may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw : and, behold, the mountain was full of 1 horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 18. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. 12 Kings 2:11. Ps. 34:7; 68: 17. Zech. 1: 8; 6: 1-7. 2 Gen. 19:11. into an ecstatic state, in which the soul sees things which the bodily eye can never see. Keil. Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire. The fiery horses and chariots were symbols of the protecting powers of heaven, which surrounded the prophet. The fiery form indicated the super-terrestrial origin of this host. Fire, as the most etherial of all earthly elements, was the most appropriate substratum for making the spirit world visible. - Keil. The mountain was the hill on which Dothan was situated. The Syrian army surrounded the hill at its base, so that escape seemed impossible. But between the surrounding army and the prophet the whole space was filled with these fiery symbols of God's protecting hosts. They encompassed the prophet as a body-guard, and of course protected him from the enemy on every side. So Christ spoke to Peter in his anxiety of 12 legions of angels he could have for a guard (Matt. 26:53). THE CHRISTIAN'S DEFENDERS. We have here lifted for us for a moment a corner of the curtain that hides from us the invisible world. The miracle is not in the scene disclosed, but in the supernatural opening of the eye to behold it. This invisible world, lying all above us and around us, and full of the evidences of God's providence beyond all that visible nature ever furnishes, is a truth too little taught by our best modern theology, and wholly ignored by our most pretentious science; and yet what has the latter to say against it? A careful study of the Scriptures shows that the world has a larger population than our ordinary means of knowledge would lead us to suppose. Invisible beings, superhuman if not angelic, having ethereal vehicles of motion, and of vast force, may occupy, not merely the surfaces of the earth, and of other bodies which we suppose to be inhabited, but fill the air, the ether lying above the air, and all the intervening resisting space between the remotest parts of the earth, visible to our telescope. There is nothing incredible, irrational, or unscientific in the idea. The consoling doctrine of mighty invisible agencies forming vast hosts under God's direction, working in nature, perhaps in its most interior depths, and all for the carrying on of his moral kingdom, is too clearly presented on the face of the Bible to be denied. It is mentioned by the prophet here, not as a casual circumstance, but as having a constancy and a commonness equal to anything in what we call the visible sphere. He prays that the young man's eyes may be opened, that is, that his inner sight may be supernaturally quickened to discern the mighty fact. This tradition of guardian angels, and of guardian genii, and of an all-surrounding and invisible world, has ever been in the human mind. We find it strikingly set forth by the old poet Hesiod: "Thrice ten thousand watchers of mortal men walk the broad life-feeding earth. Clothed in air, they scan the just and evil deeds of men" ("Works and Days," line 256). Milton doubtless had reference to this passage when he makes it part of Adam's address to Eve in their evening worship: "Nor think, tho' men were none, This is a rational as well as a glorious belief. Well says an author of note, "To insist that nothing exists but what the human eye can see is more worthy the intellect of a Calaban than that of a Milton or a Newton. Tayler Lewis, in S. S. Times. One soul in panoply of heaven Is stronger than their host; The cause which God befriends, cannot Brighter than flaming chariot, Homer N. Dunning. - So V. Elisha's Victory over the Syrians.-Vers. 18-23. 18. And when they (the Syrian army) came down (from the surrounding hills on which they were encamped) to him. To Elisha, to capture him, which was their object in coming to Dothan. Lewis, Keil. Elisha prayed unto the Lord. Elisha's act was not merely a piece of good-nature and magnanimity; it was rather a prophetical act, in the strict sense of the words, which had no other aim than to glorify the God of Israel. Not for his own sake did 19. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. 20. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? 22. And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? 