Aram is at war with Israel, but the King of Israel seems to be able to predict Aram’s army’s movements. Everywhere Aram’s army goes, Israel is one step ahead – so much so that the King of Aram assumes he has a spy in his camp. But he hasn’t got a spy – what’s happening is God is speaking to the prophet Elisha and giving him inside information – divine knowledge and divine vision – and Elisha is passing that knowledge on to the King.
So the King of Aram realises that he needs to do something about Elisha. He sends his army to find Elisha and capture him. So one morning, Elisha’s servant pulls back the curtains and he discovers that their house is totally surrounded by Aram’s army. Just as many of us would do in his situation, he calls out in panic “We are doomed, sir! What shall we do?”
Now we might expect Elisha to come up with a cunning plan to make an undercover exit, or to hide somewhere hoping they won’t be found, or to hand himself over to make things go as smoothly as possible, but Elisha does something much better. He speaks a word of God: “Don't be afraid”, and he prays: “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!”
God answers Elisha’s prayer, and Elisha's servant looks up and sees the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire. God’s protection becomes visible and God rescues Elisha, Elisha’s servant and indeed the whole nation of Israel.
So what do we learn from this story? I want to focus on one line this morning: “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” There’s a lot in this story about blindness and sight. First of all, Elisha and Israel are able to see as God sees – they are given divine knowledge and vision of Aram’s movements. But then Elisha’s servant is blinded. He doesn’t see as God sees – He sees as men see. Elisha has to pray for God to open his eyes. Then the Arameans are blinded – not physically as we might imagine; the word in Hebrew has more of the sense of their vision being confused – until they are in the Israelite camp and their eyes are opened again.
It all raises a question for us: Are we blind, or do we see as God sees? It’s a theme that runs through scripture. Jesus says that many won’t understand his parables because they have been blinded to the truth. Paul says in 2 Cor. 4:4 that, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ...” As Jesus died on the cross, he prayed, “Father forgive them for they do not know [they do not see] what they are doing” – Jesus saw God’s plan, but those who nailed him to the cross were blind to what God and what they were doing. As Stephen was stoned to death, those who killed him couldn’t see what Stephen could see – they were blinded to God’s reality – but Stephen had the face of an angel as he saw the glory of God as (for him) the ever-reigning heavenly court was superimposed over the temporary and sham earthly court.
But what about us? How do we see? Elisha’s servant was blind to three things – which we also can be blind to:
1. God’s presence
2. God’s protection
3. God’s provision
So: First, we need to have our eyes opened to God’s presence
God is omnipresent – He’s everywhere – but that doesn’t mean we always see Him. Jesus says, “where two or three are gathered, there I am amongst them,” which suggests that there are ways of seeing and encountering God’s presence in our lives in a much clearer way. It’s like bringing a lens into focus; at the start we know God’s there, but He’s blurry – obscured by everything around Him and by what else grabs our attention. But when we focus the lens, there we see Him much more clearly.
One of the ways of seeing and encountering Jesus is by meeting together and by being united in our worship and prayer. I have sensed it here at our prayer meeting on a Sunday morning before – Jesus’ presence is almost tangible as we’re united as his people. Another way, is through our own personal prayer and/or Bible Study. Suddenly, the lens is brought into focus through a time of silence when the peace of God descends on us, or from reading a particular verse in scripture that draws us to God. Another is going to what some people call a ‘thin place’ – a place of beauty and wonder where the distance between heaven and earth seems almost paper thin. In these places, and in others, we see in a much clearer way than normal.
The important thing is that we need to sharpen our focus on God – not just in special one-off moments, but in the everyday. And just think how that might change us…. Would we be quite so quick to indulge in our sins, if we knew God was there by our side? Would we not be slower to slander others, slower to gossip behind people’s backs, slower to let bitterness and resentment build up, slower to lose our tempers, slower to do all sorts of things the Bible warns us against because we would be caught up in a greater vision – a vision not of ‘getting our own back’ or doing what we want, but a glorious vision of God and His plans and purposes. This is the reason the book of Hebrews tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” It’s because when we have our eyes on Him, and all that He has done for us – it’s so much harder to be caught up in the web of sin. We see the bigger picture, the better picture.
Seeing God isn’t just a stick though; it’s also a carrot. When we sense God close to us, it’s so much easier to do what He asks. It’s so much easier to clothe ourselves with Christ, and with His love and compassion when God’s love is like a fire burning within us. It’s as if we are a coal, and God a fire. When we put ourselves in the fire, it’s easy to be burning with the love of God; but the moment we leave the fire, we start to cool down and it’s much harder to love as God loves.
