2 Kings 6:17

2 Kings 6:17 says, 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.  When the yoiung man was still worried about being outnumbered, Elisha asked God to open his eyes so he could see.  This was spiritual sight, and when he gained it, he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots.  If we are afraid in a particular situation, we need to pray that God will open our eyes so that we may see spiritually.  The view should then be different when we see the power of God more than the physical circumstances.  Verse eighteen adds, And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.  When these people came down, Elisha asked God to make them blind and God did.  Matthew Henry says they were not totally blind, but that thy could not see well enough to distinguish places or other people.  The people of the world today are not totally blind physically, but they are blind spiritually and cannot distinguish truth from lies.  Verse nineteen continues, And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.  Elisha, whom they were seeking, told them that this wasn't the way nor the city that they sought, so follow him and he would lead them to where they wanted to be, and he led them to Samaria.  Of course, if we tell lost people today that they are going the wrong way, we don't need to lead them into further danger but must lead them to Jesus Christ and pray that their eyes will be spiritually opened.   Verse twenty states, And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.  When they got to Samaria, Elisha asked God to open their eyes so that they could see, and when He did, they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.  At some point, God is going to open the eyes of everyone so they can see the truth spiritually.  We can only lead them to that point.  Verse twenty-one adds, And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?  When the king of Israel saw them, he deferred to Elisha, calling him his father, and asked if he should kill the Syrians.  We must always defer to God when we are dealing with lost people, even those who would destroy us.  It is still our responsibility to bring them to Jesus, and then it is up to God and them what happens.  Verse twenty-two continues, 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.  Elisha told the king not to kill them, and asked if he would kill those he had captured in battle.  He then told the king to feed them and send them back to their master.  We are not called to destroy non-believers, but to bring them to Christ and feed them spiritually.  We then have to allow them to return to their lives, and it is up to them who their master will be.  It will either be Jesus Christ or Satan.  We need to pray that they will choose Jesus Christ.  Verse twenty-three concludes, 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.  After feeding them a big meal and giving them something to drink, the king sent them back home and they no longer came into the land of Israel.  If we are kind to our enemies today, it doesn't mean that they will no longer seek to harm or destroy us, but it is more likely than if we treat them terribly.  Still, the only way to really live at peace with them is if they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, and this is what we should always hope for.