September 26, 2011

2 Kings 6.8-23

[Skipping a brief miracle story in 6.1-7]

Once when the King of Syria was warring against Israel, he [The King of Israel?] took counsel with his servants, saying, "At such and such a place shall be my camp."

But the man of God sent word to the King of Israel, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there." And the King of Israel sent to the place of which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.

And the mind of the King of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not show me who of us is for the King of Israel?"

And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O King, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the King of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber."

And he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him."

It was told him, "Behold, he is in Dothan." So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was round about the city. And the servant said, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"

He said, "Fear not, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed, and said, "O Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see."

So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

And when the Syrians came down against Elisha, he prayed to the Lord and said, "Strike this people, I pray Thee, with blindness."

So He struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.

And Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man you seek." And he led them to Samaria.

As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, "O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they might see."

So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and lo, they were in the midst of Samaria.

When the King of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I slay them? Shall I slay them?"

He answered, "You shall not slay them. Would you slay those whom you have captured with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master."

So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master.

And the Syrians came no more on raids into the land of Israel.

2 comments:

JR said...

This is the example Greg Boyd seized recently to suggest this approach to dealing with enemies. Throw a party. Feed them. This is classic Gaskin too - he forgot his gun. And threw a party at The Farm. One part of this narrative involves knowing what the king is saying in his secret planning. It reminds me of the psi research that the DOD funded. Imagine how that fits in.

forrest said...

I had to look up Greg Boyd. Sounds interesting.

I don't know how many parties Gaskin threw. But he was out talking with the neighbors, doing everything possible to make sure they knew that these weird new folks wanted to get along, not just set up an alien enclave in their territory.

Elisha wasn't asking for funding...

I used to glance at these local newage magazines, and one time this one was talking about something called "a psychic fair." Giving the date and the location. I said to myself, "What kind of a 'psychic fair' is that? I want to make it to a real psychic fair, the kind where if you need to be told where and when, you don't belong there." But alas, I haven't found such. Probably wouldn't fit in. Maybe I should have gone to my weirder friends' End of the World Party, back in 1969?