“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
2 Kings 6:16-17 (NIV)
Elisha, the prophet, gave advice and led the armies of Israel to victory. The enemy finally sought to capture and kill Elisha, and an ambush was set in place.
Elisha’s servant saw all the horses and chariots of the enemy King of Aram, (modern day Syria) surrounding them. He became overwhelmed with fear, turning to Elisha, saying “what shall we do?” Elisha simply looked up to heaven and prayed “Open his eyes, Lord.” Immediately the servant’s eyes were opened and he saw a multitude of angels in fiery chariots, encircling Elisha and himself, shielding both of them. Heaven’s chariots of fire far outnumbered those of the Aramean army.
The enemy of our soul tries to ambush us with fear and uncertainty by what we see with our eyes. When the eyes of our heart are opened to see who really surround us, we can know as Elisha did, that our support from heaven, outnumbers anything that comes against us on earth. Whatever fear or discouragement we encounter, God is with us, as are His heavenly forces who shield us with fiery chariots.
God’s weapons contain the element of fire, and fire in scripture has always been a symbol of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, God poured out His Spirit, which was evidenced by small flames of fire appearing over each disciple in the upper room.
Inextinguishable fire represents God’s constant presence, passion, and purity, as when He called and spoke to Moses from the burning fiery bush.
We all ask questions that Elisha’s servant asked, “What shall we do now?”, which becomes our daily prayer when faced with difficult situations. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is still our “eye opener” today.
He can open our spiritual eyes to see beyond the problem that appears before us. We may not see physically the chariots of fire that surround us, but we have Elisha’s words in scripture to remind us,
“Don’t be afraid,” Those who are with you are more than those who are against you.”
The Holy Spirit is our Elisha today, giving us an inner calm, and an assurance that God is right here, and will take care of us. He wasn’t finished with Elisha and his young trainee, and He had more for them to do in leading the Israelites into a deeper faith. The Lord isn’t finished with us either, so we can trust that those unseen chariots of fire will bring us through to our victory as well.
Elisha prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened, and we can pray for our friends and loved ones who may also need their eyes opened. There is a powerful realm of heaven that we can tap into, which is the fire of the Holy Spirit.
For Elisha and his servant, the victory was not in what they did, but in what they saw. At times, we feel the enemy’s attempt to attack our hope or our trust in God, but if we open the eyes of our heart, we will be assured that there is a spiritual hedge of protection around us. We are all surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses in heavenly places. (Hebrews 12:1)
We don’t need a game plan, or a strategy, we just need to know who is encircling us. Enemies are merely created beings, whether human or spirit, but our help comes from God, the Creator of all beings.
Paul’s words in the 8th chapter of Romans, can open our eyes to the chariots of fire, still surrounding us:
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who acquits us. Who will condemn? It is Jesus who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38-39)
Lord, open the eyes of our heart to know that chariots of fire encircle us each day. Fill us with your Spirit to live by faith in what our eyes cannot see, and thank you for the victory and the hedge of protection we have through Jesus’ name. Amen
