Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Tell me! Which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria.
After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?”
“Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill those you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.

• 2 Kings 6:8-23

I will get to the Scripture above at the end, for my conclusions.

The year 2020 is not that long ago that we have forgotten hand sanitizer dispensers everywhere and everyone wearing masks.  In some places, the hand sanitizers are still there.  And you can usually find someone in any store with an occupancy greater than ten or twenty and they are wearing a mask.

I want to tell two stories.  I would like for you to agree to read both of them.

Story Number One

You go to church.  As usual, the service has a moment to pass the peace.  Some people say the “official words”.  “The Peace of the Lord be with You.” And then the reply is “And also with You.”  I just get tongue-tied and say, “Good morning.”  The pastor walks from the pulpit, down into the crowd and tries to shake everyone’s hand.

But then, you notice that when he returns to the pulpit, he has a bottle of hand sanitizer.  He spends maybe fifteen seconds pumping sanitizer into the palms of his hands and rubbing it in between each finger.

Then you look and there is no sanitizer at the end of each pew.  The pastor gets to clean his hands, but the people in the pews have to suffer?!  Does he really love us?  Why are we left out?  How does he feel about us?  Come on!  He thinks we are rotten germ carriers.  There is no love there at all!  I think the pastor hates us!!!!!!

Story Number Two

You go to church.  As usual, the service has a moment to pass the peace.  Some people say the “official words”.  “The Peace of the Lord be with You.” And then the reply is “And also with You.”  I just get tongue-tied and say, “Good morning.”  The pastor walks from the pulpit, down into the crowd and tries to shake everyone’s hand.

But then, you notice that when he returns to the pulpit, he has a bottle of hand sanitizer.  He spends maybe fifteen seconds pumping sanitizer into the palms of his hands and rubbing it in between each finger.

Then you look and there is no sanitizer at the end of each pew.  The pastor gets to clean his hands, but the people in the pews have to suffer?!  Does he really love us?  Why are we left out?  How does he feel about us?  Come on!  He thinks we are rotten germ carriers.  There is no love there at all!  I think the pastor hates us!!!!!!

Wait a cotton-picking minute!  That’s the same story, word for word.

But, the second story isn’t finished.

The person sitting next to you in the pew leans over and says, “Isn’t our pastor so wonderful?  Isn’t he so brave?”

You are thinking, ‘No, he has sanitizer, and I don’t.’  But you wait until after the service and you ask why your neighbor in the pew said the pastor was brave.

Their reply shocks you.  “He has an extreme immune deficiency.  He could pick up a stray germ here or there and be hospitalized by this evening.  He could die by shaking someone’s hand and then touching his eye, nose, or mouth.  Didn’t you know?”

Then you think, the pastor does not hate all of us trolls in the pews.  One of us trolls in the pews could kill him, but he loves us so much that he tries to shake everyone’s hand to show his love for us.

Conclusions

The story above from 2 Kings 6 talks about two instances of blindness.  The second is obvious when the army is about to attack and God makes them all blind.  Elisha guides the blind army into the city they were about to attack.  Then, totally at the mercy of those guiding them by hand, they regain their sight.  And the end of the story is that the Arameans did not attack again.

But Elisha’s servant could not see the Angel Armies that were protecting them.  That was the first bit of blindness in this story.  The servant does not have all the information to make a judgment based on faith.

Note: I have heard many people call the servant Gehazi, but the last that Gehazi is mentioned is in 2 Kings 5 when Gehazi becomes greedy, and his greed leads to a curse of leprosy.  A leper was unclean and could not be a servant.  It is highly likely the servant was someone else, but even then, do I have all the information?  Between 2 Kings 5 and 2 Kings 6, Gehazi might have been forgiven and healed.  But it seems telling that the servant of Elisha is never again mentioned by name.

But the application here is that we make judgments all the time and we probably do not have all the available information, not to mention the Army of Angels around us that we do not see.  So, we might need to take a step back and see it from someone else’s viewpoint.  And if the lack of sanitizer bothers you, you can get the little bottles that easily fit in your purse or pants pocket.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.