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“Another World” No. 6 ” by Rev. Toru Asai
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them (Ps 34:7).
It is difficult to think of one angel encamping around those who fear the Lord. It must be a group of many angels like an army surrounding them to save them. This is what Elisha’s servant saw in another world as the story of 2 Kgs 6:15-18 reveals:
And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so 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 (2 Kgs 6:17).
In fact, the Bible teaches us that Elisha had inherited this angelic army of chariots and horses from Elijah as the famous story tells us:
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart (2:11-12, NIV).
It is rather unfortunate that almost all of our translations say that it was “a chariot of fire,” not “chariots of fire,” that appeared. The idea we usually get from this translation, which is how we teach in Sunday School, is that this chariot without a horseman appears before Elijah, and he rides on it, and goes up to heaven. First of all, it should be noted that this word “chariot” reheb in Hebrew is a so-called ‘collective noun’—singular in form, but plural in meaning. In this case, it refers to a team of many chariots.
For what is widely accepted, we often follow it blindly without thinking. Such is the case for the interpretation of this story. Look more carefully, though. It says, “Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind”—not in a chariot. And Elisha shouted, “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Note that the word reheb, the same word in the same form, is translated in plural this time as “chariots” by the NIV and many other versions. The reason for that is that the noun “horsemen” is in plural, and it is difficult to think of many horsemen riding on one chariot. That is right. It should be many chariots that Elisha saw, and he shouted, “the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” These chariots and horsemen were sent for Israel and deployed under the command of Elijah. Now, Elijah was about to be taken up to heaven. Do you think these chariots and horsemen would be taken up together with him? Note that it says, “Elisha saw him no more.” It was only Elijah, without the chariots and horsemen, whom Elisha saw taken up in a whirlwind.
Beside angels, ministering spirits, who are good to us, there is another type of beings who exist in another world—evil spirits. We will use the story of Mark 5 as our text to learn about them. First, let us pay attention to the description of the behavior of the man possessed by an evil spirit:
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1). When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones (vv. 1-5).
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By Davar Kingdom of GodThe angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them (Ps 34:7).
It is difficult to think of one angel encamping around those who fear the Lord. It must be a group of many angels like an army surrounding them to save them. This is what Elisha’s servant saw in another world as the story of 2 Kgs 6:15-18 reveals:
And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so 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 (2 Kgs 6:17).
In fact, the Bible teaches us that Elisha had inherited this angelic army of chariots and horses from Elijah as the famous story tells us:
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart (2:11-12, NIV).
It is rather unfortunate that almost all of our translations say that it was “a chariot of fire,” not “chariots of fire,” that appeared. The idea we usually get from this translation, which is how we teach in Sunday School, is that this chariot without a horseman appears before Elijah, and he rides on it, and goes up to heaven. First of all, it should be noted that this word “chariot” reheb in Hebrew is a so-called ‘collective noun’—singular in form, but plural in meaning. In this case, it refers to a team of many chariots.
For what is widely accepted, we often follow it blindly without thinking. Such is the case for the interpretation of this story. Look more carefully, though. It says, “Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind”—not in a chariot. And Elisha shouted, “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Note that the word reheb, the same word in the same form, is translated in plural this time as “chariots” by the NIV and many other versions. The reason for that is that the noun “horsemen” is in plural, and it is difficult to think of many horsemen riding on one chariot. That is right. It should be many chariots that Elisha saw, and he shouted, “the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” These chariots and horsemen were sent for Israel and deployed under the command of Elijah. Now, Elijah was about to be taken up to heaven. Do you think these chariots and horsemen would be taken up together with him? Note that it says, “Elisha saw him no more.” It was only Elijah, without the chariots and horsemen, whom Elisha saw taken up in a whirlwind.
Beside angels, ministering spirits, who are good to us, there is another type of beings who exist in another world—evil spirits. We will use the story of Mark 5 as our text to learn about them. First, let us pay attention to the description of the behavior of the man possessed by an evil spirit:
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1). When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones (vv. 1-5).