  problems are not very unique. The strains are very similar and
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  yet you can have some parties who are willing to in faith and
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  trust in God's wisdom. Achieve reconciliation while
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  others crumble. You can have two very wealthy
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  Christians unusually successful in this life.
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  One is able to live for eternity and not make mammon their God,
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  and the other can be completely ensnared to the point of
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  spiritual destruction. Why?
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  Because of an understanding. And not just an understanding,
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  but a willingness to frame your outlook with that understanding.
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  You have the servant of God looking at the same thing, and
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  you have the man of God looking at the same thing, two different
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  conclusions. And the servant of God was
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  visibly fearful, panicked. His eyes were widened as he woke
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  up early that day, ready to do his chores and his duties as an
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  assistant to the prophet. And he looks out and he hears
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  the distant rumblings and an unusual scene of the hills being
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  littered with Chariots, perhaps even at sometimes hearing the
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  chants for Elijah's name and learning very quickly.
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  We're outnumbered here. And so he panics.
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  And what's so moving is right away we get a a striking
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  contrast with the man of God who is calm with an other worldly
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  kind of tranquility when he looks at the servant of God says
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  don't be. Afraid.
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  I mean, it's impossible to read Elijah's response with any other
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  kind of tone. Don't be afraid.
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  There are more with us than those that are before us.
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  Now I'm thinking, and I'm looking at this, wondering, how
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  was this man able? You can't fake this.
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  How was this man able to respond with such a serenity, A serenity
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  that was able to not just help him, but help others?
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  And I'll tell you this, it was because of revelation that he
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  possessed that was able to stabilize his heart.
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  I was looking at Elijah earlier today and his posture was a
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  clear reflection of one of the greatest practical promises that
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  you can find in the Old Testament, Isaiah 26, verse
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  three. You keep him in perfect peace
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  whose mind is stayed on you. Now, if you read that carefully,
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  you'll learn that this is. A verse that is outlining an
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  equation. Man has a responsibility, and
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  that contingency will determine God's reward.
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  You keep him in perfect peace. Who's the one who grants this
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  peace? God?
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  You keep it. And it's not just any ordinary
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  peace. It's a perfect peace now.
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  Either the Bible is exaggerating or God's word is true and every
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  man be a liar. You keep them in perfect peace.
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  What does perfect peace means? It means that it is a peace that
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  is accessible and applicable to any situation that you can draw
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  from this peace. You can experience this, this
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  stability anywhere, anytime, before anyone for anything.
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  The best quality of peace God is willing to grant upon this for
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  those whose mind is stayed on you.
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  So here's how you understand this.
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  Unbroken peace from God is granted to those who have
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  unbroken meditation on God. Unbroken peace from God can only
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  be achieved through unbroken meditation on the Lord.
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  Elisha saw something. Elisha lived in a reality that
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  the servant hasn't yet arrived to and that's OK because he's
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  learning, he's growing, and he had the right teacher in his
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  life. So here's the thing, you have to
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  understand what you believe will ultimately determine how you
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  behave. And I, and I can't again help
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  but look at a verse like Isaiah 26 three and feel the
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  responsibility of feeding. My mind and my heart, the truths
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  of who God is. And not just checking off a box,
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  saying I read my Bible this morning, but living with that
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  meditation, singing about those truths, discussing it with
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  people who actually have a relationship with God.
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  And you can't have a relationship with God if you
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  don't have a relationship with the word of God.
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  Impossible, Impossible. People who have a low view of
• 23:14
  the Bible have a low view of God.
• 23:16
  No matter what what else they say.
• 23:18
  This is the means by which we get to know God, not through
• 23:23
  your experiences, as wonderful as experiences are, it's
• 23:26
  primarily through His Word. And through His Word will you
• 23:28
  know experiences and one of those experiences, a perfect
• 23:31
  peace through unbroken meditation on Him.
• 23:37
  You stop thinking about the Lord and including Him beyond just a
• 23:40
  little bit of time in the morning or at night.
• 23:42
  You make more room for things to invade and to live there that
• 23:45
  shouldn't be living there. And so here's Elijah
• 23:48
  demonstrating, I believe, what it means to live with that lens
• 23:53
  of who God is, what He's able to do, who I am in him.
