PM 10-19 A Table for the Enemy

Text: 2 Kings 6:8-23 Series: Trust and Obey Date: October 19, 2026 · PM Speaker: Ed Rangel Location: Niebla, Chile Bible Version: NASB 1995 Updated Edition Sermon Type: Expository

Thesis

God opens our eyes to trust His power when we are surrounded, and He teaches us to overcome evil with mercy that reflects the cross of Christ.

Hook

An army arrived at night and surrounded a small city. At daybreak, a servant stepped outside and saw horses, chariots, and soldiers in every direction. His question came immediately: “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

Elisha saw the same threat, but it did not rule him. The servant saw everything the enemy had brought. Elisha knew that the presence of God was greater than the danger their eyes could see.

The account does not end when God saves Elisha. It ends with enemy soldiers seated at a table, eating bread that Israel could have refused them. God shows His power, delivers the enemy into Israel’s hands, and then governs the response of His people.

Introduction

1. The preceding accounts showed that God could cleanse Naaman, expose Gehazi, and make a borrowed axe head float.
2. The conflict now grows. The king of Aram sends an army to capture one prophet.
3. The passage repeatedly turns on sight and blindness. The servant needs opened eyes, the soldiers lose their ability to recognize the way, and they later see that they stand inside Samaria.
4. The final question reaches beyond God’s ability to save. How should a rescued person respond when his enemy lies within reach?

I. God knows the plans the enemy tries to hide (2 Kings 6:8-14)

A. God’s word frustrated the attacks of Aram.

2 Kings 6:8: 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.”

2 Kings 6:9: 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.”

2 Kings 6:10: 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.

1. The king of Aram thought his conversations were secret, but the Lord knew every plan.
   1. Aram’s advantage depended on surprising Israel.
   2. The word revealed through Elisha arrived before the army.
2. The king of Israel still had to obey the warning.
   1. God identified the danger, but the king still had to avoid the place.
   2. God’s providence does not make prudent obedience unnecessary.

B. The king looked for a traitor and found a prophet.

2 Kings 6:11: Now the heart of the king of Aram was enraged over this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you tell me which of us is for the king of Israel?”

2 Kings 6:12: 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.”

2 Kings 6:13: So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and take him.” And it was told him, saying, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”

2 Kings 6:14: He sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

1. The king understood that Elisha knew his plans, yet he acted as if he could surprise the God who had revealed them.
2. He sent horses, chariots, and a great army against one man.
   1. From a human point of view, Dothan was trapped.
   2. From God’s point of view, the army had entered the place where He would demonstrate its helplessness.
3. We make the same error when we measure safety by what stands before our eyes. A closed door, strong opposition, or hostile majority cannot limit the Lord.

II. Fear counts the enemy, but faith counts on God (2 Kings 6:15-17)

A. The servant saw a real danger.

2 Kings 6:15: Now when the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

1. His fear did not begin with an imaginary threat. The city was surrounded.
2. Fear reduced his world to what he could see.
   1. Soldiers stood at every exit.
   2. He could not yet see the help God had already placed around Elisha.
3. Fear does something similar in us. It counts resources, opposition, and possible losses, but it can forget the God who governs the whole scene.

B. Elisha answered with truth before he prayed for new sight.

2 Kings 6:16: So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

2 Kings 6:17: Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

1. The chariots of fire did not arrive when the servant’s eyes opened. They were already there.
2. Elisha did not first ask God to remove the enemy army. He asked God to let the servant see the help already present.
3. Faith does not deny the threat. Faith places the threat inside a greater reality, because God’s people never stand beyond His sight or His power.
4. We have no promise that we will see fiery chariots around every trouble. We have sufficient promises that God sees, hears, rules, and remains with those who obey Him.

2 Corinthians 4:6: For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

III. God can disarm the enemy without depending on our strength (2 Kings 6:18-20)

A. Elisha’s prayer changed what the soldiers could recognize.

2 Kings 6:18: When they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Strike this people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

2 Kings 6:19: Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, nor is this the city; follow me and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he brought them to Samaria.

