Elisha

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0:00 Okay, the rest of us were on this chapter in the story called number chapter 15. It's called God's Messengers, number 15, which means we're almost halfway through. You see? Dr. Schott? Okay. We're almost halfway through and we're talking about Elijah and Elijah.

0:30 These kind of big time, big time prophets. I mean, Elijah is like one of the biggest. Remember? We know like Elijah, there's two people. Remember when Jesus, this famous story, when Jesus goes up on the Mount of Transfiguration, he's like, is early in the morning and he's got his kind of, his couple closest friends, Peter, James and John, like the core crew of the core crew and he takes them early in

1:03 the morning. They go up mountain. It's called Mount Tabor. It's still there. You can go up there. They go up to the top of the mountain and Jesus reveals for his three closest friends exactly who he is. He glows bright white, bright white like the presence of God and standing next to him, they see whom? Moses and Elijah, which are like a representative of the law and the prophets, Moses and Elijah. But also what's interesting is Moses and Elijah, neither one of them famously died.

1:33 Like it says Moses died, but it says he was buried by the hand of God and they never found his body. He goes up to look over at the promised land. In Elijah, we read in chapter 15 today, Elijah has this famous story where he's like separated. He's like got his like disciple following him and he tries to lose Elijah, his disciple a couple of times, but Elijah can tell that something is about to happen to his master Elijah. So he never leaves his side. And so at a critical moment when Elijah's ready to be done, this like chariot, this fiery

2:05 chariot, horses and chariot come down and separates Elijah and Elijah and Elijah and then Elijah is taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. Boom. Go, I don't know. I don't know. It says he's taken up in heaven to heaven in a whirlwind. And it's like, I don't understand that. Where is heaven? Right? Like he says he goes up to heaven in a whirlwind and is it like above us somewhere?

2:39 I mean, we've been above us, right? We've been to the moon, right? Yeah, we all know. That's true. We have been to the moon. We've been up there. So it's like where he goes up in a whirlwind, but we know that the story tells us Elijah disappeared. He didn't die. He's gone.

3:10 Significant, man. People don't get that treatment in the story of Scripture, which is why then when Jesus comes, there's this prophecy that before the Messiah comes, Elijah would return, come back down, right? And then announce that the Messiah is coming behind him. And then Jesus, of course, says that John the Baptist fulfilled the office or the role of Elijah. So we're in this chapter 15. We hear the story of Elijah and Elijah. And it's a really big deal. They're both a really big deal. They actually parallel each other's ministries really interestingly.

3:41 They do a lot of similar things. There's one point when now this is the kingdoms have already separated north and south and Elijah is like dealing with the kings in the north who are almost always bad. We talked last week about Jeroboam and I mean the problem with Jeroboam is he just got picked him to be king and then he figured he didn't need God anymore.

4:13 He could handle it all by himself and he ends up doing more evil than anybody ever before him just because he figured I'll handle it from here. Thanks for making me king. I'll take it from here. So but Elijah is trying to help the kings of the north make good choices. And in the story that I want to focus on for us this morning is the Israel, the northern kingdom is being attacked by Syria, a larger kingdom. And Elijah in his like little hangout is getting word from God, I guess, can discern where

4:53 Syria's army is going to attack Israel. What they're going to do next and he's telling the king of Israel so that the king of Israel can be ready because Israel is like a smaller country. Syria is like one of the thing people going through, conquering everybody at the time and they're ready to conquer Israel and they're having trouble like Israel is fighting them off and Syria is getting frustrated like how is Israel defending itself against us. We're bigger, stronger, better. And then one of the Syrian kings counselors is like, hey, that dude, there's a dude who

5:29 is telling the king of Israel everything we're going to do before we do it because they had figured out this guy must have advanced knowledge to the king of Syria. It's like, well, somebody we got a spy in our midst. And then his counselor's like, there's no spy. There's just a guy who's figured it out. He like, so the king of Syria is like, let's go get that guy. Right? Because we're taking over Israel and that's the story. It's in, if you want to follow along, it's in.

