68: Chariots of Fire

In 2 Kings 6 we find an incredible story that illustrates the opening of spiritual eyes beautifully. In this story, the King of Syria decided to make war against Israel. Elisha the prophet got wind of it by the Holy Spirit and warned the king of Israel not to fall into the traps the king of Syria had laid. The king of Syria thought one of his own men had betrayed him, so he called his servants together to ask which one of them was the spy. Their response was that the God of Israel had told Elisha, the prophet, every move he was making -— even sharing with Elisha the words the king spoke in his bedroom! So the king sent his army to go get Elisha. We’ll pick up the story in 2 Kings 6:14.

Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord 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 6:14-17)¹

This is an example of reality which appears to be real vs. reality which is truly real! The servant’s eyes were opened to the realm of grace. The realm of the eternal. The realm of power and might and protection. Before his eyes were opened, he came to a conclusion based on his circumstances. He thought they were in big trouble. Both of these men were in the same situation, but one of them responded through the lens of temporary reality, the other one responded through the lens of eternal reality.

In the book of Ephesians Paul prayed this prayer for the church:

[I] do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. (Ephesians 1:16-21)

In my opinion this is the best prayer we can pray for each other. There is exceedingly great power available to us, but we just don’t see it! If our spiritual eyes were open to the fact that the power which raised Jesus from the dead is within us by the Holy Spirit, the spiritual landscape of this world would change. Spiritual blindness has caused such passivity in the body of Christ that many Christians think that God is the one who has caused all the sickness and the tragedies and the earthquakes — all because they only see with their natural eyes, and that’s the best explanation they can come up with. But what if we saw the chariots of fire? What if we realized that there are more on our side in the spirit realm than those against us? Only then would we begin to walk by faith and not by sight.

(from pages 122-123 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.