Reading… and Thinking

And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, “Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.” And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

— 2 Kings 6:15-18 (NKJV)

Did Elisha himself actually see the angelic army? Perhaps, but the real point is that he didn’t need to. He knew they were there. We might even wonder if an army of the Lord’s angels would need horses and chariots, fiery or otherwise. Would not a single angel be all that was needed? Perhaps the servant was simply allowed to see a vision that would convey to his mind that the might of the Lord on the side of Elisha was greater than the might of the Syrian army.

We also have to ask if the Syrian army was literally blinded, so that they couldn’t see at all. There is no evidence of panic on their part. In the next verses, we read that they followed Elisha, marching for miles to Samaria. It would seem that their “blindness” was a failure to comprehend that they were in the right place, and that Elisha was the man they were after. They didn’t recognize that Elisha was leading them into being surrounded by the forces of the king of Israel.

In the New Testament, both Jesus and Paul use “seeing” and “blindness” in a similar way. Vision is our most powerful sense, in terms of conveying to our minds information about the situation around us. This makes it a powerful figure for our ability to discern the truth.

All of us find ourselves in the position of Elisha’s servant from time to time. The situation looks hopeless, but that’s because we aren’t seeing the real situation. In reality, the power of the Lord is around us all the time. And the forces that are arrayed against us are blind and helpless before the Lord’s great power.

The outcome of this incident was that no one was hurt, and the Syrians stopped raiding Israel. An outcome that no one except Elisha could see. God is able to turn a situation completely around!

We need to pray for the kind of vision that Elisha had. Not only to discern that the Lord is with us and will not abandon us. But to see that God can bring about the most unexpected of changes in others, to the good of all.