6:00 Let's see. I wrote it down. Second king six, second king six. I'll start at verse 11. Second king six starting at verse 11. And it says, and the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing. And he called his servants and he said to them, will you not show me who of us is for the

6:35 king of Israel? And one of his servants said, none, my lord, okay, but Elijah, the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words you speak in your bedroom. And he said, go and see where he is that I may send and seize him. It was told him, behold, he is in Dothan. So he went there, horses and chariots and a great army.

7:05 And they came by night and surrounded the city. Okay, they got horses and chariots surrounding the city to take the one prophet. They come in the middle of the night. Verse 15 or 14, when the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, alas, my master, what shall we do?

7:37 That it would be alarming if it's like you and the prophet, you're hanging out, handling the business. He gets the word about what's going on in the war. You run and tell the king of Israel. You got this relationship. You're in Dothan. Nobody knows that it's Elijah doing it, right? Because it's just like Elijah and God and you maneuvering around. And you get up in the morning and you're like, stand out and look at the city. You got your cup of coffee and then the Syrian army is all there around. When you wake up in the morning, that's alarming. That would be concerning because you're just a prophet and you're just here in Dothan.

8:12 The army is not with you, right? That would be concerning. And so, Elijah's support guy comes back to him and is like, what are we going to do here? Like, this is a whole army. What should we do? And Elijah said, he said, do not be afraid for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Okay. Okay.

8:43 Yeah. It's believable. Like, Elijah is telling his support guy, look, we're not alone. There's a lot of them, but there's more of us. Okay, great, great, great, great, great. Where? Right? Like, it doesn't help us if, sure, Israel's army is more than who Syria sent here, but where are they? You didn't, you missed it, Elijah. That's what I would be thinking. Right? Elijah, you're supposed to have the drop on these guys.

9:13 Newsflash, they came in the middle of the night, they got the drop on us. And Elijah's like, calm down, there's more of us than them. And his helper guy's like, so then look at the next line, right? Let's see. Then, Elijah prayed and said, oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

9:47 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, please strike this people with blindness. So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, oh, this is not the way. And this is not the city. Tell me, and I'll bring you to the man who you seek. And he led them to Samaria. This is like, I mean, I just re-watched a bunch of Star Wars movies over the Christmas break.

10:21 This is like the Jedi mind trick. These are not the droids you're looking for, right? So they got the horses and chariots lined up around Dothan. The man looks at it, it's like we're way outnumbered. Elisha says, calm down, it's going to be fine. He would let them see that it's going to be fine. And he sees horses and chariots of fire all in the mountains around him. He's like, oh, interesting. Then the other interesting thing is that Elisha doesn't use the horses and chariots. He just, as they're starting to attack, says, Lord, would you make them all blind? Now they can't see.

10:52 Elisha walks out in the midst of him and is like, oh, you guys are in the wrong place. They're like, oh. He's like, just follow me. I'll take you to the right place. Oh, great. A helpful person. He takes them to the capital of Samaria where the king is, walks them in, and then when they get there, he's like, hey, Lord, let them see again. Now they can see. And the Samarian king is like, hey, Elisha, can I kill them?

11:22 Now that they're all here, Elisha's like, no, man, what would you do if you captured them to give them food, feed them? So they have a feast with their enemies. And then their enemies go back home, terrified, and they leave them alone. This is a cool story, right? And I was thinking to several things about the story, but the one that really stuck with me is like, this is, this Jedi Mind Trick thing is weird.

11:55 And it like requires us to consider that there's more in the world than what we can see. It like, if you're going to take it seriously, it suggests there is a God who interacts in the world through stuff. It's also nice that he does it on behalf of his people.

12:29 I was thinking about this idea that somebody like Elisha could be taken up in a whirlwind and go somewhere else. Or that we could be people that someone like Elisha, not Elijah, but Elisha, could be supported by an army of fire to protect them from armies of horses and chariots. I was reminded of that section. It's in, well, you have to believe me.