Seeing God also gives us boldness to move forwards into God’s will and God’s plan. We see examples of this throughout the Bible: Moses had a stammer and was terrified of going and speaking before Pharaoh – but he moved ahead and led the Israelites to freedom because he saw God: in the burning bush and on Mount Sinai and in the pillar of fire and in the great cloud. Why did Samuel grow into such a great leader and man of God? Because God appeared to Samuel, calling out to him in the Temple in the middle of the night, and then Samuel continued to see God. Why did David battle the giant Goliath? Because he knew and saw the living God with him. Why did Isaiah say, “Here I am, Lord, send me”? Because Isaiah saw God in the Temple and continued to see God with him. The list goes on… seeing God allows us to move forwards into God’s plans and purposes with boldness and courage because we know that we’re not alone and we don’t work in our own strength.
Secondly, we need to have our eyes opened to God’s protection
There is a minnow-like fish called Four Eyes, which lives in Central and South America. What’s unusual about this fish is his large, bulging eyes. As you can see, his eyes are so situated on his head that he can spend his time cruising along the water with only the upper half of each eye above the surface, and the lower half below. The top half has a normal lens that sees up into the air, and the bottom half has a water lens that looks down into the river. These eyes are like a set of bifocals and they mean that the fish is both protected (from predators above) and provided for (with food below).
It’s very clever, and it’s the kind of discerning vision we should have as Christians. We need to have our eyes fixed both on the world around us, and on God. We may see all sorts of problems beneath the surface, but we can look up to see the one who protects us above the surface.
And God does protect us. Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.” That’s what Elisha’s servant saw that day. Jesus also picks up on this protection when he’s in the Garden of Gethsemane and about to walk to the cross – Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). Twelve legions numbered 72,000 – highlighting the huge power God has to protect us. Jesus, of course, didn’t need that protection because He knew it was God’s will to go to the cross, but very often we do need protecting. We need to see God’s angels surrounding us, protecting us and reminding us that God is on our side because we are on His side. (Pause)
The Bible speaks a lot about ‘fearing God’ – why? Because if we fear God – as Psalm 34 commands – if we hold God in highest esteem, if we put Him above all else in our lives, if we recognise that He is the only one who has control over our future, then we need not fear anyone or anything else. Stephen understood this in Acts 6-7 – why did he have the face of an angel as he was stoned to death? Because ultimately he knew that his earthly judges were not really in charge. He looked up and saw God – and knew that his life, his future was still in God’s hands. Even though his earthly judges took away his earthly life; he knew that his real life, his eternal life, was there waiting for Him and nobody could take that from him.
Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts the Lord is kept safe.” All of us would do well to memorise and hold on to that truth – and to see God’s protection.
Thirdly, we need to have our eyes opened to God’s provision
Here in 2 Kings, God’s provision is God’s deliverance – at the start as God gives Elisha and the King divine knowledge of Aram’s movements, and then again for Elisha and His servant. God regularly provides in this way – it’s another truth that runs through the Bible like a thread, or rather a great rope: We see God delivering the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, David from Goliath, Daniel from the Lion’s Den, Peter and John from prison, and Paul from an angry mob… to name just a few. For us today, God’s given us the ultimate deliverance in Jesus, rescuing us from our sin, from evil, from darkness and death – but He also provides and delivers in smaller ways. Very often we don’t see them, because we take them for granted, but they’re there.
I want to end with a short story by the Spanish writer Carmen Carole about a couple who give birth to a son who is born blind. The boy’s mother doesn’t want the boy to know that he is blind so she tells everyone who meets him that they mustn’t use words like ‘light’, ‘colour’ or ‘sight’. And for a while it works; the boy grows up unaware that he is different until one day a strange girl jumps over the fence and spills the beans.
As Christians, we’ve got to be like that strange little girl who speaks truth. People are afraid; we are often afraid; and that’s what the devil wants – he wants us to be held captive by fear, thinking that we’re alone, thinking that there’s no-one watching out for us. Satan is the ultimate terrorist. But the truth is that we don’t need to be blind and afraid. We can open our eyes and see God; see His presence, His protection; and His provision. Let’s pray “O Lord open my eyes and let me see” and let’s pray for others: that God may open their eyes and give them comfort, courage and hope for whatever life may throw in their direction. Amen.