• 23:56
  And he's about to teach this young servant what that looks
• 23:58
  like. But you know, you can't move on
• 24:00
  without considering more inspiring traits from this
• 24:04
  prophet. Because here's what I've learned
• 24:07
  about Elijah in our past few weeks.
• 24:09
  And so many of these scenes where he interacts with people
• 24:11
  and performs miracles, he does it in a spirit of compassion,
• 24:16
  rich compassion. So he doesn't look at the
• 24:18
  servant, right? We don't know how long he was
• 24:21
  enrolled in this program, but he surely knew about Elijah long
• 24:24
  enough to actually consider it to begin with or to be hired by
• 24:26
  Elijah. But you don't see the man of
• 24:28
  God. Look at him saying, hey, what's
• 24:29
  wrong with you man? Now, you haven't learned
• 24:32
  already. You haven't seen things already.
• 24:33
  You haven't heard who I am. He doesn't do any of that.
• 24:39
  He patiently instructs him. He gently guides him.
• 24:43
  Now, there are times where rebuke is necessary.
• 24:45
  You know how I know that? Because.
• 24:46
  Jesus did it. So there's some people who
• 24:49
  think, I mean, there's some people who think that you should
• 24:52
  never correct, you should never confront that.
• 24:55
  What Bible are you reading? With all due respect, Jesus,
• 24:59
  even with his closest disciples who failed to learn things that
• 25:02
  he told them over and over again, received from time to
• 25:04
  time stern rebuke. But that's not applicable here
• 25:08
  because you have this young new assistant who's just starting
• 25:11
  out. And Elijah shows each of us.
• 25:14
  Who might be a little bit more spiritually mature than another
• 25:19
  person to be patient, to be kind.
• 25:23
  And there are, there are a lot of people I know who are very
• 25:24
  spiritually knowledgeable and have a grasp on things that
• 25:29
  don't necessarily demonstrate that.
• 25:31
  And Elijah here is a rebuke to us to be patient and listen.
• 25:38
  His tenderness and care is not just sown in how he speaks to
• 25:40
  the servant. Listen very carefully.
• 25:42
  It's shown in how he speaks to God about the servant being
• 25:48
  patient, understanding, willingness to teach to those
• 25:50
  who are willingness to learn is one thing.
• 25:53
  But I'm telling you now that Elijah teaches us that love for
• 25:56
  our brethren is also shown in how we speak to God on their
• 26:02
  behalf. Notice what he does verse 17.
• 26:08
  Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that
• 26:13
  he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of
• 26:16
  the young man and he saw. And behold, the mountain was
• 26:21
  full of horses and Chariots of fire all around Elisha.
• 26:28
  Here's how I'm convicted by this Lord, I don't just see with
• 26:33
  Elisha. I see it with the Apostle Paul,
• 26:35
  with virtually every church that he engaged and interacted with.
• 26:39
  He didn't just instruct him. He didn't just teach him.
• 26:41
  He prayed for them over and over again.
• 26:44
  And Lord, help me come to the place where I love my fellow
• 26:48
  brother and sister enough, where I'm willing to bring their needs
• 26:50
  and their weaknesses before your throne.
• 26:56
  And it's not just a quick thought that Elisha offers up.
• 27:03
  It's not just a duty that he fulfills.
• 27:05
  You can sense the earnestness. Look at the language.
• 27:09
  Oh Lord, please, that's sincerity, that's longing.
• 27:15
  And so I want to lovingly challenge all of us to re
• 27:17
  examine our love for people, not just with our practical deeds,
• 27:23
  which I think is very important, but also in our willingness to
• 27:27
  pray. Pray for them.
• 27:29
  And what a valuable lesson for leaders, including parents,
• 27:34
  because Elisha reminds us here that there are certain levels of
• 27:38
  transformation that can only be achieved when we pray for
• 27:42
  people. I'm not sure exactly how verse
• 27:46
  16 led to verse 17, but it makes me wonder that after Elisha
• 27:53
  telling him not to be afraid, that he didn't necessarily get
• 27:55
  the reaction he was hoping for. Do not be afraid.
• 27:58
  Verse 16, right? And then we don't know what
• 28:01
  happens with a young man, but look at verse 17.
