Part 1 of 2
NOT long after the affair with Naaman, Ben Hahad II, King of Syria, was at war with Israel.
To his annoyance, news of his troop movements kept getting back to Joram, the King of Israel. He suspected a mole among his generals, but they pointed the finger at Elisha, the Israelite prophet.
Rumour had it, they said, that somehow Elisha knew every word the King spoke, even in his bedchamber. So Ben Hadad sent a strong force to the city of Dothan, where Elisha was known to be.
One morning, Elisha and his servant went out of the city into the hills. Suddenly, his servant cried “Look! Horsemen! There are horsemen and chariots all around us!”
Elisha did not seem concerned. “Do not be afraid” he said. “Those that are with us are more than those that are with them.”
The boy gaped; he could see only Syrians. So Elisha prayed: “Lord, open his eyes, and let him see”.
Part Two
EVEN as Elisha spoke, a countless host of fiery horsemen and chariots appeared before his servant’s startled eyes, so that the very hills seemed to be aflame.
The Syrian army now began to pick its way down the hillside, but Elisha gave the fiery host no word of command. He just mumbled a prayer, “Lord, strike these men blind”, and waited.
Presently they reached him. “This is not the city you are looking for” Elisha told them steadily, “nor even the right road to it. Let me guide you.”
And they let him lead them meekly all the way to the place where the army of the King of Israel was encamped.
Joram was eager to put the hapless Syrians to the sword, but Elisha forbade him to do any such thing.
Indeed, he instructed the King to lay food and drink before them, and send them back to Syria unharmed.
Précis
Elisha’s servant could not understand why Elisha was not frightened to be surrounded by the Syrian army, until God revealed to him the angel host watching over them. When the Syrians approached him, Elijah simply said they were in the wrong place, and they meekly followed him right into the Israelite camp. They were disarmed, and sent away home. (59 / 60 words)