1 set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 1 Rom. 12: 20. Elisha pray Jehovah to smite the Syrians with blindness, but in order that he might lead them to Samaria. The thanks for their surrender into the hands of the king were due, not to him, but to Jehovah. Jehoram was to learn once more to recognize the faithfulness and might of Jehovah, and to be convinced that there was a prophet in Israel (chap. 5:8), from the fact that these dangerous enemies were delivered into his hands without a blow. On the other hand, Benhadad and the Syrians were to learn that they could not accomplish anything, with all their cunning plots, against the "prophet that is in Israel" (ver. 12), and much less, against him whose servant and witness this prophet was. — Lange. And he smote them with blindness. This is not the usual Hebrew word for "blindness," but is a compound word, a thing not very common in Hebrew. One part resembles the ordinary word to blind; the other is from a quite different root, meaning to shine. The resulting idea would be that of coruscation or dazzling; and the whole would denote visual bewilderment, hallucination, rather than total loss of sight. The Syriac renders it by a word denoting spectres, swimming vision, full of false images; and this would seem to suit the place exactly. Tayler Lewis. It would have been a difficult matter for Elisha to have conducted a large force of blind men, with their horses and chariots, by the rough and hilly roads of that country, eleven miles, to Samaria. The blindness was a mental bewilderment which disabled them from recognizing Elisha, or understanding where they were or what they were about, and put them wholly in the prophet's power. Todd. 19. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city. There is no untruth in the words of Elisha; for his home was not in Dothan, where he was only residing temporarily, but in Samaria; and the words "to the man may well mean, to his house. Thenius. The whole matter depends upon what the question was to which Elisha's words were a reply. If they asked, Where shall we find Elisha? the prophet, though he stood before them, could truly answer, Not this way, and not this city; for he intended to let them see him only at Samaria. They were deceived, indeed, by these words, but the law of truth does not require a man to correct the false conceptions of his enemies. Elisha led these hosts to Samaria. There their eyes were opened, and there they found the man they were seeking. - Lowrie. 20. When they were come into Samaria. The capital of Israel and the home of Elisha (see under ver. 18). 21. My father. The prophet-disciples called their master "father," and this because it was the ordinary title of the chief of the prophets, somewhat as the same word is occasionally used now-a-days. Lange. Shall I smite them? As Elisha had brought them into his power, it was natural that the king should ask him what he should do with the captives. The king seemed to know no better or other way of treating enemies except to kill them. 22. Thou shalt not smite them. Jehoram is forbidden to smite these captives, since the special object of the miracle was to make the Syrians aware that it was in vain to attempt anything against the prophet, and that the God of the Jews was the one true and mighty God, and unless they had returned and told their countrymen what had happened, this object would have been defeated. Cook. It would also give a hint of the power of forgiveness and kindness, and teach both nations that there was a better way of treating one another than to be continually fighting. Wouldest thou smite, etc.? If thou dost not 23. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the 1bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. 12 Kings 5:2. even put to death those whom thou hast captured with bow and spear, how canst thou slay these? Others make it an assertion instead of a question. Smite your prisoners of war if you will, but not these, for they were not captured by your sword or bow. Set bread and water before them. Heap coals of fire on their heads; slay their enmity by sparing them. Only when he had them in his power could he do this effectually; otherwise it would have been attributed to fear. 23. He prepared great provision for them. "He entertained them," i.e., "at a great feast." He did not merely follow the letter of the prophet's direction, but understood its spirit, and acted accordingly. Cook. So the bands of Syria came no more, etc. The plundering bands which had been in the habit of ravaging the territory (2 Kings 5: 2) ceased their incursions for a time, in consequence either of the miracle, or of the kind treatment which Elisha had recommended. — Cook. I. 2. PRACTICAL. A true man of God often wields a power in the nation greater than that of its king. 3. The prophets of peace, of sunshine, of life, do good as real and great, though not so marked, as the prophets of storm and fire. 4. If God be for us, who can be against us? 5. God knows every secret thought and feeling and hope of the heart; a fact that is a warning and terror to the wicked, but a joy and comfort to God's own people. 6. The lack of faith and insight is a cause of fear. 7. God's people are surrounded by countless defenders. They that are for the Christian are always more and greater than those who are against him. 8. There is great power and comfort in knowing that other and better beings are around us. Our work and our warfare are but a part of a mighty work and warfare ever going on. 9. All the multitudinous forces of the universe are with God's people, and against his enemies. 