Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Authority
- Authority: Our calling. This comes from God as king. Because He calls us as His representatives, He gives us authority to go and do His will.
Since we
spoke about power yesterday, I think it only makes sense to speak about
authority today. Let’s take a deeper
look at the middle story of this chapter.
The king of Syria sends raid after raid into Israel, but they are
thwarted. So the king sends an army
after Elisha believing that Elisha is the one telling the king of Israel how to
avoid the Syrian raids.
Elisha’s
servant wakes up to see them surrounded and is alarmed. Yet Elisha sees through the eyes of God and
knows that God is with them. Elisha sees
through the eyes of the true king. He
understands that he has authority in this situation. He understands that he has God-given power in
this situation. So he acts. He asks God to blind the soldiers so that he
can lead them into Samaria – the capital of Israel.
But look
at what Elisha does with his authority.
Elisha could have led these men to their death. But instead Elisha leads them to a place
where they are fed, cared for, and sent back on their way! Elisha’s authority doesn’t just extend over
the soldiers but also over the King of Israel.
Elisha
doesn’t use his authority to kill Syrians or even to extend the influence of
Israel. Elisha uses his God-given
authority to help the Syrians understand love for one’s enemy. What is the net result? This particular king of Syria no longer sent
raids into Israel. They may not have all
converted to believe in the true God.
But they did learn the lesson that Elisha had the authority to teach
them.
It’s a
valid lesson to learn. How do we use our
authority? Are we about making our name
great and exerting our dominance? Or are
we about making God’s name great and demonstrating His love? What’s more important to us as we embrace the
authority that God gives to us to go out into this world?
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