Doubting God’s Hand
Doubting a
true prophet from God usually has its consequences. The whole town under siege is concerned for
their future. We’ve already had stories
about cannibalism happening in the last chapter. That right there tells you that things have
gotten pretty bad. Everyone is looking
for deliverance and Elisha gives it to them in the opening of this chapter.
But notice
that the captain of the guard throws in a doubt as to whether or not even God
is powerful enough to accomplish what Elisha spoke. It is after this expression of doubt that
Elisha pronounces that the captain of the guard will see it but not be able to
partake of it. I’m not saying that this
man would have lived had he not pronounced his doubt out loud – that’s not my
point. My point goes actually deeper
than that. It is natural for us as a
people to doubt the impossible. It is
natural for us to doubt human ability.
None of that is a sin. But the
captain of the guard goes beyond this.
We cannot
fathom the depths at which God is able to work.
However, it is possible to express our understanding of an impossible
act without also saying that we doubt God can accomplish it. I think that’s the point here. Where the captain of the guard sins is when
he doubts whether or not God could even do something. For God, all things are possible.
For
example, we know that the captain of the guard is having trouble believing what
Elisha says. The captain of the guard
could have simply expressed his doubt by saying, “I’ll believe it when I see
it.” This expresses his doubt, but it
does not impose a limit upon the ability of God. The captain of the guard could have said,
“That act is so unlikely that if it happened it would have to be by the hand of
God!” That declaration would have served
to not only express his doubt but also to actually affirm the power of the Lord! But how does the captain express his
doubt? He says, “Even if God should open
up heaven, is this possible?” In other
words, the captain is saying that he believes Elisha’s prophecy to be
impossible – even for God.
I really
think this is the problem here. God
knows we are human beings with a limited conception of the world. We will doubt. Quite often will need to be shown before we
believe. God can accept our doubting
nature. But God does not accept when our
doubting nature turns into a questioning of His character and His power. We can doubt, but let’s learn how to do it in
a way that reinforces the character and omnipotence of God rather than a way
that puts God’s character in question.
God’s Deliverance
Before we
get to the fulfillment of Elisha’s prophecy, let me spend just a moment on the
act of God. The armies of God are so
fierce and so overpowering that the Syrians flee without breaking camp. They literally leave everything behind in
their haste to escape. Sure, they are
convinced that the sounds of armies that they are hearing are actually the
sounds of Egyptians and Hittites – and who could blame them for this human misunderstanding? But the point is that when God comes to fight
it is so fearsome that his opponents will leave everything behind simply to
spare their lives. This is what it means
to come against God – to put ourselves in a position that when the battle is joined
we will have lost everything and barely escaped with our lives.
I love that
expression, but it is really the truest for the follower of Jesus Christ. The true follower of Jesus Christ begins life
in conflict with God as we all do. All
have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. See Romans 3:23. While we were enemies of God we were reconciled
to Him through Jesus Christ. See Romans
5:10. We are born into a corrupt and
sinful nature.
But as the
follower of Christ is confronted by God, the follower of Christ lets go of
everything in this world. In an attempt
to flee utter destruction, the true follower abandons all in the realization
that nothing the person is, has, or does can save the true follower. The follower of Christ abandons the world and
its ways in order to embrace Christ and His ways.
This is
where the story of the true follower diverges from the example of the Syrian
army. The Syrians continue to flee away
from God back to their homes. The true
follower – after abandoning all – turns back to God and accepts God’s judgment
upon him or her. The true follower
accepts God’s judgment while placing the faith of salvation purely in
Christ. The true follower accepts that
God’s wrath with destroy all that is unworthy to belong in the follower of God
while God’s grace in Christ will rebuild the person in a holy way. This is really just another way of describing
what Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 3:10-17.
Back to the Israelites
So now we
move onto the fulfillment of Elisha’s prophecy.
With the Syrians gone, the people in the town no longer need to worry
about things like starvation and cannibalism.
Imagine their joy at having that weight lifted off of their chest. Can there be any wonder that the people flee
the city to ransack the things left behind by the Syrian army? The problem that I see is simple: who of the
city turns to remember – or even notice – that the deliverance came from God? There’s a spiritual problem right there. We are so happy to find relief that as human
beings we often forget to thank God and give credit to God.
Salvation Discovered by Lepers
To close,
let me go back and pick up a loose end that I overlooked because I wanted to
save it. I think there is irony in the
fact that it is actually lepers that discover the Syrians are gone. Who is it that finds God’s grace in the world
but people who have no reason to continue living in the world! These lepers have no reason to enter the city
– they’ll just starve. They have no
reason to stay outside the gates – they’ll just die of starvation or exposure
or other things. So these people who
have nothing to hold onto in this world decide to go to the Syrians and there they
find God’s grace!
Of course,
in finding God’s grace they immediately show their humanity. They stuff God’s grace into hiding and begin
by hoarding it all to themselves.
Fortunately they are convicted of their wrongdoing and do share God’s
grace with others eventually. But
humanity is humanity regardless of our condition. Human instinct is self-centered first and
foremost, even in the face of God’s grace.
Thank God that there is repentance and forgiveness!
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