In Saturday's study we found the Lord revealing to Elisha the military strategies of Ben-Hadad, the king of Aram. Every time this foreign king sent an army regiment out to attack Israel somewhere along its border, the Lord revealed the army's location to Elisha and Elisha told King Joram of Israel where the enemy soldiers were. In a rage, Ben-Hadad confronted his top officers to accuse one or more of them of being a traitor. He could not imagine how the king of Israel seemed to know his every move before he made it, but one of his officers shrewdly discerned that this information had to be coming from Elisha. In response to this revelation, in our study today Ben-Hadad sends a group of what I imagine are some of his elite soldiers to capture the prophet.
"'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.' Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city." (2 Kings 6:13-14) We should stop here and think about the fact that Ben-Hadad sends "a strong force" to capture Elisha, for we will soon see that an even stronger force is already on the scene to protect Elisha: a supernatural army sent by the Lord.
"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh no, 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.' And Elisha prayed, 'Open his eyes, Lord, so that 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." (2 Kings 6:15-17) The forces of Ben-Hadad don't know it yet, but they are severely outnumbered. They have surrounded the city where Elisha is staying but the army of the Lord is surrounding them! The Lord knew Ben-Hadad would send them to Dothan long before Ben-Hadad knew it himself and He already had His forces there before the enemy soldiers arrived. I'm reminded of my Bible study in the book of Psalms earlier this morning where David says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them." (Psalm 34:7) We accept this on faith because we don't see with our physical eyes the army of heaven encamped around us, but Elisha the prophet could see them and because of his prayer his servant was able to see them too.
"As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, 'Strike this army with blindness.' So He struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked." (2 Kings 6:18) Elisha doesn't ask the Lord to smite these men dead. He doesn't even ask Him to make them permanently unable to see. The blindness will be temporary and it's not even a total blindness during the short time they are afflicted with it. A number of scholars suggest that they are rendered extremely near-sighted but are not traveling in complete darkness or else this large number of men could not have walked or steered their chariots all the distance that Elisha is going to take them. Elisha treats them with mercy even though these men likely expected their king to kill him when they got him to Aram.
I don't know if any of you are "Star Wars" fans but my husband is so I've seen the movies and the various series multiple times. I can't help thinking of the Jedi mind tricks any time I read 2 Kings 6 because Elisha's words to the Aramean soldiers remind me of the way Obi-Wan Kenobi says to an enemy Stormtrooper: "These aren't the droids you're looking for." And the Stormtrooper parrots: "These aren't the droids we're looking for", and leaves them alone. Elisha will tell the men from Aram that they are in the wrong place and they will unquestioningly believe him. "Elisha 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." (2 Kings 6:19-20)
As soon as he has them within the heavily guarded walls of the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel--after they are trapped---Elisha prays for their eyes to be healed. "After 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. When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, 'Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?'" (2 Kings 6:20-21) King Joram shows respect by referring to Elisha as "my father" and asks his advice before taking any action against the men. I think Joram probably wants to kill them but he defers to Elisha in this matter.
"'Do not kill them,' he answered. 'Would you kill those 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.' So 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." (2 Kings 6:22-23) It was evidently a rule of law in their nation against killing persons who have been taken captive. These Aramean soldiers are not a threat to anyone. They are currently surrounded by the men who guard the capital city and by the king's own guards. In addition, the Aramean soldiers haven't actually caused harm to anyone in Israel because, in striking them blind and delivering them to Samaria, they were rendered incapable of harming anyone. So they can't be charged with anything other than trespassing on foreign soil and we could compare their current situation with that of someone who is securely in police custody. Just as it would be wrong in our times for an officer to march into a jail cell and shoot the person inside, it would be wrong for King Joram to order his men to kill the Aramean soldiers.
I don't know exactly what King Ben-Hadad made of the events that befell his soldiers when they returned unharmed to Aram with their strange story but he must have believed every word of it since he called off his raiding parties. He must not have accused these men of lying to him and of being afraid to capture the prophet Elisha; if that had been the case then I would expect him to send another group of soldiers to do what this first group of soldiers failed to do. He is afraid (albeit temporarily) to take further action against Israel and against Israel's chief prophet at this time. If only his eyes had been opened too, in a spiritual sense, he might have feared the God of Israel to the point of coming to a saving knowledge of Him. He might have forsaken his false gods and given his allegiance to the one true God. Alas, that is not the case, but at least he has been prevented from harming the prophet Elisha and from harming the nation of Israel.
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