GOD'S HIDDEN RESOURCES (I KINGS 19:18; II KINGS 6:16-17)

Anyone who has studied the lives of Elijah and Elisha will have been struck by the many similarities between the two. (See my post on “Elijah and Elisha”) This confirms that Elisha's request in II Kings 2:9 for “a double share” of Elijah's spirit was indeed granted to him. One seldom mentioned parallel between them is the fact, comforting to us, that both powerful prophets suffered doubts at some point during their careers and needed to be personally reassured by God.

A repeated refrain from Elijah (I Kings 18:22; 19:10,14) is that he is all alone in his devotion to God and everyone is out to get him. In response, God gently informs him that there are actually 7,000 loyal followers of God who have not bowed down to Baal (I Kings 19:18).

I see a valuable application in this story for us. Are we ever tempted to think that only we truly follow God's will or understand His word while everyone we know has strayed to the left or right? I must admit that I have been guilty of that superior attitude on occasion. In my case, God has a way of putting me in my place every time I pick up a new Bible commentary, find out about a ministry someone is carrying out, or hear a great sermon. It causes me to realize that perhaps I am the one who needs correction, not others.

I find it interesting to read the comments on this passage by F.W. Krummacher: “The prevailing spirit of our times is that of infidelity and apostasy – a spirit of pretended illumination, but, in reality, of the blindest presumption – a spirit of opposition to to the plain word of God and of arbitrary determination of good and evil – a spirit of idolatrous exaltation of mere reason above the revealed wisdom of God.” These words were written, not in the 21^st century, but in 1836. And yet amazingly the church still exists almost 200 years later.

And it is not just the many living saints around us who are there to support us spiritually. After giving us a litany of the great faithful men and women of the past in Chapter 11, the author of Hebrews encourages us in 12:1 with the words: “therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.”

The same sort of reassurance is given to Elisha when he is in a precarious position. II Kings 16 tells us that the king of Aram has sent a great army to surround the city of Dothan with the express intent to capture Elisha. At this point Elisha's servant is understandably distressed and asks his master, “What shall we do?” Then Elisha prays that God will open his servant's eyes and allow him a vision of what Elisha already sees – a divine army surrounding the two of them in protection. Elisha's comforting words to his servant in II Kings 6:16 are, “Do not fear, for there are more with us than against us.”

I am reminded of the similar reassurance John gives the believers in I John 4:4: “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” As Grayston says, “Their awareness of being a minority group within the larger society is balanced by [this] assertion.” I would say that it is more than balanced by this fact.

So whenever we are tempted to believe that only we, and perhaps a few of our colleagues are left as true followers in this world, remember that (1) we are in fact just a few of the many who still follow Him in the here and now, (2) God has provided in his word the witness of a number of saints who are now departed and living with Him, and (3) there are unseen spiritual forces all around us if we have the eyes of faith to discern them. If we fail to take advantage of these hidden resources from God, it is all too easy to fall prey to fear and despair. And those are emotions that should certainly never characterize a true believer.