Spiritual Spectacles

Spiritual Spectacles

II Ki 6:8-23

8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place."

9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there."

10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.

11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?"

12 "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom."

13 "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."

14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

15 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, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.

16 "Don’t be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

17 And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so 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.

18 As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, "Strike these people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

19 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.

20 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.

21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?"

22 "Do not kill them," he answered. "Would you kill men 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."

23 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.

In this story we notice that Elisha¡¯s servant had vision problems!

He could see and yet he could not see...like someone who has lost his glasses or contacts. He saw the enemy surrounding the city, but not the greater host of God¡¯s angels who protected the man of God.

He could see the danger, but not the deliverance!

His physical eyes may have been tested and declared 20/20, but he was badly in need of ¡°spiritual spectacles¡± or ¡°Godly Glasses.¡±

When Jesus was asked by His disciples why He taught the crowds in parables, He answered, ¡°This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ’You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.¡¯¡± (Matt.13:13,14)

Helen Keller: ¡°I have walked with people whose eyes are full of light but who see nothing. They see nothing in the woods or sky, nothing in sports, nothing on the street. Their soul¡¯s voyage through this enchanted world is a barren waste.¡±

The greatest and wisest men are those who see further and deeper than others. Jesus saw what blind eyes could not see. And He was therefore calm and joyful, even in the presence of agony and death.

The truest vision, however, is the vision of faith. The world says, ¡°Seeing is believing¡±; the Gospel says, ¡°Believing is seeing.¡±

There is a great spiritual world that we¡¯ve never seen with our physical eyes. We have two sets of eyes¡ªthe physically blind have keen eyes of faith.

The clearer sight we have of the power of heaven, the less we shall fear the troubles of earth.

Illustration: ¡°Four-Eyed Living¡±

There is a minnow-like fish called ¡°Four Eyes,¡± which makes home in Central and South America. What¡¯s unusual about him is his large, bulging eyes. They 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. The top half has a water lens, which amounts to a set of bifocals, giving him the ability to see in both the upper and lower world.