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Men of the Old Testament: Elisha – 1 Kings 6:18-23  The history of the United States military is full of intelligence successes and more than a few failures. Those in the intelligence community contend that it is difficult for those who are not in the know to properly judge because they never know of many of the intelligence community’s successes. Still, there is much to be learned for the failures. Take the Korean War for example. When North Korea attacked its neighbor to the South on June 25, 1950, the United States was completely surprised. Recently declassified CIA documents from the beginning of that year show that the Central Intelligence Agency had severely misunderstood what was happening in North Korea preceding the invasion. In one memo the CIA theorized that the North Korean army’s southward march was most likely “a defensive measure to offset the growing strength of the offensively minded South Korean Army.” The same memo also surmised that any incursion into the South by the North Korean communists was certainly, “unlikely.” The story that we read in 1 Kings 6:18-23 largely revolves around intelligence failures and successes. The King of Syria has good military intelligence, but all of his plans are being defeated anyway. His court at least has enough of a grasp of what is going on behind their enemy’s borders. The King of Israel does not have much in the way of military intelligence, but he does have the good sense to listen to Elisha. Elisha’s servant is able to see the physical reality, but has no idea of the spiritual reality surrounding him. And finally, Elisha is the only one that is able to grasp both the temporal realm, and the heavenly at the same time. Everyone in the passage is using some sort of intelligence to make decisions that inform and determine their actions. Yet despite the fact that they all “see,” only one of them “sees” reality as it truly is. We live in a world that is obsessed with empirical evidence that can be seen with our two physical eyes. Even the church and those that have faith are often almost entirely focused on they world that they can see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. For the Christian, however, only seeing the world through your physical eyes will lead to disaster. There is so much more going on than just what we can get a visual on. Ignoring spiritual realities will lead you to act in a way that is at best inconsistent with what God has for your life, and at worst actually working against His plans. Seeing with spiritual eyes is difficult because it requires faith. That is why two statements in Hebrews 11 are so important to the story of Elisha. The first in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see,” shows us that in the Christian life we will often have to be like Elisha, being convinced of things we do not see with our physical eyes. The second in Hebrews 11:6, “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him,” shows us that if we simply ignore the spiritual world and focus on the physical it is impossible for us to please God. God help us to see the world like Elisha. Questions for Discussion/Reflection 1. What things are there that you see with your physical eyes that would cause you to react like Elisha’s servant? 2. There are times when we all find it difficult “see” spiritually, why do you think that is? 3. How aware are you of spiritual realities as you go throughout your day? Further Study on Elisha Bible Dictionary Entries for Elisha Bible.org Study on the Life of Elisha Staff Writer: Aaron Sharp |
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