Wednesday 22 June 2022

Chariots of Fire

  Scripture: 2 Kings 6 v 15 - 18: "And 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? 

16  And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
17  And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, 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.
18  And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha."


Elisha was an old testament prophet who wore the mantle of Elijah, which means that when Elijah left Earth without dying, Elisha received his prophetic anointing. He had seen Elijah taken from Earth by God in a chariot of fire.  He had asked Elijah for a double portion of his anointing and Elijah responded that if Elisha saw him leave Earth his request would be granted.

Indeed Elisha clung to Elijah that day to claim his reward.  He certainly was very gifted in his prophetic ministry, including the time which is in the above verses.

The king of Syria was at war with Israel and he had laid careful plans to ambush the king of Israel and his army.  Every time he did so the king of Israel went a different route.  This infuriated the Syrian king who suspected a traitor in his camp feeding the plans to Israel.

His men protested that there was no traitor, but the prophet Elisha tells his king all the things you whisper in your bedroom.  He can pick up your plans and warn the king.  The Syrian king sent a troop of horsemen and chariots to capture the prophet.  Elisha's servant saw that they were surrounded and panicked.

Elisha prayed for the young servant to see what he was seeing, and it happened.  He saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding and protecting the two of them.  Elisha then prayed that the Syrian forces would be blinded.  The Lord immediately sent blindness upon them, but they were still able to lead Elisha to Samaria, where the king of Israel was.

Instead of killing the Syrians the Israelites made a great feast for them before sending them back to the king of Syria so bringing peace between the two lands.  So never dismiss the power of prayer. 

Remember Paul in the Book of Acts when confronted by Elymas the Sorcerer he rebuked him and commanded that he be blind for a season and immediately a mist fell upon him and he could not see.

We must be the peacemakers as Elisha was.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace or the highest authority giving peace.  He lives in our hearts to create peace within
us so we can spread it into volatile situations.  If we are filled with His peace we can transmit it to others by laying on of hands or by speaking peace into a troubled area.

Our God works with us as He did with Elisha.  The prophet was under attack but the Lord was with him, protecting him and blinding his attackers.  When we have total trust in Jesus and true fellowship with Him, we will see extraordinary things, amazing ways the Lord protects us and gives us the edge over those who confront us.

We have to let go and let God control situations beyond our ability.  About twenty years ago there were three of us in a season of much prayer and intercession.  One lady said she could feel a crab moving inside her cheek!  I was rather shocked at this and went to pray alone to God and asked Him to reveal this crab to me to confirm the truth of it.

I was immediately given a verse of scripture Daniel 2 v 11: "And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh."  The Holy Spirit also told me that if I did see it, there would be other strange things revealed in the future and I was to believe by faith.

That night the three of us were having supper when the lady went a bit pale and said there is a creature suddenly appeared in the room.  We turned to see where she was pointing and there was this large crab under a desk trying to get up the step to her bedroom.  A strong unpleasant odour was in the room.  The crab seemed confused or injured.

We got the fishing net and managed to scoop up the crab.  Others in the complex came to see what the fuss was about.  We took it to the beach and let it go.  There is no way the crab could have got to us from there.  It was a supernatural event to confirm that the Lord meant business with us.  Strangely, a relative of someone in the complex told us that a monster crab had been caught that day in the nets of the chokka boats that fished for squid.  He felt it was connected.

Even a few years before this, back in Benoni, we had an all night prayer meeting in a nearby town.  One of the people to pray for was Dreen whose husband was concerned about her.  It was after midnight when we all prayed for her, she was home in bed.  Her husband told us he knew exactly when we started praying.

She started being restless and struggling until she fell out of bed without waking.  He said she was obsessed with leopards and her favourite chair was under a large painting of a leopard.  When we finished praying for her he knew as a peace came over her.

A few weeks later there was an article in the local Benoni newspaper.  A young leopard had been found in a room outside a house.  This was many miles from any zoo or wildlife sanctuary.  None of them had lost a leopard and where it had come from was a mystery.  Jesus said to me, that spirit you prayed out of Dreen  manifested in the physical.  She is free now.  And she was.  

That's the power of Jesus teaching us to expect amazing happenings.  They may not be chariots of fire like Elisha saw but when we needed God to show His power, He did.

The Lord watches over us and is able to help in time of crisis.  We must call upon His name and know that Jesus will never leave us.  We may not see the chariots of fire, we may not see anything, but we will know in our hearts that we have been He is with us.

These are the testimonies that bring us joy and praise to our God who says all things work together for good to those who love Me and are called according to My purpose.  Let us expect these good things to happen and exalt Him for His grace.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we see Your beauty and miracles all around us!  You are able to do more than we can ask or even think.  Nothing is too difficult for you.  Thank You for Your powerful protection.  We love You Lord.  In Jesus' name. Amen.