13:01 We could read it, but it's a little bit complicated. It's in, there's this time when Jesus towards the end of his time on earth, it's in John chapter 17 where John records this prayer that he prays. And most of the time when Jesus prays, it's like he goes off and he prays by himself. And it says that a lot actually. He went off to be by himself and pray. He went off to be by himself and pray. But we don't get a lot of his prayers recorded, probably because most of the time he's by himself and nobody knows what he prayed. But this prayer, he prays in full view of all the people.

13:31 So it's a whole chapter of John. It's called his high priestly prayer. He knows that he's leaving and he's making comments about asking God to take care of those who are his. Right? And in John chapter 17, let me see. I actually marked it. Let me see if I can read it. Matthew, John 17. He says, I have manifested your name. He's praying to God, the father, to the people whom you gave me out of the world.

14:07 Yours they were and you gave them to me and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I given them the words that you gave me and they received them and have come to know in the truth that I came from you and they believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

14:39 All mine are yours and yours are mine and I am glorified in them and I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. Well, I was with them. I kept them. You could go through, but one of the themes in his high priestly prayer, you caught it there when he says, I'm not praying for the world, but I'm praying for them. And he says, I'm coming up to you, but I'm leaving this crew here.

15:11 And so they're going to need help. And he brings out this idea that we start to call or use the phrase in the world, but not of the world. Comes up in a couple of other places. This idea that we are so journey, that this isn't our place, that we're going to a place that is ours. But here we are now. So you see, I'm starting to suggest that there is critical to the faith of our people throughout

15:45 time is the idea that there is a God somewhere who interacts meaningfully in the world and we belong to that God. And because of that, that God will interact in the world on our behalf sometimes. We see it in the story of Elisha. Right? Hey, would you make them blind? So I'm thinking about that. We're in the world and not of it. We're in the story of Elisha.

16:16 Pretty cool. And then I was like, well, I would like the Jedi mind trick thing. What I got to do? How do I get signed up for that? If me and Elisha are part of the same people. The next phrase that came to my mind is this phrase in Romans chapter 12. Taking us all over the place here.

16:46 Paul's writing to the church in Rome and trying to help them think about how do we persevere as the people of God. Well, Jesus is not here and we're waiting for him to return. He gives him a lot of good advice. And in Romans chapter 12 verse 2, he says this thing starting at verse 1, I appear to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice whole and acceptable but to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that

17:21 by testing you may discern what is the will of God, the good and acceptable and perfect will. So I think part of how Elisha gets this Jedi mind trick, how he's able to see all of the horses and chariots of fire protecting him sent by the God on his behalf is that he has done this thing where he's able to discern the will of God. He knows that God is interested in protecting him and Israel and will not let Syria win

17:53 if he counts on the God. So those Syria has come and his like helper is standing there in the morning going, we are screwed. He's like, God will keep us from being screwed. Let's figure this out together. Lord, how do you want to take the next step? All right, we got the horses and chariots. Now that allays my fear. Now how should we handle it? Just blind them and walk them over there. Okay, great. We'll do that. It's a supernatural, unexpected solution to a natural, real problem.

18:28 And they got to it by discerning the will of God. I don't know if you have observed supernatural solutions to real, natural problems before. I have observed supernatural solutions to real, natural problems before. I have to tell you, most of the time I haven't seen it coming. You know? I've seen jobs materialized out of thin air.

19:00 I've seen people heal unexpectedly. I've seen money materialized out of thin air for people. But most of the time, it's not like I saw the horses and chariots lined up and then knew what to do next. So I was trying to think of how might we get to that spot. And I thought of one more spot in Matthew within the life of Jesus.

19:31 Matthew chapter 4. Because I don't know if you currently feel like you've got armies of Syria surrounding you. I don't know if you feel currently like you are under siege in your life.

20:08 I don't know if you are like drinking your coffee in the morning contemplating problems that you cannot solve, that you can't figure out. But I can relate to being in that position. I can relate to looking at the problems on the table and not knowing exactly the way through them. I can relate to looking at challenges in my life and not having quite the answers, not knowing exactly how to take my next step where I will go.

