6:1 Some of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too cramped for us.
The school of prophet’s classroom was too small for all of the new students. This means that the seminary was growing in apostate Israel underneath Elisha’s ministry.
6:2 Let’s go to the Jordan. Each of us will get a log from there and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there.” He said, “Go.”
Most modern students (especially the hippies of the 1960's) want to protest and burn down their schools. These seminary students wanted to build a larger seminary school.
6:3 One of them said, “Please come along with your servants.” He replied, “All right, I’ll come.”
Most students want to get as far from their teachers as possible. Elisha was so well loved, that the students wanted Elisha to join them.
6:4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees.
The Jordan Valley had mostly smaller kinds of trees, such as willows, tamarisks, and acacias that did not provide heavy lumber. This means that the new school would be humble and small.
6:5 As one of them was felling a log, the ax head dropped into the water. He shouted, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed!”
The borrowed ax was made of iron and very expensive. This poor seminary student would not be able to afford to replace it.
6:6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the ax head float.
The iron ax floated to the top of the Jordan River.
6:7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
The seminary student grabbed the floating ax. This was one of the best seminary lessons that the students received. Evidently, God wanted that seminary built in apostate Israel. They needed it!
6:8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade at such and such a place.”
The Syrians were crossing into Israel and invading and plundering different cities.
6:9 But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.”
The prophet sent a message to the King of Israel. He was warned to stay off the battle field.
6:10 So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions.
The Israelites were told to fortify their cities in advance.
6:11 This made the king of Syria upset. So he summoned his advisers and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.”
The Syrian king thought that Israel possessed an internal spy inside of his cabinet.
6:12 One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.”
The Syrian spies knew of the supernatural prophetic skills of Elisha.
6:13 The king ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.” The king was told, “He is in Dothan.”
The King of Syria wanted to know the exact location of Elisha. Dothan was located in the hill country about ten miles north of Samaria. Archaeologists have found almost a dozen occupation levels there, meaning that it existed as an inhabited town for over two thousand years.
6:14 So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army. They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.
The King of Syria sent out his whole army to fight against one prophet of God. The army of Syria did not have a chance.
6:15 The prophet’s attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, “Oh no, my master! What will we do?”
Elisha’s servant was upset, because the entire Syrian army had surrounded the city.
6:16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.”
Elisha was not worried. He was not outnumbered.
6:17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Elisha prayed and the servant was given a peak into the spiritual world. The servant saw the angelic army surrounding and protecting the city. This is the kind of spiritual protection that a believer with sound bible doctrine receives when he goes to war against demonic forces.
6:18 As they approached him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” The Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.
Jehovah answered Elisha’s prayer and blinded the entire Syrian army.
6:19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria.
Elisha told the blind Syrian general that they were in the wrong city. He led them all to Samaria. Samaria was the capital of Israel.
6:20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.
The soldiers opened their eyes and found themselves as prisoners in Samaria.
6:21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, my master?”
The King of Israel showed respect to Elisha and called him his master. The King asked Elisha if he could strike down the Syrians. This would end the Syrian threat forever, because the Syrian army would no longer exist.
6:22 He replied, “Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down? Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.”
The King of Israel did not have the right to strike down these men, because he did not capture them. Instead, Elisha asked the king to invite them to a banquet.
6:23 So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.
Elisha softened the soldiers with kindness. In the ancient Near East, a common meal signified the making of a covenant between two parties. This Syrian army never invaded Israel again.
6:24 Later King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked and besieged Samaria.
King Ben Hadad had attacked Israel earlier and had been captured. Jehovah ordered him to be executed, but King Ahab let him go. Now, Ben Hadad was attacking Israel again with a different Syrian army.
6:25 Samaria’s food supply ran out. They laid siege to it so long that a donkey’s head was selling for eighty shekels of silver and a quarter of a kab of dove’s droppings for five shekels of silver.
A donkey was an unclean animal. Food was so scarce that a donkey’s head was sold at two pounds of silver. Dove droppings were used to light a fire. They were sold for two ounces of silver. Inflation runs rampant during a siege.
6:26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman shouted to him, “Help us, my master, O king!”
The Israelite woman on the city wall asked King Jehoram to judge a case for her.
6:27 He replied, “No, let the Lord help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.”
King Jehoram was very busy. Israel was being sieged by Syria and there was no more grain on the threshing food or wine in the winepress. These were the two staple foods of Israel.
6:28 Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son; we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’
The siege of Samaria was so terrible, that women were eating their own children.
6:29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him.’ But she hid her son!”
The curses of the Mosaic Covenant predicted this sort of pagan cannibalism.
6:30 When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes.
The woman presented her case without any feeling or remorse for her own child. This type of cannibalism would be repeated during the Babylon Captivity and during the Temple Destruction of 70 A.D. The Book of Lamentations describes in detail about the horrors of dying by hunger. This type of punishment was inflicted upon Israel for her apostasy. She had light, but she rejected Jehovah and chose pagan demonic gods.
Whenever unbelievers or carnal believers reject divine instruction from the Word of God, then they will devolve into liberalism. The end result of liberalism is cannibalism. Parents will begin to eat their own children.
6:31 Then he said, “May God judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day!”
King Jehoram blamed Elisha, rather than himself, for the cannibalism of Israel.
6:32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?” Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.”
King Jehoram was attempting to assassinate Elisha. The elders of Samaria possessed great respect for Elisha and were meeting at his house.
6:33 He was still talking to them when the messenger approached and said, “Look, the Lord is responsible for this disaster! Why should I continue to wait for the Lord to help?”
King Jehoram knew that Jehovah was the instigator of this siege and famine in Samaria. Jehoram declared that he saw no hope in the possibility that the Lord would reverse this situation.