• 28:03
  Then Elijah prayed and said, so I wonder if Elijah still saw
• 28:08
  this man visibly disturbed. And so he lifts his eyes to
• 28:11
  heaven, says, Lord, can you help him?
• 28:15
  Can you open his eyes? So may we also learn to reserve
• 28:21
  our energy that after trying to convince and seeing people
• 28:26
  convicted even to no avail, to come to God on their behalf
• 28:31
  instead a preacher who's not alive.
• 28:38
  Most of my favorite ministers are no longer alive.
• 28:42
  But this man said it's one thing.
• 28:45
  It's 1 honor to speak to men on behalf of God.
• 28:50
  It's a whole other honor to speak to God on behalf of men,
• 28:54
  and Elijah here shows us that. Not that we have a a permission
• 28:58
  to cop out from dealing with people or matters directly, but
• 29:02
  to have this understanding that apart from God intervening,
• 29:05
  apart from God moving apart from God enabling, apart from God's
• 29:08
  hand on someone's mind or heart. We won't see what we want to
• 29:12
  see. Here's a wonderful model.
• 29:16
  I'm I'm speaking to you and we have we have the reason to
• 29:19
  believe here that maybe nothing was achieved in that.
• 29:22
  Now let me speak to God for you and ask the God what?
• 29:25
  Open your eyes and God is willing to answer that prayer.
• 29:29
  Look at Paul's prayers very carefully, specifically in
• 29:31
  Ephesians 1, where he asked that the eyes of the hearts of the
• 29:33
  Ephesians may be opened. So we have permission to pray
• 29:37
  those kind of prayers. It's a prayer that's prayed
• 29:40
  every Friday and every Sunday before anybody gets behind this
• 29:44
  pulpit, open the eyes of the people.
• 29:47
  Men can only go so far with other men, but when men connects
• 29:50
  with God, all miracles can take. Place Now what does the servant
• 29:55
  see after Elijah prays? Read it again with me in verse
• 29:57
  17. The latter portion, the
• 30:00
  mountain, was full of horses and Chariots of fire all around
• 30:05
  Elijah. Now in the past when I read this
• 30:08
  part, I usually imagined that when the eyes of this young man
• 30:15
  were open to the spiritual realm.
• 30:17
  And this is a good reminder for each of us that there is a realm
• 30:20
  that parallels this world, right?
• 30:22
  There are things happening beyond our senses, beyond our
• 30:25
  immediate understanding behind the scenes, 24/7, right?
• 30:31
  And we're seeing that here. We're just getting a glimpse a
• 30:33
  little. Window into that world.
• 30:35
  But this is how I always imagined that when the eyes of
• 30:38
  this young man were opened, he he looked out and he saw the
• 30:41
  hills covered. The surrounding mountains
• 30:44
  littered, enveloping the city, standing in the, you know, this
• 30:48
  translucent kind of army standing in the midst of the
• 30:52
  Syrians and outnumbering them. But it's more glorious than
• 30:56
  that. It wasn't just this young man
• 30:58
  looking under the distance and seeing a canopy of soldiers
• 31:02
  covering the enemies of Israel. These horses and Chariots of
• 31:07
  fire. We're not surrounding the city.
• 31:09
  They were surrounding Elisha. Did you see that?
• 31:13
  Look again. The mountain was full of horses
• 31:16
  and Chariots of fire all around. Not Dauphin Elijah.
• 31:23
  So imagine this. You have this sea of angelic
• 31:26
  beings orbiting around the man of God and extending outward to
• 31:30
  the hills. That's what he saw.
• 31:32
  So it wasn't wow, Look out there.
• 31:34
  It was whoa, whoa, whoa. Right here.
• 31:41
  And what was it I saw? Horses and Chariots of fire.
• 31:44
  Have we seen those for the first time here or have we seen them
• 31:46
  before? We've seen them before when God
• 31:50
  dispatched the same kind of beings to transport Elijah into
• 31:55
  heaven. And So what do we see here?
• 31:59
  There's a lesson here. There's a principle here that
• 32:01
  the horses and Chariots of fire that protected Elijah from death
• 32:07
  as he's being translated into heaven.
• 32:09
  Are the same ones who are now protecting Elisha from
• 32:13
  potentially being killed. And this is a consistent
• 32:16
  support, underscoring a principle that God's protection
• 32:21
  extends to his chosen servants, ensuring their safety every
• 32:27
  moment, every single moment. And so you see Elisha receiving
• 32:32
  the similar kind of divine intervention.
