Daily Devotional • September 24
A Reading from 2 Kings 6:1-23
1 Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, “As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live.” He answered, “Do so.” 3 Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” And he answered, “I will.” 4 So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, “Alas, master! It was borrowed.” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float.7 He said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
8 Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” 10 The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned a place so that it was on the alert.
11 The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me: Who among us is betraying us to the king of Israel?” 12 Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.” 13 He said, “Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night and surrounded the city.
15 When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” 16 He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people, please, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. 19 Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, “Father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?” 22 He answered, “No! Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink, and let them go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.
Meditation
“If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink; for you will heap coals of fire on their hearts, and the LORD will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21-22).
Elisha must have been familiar with the proverb above—or perhaps this story from 2 Kings is the origin of the proverb itself! Having completely confused the Aramean army, the king of Israel asks Elisha the prophet what to do with their good fortune, whether to slay the enemy now that they were cornered and confused. Elisha tells the king instead to have mercy, to feed them well and send them on their way. It’s a fairy tale ending, at least for today, as they go back to their own land and “the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.”
It puts in my mind relations between my brother and me as we were growing up. I suspect that had he received my poking and baiting with open arms, the wind would have been snatched from my wily sails and I would have relented from teasing and prodding at him. Of course, it’s hard to expect children to behave with such foresight and aplomb, but I wonder how we might apply it to our own lives, when someone is trying to get our goat.
I am hard-pressed to not let my hackles rise and bubble over when someone starts poking at me, whether at church or in my neighborhood or even in the check out line at Target. How different might my days, and the days of our world, be, if we opened our arms to the burrs and irritants of our “enemies” rather than rankled at them?
The Rev. Emily R. Hylden lives with her husband, the Rev. Jordan Hylden, and three sons in Lafayette, Louisiana, and is host of the podcast Emily Rose Meditations.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
Christ Church, Cooperstown, New York
The Diocese of Osun – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Rev. Emily R. Hylden lives with her husband, the Rev. Jordan Hylden, and three sons in Houston, Texas, serves as Upper School Chaplain at St. Francis Episcopal School, and is host of the podcast Emily Rose Meditations.
