The Real Majority: Warfare by Feasting
Introduction: The World Behind the World
We live in a world that is determined to believe only in what it can see, measure, and count. This is the age of the spreadsheet, the algorithm, and the poll. Our enemies, and often our own hearts, operate on a simple, brute-force calculus: who has more soldiers, more money, more influence, more chariots? The king of Aram in our story is the perfect picture of this militant materialism. He is a pragmatist. He believes in armies and spies and strategic encampments. He lives, as C.S. Lewis would say, in a one-story universe. When faced with a problem he cannot explain, his only recourse is to find the traitor, to plug the leak in his closed system.
But the Christian faith declares that this visible world is not the only world. There is a world behind the world, a reality that undergirds and directs this one. And the man of God, the one whose faith is functioning, is the one who lives his life in accordance with that unseen reality. This story is not a fairy tale about imaginary angels. It is a gritty, historical account of a clash between two kingdoms and two ways of seeing. It is a lesson in spiritual optics. It teaches us that the central battle is not between armies, but between competing visions of reality. What you fear reveals what you see, and what you see determines what you do. The question before us is simple: are we looking at the world with the terrified eyes of Elisha's servant, or with the calm, faith-filled eyes of Elisha himself?
This passage is a profound encouragement to the saints in every age who feel outnumbered and surrounded. It is a divine command to stop using the enemy's math and to start counting the armies of God. It shows us that true spiritual warfare is not just defensive; it is shockingly offensive, and its ultimate weapon is not the sword, but the feast.
The Text
Now the king of Aram was warring against Israel; and he counseled with his servants saying, "In such and such a place shall be my camp." And the man of God sent word to the king of Israel saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Arameans are coming down there." And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God had told him; thus he warned him, so that he guarded himself there, more than once or twice. Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?" And one of his servants said, "No, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom." So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him." And it was told to him, saying, "Behold, he is in Dothan." So he sent horses and chariots and a heavy military force there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. Then the attendant of the man of God arose early and went out, and behold, a military force with horses and chariots was all around the city. And his young man said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So he said, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed and said, "O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." And Yahweh 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. And they came down to him, and Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, "Strike this people with blindness, I pray." So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. Then Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, and this is not the city; walk after me and I will walk you over to the man whom you seek." And he walked them over to Samaria. Now it happened that when they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, "O Yahweh, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." So Yahweh opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, "My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?" And he said, "You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and walk back to their master." So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel.
(2 Kings 6:8-23 LSB)
The Materialist's Tantrum (vv. 8-14)
The story opens with a simple conflict. The king of Aram is trying to ambush Israel, but his plans are repeatedly thwarted. God's prophet, Elisha, is acting as a heavenly intelligence agency, revealing the enemy's troop movements to the king of Israel.
"Then the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, 'Will you not tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?'" (2 Kings 6:11)
The king's reaction is entirely predictable for a man who believes only in the material world. He has a security leak. There must be a mole, a traitor in his inner circle. His worldview has no category for the supernatural. The idea that the God of Israel has bugged his bedroom is simply unthinkable. For the secularist, every problem must have a secular cause and a secular solution.
When his servant corrects him, pointing to Elisha, the king's response is consistent with his faulty worldview. If the problem is one man, the solution is overwhelming force.
"So he sent horses and chariots and a heavy military force there, and they came by night and surrounded the city." (2 Kings 6:14)
This is the folly of godless power. He sends an entire army to arrest one man. It is a sledgehammer to catch a gnat. He thinks that if he can just eliminate the prophet, he can solve his problem. He does not understand that Elisha is not the source of the power; he is merely the messenger. The king of Aram is picking a fight with the God who spoke the world into existence, and he thinks a few horses and chariots will settle the matter. This is the kind of strategic idiocy that always accompanies rebellion against God.
The Arithmetic of Fear (vv. 15-16)
The scene shifts from the pagan king to Elisha's attendant. He is one of the good guys, but his faith is about to be tested. He gets up early, looks outside, and sees the raw, physical reality of their situation.
"Alas, my master! What shall we do?" (2 Kings 6:15)
From a purely human standpoint, his fear is entirely rational. He has done the math. He has counted the chariots. He has assessed the threat. He and Elisha are trapped. His cry is the cry of every Christian who has ever looked at the overwhelming forces of the culture arrayed against the church and felt a knot of dread in his stomach. He sees the problem, but he cannot see the provision. He is using the enemy's accounting methods.
