I don’t want to write about these chapters. I’m getting tired of kings killing each other. I’m sure the average citizen was pretty tired of it, too, but honestly it sounds pretty normal, like they didn’t really know there were other ways to live at this point.
Instead of dwelling on that, though, I’m gonna step back and write about the previous section for an extra day. I mean, sometimes there’s a lot you want to spend time with in a few short chapters, and sometimes there are a lot of chapters together that really only deal with one theme. So I’m going to use this entry to talk more about Elisha from the previous reading.
2 Kings 6 has a lot going on. It opens with a miracle and closes with the stuff of nightmares, but in the middle is a brief look at Elisha in a crises.
Israel is being attacked by Syria, but Elisha feeds the king reliable intelligence on Syria’s movement. Now, we know this is because God is his source of information, but the Syrians just know that he’s the world’s best spy and needs to be eliminated. When they surround his city, preparing to take him, his servant comes crying to him in fear.
That’s completely understandable, but Elisha’s response is so calm. Like, I can imagine him just going about whatever it is he usually does. “Oh, that. Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about that.”
He doesn’t scold the servant for lacking faith. He doesn’t get annoyed. He comforts the man. He prays for God to open his eyes so he can see why they don’t need to be afraid.
What I don’t think is clear is whether Elisha can just see that angel army like a normal thing, or whether he didn’t need to. Either one is pretty freaking awesome.
And then, rather than having that spiritual army actually descend and wipe out the enemy, he asks God to blind them, leads them helplessly to the king, has God restore their sight, all just so he can say, “See? See how easy it would be for me to kill you all? How easy it would be for me to enslave you all? Yeah, go home. Go home and leave us alone, okay?”
Elisha is just amazing. Yes, I realize he is a prophet, and that everything he does is directly from God and for God, but we celebrate David as being a man after God’s own heart all the time. We have heroes of the faith. We talk about how amazing Paul is, how awesome Moses was, but I don’t know that I’ve heard all that much about Elisha since leaving Sunday School and it’s cycle through the Bible.
Don’t get me wrong. I love that I attended Sunday Schools that put effort into presenting the entire Bible to me to the best of their ability at an age appropriate level. Despite what my Sunday School series might suggest to those willing to make fast assumptions, I think age appropriate highlights of the Bible is an excellent model to take young students through. I’m grateful I was made familiar with the passing of the mantle, the floating axe head, the endless oil and little boy being brought back to life. I knew who Elisha was. I knew about his ministry. I knew about his active request for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
I guess I’m just saying he’s one of my favorites, and if he’s not getting equal time with David, I don’t think he’s getting enough.