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Elisha and the chariots of fire at Dothan

Elisha, the wars with Syria, Dothan and its excavations, the servant's opened eyes, what Scripture teaches about angels, and the surprising mercy that points to Christ.

In 2 Kings 6 a foreign army surrounds a small hill town by night to capture one man, the prophet Elisha. At dawn his servant sees the horses and chariots and is afraid. Then God opens his eyes to see what had been there all along. Here is the history, the place, and how it points to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Elisha and the wars with Syria

Elisha, whose name means "God is salvation", followed Elijah as God's prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel in the ninth century BC. His ministry lasted about sixty years, GotQuestions.org notes, through four kings of Israel. Israel's great enemy in those years was Aram, which the King James Version calls Syria, ruled from Damascus.

The kings are not named here, though later in the chapter the king of Syria is Benhadad (2 Kings 6:24). The Syrian king kept planning where to camp, and each time Elisha warned the king of Israel. One of the king's servants explained: Elisha "telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber" (2 Kings 6:12). Nothing was hidden from God.

Dothan

So the king sent "horses, and chariots, and a great host" to Dothan, and "they came by night, and compassed the city about" (2 Kings 6:14). GotQuestions.org places Dothan about twelve miles north of Samaria, on the caravan route between Egypt and Syria. Centuries earlier, Joseph's brothers sold him near there: "And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan" (Genesis 37:17).

Dothan is generally identified with Tell Dothan, near modern Jenin. Joseph P. Free of Wheaton College excavated it for ten seasons between 1953 and 1964. His team found an Israelite town of the late ninth and early eighth centuries BC, with an administrative building of more than twenty rooms and an early Hebrew inscription. That overlaps Elisha's long ministry, though nothing found there names him.

The servant's eyes opened

And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. (2 Kings 6:15-17)

Elisha did not deny the danger. He prayed that the young man would see what else was there. GotQuestions.org points out that this was no lasting gift of seeing spirits: God opened his eyes for His own purpose, and believers do not need to see angels to know they are there.

The horses and chariots of fire

Elisha had seen such a sight before. When Elijah was taken, "behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (2 Kings 2:11). GotQuestions.org suggests that sight may have been given mainly for Elisha's sake, to remember whenever he doubted God's power. It identifies what the servant saw at Dothan as an angelic host.

Angels and the unseen world

Scripture says, "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them" (Psalm 34:7), and asks of the angels, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14). GotQuestions.org counts protection as part of that ministry, pointing to Elisha at Dothan. It also adds two cautions: angels act only at God's command, so the praise belongs to God and never to them, and Scripture nowhere plainly says each person has a personal guardian angel. As Paul wrote, "the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Mercy in Samaria

At Elisha's prayer the Syrians were struck blind, and he led them into Samaria, Israel's capital. When their eyes were opened, the king of Israel asked, "My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?" (2 Kings 6:21).

And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 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 bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. (2 Kings 6:22-23)

GotQuestions.org uses this as an example of the teaching of Proverbs 25:21-22, which Paul repeats: "if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink" and "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:20-21). The raiding bands stopped, though war with Syria came again later (2 Kings 6:24).

How it points to Christ

The God who surrounded Elisha with chariots of fire stood ready to defend His Son. On the night of His arrest Jesus said, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53). He did not call them. He went to the cross, and there He prayed for His enemies: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

Elisha fed the men who came to seize him. In Christ, God has done far more for us: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (Romans 5:10). Whatever surrounds us, the one who trusts Him is never outnumbered: "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

Sources

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