2 KINGS
The Ministry of Elisha
2 Kings 13:1-25
INTRODUCTION
Before going any further into 2 Kings, we need to remind ourselves of the overall context 2 Kings falls within. The major theme of the Bible and the major purpose of God are that we promote the kingdom of God and the lordship of Jesus Christ. From day one God's purpose for mankind is that we enter into His kingdom by submitting to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Although one day God's kingdom will cover all creation, right now we see that kingdom primarily in the lives of Christians who have submitted to the lordship of Christ.
How does 2 Kings relate to this overall theme? It continues to develop the idea of kingship in the Bible. Until the time of Saul the Jewish people believed that they were created to be part of God's kingdom (Ex. 19:6). What about a king though? Especially with God's promise to David (2 Sam. 7:12-16) the idea of kingship comes to the forefront, especially the idea that one of David's descendants would sit upon His throne eternally. This promise will be fulfilled with the coming of Christ. In the period between the time this promise was given to David and the fulfilment of the promise with the coming of Christ, God continues to develop this theme and to prepare the coming of the king, Christ. All the events in 2 Kings are important; however, they take on even greater significance when you realize that they relate to the theme of God promoting His kingdom and the lordship of Christ.
SUMMARY OF THE REIGNS OF JEHOAHAZ AND JEHOASH (13:1-13)
Before looking in more detail at the reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoash, kings of the northern kingdom of Israel, 2 Kings summarizes these 2 reigns. Jehu had been God's instrument of wrath against the household of Ahab. Because Jehu had faithfully executed His judgment upon the house of Ahab and had rid the northern kingdom of Baalism, God had promised Jehu that his dynasty would last for 4 generations: Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash (Joash), and Jeroboam II. Although these 4 kings do not descend into the depths of sin that Ahab and his household had, nevertheless they did not rid the kingdom of idol worship, especially the worship of the bulls located in Bethel in the south and Dan in the north. (Remember that these bulls were idols representing Yahweh. Because Jeraboam thought of God as being primarily a strong being, he had bulls made in order to represent this strong God. The problems though were first that God is more than just strength; He is also love, purity, righteousness, etc., things a bull cannot represent. The second problem is that inevitably the thing representing God takes the place of God Himself. The time comes when the people actually worship the idol and not the God the idol is supposed to represent.) Because these 4 kings failed to remove this form of idol worship--even though it was supposed to honor Yahweh, God was going to destroy Israel and the household of Jehu.
God now fulfills His promise to Elisha and to Elijah that Hazael the Syrian king would wreak havoc upon the northern kingdom of Israel. Because of the Syrian invasion, Israel loses all its settlements to the east of the Jordan River, the place we know as Gilead. The situation deteriorates to such an extent that the once mighty army of Israel which had numbered over a hundred thousand now consisted of only 50 cavalry, 10 charioteers, and 10 thousand infantry. A once super state has been radically reduced to a shadow of its former self; its once mighty army is now a mere militia. Jehoahaz in these desperate straits then cries out to Yahweh, not to the Yahweh of the bulls, but to Yahweh himself. God out of His tender compassion for His people raises up a savior for His people to deliver them from the Syrian oppression. (Notice that this same theme occurs in Judges. The people sin; God judges them; they cry out for deliverance; God sends a deliverer. God consistently responds to His people's cry for deliverance.) Unfortunately the Jews of Elisha's day are just like the Jews in the days of the judges; right after relief comes, Jehoahaz returns to his idol worship.
Too often we are like Jehoahaz. We claim we worship God and yet the God we worship is nothing like the true God who actually does exist. What if I told you that I knew Chuck McElroy and then proceeded to tell you that he was 6 foot 3, had jet black hair, drove a hummer, was a great outdoorsman, had 5 kids, and couldn't sing a lick? You might tell me that I knew somebody with these characteristics but that person was NOT Chuck McElroy, at least not the Chuck McElroy at FBC Corsicana. Well, many of us throw around the name "God" and "Jesus," and yet the God/Jesus we relate to is not the One found in the Bible. We think that God winks at our forays into sin. We think that God won't care. Yet the moment things really go south for us, what do we do? We go to the true God of the Bible, the One we know we've been dismissing lightly for the several years. How do I know that I've been messing around with 2 different gods? In the first instance I never confessed my sins to this god, while I quickly confessed my sins in the second instance. All of a sudden we get serious about our relationship with the true God. When He sends relief, how do we respond? We blow Him off again and go back to the "God" we have created and feel comfortable with.