20:39 And it's easy when we're looking at problems that are larger than us, questions that are broader than us, responsibilities that are deeper than us. It's easy to be like the helper with the coffee in the morning going, oof. It's harder to be like a lyshine goes, going to be fine, dude. And so I'm like, I would like to be like Elisha. I would like to be the guy not with his head in his sand, but with his eyes all the way

21:10 open to the God and the world and how they interact and meet. And Paul says, I got to be transformed by the renewing of my mind so I can discern what is true, good, I'll work on that. How do I do it? One, there's a lot of ways where it could happen, but one is this sequence in Matthew with Jesus. Look at Matthew chapter four, three. Yeah, three. Yeah, three.

21:43 Matthew chapter three starts with John the Baptist. We've talked about John the Baptist a bunch, but he's out in the desert. He's the lyshine to come. And he's like telling people to repent because the Messiah is at hand. So he has this special kind of baptism that they're doing. It's like a version of the Nazarite vow. So they had this practice of purifying people with a washing of water to set them aside for a special commitment. It's called the Nazarite vow. And John the Baptist is doing a version of that at the Jordan River where he's like,

22:15 hey, I know that you have failed at being Israel, but the Messiah is coming. So you want to get square so that you're Israel all the way when the Messiah is here. He's like, so make this special commitment now, like a Nazarite vow. And so, in Matthew chapter three, John the Baptist is doing the baptismal thing. And Jesus comes out to him and let's see where that happens. But he saw the fear of the Messiah. And he saw the fear of the Messiah. And he saw the fear of the Messiah.

22:45 And he saw the fear of the Messiah. And he saw the fear of the Messiah. And he saw the fear of the Messiah. And he saw the fear of the Messiah. The fear that happens. But he saw the Pharisees. He got mad that they came. Oh, in verse, I can't read the first numbers on this ever. 15. Yeah, I need to get some glasses. Yeah, okay, it's coming. It's coming. I'm accepting it.

23:19 When Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. And John would have prevented him saying, I used to be baptized by you or I need to be baptized by you. And do you come to me? But Jesus answered him. Let it be so now for this is a thing that is to fulfill all righteousness.

23:54 Then he consented. First step here. Jesus goes to John the Baptist to be baptized, which is a serious act of humility. John the Baptist is baptizing people to be ready for Jesus coming. And so Jesus is the reason that all these people are getting baptized. And then he goes to John the Baptist who's not the Messiah. Who's a dude baptizing at the Jordan River, who's his cousin. And it's like, would you baptize me?

24:25 And John the Baptist is like completely inappropriate. John the Baptist is like, why would I baptize you? You're the one coming with whom we will baptize with fire. Why would I baptize you? And Jesus says, because I'm familiar with the word and the wisdom of God. And in order to serve all righteousness, in order to do things the right way, this is my first step. And so what I'm saying is like, the first step is knowing well who God calls us to be without

25:00 knowing where it will lead. It does not seem natural or appropriate even that Jesus would get baptized by John the Baptist. But Jesus' defense or justification for John the Baptist's baptizing him is like, this is what we're supposed to do. This is what the scriptures say. This is what God laid out. We don't have to know. We just do. And the first step in being the people who can see the chariots of fire on the mountain who can pause like Elisha in the face of the army's coming is to have started already

25:33 doing the word, the will of God. This is why I asked, one was the last time you can remember doing something you had to do. Because sometimes you just have to do things. Jesus said, this is to fulfill all righteousness. Then he goes from there, it says, let's see. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized immediately, he went up from the water and behold, the heavens

26:07 were open to him. And he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and sitting and was set on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son with him. I am well pleased. People debate, but this is the thing I want you to see. Jesus makes the humble step of obedience to God without knowing what comes next. He's like, God is in charge. And though I would rather elbow John the Baptist out and baptize people on my own because I'm