1. The great army arrived to take Elisha away, but Elisha ended up leading the army.
2. The armed men still had their horses and weapons, but they could no longer accomplish their purpose.
3. God did not require Elisha to gather an equal force. One prayer showed who ruled the conflict.

B. God opened the soldiers’ eyes after they entered Samaria.

2 Kings 6:20: When they had come into Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes and they saw; and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.

1. The servant opened his eyes and saw protection. The Arameans opened their eyes and saw that they had been captured.
2. The Lord closed and opened eyes according to His purpose. No one died on the road, and no Israelite sword gained the victory.
3. When God answers in a way we did not expect, we must not credit the result to our skill. The glory belongs to the Lord who did what we could not do.

IV. God’s victory should produce mercy rather than vengeance (2 Kings 6:21-23)

A. The king wanted to turn God’s deliverance into a slaughter.

2 Kings 6:21: Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?”

1. His repeated question exposes his desire. The soldiers who surrounded Dothan now stood surrounded in Samaria.
2. The king had not discovered the plan, blinded the army, or led the men into the city.
3. He wanted to take a victory God had given and use it to satisfy his desire to kill.

B. Elisha commanded the king to put food before his enemies.

2 Kings 6:22: He answered, “You shall not kill them. Would you kill 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 go to their master.”

2 Kings 6:23: 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.

1. Elisha did not request a token meal. The king prepared a great feast.
2. The enemies received bread, water, and freedom when they expected death.
3. Mercy accomplished what slaughter would not have accomplished. The marauding bands stopped entering the land.
4. A person who has received mercy cannot keep personal vengeance as a cherished right.

The table leads us to the cross

1. The Arameans came as enemies, became completely exposed, and received a meal instead of death.
2. We also were enemies of God. We did not deserve reconciliation, yet Christ died for us and His blood opened the way of forgiveness.
3. Jesus could have asked for more than twelve legions of angels when men came to arrest Him. He did not use His power to destroy His enemies, but gave His life as the sinless sacrifice who could save them.

Matthew 26:53: “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

4. The cross does not treat sin as a small thing. Christ bore our sins in His body, and through His blood God forgives and reconciles those who obey the gospel.

1 Peter 2:24: And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

The table at Samaria anticipates a mercy the cross reveals more fully. God did not excuse our rebellion. He gave His Son to reconcile His enemies.

Romans 5:10: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Colossians 1:20: And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Application

1. When fear closes in on our minds, we must return to what God has said. The threat may be real without being sovereign.
2. When an enemy lies within our reach, the cross must govern our response. We leave final justice in God’s hands, do the good we can do, and reject personal vengeance.

Romans 12:20: “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Romans 12:21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

3. Mercy does not call sin good or prevent a civil authority from fulfilling its duty. Mercy renounces hatred, cruelty, and the desire to return evil for evil.
4. If you have already tasted God’s mercy but have turned away from Christ and abandoned His people, do not turn that mercy into permission to remain distant. Repent, return to the Lord, and walk faithfully with His church again.

Conclusion

1. The servant saw an army and thought there was no way out, but God’s help already surrounded Elisha.
2. The Arameans came to capture a man and became captives without Israel winning the battle by its own power.
3. The king asked permission to kill, but God placed a table where the king wanted to raise a sword.
4. Those who have received mercy through Christ must trust God’s power and overcome evil with good.

Invitation

If you are outside Christ, God offers peace through the blood of the cross. Hear the word, believe that Jesus is the Christ, repent of your sins, confess His name, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Then rise to live faithfully under the lordship of Christ.

If you are a Christian and fear, hatred, or the desire for vengeance has ruled your conduct, repent. If you have turned from the Lord and abandoned His church, return. The God who opens eyes and defeats enemies still calls His people to trust, obey, and show mercy.

A person received by mercy cannot close the table to people who still need to see it.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB 1995), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.