Elisha's response is the central thesis of the entire story. It is calm, confident, and utterly dismissive of the visible "facts."
"So he said, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'" (2 Kings 6:16)
This is not a pep talk. It is a statement of fact. Elisha is not trying to put a positive spin on a bad situation. He is describing reality. He is saying that his servant's math is wrong because he has failed to carry the one. He has failed to account for God. The unseen armies of Heaven are not a metaphor; they are a strategic asset. We are not the scrappy underdog. In the great cosmic conflict, we are the overwhelming majority.
A Prayer for Eyesight (v. 17)
Elisha understands that the problem is not the Aramean army; the problem is his servant's spiritual blindness. And so, he prays one of the most important prayers in all of Scripture.
"Then Elisha prayed and said, 'O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' And Yahweh 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." (2 Kings 6:17)
Notice what he does not pray. He does not pray, "Lord, send the angels." He does not pray for reinforcements. The reinforcements are already there. He prays for his servant to have the ability to perceive what is already true. Faith is the organ of spiritual sight. It is the God-given ability to see the world as it actually is, to see the King in His beauty and the vastness of His resources.
And what does the servant see? He sees God's army. And it is a direct, mocking parallel to the enemy's army. Aram has horses and chariots. God has horses and chariots of fire. God always out-classes the opposition. He meets them on their own terms and demonstrates His utter superiority. The mountain was not empty and then filled; it was full the entire time. The servant's fear did not change the reality, it only blinded him to it. This is the prayer we must pray for ourselves, for our children, and for our churches: "Lord, open our eyes."
Grace as a Weapon (vv. 18-23)
With the reality of God's protection established, Elisha goes on the offensive. And his tactics are bizarre, comical, and profoundly Christ-like.
"Elisha prayed to Yahweh and said, 'Strike this people with blindness, I pray.' So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha." (2 Kings 6:18)
The army that came to capture one man is now captured by him. They are struck not with debilitating, permanent blindness, but with a state of confusion and disorientation. The prophet they came to seize now becomes their tour guide, and he leads them on a merry chase right into the capital city of their enemy. God's sovereignty is so absolute that He can use His prophet to lead an entire enemy army by the nose.
Once they are in Samaria, their eyes are opened, and they find themselves completely helpless. The king of Israel, seeing this, responds with the predictable logic of the sword.
"My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?" (2 Kings 6:21)
He sees a military opportunity. A chance to annihilate a trapped army. But Elisha rebukes him. This is not how God's kingdom wins its victories. God did the capturing, and He will dictate the terms of engagement.
Elisha's command is a radical act of gospel warfare. "Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and walk back to their master." This is not just mercy; it is a strategic masterstroke. The king of Israel outdoes the command and prepares a "great feast." He lavishes them with covenant hospitality. He treats his enemies as guests.
And what is the result of this shocking act of grace? "And the marauding bands of Arameans did not come again into the land of Israel." The feast accomplished what the sword could not. A lasting peace was won not through bloodshed, but through bread. This is the logic of the gospel. We overcome evil with good. We love our enemies. We feed the hungry. We heap coals of fire on their heads not with vengeance, but with a great feast. This is how the kingdom of God advances, disarming its foes with a startling generosity that leaves them speechless and pacified.
Conclusion: Open Our Eyes, and Pass the Bread
We are that servant, waking up every morning in a world surrounded by the horses and chariots of a pagan empire. We see the headlines, the cultural decay, the institutional hostility, and our hearts cry out, "Alas, what shall we do?" We are tempted to despair because we are using the world's math.
We must learn to pray Elisha's prayer. "Lord, open my eyes that I may see." Open my eyes to the reality of the risen and ascended Christ, who has all authority in heaven and on earth. Open my eyes to the mountains filled with His fiery host. Open my eyes to the fact that we are the real majority, because God is with us.
And once our eyes are open, we must learn to fight Elisha's war. Our ultimate strategy is not to curse the darkness, but to light a candle and throw a feast. We are to be so confident in the spiritual reality of God's power that we can afford to be lavishly gracious to our enemies. We confront the blindness of the world not by screaming at it, but by leading it to the King's table. We do not fight them with their weapons of rage and coercion. We fight them with the fruit of the Spirit, with shocking acts of kindness, with the bread and the wine. For this is how our King conquered. He was led into the enemy's capital, and there He prepared a feast for us, His enemies, at the cost of His own life. And by that feast, He disarmed the principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.