The Mystery of Divine Arithmetic (Part 2) By Babatunde Olugboji
This week, we will continue our series on the events recorded in 2 Kings 6:11–18, where Prophet Elisha prayed for his servant to encounter the power of God in a brand-new way. This passage takes place in a city called Dothan, where Elisha and his servant suddenly found themselves surrounded by the army of Syria.
The Bible says that the mercies of the Lord are new every morning, and great is His faithfulness. But while God is pouring out His mercies, the enemy is also working his menace. On this particular morning, the servant woke up, likely before his master, and saw the danger: the enemy’s army had surrounded the entire city. They came fortified, with horses and chariots.
Every entrance was blocked. Every escape route was sealed. Terrified, the servant ran to Elisha with the cry of a man who had lost all hope: “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” It becomes crystal clear that the servant was a man of figures. He quickly did the math of his circumstances and concluded that the numbers did not add up in his favor. He assessed the strength of the enemy’s chariots, surveyed the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of soldiers, estimated the distance to their home, and calculated the odds. By every natural measurement, they were in deep trouble.
But do not judge the servant harshly. He represents many believers. We have done similar math with our diagnosis, our bank account, our marriage, our prodigal child, our ministry, and our future, and we have come to the same terrifying conclusion: the enemy has more than we do. He appears to have more resources, more influence, and more momentum. We feel encircled, surrounded, and hemmed in on every side. The servant’s cry is the cry of every believer who sees their circumstances clearly but sees their God poorly.
Kingdom math says that more are with us, but earthly arithmetic says those who are against us are in the majority. This is precisely where the enemy wants us: trapped in the math of the visible, blind to the calculus of the invisible, and tempted to regard Satan as the powerful strategist instead of focusing on Jesus as the Savior. The enemy knows that if he can keep your eyes on the horses and chariots long enough, he can paralyze you with fear, damage your faith, and stop you from moving in the power that God has already given you. Satan’s weapon is to blind us from seeing what God has already deployed on our behalf.
Have you noticed that two people saw two different things in this narrative? The prophet saw the invisible and remained calm; the servant saw the visible and was gripped with anxiety. That is why the Bible says, “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18). The visible realm can make you anxious, but the invisible realm makes you appreciative of God’s deployment on your behalf.
The servant was in serious panic, but his master was calm. There was no tremor in Elisha’s voice, no fear in his eyes, no panic in his spirit, and no desperate escape plan. He calmly told his servant, “Fear not” (2 Kings 6:16). This was not positive thinking. It was not motivational psychology. It was not empty religious talk. Elisha was standing on revelation knowledge that comes from communion with God, not from calculating the resources of the enemy. He had spent enough time in God’s presence to know something his servant did not yet know: the army of God is always larger than the army of the enemy.
The prophet was doing heavenly math, while the servant was doing natural math. Kingdom math operates with a different set of equations and a different numerical framework that the natural mind cannot access. Earthly arithmetic counts what is visible; divine arithmetic counts what God has already positioned in the invisible realm. Earthly arithmetic says, “We are surrounded.” Divine arithmetic says, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
To be continued
Have a good week.
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