Spy In Our Midst

When the king of Aram was waging war against Israel, he conferred with his servants, “My camp will be at such and such a place.”

But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Be careful passing by this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” Consequently, the king of Israel sent word to the place the man of God had told him about. The man of God repeatedly warned the king, so the king would be on his guard.

The king of Aram was enraged because of this matter, and he called his servants and demanded of them, “Tell me, which one of us is for the king of Israel?”

One of his servants said, “No one, my lord the king. Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in your bedroom.”

So the king said, “Go and see where he is, so I can send men to capture him.”

When he was told, “Elisha is in Dothan,” he sent horses, chariots, and a massive army there. They went by night and surrounded the city.

2 Kings 6:8-14

Elisha appears to have had a better relationship with King Joram than Elijah had with Joram’s father Ahab. Joram had made small reforms in Israel but he still followed the example of Jeroboam I, which was still evil. Though Joram still walked in disobedience to Yahweh, Yahweh used Eliahs to extend opportunities of grace to Joram.

In this instance, God used Elisha to reveal the plans of the King Ben-hadad of Aram (his enemy) to Joram in order to help Joram avoid possible traps. This so frustrated the Ben-hadad, he was sure he had a spy in his court. His servants were aware of Elisha (a chapter earlier he had healed their commander, Naaman), so they were sure it was Elisha that was revealing the king’s plans to Joram. God seemed to be trying to get King Ben-hadad’s attention in addition to King Joram’s.

We can be like this often as well. We may mistake the work that God is doing as the actions of others around us. Instead, we should be sensitive to recognizing when God is at work in a situation and listen to what He is saying.

• How might God be trying to get your attention today?