• 32:34
  But I want to show you how it wasn't just limited to these two
• 32:37
  amazing prophets of God. So where was this miracle taking
• 32:41
  place? The name Dauphin Dauphin.
• 32:47
  And I look at that and, and I remember this is years ago
• 32:49
  looking at that, saying, why have I not seen this place
• 32:52
  before? And I'm, I'm not saying every
• 32:55
  single region that's mentioned, you're going to arrive to these
• 32:57
  kind of conclusions, but this is the case here.
• 33:01
  There's only one other place in all of the Old Testament where
• 33:04
  Dothan is brought up. Now I'm not going to.
• 33:07
  Mention it right away. I'm going to give you a chance
• 33:09
  to answer without looking at your Bibles.
• 33:11
  Even if you do, it would take a while, I think.
• 33:13
  Does anybody know where Dothan is mentioned in the Hebrew
• 33:15
  Scriptures? Wow, that was quick.
• 33:20
  Did everybody know that was Genesis?
• 33:23
  Good, Wonderful. Yes, Genesis, but we're
• 33:25
  specifically in Genesis. OK, Wow, I was.
• 33:30
  Expecting a little bit more of a delay there, let's turn there.
• 33:34
  Genesis 37. The only other.
• 33:36
  Place where Dothan is brought up.
• 33:41
  Genesis 37 verse 16 Joseph was sent by his father to seek for
• 33:53
  his brothers and he bumps into a man who gives him directions.
• 33:59
  Verse 16 of Genesis 37 I am seeking my brothers.
• 34:02
  He said tell me please where they are pastoring the flock.
• 34:06
  And the man said, they have gone away, for I heard them say, let
• 34:09
  us go to Dauphin. So Joseph went after his
• 34:12
  brothers and found them at Dolphin.
• 34:15
  By the way, this is personally one of my favorite examples of
• 34:18
  Providence in the Old Testament. If that man had not been there
• 34:21
  and gave him these instructions, who knows what would have become
• 34:24
  of Joseph's future? But because that man was right
• 34:26
  there at the right time and gave those specific instructions,
• 34:29
  that's what turned Joseph's life around.
• 34:32
  There are no coincidences in the will of God.
• 34:35
  So here's this man who says, yeah, actually, I heard that
• 34:36
  they were going to Dolphin. And do you remember what happens
• 34:39
  when he arrives at Dolphin? The brothers take him and they
• 34:42
  throw him into a pit, and they leave him there like a wild
• 34:44
  animal. And it was in Dauphin where
• 34:47
  Joseph tasted the venomous envy, the murderous jealousy of his
• 34:53
  own relatives. So listen.
• 34:57
  There are only two places where Dauphin is mentioned in the Old
• 34:59
  Testament. So now, now, now, now, now, this
• 35:01
  is where it gets exciting. I step back and I think about
• 35:03
  Elijah and what I read about Elijah in Second King 6 and I
• 35:07
  say, Lord, is there something here?
• 35:08
  And surely there is, because in Dauphin.
• 35:10
  With Elijah, it was a place where he was ambushed by the
• 35:13
  enemy in Dothan. For Joseph, it was a place where
• 35:17
  he was abandoned by his family. And I believe that the divine
• 35:22
  protection that wrapped around Elijah was no less true for
• 35:26
  Joseph when he was in Dothan hundreds of years before saying,
• 35:32
  can you prove that? I can prove that you're still in
• 35:34
  Genesis, right? Go to Genesis 49 and look at the
• 35:38
  prophecy that was granted to Joseph when Jacob was ready to
• 35:44
  go and be with his father's, Genesis 4922.
• 35:51
  Joseph is a fruitful bow, a fruitful bow by spring.
• 35:56
  A bow is like the main branch of a tree.
• 35:58
  His branches run over the wall. The Archers listened to this
• 36:02
  language. The Archers bitterly attacked
• 36:04
  him, shot at him and harassed him severely.
• 36:07
  Yet his bow remained unmoved. His arms were made agile by the.
• 36:12
  Hands of the mighty one of Jacob.
• 36:15
  From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.