Well, God did not send us relief in order to blow Him off again. Paul says: "Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance" (Rom. 2:4). The bottom line is that when we repent and then blow God off after relief comes, it means that a period of greater judgment is coming. "But," you might say, "I didn't think that we Christians were going to be judged?" Peter though says that the reason judgment is so harsh for non-Christians is that judgment begins first with Christians (1 Pet. 4:17, 28). If a dad is going to discipline His own children, how much more will He punish wrongdoers who are not His children?
God sends us minor judgments so that we will wake up and not have to undergo major judgment. Beloved, as far as this nation is concerned, 9/11 was a wake-up call. Unfortunately this country has gone back to sleep. The next time will make 9/11 look like a lovefest. God is patient; however, His patience is not eternal. Because Jehoahaz reverted to idol worship, the great cataclysm of 722 BC was coming. It was now not a matter of "if" this greater judgment was coming; it was only a matter of when.
With regards to Joash 2 Kings states that Joash enjoyed the benefits of God being compassionate towards Israel. The problem once again though was that he refused to deal with the idol worship located at Bethel and Dan. The relief from Syria is only going to be temporary. A final hammerstroke is forthcoming. It will be a hammerstroke from which the northern kingdom of Israel will never recover.
ELISHA PROMISES VICTORY TO JOASH (13:14-20a)
News reaches Joash the king that Elisha is dying. To Joash's credit he realizes the importance of Elisha to the nation. When he approaches Elisha's deathbed, Joash cries out: "The horses and chariots of Israel!" (the same thing Elisha had cried out as Elijah was being carted off into heaven). Elisha probably means one of 2 things. First, he might mean that Elisha himself was the horses and the chariots of Israel. Horses and chariots were needed to defend countries. Elisha for 50 years had been Israel's defense. For example, during the earlier reign of Jehoram Elisha had forewarned the king about all the plans the Syrians had devised against Israel. Second, Joash might mean that now that Israel no longer has any chariots and horses, he needs Elisha all the more. In either case Joash is acknowledging the importance of Elisha to Israel. Although we all understand that God Himself was the One operating through Elisha, we need to emphasize the fact that ELISHA WAS THE ONE God worked through. By minimizing Elisha (as all the kings had done by refusing to obey his calls to repentance), they had minimized God.
This is not just an OT phenomenon. It is a modern-day phenomenon as well. I've seen churches with a quality minister minimize the importance of that minister to the church. Only upon the departure of that minister did the church come to appreciate that minister--either right before s/he left or afterwards. Afterwards they did not get a good minister to replace the previous one just like God did not send another Elisha to Israel after his death. Why? Why would God send another good minister to that church when it failed to acknowledge the ones God had sent earlier. One of the best SS consultants I've ever met said that churches get exactly the ministers they deserve. We don't just need to pray that God send us great ministers; we need to pray that we be the kind of church God will want to send great ministers to.
At this point Elisha brings Joash next to him and instructs Joash to put an arrow into a bow. Elisha then puts his right hand upon Joash's right hand and his left hand upon Joash's left hand. Elisha's hands are touching Joash's as Joash pulls back the arrow and shoots it out the open window. As the arrow flies out the window, Elisha shouts: "The Lord's arrow of victory; the arrow of victory over Syria." This shooting of the arrow represents the victory God is going to give the Israelites over the Syrians.
Next, Elisha tells Joash to take the arrows in his quiver and to strike the ground with them. By this he may mean that he wants Joash to hit the ground with the full quiver of arrows in his hand, or he may mean that he wants Joash to shoot the arrows into the ground. Joash either hits the ground 3 times with the bundle of arrows or else shoots 3 arrows into the ground. Regardless of which way Joash strikes the ground, Elisha is furious with him. Joash should have known that Elisha was supervising some symbolic actions which involved the destruction of Syria. Hadn't he just said that the shooting of the arrow represented a victory over Syria? God had given Joash the chance to prove himself completely dedicated to the Lord and to the destruction of the enemies of God's people. Joash's half-hearted response to this situation was going to cost the nation dearly.
