Being a Magnet for God's Forces

In my talks this week and last week, I have outlined nine different ways in which a patriot can fulfill his obligation to the nation in which God has placed him, and I will just briefly enumerate them.

1. Number one, seeing ourselves as part of a whole.
2. Number two, being “relatable”—the kind of person people can relate to.
3. Number three, seeing ourselves as contributors.
4. Number four, communicating a positive attitude.
5. Number five, being appreciative.
6. Number six, recognizing spiritual realities.
7. Number seven, being a grain of salt.
8. Number eight, being an interpreter.
9. Number nine, being an intercessor.

Today I am going to speak about one more way, a tenth way in which we may fulfill our obligation to our nation. And this way I call “Being a Magnet for God’s Forces”—being a magnet. I think you will see what I mean as I go on.

I want to speak from the example of one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, the prophet Elisha, and I want to focus on a particular situation in the career of Elisha. It’s described in the second book of Kings, chapter 6. At that time Syria was at war with Elisha’s people Israel. And the Syrian King would send invading forces into Israel, to attack Israel. But they never succeeded in their attacks on Israel because Israel always seem to know in advance just where they were going to attack, and what they were going to do.

And so eventually, the King of Syria said, “Which of you people in my staff is on the side of the King of Israel? Because we can never take them by surprise. They always know where we are going to be in advance.” And one of his servants said, “None of us is on the side of the King of Israel, but Elisha the Prophet in Israel, tells the King of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.” And so the King of Syria decided that it wasn’t worth making war on Israel, as a whole.

The man he needed to get a hold of was this prophet Elisha, who always knew beforehand his strategy against Elisha’s people, Israel. So the King of Syria sent a big army with horses and chariots just for one purpose: to capture Elisha. It always appeals to me that Elisha was so important, that the King of Syria thought it was worth sending an army to get one man.

I think it’s a kind of challenge to us as God’s people that we need to have some impact on society and on history. I wonder, for instance, whether there is anybody who would find it worthwhile sending an army to capture you, or capture me. And if not I wonder if we are really doing our job.

Anyhow, the King of Syria sent this army and they heard that Elisha was in a certain city, so in the night they came up against the city, and surrounded it to besiege it. And then next morning when Elisha’s servant got up, he suddenly discovered that the whole city was surrounded and he was terribly alarmed. Now I will read from there on, in this record: 2 Kings chapter 6 beginning at verse15 through verse 17:  

“When the servant of the man of God [that’s Elisha, the man of God] got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord what shall we do?’ the servant asked. [He was terrified.] ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”  

You see, there was an invisible army involved in this battle. The servant of the prophet could not see it, until the prophet prayed for his eyes to be opened. So there was the physical army, the army of Syria, the enemies of Israel, encamped around the city. But there was another invisible army, on all the mountains round about. And this second invisible army which was God’s army, and remember the Lord is the Lord of Hosts, He is the Lord of Armies. If you think that earth has got armies, you need to pause and consider that the Lord has heavenly armies. That’s one of His great titles, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of Armies. And the Lord’s armies were all around that situation. But what really blesses me, the point that I want to bring out and emphasize is, that when the eyes of that servant where opened, it says, he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire, all around Elisha.

That’s what I mean by being a magnet for the forces of God. Elisha had a relationship with God, such that the armies of heaven surrounded Elisha. He was a magnet for the protective forces of God for his people. They didn’t surround the city, they didn’t surround the governor of the city, it wasn’t the secular rulers, but it was that one man of God, Elisha who truly knew and served God, who had the mind of the LORD, who knew how to pray. And the armies of heaven were focused on Elisha.

What were the two aspects of Elisha’s ministry? Very simply, I put it this way: he represented God to the people and he represented the people to God. He was the one who could unfold to his people the counsel of God, the mind of God, the secrets of God, the judgments of God, the requirements of God. But he did not just do that, he also was a man of prayer, an intercessor, like we were talking about yesterday. And so he also represented his people to God. He called out for mercy, he called out for protection, he called out for help. And so the armies of heaven surrounded Elisha.

You know I have an ambition, I do not know whether I can achieve it, but my ambition is to be the kind of servant of God, that God surrounds with His armies. I believe there is no greater way that any person can serve his nation or his people, then being a magnet for the armies of heaven.

Just to complete this picture of Elisha and his position in his people Israel, I want to turn on in the book of second Kings, to the 13th chapter, to the scene where Elisha is on his death bed. And as he lies there on his death bed, the King of Israel, who was not a particularly godly man, so far as I can understand, came down and wept over him. This is the scene as it is described there in 2 Kings chapter 13 and verse 14:  

“Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash King of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. ‘My father! My father!’ he cried. ‘The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’”  

That King, as far as I can understand, was not normally a very spiritual man. But when he heard that Elisha was on his death bed, he suddenly realized that as King, he didn’t have control over the situation. He didn’t have the answers. And maybe, somewhat belatedly, he realized the real significance of Elisha. God was about to take away the man around whom heaven’s armies mustered. And so the King went down, and he cried “My father! My father!” He realized that, in a certain sense, Elisha had been the father figure in Israel, the one who represented the Fatherhood of God, the authority of God, the reverence that God deserved. And then he said to him, “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” What did he mean? He saw something in the spirit. He saw the same thing that the servant had seen when the city was besieged earlier. He saw that all heaven’s forces centered around this man of God. And he was terribly distressed and griefstricken, because he saw that the nation was about to lose its true defense.

That always stays with me. What kind of persons should you and I be as Christians in our nation? Shouldn’t we have something of the same affect on the nation as Elisha? Shouldn’t we be, by our lives, by our witness, by our prayers, by representing God, shouldn’t we be the kind of people around whom the armies of heaven muster, and thus be the chariot and the horsemen of our people?

Well, our time is up for today but before I close, I want to make a special request of you. This week we are asking our listeners across the nation to express their appreciation of this radio ministry by sending us a special Thanksgiving offering. I am sure you understand that this ministry is kept on the air by the offerings of people just like yourself, people who have been helped and blessed by its message. By sending us your offering at this time you will do three important things.

1. First, you will be expressing your appreciation for help that you yourself have received through this ministry.
2. Second, you will enable us to bring the same kind of help to someone else who needs it as much as you do, that may not be in a position to support us financially.
3. Third, you will encourage and strengthen me, personally.

So, please take time to say, “Thank you” at Thanksgiving.