"Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, 'I will set up my camp in such and such a place.'" (2 Kings 6:8) The Lord will mercifully send a warning to King Joram about this even though Joram follows the ungodly religious practices put in place many decades earlier by King Jeroboam, who was the first king of Israel after the ten northern tribes split from the two southern tribes. You'll recall that Jeroboam set up golden calves at Dan and at Bethel so his people would not venture into the southern kingdom to worship the Lord at His temple in Jerusalem. This was the first step---a very big step---toward idolatry. Jeroboam introduced his state-sponsored religion as the worship of the God of Israel and produced the calves as symbols of the Lord, although this was in direct disobedience to the Lord's injunction against creating images of Him and against worshiping Him in unauthorized locations.
When Joram came to the throne we were told that he rejected the worship of Baal (which his father King Ahab had made the official religion of Israel) and reverted back to the system put in place by Jeroboam. The Bible told us that he was not as wicked as his father because he did not cling to the exceedingly sinful and violent religious practices of Baal worship. He's not a man who has a close relationship with the Lord but he doesn't bear the same murderous animosity toward the Lord's prophets as his parents did. This is why we will find him willing to listen to what Elisha has to say in regard to the current threat from the Arameans.
The Lord reveals to Elisha the location where the soldiers of Aram are lying in wait to attack the soldiers of Israel. "The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: 'Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.' So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God." (2 Kings 6:9-10a) The king sends one or more scouts to stealthily check out the area. Joram knows enough about Elisha to feel his warning is worth considering but he doesn't trust him enough yet to simply take him at his word. When Joram checks up on what Elisha said, he learns that the Arameans are hiding exactly where Elisha said they would be.
This happens a number of times. "Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places." (2 Kings 6:10b) Joram learns that every time Elisha tells him to beware of a particular place, there are indeed Arameans at that location ready to cross into Israel.
Ben-Hadad cannot understand how the king of Israel knows to avoid each and every place where he has soldiers camped. He thinks he has a traitor in his midst. "This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, 'Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?'" (2 Kings 6:11) He calls his officers and states that one of them must be acting as a double agent. When the Bible says he "demanded" of them who is betraying him, I wouldn't be surprised if this interrogation included threats of violence against his officers if they do not give up the one who has committed treachery against him. But none of them has plotted against the king and these men cannot confess to something they did not do.
When asked who has betrayed the king, one of his officers somehow knows or suspects that Elisha is advising Joram. "'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.'" (2 Kings 6:12) The officer doesn't credit the Lord with telling Elisha about the plans of Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad doesn't either, for in tomorrow's study he will order his men to go and seize the prophet as if by eliminating Elisha he can eliminate the divine protection of Israel. But the Lord will prevent harm from coming to His prophet.
The Lord is preventing harm from coming to Israel too, even though by this point in the Bible many of the citizens have blended pagan practices with their worship of the Lord or have forsaken Him altogether. But it is not His will at this time to allow the nation to be conquered by an enemy. He will give the people many more opportunities to repent of idolatry and turn back to Him before He allows the nation to fall to an invader. And isn't it a good thing He is merciful to sinners? He was merciful to me when I was lost in sin. He was merciful to you too. If He hadn't been, we would have perished in our lost condition. If He hadn't been merciful, you and I wouldn't be studying the Scriptures together right now. So while it might be tempting to think, "Why is the Lord protecting the northern kingdom from invasion while the people are sinning against Him?", we must stop to consider that He showed this same mercy to us--and we should be grateful that He did.
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