Second Kings 6:8-10 describe the king of Aram, most likely to be Ben-hadad, sending marauding bands of men to trouble Israel. It was not an all-out assault but a guerrilla type of warfare. They would attack Israel in one location after another. This happened on multiple occasions. His intention we guess would be to wear out the king and the people of Israel. However, each time he was up to his mischief, God’s servant Elisha would send word to the king of Israel warning him of Ben-hadad’s impending plot. The latter would then station his men in readiness for the foray. This apparently frustrated Ben-hadad so much.
So
verse 11 said that Ben-hadad was furious. He thought he had a traitor among his
men who was leaking secret information to his enemy. He did not know that it
was Elisha who had been uncovering his plot to the king of Israel. So he
demanded to know who was leaking information to his enemy. Exasperatedly he
asked, “Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?” It was then
that one of his servants revealed that none of them had betrayed him. But that
Elisha, the prophet of God of Israel was the one warning the king concerning
their attacks. This prophet had divine ability to know things spoken in secret.
Ben-hadad ordered that Elisha be captured. He sent a reconnaissance team to
find out where the prophet was. They returned saying that he was located at
Dothan. The king of Aram then sent horses, chariots, and a great army, and
surrounded that city that night seeking to arrest him.
Let’s
bring the lesson of these verses into our spiritual journey. Like the king of
Aram, our spiritual enemy is also sending marauding forces to plot our downfall
in the different areas of our spiritual journey. We are warned in 1 Peter 5:8
to “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.” He said, “Your adversary,
the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.” The devil and his marauding bands are plotting to get us to offend
God. The good news is that as God’s children we have the Holy Spirit in us. He
is like what Elisha did for the people of Israel. He will warn and help us to stay
on course with God. Through Him, we will be provided with personal guidance to
walk with God. How does the Holy Spirit guide us in our walk? He will prompt us
in our hearts either to do or to avoid a certain thing. Remember, in Ephesians
4:30 we are told not to grieve the Spirit and in 1 Thessalonians 5:19, we are
told not to quench the Spirit. We grieve the Spirit when we do the things, He
tells us not to do. And we quench the Spirit by not doing the things He tells us
to do. These two commands tell us that walking within these guideposts will
keep us in line with God’s will in our walk with Him. Be sensitive to His promptings!
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