Monday, November 29, 2004 Nativity Fast
The Venerable Akakios of Sinai
Kellia: 2 Kings 6:8-14 Epistle: 1 Timothy 5:1-10 Gospel: St. Luke 17:20-25
2 Kings 6:8-14 MT ~ 4 Kings 6:8-14 LXX, especially vs. 12: "And
one of his servants said, Nay, my Lord, O king, for Elisha the Prophet that is in Israel reports to
the king of Israel all the words whatsoever thou mayest say to thy bedchamber." Military
wisdom of this present age recognizes the importance of what is called "on the ground"
intelligence for combat success. By this aphorism of current military wisdom, it is meant that
aerial reconnaissance and satellite surveillance, as accurate in detail as they have become
technologically, simply cannot supplant informers who are present in the halls, gatherings, and
councils of an enemy. What is required are agents in place within the key places and councils of
one's opponent. However, the penetration of an enemy's inner circle, where vital decisions are
made, is very risky to the informant who may lose his life for his troubles as a planted agent.
When one realizes that the king of Israel had an informant with all the powers associated with an
"on the ground operative," one can understand why the king of Israel was able repeatedly to
withstand the plans to ambush and overcome him by the Syrians (vs. 10). Of course, the really
impressive truth concerning this informant of the king of Israel was his modus operandi. The
informant, the Prophet Elisha, never left his home in Israel, never sat in on the meetings of the
Syrian command, and yet discerned their plans precisely by means of a gift from God. He was
clairvoyant, but not psychically as that term is used today. His was prophetic insight, a spiritual
endowment given him directly from God. This was all the more unnerving for the king of Syria,
who had become positively paranoid with fears of high-level betrayal (vs. 11). He didn't know
how high!
Let us be clear about Elisha's gift of prophetic insight. He was not, like the High Priests of Israel,
able to gain insight by a blessed form of divination-by-lots using the urim and thummim (see
Deut 33:8,10); and, certainly, he did not use any of the forbidden forms of divination specifically
condemned as demonic by Holy Scripture - necromancy, astrology, dreams, etc. As Metropolitan
Hierotheos Vlachos explains, "Divining and prophecy are indeed two different things: the
Prophet, setting self aside, speaks under Divine inspiration; the diviner for his part starts from
what has already happened, puts his own intelligence to work and foresees many future events, as
an intelligent person normally does. But the difference between them is great: it is the distance
that separates human intelligence from divine grace." The insight which Elisha received came, in
the words of St. Peter of Damaskos, strictly as "a supernatural gift granted for the good of the
community" of the People of God.
Why to Elisha? At least we can say because he was a true Prophet of God, which means that he
was characterized by certain qualities of personality. For one thing, as St. Peter of Damaskos
explains, true "discrimination is born of humility. On its possessor, [true discrimination] confers
spiritual insight, as both Moses and St. John Klimakos say: such a man foresees the hidden
designs of the enemy and foils them before they are put into operation." Along with humility,
love also was required, as St Seraphim of Sarov teaches: "and love is the source of prophecies,
the cause of miracles, a depth of enlightenment, the fountain of divine fire." All these divine
gifts were amply demonstrated by Elisha (4 Kngs 4:8-37).
Given the nature of prophetic insight, let us be diligent to take the counsel of St. John
Chrysostom to heart during the Divine Services: "when prophets are chanting, and apostles
singing hymns, God is discoursing....letters from heaven are being read." Let us be attentive!
Illumine our hearts, O Master, Who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge
and open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Thy Gospel teachings.
