CHAPTER 6

(893 B.C.)

THE AXE HEAD MADE TO FLOAT

¹And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with you is too strait for us. (It seems that the unbelief registered in Chapter 2 concerning the sons of the prophets seems to at least have given way to some Faith. Prayerfully, their association with Elisha had done much to direct them toward the Lord; however, there is little record that God used these individuals in much capacity.)

²Let us go, we pray you, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he (Elisha) answered, Go you (of all the things that the sons of the prophets studied in this school, their association with Elisha was, by far, their greatest instruction).

³And one said, Be content, I pray you, and go with your servants. And he answered, I will go (one of the number was not satisfied with the Prophets mere approval of the enterprise, but wished for his actual presence; Elisha acquiesced to the request).

⁴So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan (the river Jordan), they cut down wood.

⁵But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed (presently, the axe head seems an insignificant matter; however, in that day, it represented a sizable investment, and, thereby, a heavy loss).

⁶And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. (The stick, no matter how crude, was symbolic of the Cross of Jesus Christ. We learn from this the tremendous lesson of the Power of Calvary. Every single blessing received by the Child of God comes through Calvary. Elisha applied the Cross to the problem. Regrettably, most in the modern Church have set the Cross aside, resorting to other things, which only bring death.)

⁷Therefore said he, Take it up to you. And he put out his hand, and took it. (The Cross is a Finished Work. Consequently, all the Believer has to do is simply stretch out his hand and take it. All that the Cross represents is ours for the asking.)

ELISHA AND THE SYRIANS

⁸Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp (this was some time, even possibly several years, after the healing of Naaman).

⁹And the man of God (Elisha) sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. (Despite Israels spiritual degeneracy, the Lord helped them through Elisha. He disclosed three or more times the plans of the king of Syria.)

¹⁰And the king of Israel (Jehoram) sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.

¹¹Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? (The Syrian king thought someone in his cabinet was relaying vital information to Israel.)

¹²And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: But Elisha, the Prophet that is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber. (For this man to know this means that Elisha evidently made no secret of the instructions that he was giving to the king of Israel concerning the king of Syria. It seems from this that the king of Syria should have been convicted in his heart for his misdeeds, but he was not. Mans ability to resist God is simply amazing! In his stupidity, he sends his army to take Elisha.)

¹³And he said, Go and spy where he (Elisha) is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.

¹⁴Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about (all for just one man).

¹⁵And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? (The Holy Spirit is telling us here not to be daunted by that which appears on the surface. The Believer is not to walk after the flesh, but rather after the Spirit [Rom. 8:1]. The trouble with most Christians is, they know what is happening, but they dont know whats going on.)

¹⁶And he (Elisha) answered, Fear not (over 300 times in the Word of God, the Holy Spirit tells us, Fear not): for they who be with us are more than they who be with them (we should ever remember this; for the Promise applicable then is most assuredly applicable now!).

¹⁷And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray You, open his eyes (the eyes of the servant), that he may see. And 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. (The Holy Spirit allowed this to happen that you and I may understand by Faith that we are surrounded by such, even though not seen by the natural eye. What an encouragement! In this Passage, we are given a glimpse into the spirit world of Righteousness.)

¹⁸And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray you, with blindness. And He smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. (The same Gospel that softens also hardens. As well, that which opens blinded eyes can close open eyes. The Gospel always has a powerful effect on anyone, whether it be positive or negative. The effect is according to the response of the individual.)

¹⁹And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria. (No, this was not a lie. Their intention was to stop Elisha, because he was hindering them from getting to the king of Israel. The king of Israel was the one whom they were really seeking.)

²⁰And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

²¹And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?

²²And he (Elisha) answered, You shall not smite them: would you smite those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master (this Verse pictures a great work of Grace; the king of Israel would kill them; however, Elisha proclaims the Love of God to them).

²³And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel (at least at that time!).

BEN-HADAD BESIEGES SAMARIA

²⁴And it came to pass after this (several years have now passed), that Ben-hadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. (This would never have happened had Ahab put Ben-hadad to death when he was in his power. The sufferings recorded in this Passage would have been avoided. This siege and its horrors fulfill the Prophecy then made to Ahab by the rebuking Prophet [I Ki. 20:31-34].)

²⁵And there was a great famine in Samaria (because of its sin): and, behold, they (the Syrians) besieged it (the Lord allowed this to happen, because of Israels sin), until an asss head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of doves dung for five pieces of silver.

²⁶And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.

²⁷And he said, If the LORD do not help you, whence shall I help you? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? (Do you suppose that I have stores of food at my disposal?)

²⁸And the king said unto her, What ails you? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

²⁹So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give your son, that we may eat him: and she has hid her son. (The siege had become so severe that the people of Israel, Gods chosen People, had resorted to cannibalism. Moses had predicted that this would happen, if the people turned their backs upon God [Deut. 28:53-57].)

JEHORAM BLAMES ELISHA

³⁰And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. (There was no Repentance on the part of Jehoram; the sackcloth was only a ceremony. While it was definitely a sign of his tremendous problems, it did not point to the cause of those problems, which was his terrible sin. In fact, the Church presently is loaded with similar ceremonies; however, the ceremonies are not based on the Cross and, therefore, arent valid.)

³¹Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this day. (His opposition to Elisha shows his spiritual condition. As well, Law will always attack Grace. Instead of the modern Church realizing the cause of its problems, and thereby repenting, it attacks the ones who are preaching the answer, namely the Cross.)

³²But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his masters feet behind him? (Elisha was supernaturally warned of what was about to take place that an executioner was coming almost immediately to take away his life, and that the king himself would arrive shortly after.)

³³And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him (to admit the king, for he had now arrived): and he (the king) said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD (now, Jehoram blames the Lord); what should I wait for the LORD any longer? (Jehoram had, apparently, to some extent repented of his hasty message, and had hurried after his messenger to give Elisha one further chance at life. We must understand that they had been in communication previously on the subject of the siege, and that Elisha had encouraged the king to wait for an interposition of Jehovah. The king now urges that the time for waiting is over. In effect, he says, What use is there in waiting any longer? Why should he not break with Jehovah, behead the lying Prophet, and surrender the town? What has Elisha to say in reply? Pulpit.)