• 36:20
  So here's when I learned that the.
• 36:22
  Truth about this place called Dothan, mentioned only twice in
• 36:25
  all of the Old Testament, is that God is with us at all
• 36:29
  times, in all places, through every experience.
• 36:34
  When that experience is being betrayed by our loved ones or
• 36:39
  being attacked by those who are enemies, the Lord is there.
• 36:43
  He was there with Joseph. He was there for Elijah.
• 36:48
  He is with you. Psalm 125 verse two.
• 36:52
  You don't have to turn there, but as the mountains surround
• 36:54
  Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth
• 36:58
  and forever more. So why are you afraid?
• 37:07
  You know, it's one thing to look at these things and be moved by
• 37:09
  them when you see the connection and the promise is another thing
• 37:11
  when you experience being outnumbered by enemies and
• 37:16
  serving ministry long enough and you'll know a few share of
• 37:19
  enemies. I can tell you with great
• 37:23
  confidence, not just by the authority of the Word of God,
• 37:25
  which is my primary way of communicating this truth, but by
• 37:27
  way of experience that I've seen the Lord surround my life.
• 37:32
  And I pray that he always will. And I pray that you would know
• 37:35
  that, especially when you need that truth the most.
• 37:42
  So what happens next? Because the miracle doesn't end
• 37:46
  here. Verse 18.
• 37:50
  And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to
• 37:53
  the Lord and said, please strike this people with blindness.
• 37:57
  So the armies of Syria came rolling down those hills at some
• 38:01
  point like a freak tsunami ready to crash into Dothan.
• 38:07
  And Elisha is unfazed by it. I wonder what that looked like.
• 38:13
  And he prays again and again. This is just another humorous
• 38:17
  thing. So in the verse preceding this
• 38:20
  he prays for his servants eyes to be open.
• 38:23
  And in the following verse, he prays for the eyes of thousands
• 38:25
  of people to be blind. What are you supposed to take
• 38:29
  from that? Here's what you're supposed to
• 38:30
  take from that. The power of prayer, the prayer
• 38:32
  of the righteous can open the eyes of one man and close the
• 38:35
  eyes of 10,000. No matter who or what you pray
• 38:41
  about, God is willing to do as long as it's according to his
• 38:43
  will. And it shows what God is capable
• 38:46
  of doing. He's, he's able of opening eyes
• 38:48
  and he's able of closing eyes. So you have this army coming
• 38:55
  against a man who had something greater than Chariots, greater
• 38:58
  than javelins, greater than bows.
• 39:00
  Prayer and God hurt him. And if we didn't know this
• 39:05
  story, perhaps we would think that the next thing that Elisha
• 39:08
  would pray for is maybe some form of humiliation or some kind
• 39:12
  of show before he would ask those invisible Chariots and
• 39:16
  horses to slay these enemies. But the miracle is greater than
• 39:21
  that. So these men experienced this
• 39:23
  temporary blindness, and I don't think it was a complete
• 39:26
  blindness because they were able to grope their way towards this
• 39:29
  next destination, but it was enough for them to not make
• 39:32
  sense of what's happening or understand who's before them.
• 39:35
  So Elijah prays that they would be struck with blindness.
• 39:37
  And we're told here at the end of verse 18.
• 39:39
  So we struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of
• 39:42
  Elijah. Look at that last part in
• 39:43
  accordance with the prayer of Elijah and what happens next?
• 39:52
  What would you do? If you're in Elijah's position,
• 39:56
  here's what he does. Verse 19.
• 39:57
  And Elijah said to them, this is not the way and this is not the
• 40:00
  city. Follow me and I will bring you
• 40:02
  to the man whom you seek. Some people really try to get
• 40:06
  clever and say, look at Elijah. He's supposed to be a man of God
• 40:09
  and he's lying to the Syrians. He's not lying.
• 40:11
  He left Dolphin and he's going somewhere else and he's saying,
• 40:13
  you want me to come and follow me?
• 40:15
  See how simple that is? People are really desperate to
• 40:19
  try to criticize the word of God.
• 40:23
  And where did he lead them? And he led them to Samaria.
• 40:26
  That's the headquarters. That's where the king of Israel
• 40:28
  is going to be. And the king of Israel is going
• 40:30
  to get a surprise himself. Look at verse 20.
