Daily Devotional | A God Who Defends

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. The early bird gets the worm. Sayings like these remind us that often success is achieved by the prepared, the aggressive, or the calculating. While this may be true, the original audience for 2 Kings was in no position to achieve success. The book of 2 Kings was written after the fall of Jerusalem, while Israel was still in exile! They needed to depend on God. But would He help them? The adventures of Elisha are told to demonstrate God’s power to the reader. Even though wickedness prevailed across the country, even though His people were downtrodden, Yahweh had not abandoned them.

After delivering one of his colleagues from an accident (vv. 1–7), Elisha found himself in a spy game. The king of Aram intended to invade Israel but found that his strategy had been leaked. Elisha had learned the plans of the enemy and relayed them to the king of Israel (v. 10). The problem was so acute that the king of Aram thought he had a mole on his staff. But the truth was more shocking: “the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom” (v. 12).

Clearly, God was working for Israel through Elisha. When the king sent his armies to capture the prophet, they laid siege to his city. Elisha comforted his terrified servant with words of reality. Words the man could not understand until God opened his eyes to see the horses and chariots protecting them. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (v. 16). God answered Elisha’s prayer, opened the man’s eyes, and what he saw revived his heart!