TEXT: II Kings 6:8-23

SUBJECT: Elisha #11: The Lord of Hosts

There once was a king in Syria whose name was Ben-hadad. He wanted to conquer the Israelites, but he wasn’t sure he had the power to do it. If find out if he did, he sent men across the border to raid the farms and small towns on the frontier. If they failed, he lost almost nothing, but if they succeeded, he would know that Israel was weak and he could march on the gates of Samaria.

It was a very fine plan he had, except for one thing: the armies of Israel were always ready for him! If he struck in the north, they were there; if he went south, so did they. If the attack came at dawn, they were up and at `em; if it came at dinnertime, nobody was eating.

This was more than a run of bad luck, and Ben-hadad knew it. One of his men was obviously a traitor selling secrets to the king of Israel. When he demanded to know who it was, no fingers were pointed because every man there was loyal to his king.

So, why were the Israelites always waiting for him? Because they had a prophet named Elisha. As long as he lived, the Syrians would have no secrets.

To capture the prophet, the king mustered a huge army, with chariots and horseman. When they came to Dothan (where Elisha was staying at the time), they camped around the city letting no one in or out. At sunrise the search would begin.

Elisha’s servant got up early the next morning and was horrified by what he saw. Running to the prophet, he cried, Alas, my master, what shall we do?

There’s nothing to worry about—he’s told—because those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Was the prophet out of his mind? Two against ten thousand! He just couldn’t see how the numbers were in their favor.

And that was the problem: he just couldn’t see. But Elisha could see. Instead of scolding the man for his lack of faith, he prayed for him. Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.

When his eyes were opened, the servant saw the situation as it really was. The Syrians had ten thousand men of war, while he and his master had ten million angels in armor and ready to rumble.

As the Syrians made their way toward Elisha, he asked the Lord to blind them, which He was happy to do. Stumbling around in the darkness, an officer asked the prophet if he knew the whereabouts of a man called Elisha. ‘Right this way’ he said, and led them straight into the fortress of Israel. Then he prayed a second time, and the Syrian eyes were opened, only to see themselves surrounded by the army of Israel and a king eager for massacre.

My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them? Of course not, they’re prisoners of war. Feed them and send them home. When they got back to their king, he gave up his designs on Israel.

For now.

If the story is better than a fairy tale, it wasn’t told to entertain you or to inform you of a little known scrap of history. The story, like the rest of the Bible, points to Christ. To the men who first heard it, it spoke of the Lord who was to come. To us, it speaks of the Lord who has come. When debating men men who prided themselves on knowing their Bible, our Lord said, Search the Scriptures…for they testify to Me. Not just in a proof text here, a type there, a prophecy somewhere else, but all the Scriptures, the whole Word of God reveals our Lord Jesus Christ.

They tell us what our Lord is and what He is--to us.

The word we’re looking for here is Defender. Jesus Christ defends His People from their enemies. Way back then. Today. And forever.

Surrounded by the armies of Syria, Elisha and his servant were as safe as they could be. Because the armies of Syria were surrounded by the Army of Heaven. At the head of that Army is Jesus Christ. He’s not named in the story, but He doesn’t need to be, because every pious Jew knew the Hosts of Heaven were commanded by the Lord of Hosts.

More than 200 times in the Hebrew Bible, He is given that title. Unlike the pagans all around them, the Jews didn’t believe ‘higher powers’ were independent of the Lord. They were His servants. Or, to keep the figure what it is, they were the soldiers under His command. And what soldiers they were! They were more than angels, they were the Seraphim, the fiery creatures that stand before the Lord in glory! If the mightiest human king saw a Seraph, he would mistake it for God Himself. But the Seraphim are not the Lord, but only ministers in His war cabinet.

Seeing the Lord’s Army all around Him, Elisha felt no fear at all. When the nations rage and the kingdoms are moved, He utters His voice, and the earth melts! Ben-hadad’s plan was a good one and well executed, but There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord.

The Lord defends His People!

To string the Psalms together, He is our fortress, our rock, our refuge, our defense, our hiding place and our shield!

The Jews, for the most part, did not pray in their own words (as we do), but they prayed in the Words of God. When he saw the Soldiers of Heaven all around them, Elisha and his servant may well have prayed Psalm 124,

The Lord defended His people in the days of Elisha. And not only then.

The long and twisted history of Israel was nothing but a story of the Lord defending His people against enemies that were mightier or more crafty than they.

