2 KINGS 6
12 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
"Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Psa 139: 7
What do these words mean to you and to me? They should be for encouragement, for exhortation, and, if need be, for warning. They tell us that we are never alone. Consider the words of Elisha in the same chapter on behalf of his worried servant, and the result:
"Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see" . . . "and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (verse 17)
...how seemly that we put into practice the words of David:
"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up" (Psa. 5:3).
To "look up" means here to be encouraged, be strengthened, be spiritually built up. Yes, morning prayer becomes a people who profess to love, serve and fear the Lord....Without God's guidance we cannot begin to expect that we will always do right.
...While we have toiled in other spheres, or while we have slept, the Spirit of God has silently, steadily and regularly been at work. He is not weary. The cattle upon a thousand hills are His. He has given rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
While we are busy about our own affairs, ecclesial and temporal, the Spirit of God has been producing the food we eat, a thousand miles away on large farms or small, or even in our own little garden plot. To Noah, emerging from the ark, the promise was made that gives us annual expectation:
"While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
With the Psalmist we should many times exclaim:
"O that men would praise God for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!"
Bro A. Higham (Detroit, U.S.A.).
TC 09/1958
16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are [rabbim (many)] more than they that be with them.
17 And Elishah prayed [davened], and said, Yahweh, I pray thee [now], open his eyes, that he may see. And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man [na'ar]; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire [hinei, the har was full of susim and merkavot of eish all around Elishah].
We are accustomed to conceive of the universe and its possibilities from the standpoint of our mortal faculties. Are these the highest faculties? What man of Ordinary intellectual prudence and information would be guilty of affirming such a thing? Are the powers and faculties of mortal man upon the earth the utmost development that is possible of the senses of seeing and hearing?
...There are higher things in heaven and earth than mortal man dreams of. Jesus touches some of these in his answer to Nathanael. We have occasional glimpses in other parts of the Scripture:
...when our eyes are open to an enlarged vision of things, the universe will not seem the yawning empty abyss it looks to mortal eye and heart. In the spirit which fills all space, we shall feel one with all and at home everywhere, and in connection with the busy angelic multitude who are meanwhile hid from our eyes.
The earth in open communion with heaven, through the visible commerce of angels, -- converging upon Christ as the one head; under whom all things are to be confederate...
Nazareth Revisited Ch 12
18 And when they came down to him, Elishah prayed [davened] unto Yahweh, and said, Smite this people [Strike now hagoy hazeh], I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word [davar] of Elishah.
Elisha was particularly favoured in his foretaste of the powers of the world to come. Glance at the prophet's experience-it will enforce the greatness and blessedness of Scripture promises. Elisha's power is to be manifested again, only upon an infinitely larger and grander scale. And we are to exhibit it, that is, if it be our happy lot to find an entrance into the kingdom of God.
With this thrilling hope before us, let us review Elisha's achievements. He divided Jordan-healed water and land of their barrenness-brought divine judgment upon his adversaries-foretold future events-counteracted the effect of poison-supernaturally increased food-cured disease-inflicted disease-made iron to swim-revealed the intentions of one far away-&c.
Imagine a countless number of Elishas distributed and eternally established throughout the earth! What breathless terror, admiration, and thanksgiving they will excite among the nations. Let us be patient! The time will come when God will satisfy the desire of His people even in this.
"The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their might."
ATJ - TC 07/1887