26:39 the one for whom things come. I will humble myself for all righteousness sake and do the thing that God ordained for me to do. And what comes next? The encouragement of God. People debate, can other people hear this or is it just Jesus? It doesn't really matter if it were just Jesus or if everyone else because the message is for Jesus. There might be other people who might have heard it or not, but what I want you to see is when he takes steps of obedience, he gets encouragement and affirmation from the

27:11 God that he notices and recognizes, experiences and receives. There is a God somewhere with whom we belong. And if we follow the pattern of Jesus, we get his affirmation, acceptance and love. What comes next? Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

27:47 He goes, now, he took this step of obedience because he knew what he was supposed to do and did it without knowing what was coming next. God meets him with the encouragement and affirmation that he needs and realizes his next step. He is led out into the desert. And he survives in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights without eating, supported by the goodness of God. And then the temptation comes. And he gets the first temptation where he says, if you are the Son of God, then make some

28:22 food for yourself. Take care of yourself. Jesus is like man, right? Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I have already been fasting for 40 days. I am not going to solve the problem now on my own. I wait for God to solve it for me. Right? Okay, but this is the one I wanted you to see this next one. Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple.

28:53 It said to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down for it as written. He will command the angels concerning you. And on their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. The devil, the temperature is quoting Scripture. That is what they, God promises to do for the Messiah. They will be protected.

29:24 If you fall, they will catch you up because we don't want you to die because we have a specific path for you to go down. And so in one sense, that protection is right. But Jesus has now connected to the God who interacts in our world. And he has realized this is not what it needs to do. He does not need to prove it. He does not need further evidence. He does not need to try it out and test it.

29:56 He knows that the supernatural is there, but he's like, I don't need the supernatural to navigate the situation. God has given me everything that I need already. And so he tells the devil once again to go home. Right? And then at the end, he's like, I'll give you everything. And Jesus is like, dude, you can't, whatever you give me, pales in comparison to what the God would give me, go home. The reason I walked you through this is because I think it is something that we can actually

30:27 do because I believe that there is a God somewhere. And that I belong, I was created to live forever with this God, wherever the God is. And the God has me here in this world, though I'm not of it. I also believe that God has not abandoned me to the grave, but will intervene on my behalf as it is needed when it is appropriate.

31:05 God empowers me to stand in the place of Syrian armies or whoever without fear. Most folks would not get in that situation even. Most folks, if they were Elisha and they got a hint at what the Syrian king would do, would not stick their head in business that did not belong to them.

31:35 They're like, that will get me in trouble. I'm staying out of trouble. But Elisha knew that he wasn't on his own, that he was in the world, but not of it. And that he could get into problems that only God could fix. I remember the first time I walked into this building. Terry and Aaron saw it very early as well. Several of you did. I remember the first time I walked into this building. It asked me one time. It looked like a family junkyard, but it was just enough.

32:07 And when I walked in, I thought of, like, I literally began thinking of the friends that I have that could make the place amazing. I saw the reality of what we could afford versus the reality of what we needed. I thought of where the city was growing and where we wanted to be if we were going to love the city. And like, people said, you're crazy, but like, for me, it was like, this is a God-sized

32:42 problem. It's a thing that God does. We're not alone. And what I want to encourage you all, this is a silly example of a willingness to put yourself into place a God-sized problem because you know you're not alone. And what I think is like, what I want to encourage you all is like this follow like Jesus. If you want to be a person who can see the chariots of fire, who can look at problems surrounding you insurmountable and not freak out, who can know the right step to take and observe, expect and receive the intervention of the Almighty in our small things, then

33:17 you start with little bits of obedience. Right? You walk towards the Jordan, you submit to John the Baptist, then you see what comes next. You observe and receive the affirmation of God the Father. He reminds you who you are, what you're up to, how He loves you. You take the step of fasting. You go into the place. You cultivate ears to hear so that when the thing comes, you can deal with it. Like life is hard and the message for today is you are not alone.

33:52 Almighty, infinite help can come to your aid. It has before, it will again. Let's be people that trust it and see it coming. Let me pray that we could do that. Hey Lord, thank you for the story of Elisha and your deference and support of us. Let me just what it looks like to be people who trust you well. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.