• 40:33
  And as soon as they entered Samaria, Elijah said, O Lord,
• 40:37
  open the eyes of these men that they may see.
• 40:40
  So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw.
• 40:42
  And behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
• 40:46
  And as. As soon as the king of Israel
• 40:49
  saw them, he said to Elijah, My father, shall I strike them
• 40:52
  down? Shall I strike them down?
• 40:53
  So the king doesn't even know what to do here.
• 40:56
  And notice again, Jeremy has a problem, but he still respects
• 41:01
  the prophet, at least at this point.
• 41:02
  My father, that's a, that's a, that's a term of endearment.
• 41:04
  That's a term of honor. My father, what do I do here?
• 41:07
  The natural thing to do is to slay them, kill them.
• 41:10
  They try to kill you over and over again.
• 41:12
  And the king receives a rebuke. From the man of God, he
• 41:16
  answered, You shall not strike them down.
• 41:18
  Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your
• 41:21
  sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them,
• 41:27
  that they may eat and drink and go to their master.
• 41:30
  So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten
• 41:34
  and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.
• 41:38
  And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of
• 41:42
  Israel. So Elijah here prays that they
• 41:50
  would be blind, leads them into Samaria, prays that their eyes
• 41:53
  would be open. And we're moved by that miracle,
• 41:57
  right? It's very amazing.
• 41:58
  Like whatever Elijah said, the Lord did it.
• 42:02
  But please understand that the miracle here is beyond the
• 42:04
  physical restoration of their sight.
• 42:07
  The miracle here is that their eyes would be opened to the
• 42:11
  mercy and the compassion of the God that Elijah served, not just
• 42:16
  to see again, but to see something about the true God.
• 42:22
  And when the Syrians realized that Elisha and the king of
• 42:24
  Israel responded with a feast instead of a fight, they were
• 42:28
  baffled. Think about this.
• 42:32
  The instruction from the king of Syria was go and seize him,
• 42:35
  right? They wanted to get Elisha and
• 42:38
  probably kill him, probably interrogate and probably in
• 42:40
  prison. We don't know.
• 42:42
  How many men does it take to seize one person?
• 42:46
  A little excessive to send an entire army, isn't it?
• 42:50
  But I wonder if the people of Syria were aware of what God has
• 42:56
  done on behalf of His prophets and not for them to be a little
• 42:59
  bit cautious in the way they approach this situation.
• 43:02
  Do you remember what happened to the people who were sent by the
• 43:06
  king of Israel to arrest Elijah in Second Kings chapter 1?
• 43:09
  He was there on the top of the hill and he sends captain after
• 43:11
  captain with a band of 50 men. And all it took was one word
• 43:14
  from Elijah and fire came down from heaven and consumed them
• 43:17
  and turned them into ash. So I wonder if with a little
• 43:21
  Intel that they got about Elijah and who his predecessor was,
• 43:25
  that they were being very, very strategic here, Maybe we should
• 43:29
  send more than five 5500. Let's send thousands so that
• 43:33
  even if God does intervene from heaven, we'll have some kind of
• 43:35
  a fighting chance. They don't encounter a fight.
• 43:41
  They don't encounter fire from heaven.
• 43:44
  They're invited to a feast. Well, let me say it this way.
• 43:50
  There was a kind of fire that was sent in this moment.
• 43:56
  Same. What are you talking about?
• 43:58
  As much as Elijah here is standing out.
• 44:01
  As. He's reflecting the mercy and
• 44:04
  compassion of God. He is also obeying the word of
• 44:05
  God saying what are you talking about?
• 44:08
  I'm talking about a verse that another king wrote down that
• 44:11
  gave instruction about situations like this.
• 44:14
  Proverbs 25, verse 21, some more Proverbs from King Solomon and
• 44:22
  consider these two verses and how they connected this
• 44:25
  experience. We know these verses in the New
• 44:31
  Testament, but they originated in the old Proverbs 2521.
• 44:34
  If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is
• 44:39
  thirsty, give him water to drink.
• 44:42
  For you will heap burning coals on his head.
• 44:44
  That's the fire I'm talking about.
• 44:47
  For you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will
• 44:50
  reward you. The Lord will reward you.
• 44:54
  You know what that verse teaches, teaches many things.
