God Our Protector

I heard this 'translation' of 2 Kings 6:8-22 the other day, and I thought it worth passing on to you.

My paraphrasing would read something like this :-

The king of Aram realised that every time he made plans to attack Israel, they were prepared for him. It really looked to the king as though there was a traitor in the camp who was passing inside information to the Israelites.

The king summoned his generals and demanded to know who was betraying him to the king of Israel. The generals quaked in their boots as this could mean instant death if they were accused. But one of them told the king about Elisha the Prophet and how he was able to “tell the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”

The king was furious and ordered an immediate search for Elisha – after all if he cut out the king of Israel’s source of information, then he was sure to be able to conquer the Israelites.

“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. “

Next morning, Elisha’s servant came out to get water for their morning cuppa. He saw the vast army of the Arameans surrounding their little house. He panicked a little bit. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

Elisha’s response was one of those great one-liners in the Bible - “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

‘Of course they are’, thought the servant. ‘Hang on let me count again. Elisha = 1, then me – thats TWO of us. Now let’s see, Half the Aramean army, horses, chariots – of course there’s more of us than them.’ ‘Whatever made me think . . . . .’

So 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. “

The Aramean army had obviously spotted Elisha and came towards him so Elisha prayed that God would blind their eyes to him. God did this and 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. 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.

Now followed a wonderful cameo of how a prophet was respected and revered in those times. “When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?” The King of Israel addressed Elisha the Prophet as his father and asked him what he should do? “Do not kill them,” Elisha 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. “

This passage teaches us a wonderful truth that we have all but forgotten. Jehovah Karmiel – Literally “God is my Protection”. Emmanuel – Literally “God with us - our protection”.

El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty, loves us and cares for us, not just some of the time, but all of the time – every moment of our lives. Yet so very often we forget this. Whenever anything starts to go wrong, we cry out to the Lord, pleading with Him for mercy and protection, and His angels are already surrounding us – already protecting us. We simply ignore this and by our lack of faith, we step out from under His covering and ask to be protected all over again !!

When will we learn, I wonder, when will we learn ??

With acknowledgement to Peter Barnes who first preached much of this in various countries around Europe.