Yet this is what happens. Whenever we turn to other gods, other idols, our zeal for God, no matter how "sincere," is going to be watered-down to such an extent that we are going to miss out on the victories God has in store for us. Are we really zealous for the love of Christ? Do we see each other as brothers and sisters--sometimes the black sheep of the family--but always members of the same family, or do we see each other as enemies? No matter what Nathan or Molly may ever do, the fact is that they are my children and I love them. In the same way, no matter what a fellow Christian does, that person is God's child and He loves them and desires that we treat them in light of this. Are we zealous for God's purity? I don't care what the message of the movie is; if it has elements in it which God calls abominable, then I should reject that movie. When we don't, we become desensitized like Joash and fail to respond positively to the opportunities God gives us. Are we zealous for God's agenda? How many of us are upset over things because God and His people are being violated or hurt? Or how many of us are upset because we were the ones offended? When it is all said and done, we didn't care that God was offended; we only cared that our feelings were hurt. Just as God has fire in His belly, so His people should have fire in the belly--fire for Him, His glory, His agenda, His purpose for ourselves and our lives.
The sad truth is that Joash blew the opportunity God had given him. Even though Elisha explained to him what this symbol meant, Joash had failed the test. Another opportunity was not going to be given him. (Before we think that God is being so hard, remember that God had reached out to the Jewish people for over 600 years before this incident occurred.) Because Israel repeatedly failed to respond positively to God-given opportunities, disaster was coming.
God is patient; He's just not eternally patient. God gave my dad so many opportunities to turn his life over to Him so that He could use my dad in an effective manner. He developed an hiatal hernia in the early 70's. One night he thought he was going to drown because of this condition. He struggled out of bed and prayed to God that if He gave him one more chance, he would really live for Him. This like later chances proved fruitless. Within a short period of time he had gone back to his old ways. They were not evil ways; in fact Dad was a fair, moral man. It's just that they were not God's ways. On his deathbed he realized that God was not going to give him any more chances. Although he was a Christian and knew that he was going to heaven, he also knew it was time for him to face this God whom he had repeatedly blown off. (What was so wonderful was that during his time of sickness, he wrote several pages expressing his faith in Christ. At his funeral hundreds of people he worked with but never shared Christ with heard about his faith in Christ Jesus. They were stunned but also seriously impressed by what they had heard.)
On the other hand, my mom did not pass up the major opportunities God had given her. She had been raised up by a godly Christian mom in the Mildred/Mexia/Corsicana areas. Later when she was in her early 20's and had 3 small children clinging to her, God touched her heart to live committedly for Him. She lived just a block away from the church--she could see it through the windows of her home, and yet she was unable to get to church on Sundays. God moved upon her in such a dramatic way that she promised Him that if He would help her get her and her children to church, she would make sure that we would be there every Sunday. She more than amply fulfilled her promise to the Lord. We were not just there Sunday mornings; we were there Sunday evenings, Wednesday evenings, weekday afternoons for children's choirs, Sunday afternoons for youth choirs, weeks during the summer for camps and VBS, etc. She too like my dad is a Christian; yet when she closes her eyes in death, she will be able to do so with complete peace that she did not blow the golden opportunities God presented to her during her life.
God's promise to Joash comes true. Israel defeats the Syrians at Aphek. Not only does he defeat the Syrians a total of 3 times; he also drives the Syrians out of the Israelite lands east of the Jordan River.
A PREVIEW OF COMING VICTORIES--THE BURIAL OF ELISHA (13:20b-25)
The last episode in this chapter deals with the burial of Elisha. Unlike Elijah, Elisha does not ascend to heaven in a fiery chariot. Instead he dies a natural death. As a result he receives the typical burial in Israel, that is, he is most likely placed in a hole dug out of the side of a rocky mountain. After Elisha's body has been placed in the cave, the people burying Elisha place a large circular stone in front of the cave.
A little while later other people are burying another man who has died. As they begin to dig into the mountainous rock nearby Elisha's tomb, they behold a marauding band of Moabites approaching nearby. They begin to panic and wish to dispose of the dead body as quickly as possible. As a result, they cast the dead body into the tomb occupied by Elisha's corpse. Although Elisha's corpse is dead, it is still Elisha's corpse; therefore, when the dead body touches Elisha's corpse, it springs to life. Although Elisha is dead, his ministry still breathes life. (Before going any further, I think it would be safe to say that in some measure this scene is comical. Can you imagine the look on the man's face when his eyes open not to scenes of heavenly glory but to Elisha's dead body staring him in the face?)
Why does this story find its way into this chapter? Most likely to give the reader the assurance that Elisha's word is going to come true. For all practical purposes Israel is a dead nation. Her armies have practically been reduced to a mere militia. Yet Elisha's word to Joash is going to give life to Israel. Although Israel squanders the opportunity God is going to give her, God has given her life. Joash will drive the Syrians from out of the land of Israel (which happens in the next 4 verses, verses 22-25). Just as the dead man rose from the dead (only to die again later on), so the northern kingdom of Israel will rise from the dead (only to die again later on).