• 44:57
  One of them is if you really want to make a lasting mark on
• 45:01
  your enemies, be strategic in your kindness.
• 45:06
  This is really, really difficult.
• 45:08
  This is extremely demanding and challenging.
• 45:10
  It requires the help of the Holy Spirit to even entertain the
• 45:13
  first step. But notice this, that to go out
• 45:20
  of your way to act, I mean, think about this.
• 45:22
  If you really want to apply the Bible, this is what this verse
• 45:24
  is. Demanding of us, people who have
• 45:26
  hurt you have sought your harm. The way God wants you to respond
• 45:31
  is to think back and to not rehearse their harm, but to
• 45:35
  actually plan a way to respond to them with love.
• 45:40
  That when the opportunity arises, that you would move in
• 45:46
  that opportunity in a way to actually melt them with mercy.
• 45:54
  And what's the incentive here? God will reward you.
• 45:58
  Now the the the burning coals on their head speaks of the the the
• 46:02
  the piercing power of conviction.
• 46:05
  Potentially them being so moved by their lack of mercy and and
• 46:11
  response. Seeing your mercy there's
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  creates a clash that creates a. Cutting a pricking of the heart.
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  That doesn't necessarily mean that there's a promise there of
• 46:20
  conversion or even repentance necessarily, but the incentive
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  is God will reward you. God will see that and he will,
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  He will be pleased with that. And here's what Elijah is doing.
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  Elijah is doing something very profound, something that we've
• 46:35
  seen over and over with his miracles, that they would be
• 46:38
  recorded in Holy Scripture and that generations following would
• 46:41
  read about them. Not just seeing what God is able
• 46:43
  to do in His power, but God's heart for the Gentiles and for
• 46:48
  those who are outside of covenant with Him and those who
• 46:51
  are lost and blind, not just in this physical instance, but
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  spiritually. And so as we're going through
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  the Old Testament, we're seeing more and more instances of
• 47:00
  gospel preparation that in different periods of redemptive
• 47:05
  history, God is making his ultimate desire known that I'm
• 47:08
  willing to reach out beyond these borders and I'm willing to
• 47:11
  touch a people that are not from the seat of Abraham.
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  So this is the deeper thing of this miracle here.
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  It's not. It's not just look what God can
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  do. Yeah, it's wonderful.
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  But what's the message behind the miracle?
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  And there are many of them, as we just learned.
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  And there is a gospel truth in here, is there not?
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  That you have these people warring against the man of God
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  who represents God on earth, the anointed 1 of this time, and the
• 47:40
  warring against him, the rebelling, Though experiencing
• 47:44
  the common graces of life, you still put up arms against this
• 47:48
  God. And how does God respond?
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  He leads you to a banquet. He leads you to a feast of
• 47:56
  forgiveness. He brings you to the foot of the
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  cross, and he invites you to be reconciled to him.
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  And look at this wonderful picture.
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  You have the king who says, kill them, should I kill them?
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  And you have an intercessor who says no, give them mercy.
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  And so even in this vignette, you have Christ, where though we
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  deserve the wrath of God, says no.
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  I want to extend friendship with these enemies.
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  I want to establish a covenant with these ones.
• 48:28
  But just 10 seconds ago, they were willing to slice your head
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  up. I know.
• 48:31
  But this is my heart. Yes, they're physically blind in
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  the distance, but there's a deeper blindness at play here.
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  And I want them to know that I'm willing to forgive them still,
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  no matter what their history or their record looks like.
• 48:45
  And when you experience the mercy of God in the person of
• 48:48
  Jesus Christ, you should have the same reaction that these men
• 48:52
  did. What happens?
• 48:53
  We're told at the end of our study that they never made a
• 48:56
  raid on them again. When you truly taste of God's
• 48:59
  mercy, you're changed. You're changed.
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  You're a different person. You can't go back to the things
• 49:06
  that once positioned you to experience God's judgment.
• 49:12
  You relinquish them, you repent of them now, and you walk
• 49:14
  differently. Why do you walk differently?
• 49:17
  I say this all the time to people who never heard the
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  gospel. I don't live the way I live.
• 49:21
  I don't do what I do to earn God's grace.