10. If we do not often engage our thoughts respecting angels and their service towards the earthly church, it is not because the Scriptures are too silent respecting them. "A multitude of writers in the Scriptures-fifteen at least-have described these glorious beings with the most perfect harmony and without a single discordant idea." — Dwight's Theology. II. The invisible world is close around us. 12. Pray God for insight. 13. The man of faith sees far more than other men. 14. They whose faith is strong ought tenderly to consider and compassionate those who are weak and of a timorous spirit, and to do what they can to strengthen their hands (ver. 16). 15. The victories of peace are greater and more glorious than the victories of war. 16. It is far better to change an enemy into a friend than to destroy an enemy. 17. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. As this is the first lesson of the Quarter, give the scholars a clear and vivid idea of THE CONDITION OF THE TWO KINGDOMS. REVIEW briefly the history and miracles of Elisha. NOTE the time and place of these marvellous works. The SUBJECT of this lesson is, THE DEFENDERS OF GOD'S PEOPLE. I. ISRAEL ATTACKED BY SYRIA (ver. 8). The location and causes of the war. II. DEFENDED BY GOD'S PROPHET (vers. 9-12). The lesson from this is that God reads the secret thoughts of men. Have the scholars look up the texts in the Bible which prove and illustrate this. The two different effects of this fact. (1) Comfort to the Christian; (a) God knows his secret longings, even when he cannot express them; (b) God understands his motives when others misrepresent him; (c) God knows just how to lead and comfort him. Illustration. Many years ago Rev. H. W. Beecher was mobbed. The mob thought he was in a certain house, and threw stones and eggs at its windows and doors. But all this time, Mr. Beecher was in another house near by, looking at the attack, and feeling perfectly safe because he was not there. So we watch the attacks of infidels and opposers. They often attack caricatures of the Bible truths and not the truths themselves, and we can look calmly on, because we are not where the blows fall.-P. (2) Terror to the sinner: (a) his secret sins are known; (b) he is judged by the motive, and not by the outward act alone; (c) he can hide nothing from God, and therefore God can hinder his secret plans. III. THE ASSAULT UPON ELISHA (vers. 13, 14). IV. THE MULTITUDE OF HIS DEFENDERS. The Christian is surrounded by unseen defenders. (1) God (Ps. 46: 1); (2) Christ (Matt. 28: 20); (3) the Holy Spirit (John 14: 16, 17); (4) angels (Heb. 1: 14); (5) the secret forces of nature (Rom. 8: 28). Illustration. As around the virgin and child Jesus, in Raphael's Sistine Madonna, the air is filled full of angels' faces, so ever around the Christian are there invisible angels of God for his defence and help, — ministering spirits who minister to those that shall be heirs of salvation. Illustration. A good man dreamed he had died and had gone up to the gates of heaven. Before admission, he was, however, bidden to tarry awhile in the picture-room. He looked from scene to scene upon the canvas there, and all appeared familiar to him. At last he recognized them as from his own life, and in each presentation he was in peril of some kind, but angels, sent of God, were guarding or directing him. The disclosure thus made put all his life into a new light. God's messengers had cared for him all the way through. His heart was at once raised in gratitude to his divine protector, and then he was ushered into the city.- S. S. Times. Illustration. The unseen forces of nature, many and mighty, which yet God has promised shall work good to those that love him. We are surrounded by these forces, magnetism, heat, light, chemical affinities, attraction of gravitation, all under the control of God. V. THE PEACEFUL VICTORY. Dwell especially on conquering enemies by changing them into friends (Rom. 12: 20, 21). LESSON II. — OCT. II. THE FAMINE IN SAMARIA. 2 KINGS 7:1-17. GOLDEN TEXT. The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. LUKE 18: 27. TIME. — About B.C. 891. The date of these events may be fixed, with great probability, to the fifth year of Jehoram's reign, on the assumption that his last seven years coincided with the seven years' famine foretold by Elisha, probably as another visitation for the king's apostasy. Smith. - PLACE.Samaria, the capital of Israel. RULERS.-Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (B.C. 892-885); Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of Israel (B.C. 896-884); Benhadad II., king of Syria. The famous Moabite Stone and Black Obelisk belong to about this date. INTRODUCTION. After a defeat so remarkable, succeeded by such an act of clemency as recorded in our last lesson, we would suppose that the king of Syria would allow at least some years to pass away before he renewed his warfare against Israel. But when two neighboring nations have been at war with each other, and come to look upon each other almost as natural enemies, it takes but small offence to renew their conflicts. At this period, Israel and Syria were rival kingdoms, easily embroiled with each other; and the barbarous style of their warfare exasperated both parties so as to separate them more widely. Yet the records of cruelty all belong to the Syrians, who repay badly the generous conduct already mentioned on the part of Jehoram (comp. 2 Kings 6: 22, 23; and 8: 12; 10: 32).