Israel enters Egypt as honored guests of the king. But a later king did not know Joseph and turned his kinsmen into slaves. For centuries they suffered their bondage, but they did not perish. Like the burning bush, they kept on burning and were not consumed. Why? Because the Lord was with them in Egypt, defending them, rebuking kings, even, saying, touch not My anointed and do My prophets no harm!

When Israel got away from their enemies in Egypt, the met new ones in the wilderness—hunger, thirst, armies, and a witchdoctor. The Lord sent them manna every day, He brought rivers out of rocks, He gave victory over Amalek, and He turned Balaam’s curse into a three-part blessing!

When the came to the Promised Land, they had a new leader, Joshua, who had replaced Moses. Camped on the banks of the Jordan, he saw a mighty soldier with a sword drawn and ready for action. He challenged the man, Are you for us or for our adversaries? But fixing him with a glare of majesty and contempt, He snaps back, Nay! But as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come! The Soldier was the Lord Himself, and even though He was never seen during the conquest, He brought down the walls of Jericho, burned the city of Ai, and wiped out the Amorites with hailstones and a sun that wouldn’t go down! They got their land—and kept it—because the Lord was their Shield and exceedingly great reward!

When they demanded a king, the Lord gave them the man they deserved—Saul. But even through this unworthy man, the Lord defended His people from their enemies.

David was a man of war, but his victories were the Lord’s doing.

Much later, we find the nation in exile, living way off in Shushan, the capital of the Persian Empire. The Prime Minister has got a personal grudge against a Jew, and instead of settling it with his enemy, he decides to wipe out the whole people. When he tries to do it, he and his people are wiped out, while the man he hated takes his office and the Jewish people prosper in exile. Why? Because the Lord was on their side.

On and on the story goes. The Lord defends His people, even when they don’t know it, even when they don’t believe it. He is there for them; He is their Security.

When we come to the New Testament, we find a different set of enemies menacing the Lord’s People. Or, to be more exact, we see the Real Enemy at work against them. Most Jews in the First Century were in a time warp; they took the Romans for their enemies, while, in fact, the Romans were only the face of the Adversary.

Their enemies—like yours and mine—were the power of sin, the cunning of Satan, and the wrath of God. Until they were fended off, the Lord’s People would have no peace or safety.

But who can fend off such foes? David’s crack troops were Mighty Men of Valor, but you can’t throw a spear though sin or cut off the devil’s head with a sword. And what shield can resist the hammer blows of Divine Justice?

The People of God need someone stronger than David, something harder than a shield and sharper than a two-edged sword.

In other words, they need a Captain of Salvation! And that is precisely whom God sent them in the Person of His Son and Our Lord, Jesus Christ. The One who commanded victories in heaven, came to rout His enemies in the world.

And He did it, not by cracking enemy heads, but by putting His own head on the chopping block. His strength was in weakness, His victory was in defeat, the salvation of His people was in the damnation of our Savior. The great hymn has it right. Our Lord was not so much hung on a cross, as He was,

Which has become for His People, the tree of life.

Jesus Christ defends His People. Way back in the days of Elisha; when He was in the world physically, and now in heaven, He still defends us. His death has satisfied the justice of God, broken the power of sin, and made and made a fool of Satan.

He defends us by grace alone. And grace is not pegged to our performance. He defends us when we’re good, when we’re not so good, and when we’re a lot worse than ‘not so good’.

Go back to Elisha’s servant. He read the same Bible his master did , why was he so scared? He knew Elisha spoke the word of God, why didn’t he believe him? Why did he have to see the armies of heaven? Because his faith was weak. Because he didn’t deserve grace. And that’s when he got it—and not only when he got it—that’s when we get it too. When we need it most.

How many of you are materialists? I don’t mean the kind of materialism that loves money, but the other kind: the kind that says the only real things are the things we can see, hear, smell, touch, or measure?

No Christian is a materialist in principle. But in practice, we all are! If we could see the fiery chariots, we’d feel pretty good. But because we can’t see them, we believe they are not there. But they are there. We have God’s Word on it: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, to deliver them.

So believe God’s Word and find your security in Him.

But what if He doesn’t defend us? What if Satan tempts us, and we give in? What if we pray for our children, but they are not saved? Has He broken His Word or let us down? No, He hasn’t.

The wisdom of heaven is above the wisdom of earth. The losses we suffer in this life—somehow—work together for our good. We don’t know how, but we don’t need to. We can trust the Lord to do it His way and in His good time.

Don’t live in fear. Because you’re safe in the arms of Jesus. Safe doesn’t always mean comfortable, but the discomforts of life are shallow and short-lived. And they don’t separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.