II Kings 6:17 (KJB)
The king of Syria invaded Israel with his army and sought to conquer Israel. Apparently, his army happened to be much larger than the Israeli army because he tried several times to trap the Israeli army and overwhelm it and defeat it. But the prophet Elisha received messages from God, and he informed the king of Israel who was able to move his army in ways that avoided being trapped. The king of Syria thought that someone in his army was a traitor, but his officers informed him that Elisha told the king of Israel every move that the Syrian army would make and every word that the Syrian king would speak. II Kings 6:8-12 (KJB).
The Syrian king knew that his army might just wander around in Israel and be slowly worn down by the hit and run tactics of the Israeli army, and that the only way he would ever conquer Israel would be to force the Israeli army into a direct battle. So, the Syrian king decided that he would find Elisha and kill him. The Syrian king's informants had found out that Elisha was in a city called Dothan, and so he came with his army and surrounded Dothan. A young man who was a servant of Elisha woke up early in the morning, and when he saw that a huge army surrounded the city, he became very afraid, and he pleaded with Elisha as to what they would do. Elisha comforted this young man by telling him that his army was greater than the army that surrounded them. Elisha then prayed and asked God to open the eyes of the young man, and he saw that God's army was around Dothan in chariots of fire and with horses of fire. Clearly, God opened more than just the eyes of this young man. God opened his mind as well. God's fiery army symbolized the fact that God uses His fiery wrath against evil to destroy His and His people's enemies. II Kings 6:13-17; II Peter 3:9-13; Revelation 21:5 (KJB)
Apparently, the Syrians sent a band of soldiers with an officer to arrest Elisha because they thought that the leaders of the city would give up Elisha rather than having their city destroyed. But Elisha prayed that God would blind these men, and He did. The ordinary response of any person who was blinded by another person would be to try to get away from that person, but God had blinded more than just the eyes of these men. God is able to control the minds of humans. Jesus simply walked through a mob who intended to throw Him off a cliff because He made them forget what they were doing. Luke 4:28-30 (KJB). Elisha led these men out of Dothan and all the way to Samaria because God had control of their minds, and they did not know what they were doing. When they got to Samaria, Elisha prayed that God would open their eyes, and then they understood what had happened to them and where they were. The king of Israel, who lived in Samaria, asked Elisha if he should kill them. As a man of God, Elisha replied with compassion that prisoners of war should be fed and given water. Matthew 5:44 (KJB). The king of Israel fed these soldiers and then sent them back to the Syrian army. This particular war ended in victory for Israel because of God's fiery wrath against evil and because of His compassion that He demonstrated through His prophet Elisha. II Kings 6:18-23 (KJB).
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