- Lowrie. Thus, after a brief period of peace, the war was again renewed; not, perhaps, by the small incursions mentioned at the close of the last lesson, but by war on a large scale. 1. Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord, 1To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 1 Vers. 18, 19. EXPLANATORY. I. The Siege of Samaria. - Benhadad, the king of Syria, soon collected another great army, and came up from Damascus, with the evident intention of subjugating the whole country. Being resistless in the field, he soon shut up the king of Israel, with his army, in Samaria the capital, and besieged the city. This was the fourth time that he had attacked the king of Israel with great force (1 Kings 20: 1, 26; 22: 29–31), and the second time that he had besieged Samaria (1 Kings 20: 1). Todd. The attempt was made, as was common in ancient warfare, to reduce the city by starvation. The ancient engines of war were often utterly powerless against well-fortified places, and a siege was a tedious affair. Of course the length of time necessary to reduce a garrison by famine would depend upon the supplies that had been laid in in preparation for such a time.— Lowrie. In this case the attack seems to have been unexpected, and the inhabitants of the city but poorly provided with food; and the city was so closely invested that it was impossible for any one to pass into or out of it; so that in a short time the inhabitants were reduced to the very verge of starvation (2 Kings 6: 24). II. The Famine in the City.-To show the extremities to which the people were reduced from scarcity of food, it is stated that "an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of doves' dung for five pieces of silver." If shekels be meant, the ass's head must have fetched nearly ten pounds of our money ($44), and half a pint of "doves' dung" about twelve shillings and sixpence ($2.75). The ass was an unclean animal, and its flesh therefore was not allowed to be eaten; but necessity knows no law. The head of the ass is, besides, the worst part to eat. - Keil. And even more than this, women were found eating their own children (2 Kings 6: 25-29). In Plutarch's Life of Artaxerxes, an instance occurs of the Persian army being reduced to such distress that they had to eat their beasts of burden; and even that kind of food became so scarce that an ass's head would be sold for sixty silver drachmæ ($9.30). We are assured, on the authority of a highly credible historian, that during the famine which afflicted Egypt in the year 1200, the poorer people in the city of Old Cairo "were driven to devour dogs, the carcasses of animals and men, yea, even the dried excrements of both." There is, perhaps, no description of a famine on record which supplies so many details which tend to illustrate those which are given in the passage of Scripture now before us. — Kitto. III. Elisha and the Siege. -One day the king of Israel, shocked and maddened by the discovery that women were eating their infant children, suddenly determined to take the life of Elisha the prophet, whose home was in the city. Probably his anger was on account of Elisha's having encouraged him to prolong resistance, by holding out hopes which thus far had proved delusive, or because he had not used his supernatural powers for the relief of the city. The prophet, however, anticipated his purpose, and ordered his door to be closed, and the messenger sent to kill him to be arrested on the threshold. - Todd. King Jehoram, having followed his messenger to see that his command was executed, made bitter complaint to Elisha that the evil was sent by God, and there was no use in holding out any longer, for relief would never come from Elisha's God (2 Kings 6: 30-33). This long and deadly duration of the siege must have tried Elisha's faith as well as that of the king and people. And he seems to have been holding a meeting with the elders, in his house, for prayer to God for relief. The famine was doubtless a punishment for the sins of the people, and must continue till it had done its work. - P. IV. Elisha Prophesies Immediate Relief. Vers. 1, 2. I. Then Elisha said. In reply to the complaint of the king. The answer had come to Elisha from God, and he now makes it known. Thus saith the Lord. Jehovah. The coming of the relief was no guess of Elisha, but a revelation from God. To morrow about this time. The relief was to be immediate as well as abundant. A measure of fine flour. Literally, "a seah of fine flour." The seah was the third part of an ephah. It was probably equal to about a peck and a half English. Cook. Be sold for a shekel. The original word comes from shakal, to weigh, from which is derived by transposition of letters the English "scale," an instrument of weighing. It is so called from the fact that the value of money |