God strikes the Syrian army blind so that they cannot attack Elisha
In the Bible, disability shows up in amazing ways. The book of 2 Kings contains a number of amazing miracles, but one that stands out is how God strikes the Syrian army blind so that they cannot attack Elisha. This is a remarkable story that illustrates the way that God uses His servants, including human teachers of His Word, to communicate His truth and to protect and deliver people from Satan’s attacks and plans (Luke 8:20; Acts 13:11; Romans 16:20).
The king of Syria heard that there was a man of God in Dothan and sent his whole army to surround the city. The army was large and mighty with horses and chariots. But Elisha was not afraid of the enemy. He prayed for protection and God answered him by striking the Syrians blind. This was a special kind of blindness that made them unable to see. This made them completely helpless, and it also prevented them from recognizing the city to which they were being led.
Rather than kill them, as the king would have been inclined to do, Elisha commanded him not to but to feed them and send them back to their master. Elisha’s advice was consistent with the principle of “turning the other cheek” and is a lesson to us in how to treat our enemies, even those who have hurt us. The king wisely followed the prophet’s counsel. And as a result, the free-lance raiders from Syria no longer came into Israel.
Elisha could have asked for God to kill the army of Syria, but He did not. He wanted to demonstrate that He was the God of miracles and that His Word is true. He wanted to convey the same message to the king of Israel as He had done for Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 32:7-8.
While this incident was a miraculous one, it is important to remember that God is more than capable of dealing with the armies of the world in a way that no other power can. He does this through His angels and on occasion He will do so through the prayers of His servants, who are His representatives on earth.
We can pray that God will give us wisdom and guidance to help others and to do good in this world. We can also ask that He will allow us to see the spiritual army that is around us, just as He allowed Elisha to see the invisible army surrounding him that day. These spiritual armies have far more firepower than the horses and chariots of the Syrian army, and they are far more effective than the armies that we can muster in our own strength. This is why we must constantly depend upon the power of God, as demonstrated by the example of Elijah and Elisha in this passage. And this is why we need to read the Bible and trust in God’s Word, which tells us that His power is greater than all of our enemies combined.
