2 Kings 8:6-17. "Spiritual Realities Change Our Response to Distress."

In this episode, Tim underscores the importance of spiritual realities in shaping our response to distress, drawing from the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:8-17.  When human support fails, as seen in the apostle Paul's final imprisonment, God's presence remains steadfast. Paul, despite being abandoned by his fellow Christians, found strength in the knowledge that the Lord was with him. This teaches us that even when people fail us, God's support is unwavering, and He will ultimately bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom.

Elisha's story further illustrates that human efforts are limited, especially when faced with spiritual challenges. When the king of Aram attempted to overpower God's influence through military might, Elisha knew that God's power and protection were far greater. Even though Elisha's servant initially feared the surrounding army, his eyes were opened to see the angelic forces protecting them. This teaches us to trust in God's unseen protection, reminding us that spiritual forces are at work beyond our understanding, and that God's angels guard us through every trial.

This Sunday sermon, based on 2 Kings 8 verses 6-17 , was preached at Grace of God Lutheran Church on August 4, 2024.  This sermon is preached by Pastor Timothy J. Walsh, a member of WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod). Scripture selections come from the New International Version.

Intro Music "On the Way" by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

Outro Music "Divenire" by Ludovico Einaudi
copyright (℗) by: Ludovico Einaudi (in 2006)             

Transcript

Hear the words of the Lord Jesus: “Take courage! Don’t be afraid.” He is with you. Amen.

At the end of the apostle Paul’s life, he was sitting in a Roman jail cell. Paul died around 66 AD; we’ve talked about that date in our Sunday Bible study series recently. It was far from his first time in a prison cell, but it seems that Paul knew it was likely to be his last. The words we read from Second Timothy today were written by Paul to Timothy, a young man he’d brought up as a minister, before the end of Paul’s life. 

Paul’s other imprisonments had been easier than this one. He was usually allowed visitors. Once, he was even allowed to live under house arrest, rather than a jail cell, and he preached and taught in that house while awaiting his trial. But when he wrote this second letter to Timothy, times had changed. The Roman emperor Nero did not treat these Christians kindly. Paul tells Timothy that the other Christians in Rome, rather visiting him and encouraging him, were hiding from the Romans. Verse sixteen, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.” 

Paul could have been bitter about this. Instead, these are his words. “May it not be held against them.” May it not be held against them by God; not by Paul or Timothy; not by the church at large. Paul forgave these brothers and sisters who had abandoned him when he was alone. Why? Verse seventeen, “the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.” 

God wants Christians to care for one another and rely on one another. We heard that in last week’s message. But the Bible also clearly tells us, our brothers and sisters will fail us at times. When we need help, they will drop the ball. Or they will say something which they intend to be comforting or helpful, and it will be exactly what we don’t need to hear at that moment. 

So God recorded for us, in the Bible, words such as Paul’s here. Words reminding us that even when people fail us, God will not. The Lord Jesus stands by us in all trials. He will, as Paul so confidently affirms, “bring us safely to his heavenly kingdom.” 

Alongside that promise - that Jesus himself is always with us - we have another promise from God in today’s readings. When there seems to be no human help coming our way, God’s angels are watching over his people. There is far more to the world than what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears or touch with our hands. There are powers and forces beyond our human strength at work in the world every day.

The account we heard from Second Kings today shows people interacting with these powers, and we see three different reactions to them. First, the king of Aram accuses other humans when he’s frustrated by God’s power. Then he tries to overpower the spiritual forces which he fears. Last, Elisha’s servant forgets about God’s power and puts his hope in human ability.

This all takes place about two thousand eight hundred years ago. At that time, the Old Testament Jewish nation existed as two separate kingdoms, a northern kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom called Judah. This takes place in the north, where the prophet Elisha was ministering during the reign of King Jehoram. 

The kingdom of Aram bordered the northern kingdom of Israel. Today, the lands of Aram are in the modern nation of Syria. There was almost always some level of conflict on that border. During the time of King David, the Israelites defeated the Arameans soundly enough to enjoy some peace. But already by the time of David’s son Solomon, the Arameans were occasionally probing and raiding Israelite territory. 

The king of Aram at the time of this story hoped for more than occasional border raids to take captives and plunder. He wanted to build military outposts, encampments, in Israel. But he ran into a problem. Elisha the prophet was able to warn the king of Israel every time a force was being gathered to establish these camps. The king of Aram would send a party of men, but when they arrived, they would find Israelite soldiers ready for them.

The king was afraid that there was a traitor among his officers. It made sense to him that his setbacks were being caused by someone close to him.

We often think this way. We’re in a bad mood one day, and rather than admit that we stayed up too late, we haven’t been eating well, we blame our family. We have a group assignment in school, or a team project at work, which goes poorly, and we blame our teammates. 