• 49:24
  I do it because of God's grace. I walk differently because I
• 49:28
  tasted of His forgiveness. How could I not give myself over
• 49:31
  to Him completely? So how many people put the cart
• 49:35
  before the horse? So even in this do we see
• 49:38
  something so wonderful, something that's applicable to
• 49:40
  the spiritual world, the spiritual realm, the spiritual
• 49:43
  realities of who we are? You sinned against God
• 49:49
  offensively, disgustingly. And Elijah here shows us that he
• 49:54
  leads his people not into wrath, but into fellowship, not into
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  judgement, but into reconciliation.
• 50:05
  I really wonder what that feast was like.
• 50:08
  Must have been very uncomfortable in the beginning.
• 50:11
  I wonder if they looked over the shoulders like are they just
• 50:13
  fattening us up before they slaughter us?
• 50:15
  What is this trickery? No, it wasn't.
• 50:19
  Imagine they ate together and at some point Elisha and the king
• 50:22
  looked at him, said, we're glad that you can join us.
• 50:24
  You can go back home. What was that walk like back
• 50:28
  home? What was the conversations like?
• 50:32
  See before this. The Syrians, I'm sure, discussed
• 50:35
  how the God of Israel healed one of their generals, Naman.
• 50:38
  And I believe that Naman wasn't a part of this expedition.
• 50:40
  There's no way he was. So there's this murmurings that
• 50:44
  the God of Israel healed, but what was it like when these guys
• 50:47
  got back home? How did they explain this one?
• 50:53
  I I wish that the story with the Syrians ended here, but we're
• 50:55
  going to learn in the coming weeks that just like the King of
• 50:59
  Syria, there wasn't a lasting impression.
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  And again, we're going to be reminded that there are those
• 51:07
  who can genuinely experience something of the grace of Jesus
• 51:09
  Christ. Some were not moved to begin
• 51:12
  with, and some were temporarily moved only to return back to
• 51:17
  their ways may never be so of us.
• 51:20
  I hope that if you truly experienced what Christ did on
• 51:22
  the cross, you would never go back and that you would always
• 51:27
  remember the kindness that was extended to you while you're
• 51:31
  enemies of God. Christ came and died for you.
• 51:35
  This is who we are in Jesus Christ.
• 51:37
  This is who God is. And I pray that it would move
• 51:40
  you once more. Let's pray.
• 51:58
  Oh please, I beg you, take the time to meditate on these
• 52:00
  truths. I don't, I don't want to abort
• 52:03
  this. I don't want to just speed
• 52:05
  through it. I want us to take the time to
• 52:07
  relish in it. So you know the praise team will
• 52:09
  come up in a moment, but truly, truly, truly, truly reflect and
• 52:13
  talk to the Lord. Thank Him for these truths.
• 52:16
  Thank Him for who He is. Apply the warnings.
• 52:20
  Rejoice in the promises of it. Lord, words can't express.
• 52:37
  Your word is amazing. Thank You that every time we
• 52:42
  come to it, we receive another miracle that our eyes are open
• 52:46
  yet again and our vision is clear and her perception is more
• 52:51
  precise. Though we thank you for this
• 52:52
  word. It is your voice.
• 52:56
  It's not just black ink on white pages.
• 52:58
  It is spirit. There's power behind these words
• 53:02
  and in these words. And we felt the force of it
• 53:05
  tonight. And we pray that we would not be
• 53:08
  like the Syrians in this story where we we taste of something
• 53:12
  only to to forget and to return to all ways.
• 53:17
  We ask, oh God, that you would change us like you changed
• 53:19
  Jacob, that we wouldn't walk the same, that you would give us a
• 53:22
  holy limp leaving this place. We need you to you need, we need
• 53:28
  you to help us to live like this.
• 53:29
  Lord, that you would etch these things in our hearts, the
• 53:35
  tablets of our hearts, O Lord, would never forget these truths.
• 53:38
  May you do it by your spirit. Lord, we do thank you, we honor
• 53:42
  you, we glorify you. We can spend all night just
• 53:45
  glorifying you for how you spoke to us through this message
• 53:50
  tonight. Receive these songs, Lord, as we
• 53:54
  say thank you in Jesus name, Amen.
• 53:58
  Let's stand and sing to the Lord.
• 53:59
  Give him glory and honor and thanks.