The king of Aram’s response is rational. Those responses in our own lives might also be rational. But they can also all be completely wrong. We should, of course, consider that our sufferings are due to our own shortcomings. But today’s text brings us this thought: Some of our setbacks in life, we can chalk up directly to the invisible hand of God. Sometimes God himself frustrates our plans. He may do so to teach us perseverance. He may want to call our attention to sin in our plans. We are better served to first consider the possibility, in any frustration, that God has allowed this to come into our lives for a good purpose. That we may be better off examining ourselves, rather than those around us.

The king of Aram should have done some self-examination in this regard. His plans to raid and attack God’s people were sin, and he knew it! One of his own generals, Naaman, had been healed of leprosy by the power of the God of Israel. The king should have known that his plans were being frustrated not by men, but by the Almighty God.

One of his officers alerts him to this fact. He tells the king that the prophet Elisha is passing along every word of Aram’s plans to Jehoram king of Israel. The king had feared betrayal; now he fears the power Elisha wields. How does he respond to this new threat? He attacks. He sends a strong force of soldiers to capture Elisha.

This is foolishness, of course. If Elisha has been able to predict every move of the army up to this point, what makes the king of Aram think Elisha will still be in Dothan when the soldiers arrive? But he sends them nonetheless.

The idea that human force can subjugate spiritual powers is foolish. But all throughout history, people have thought that humans can coerce spiritual powers to do our will. When ancient armies conquered a foe, they would bring the statues of the gods of that people home with them. The Romans brought many foreign gods back to Rome, believing that by taking their idols home and honoring them, they could compel these gods to bless them. It’s the same foolish belief which leads us to throw salt over our shoulders for good luck; to knock on wood after talking about future plans; to sprinkle “holy water” around our homes for protection. Humans naturally believe that we can compel anything, spiritual or material, to, if not obey us, at least leave us alone. We see ourselves atop the physical world’s food chain and we assume that this is true in spiritual matters as well. But it isn’t.

When it comes to spirits and powers in the unseen realm, we are woefully outgunned. TV shows like Stranger Things show teenagers with baseball bats beating up intruders from another realm. The king of Aram thought he could overpower the divine with a detachment of cavalry. But the Bible is very clear: Our strength is as nothing against spiritual beings. The evil spiritual forces, Satan and his angels, would gladly turn our world upside down in flames and chaos were it not for the continual protection God affords us through his holy angels.

These are the figures we see at the end of the reading, the “chariots and horses of fire” on the hills all around Elisha. Elisha’s servant had not been aware of their presence. He was afraid of the army surrounding them, and he placed his hope for deliverance in his master Elisha’s wisdom and cunning. He hopes that Elisha has some plan, some means of escaping quickly and quietly. Elisha does not. Elisha knows that that’s not necessary.

We’re not told, not in our reading and not in the rest of the story after our reading, what the servant’s reaction was to the sight of all these angels. But undoubtedly, he knew that he no longer needed to be afraid. They were safe.

Did Elisha see these angels? I had never asked myself that question until working through this story for today’s message. We are never told that Elisha saw the angel army surrounding them. He simply knew that they were there. 

Do you know that an angel army surrounds you at every moment? You haven’t seen them. I haven’t either. But they are there. They were there before Elisha’s prayer for his servant’s eyes to be opened, whether either of them saw them or not. Jesus reminded Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane that if he willed it, his Father would put a legion of angels at his command to protect him and prevent his arrest. 

God is your Father as well, for by faith in Christ the Son of God you are God’s child and an heir of heaven. Should they ever be needed, the legions of heaven stand ready to protect you, personally, from all enemies, and to bring you safely home. 

So how does that affect the way you react when you’re afraid? You can be sure, when you are afraid or frustrated or facing setbacks, that God has allowed such trials into your life under his watchful eye; with purpose and forethought, not capriciously; knowing that you are able to stand up under them.

This is true whether we are frustrated or harmed. Two different things there. Frustration refers to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. Harm refers to the actions of other people against us. When either one affects us, it’s something God has allowed. But there is a difference. When we face harm, God promises that he will answer it. The apostle Peter writes in his second letter, for instance: “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done.” 

If we ignore the reality of the spiritual world - if we ignore the existence of heaven and hell, of angels and demons, of the immortal soul - how would we react to harm? How would we react to being abandoned? We would lash out. We would hold grudges. We would take revenge.

So God tells us in his Holy Word, “Vengeance is mine.” God promises, he is with you. God promises, his angels protect you. God promises, he will sit on his throne in glory at the end of days and will administer justice. God promises, “there is in store for you the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to you on that day—and not only to you, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Be humble. Remember that there is more going in the world, and in your life, than you can see. Ask what God may have in mind when you are distressed, rather than attacking others. Recognize that your deeds cannot earn his blessing or hold off his wrath. Remember instead that he has made you his child by grace, and that he promises to guard you all your days until he brings you to the Lamb’s wedding feast. To him be glory forever and ever; amen.