Elisha Dies

Keeping track of all these different kings, many of whom share the same names and reign at the same time, is mind-boggling. This is my second time reading through the Bible and I still don't remember who is who. Maybe the third time will be a charm! But this is Israel's history, and Chronicles and Kings are meant to highlight the dynasties of each kingdom, paying special attention to whether or not each king honored the Lord.

Today we have caught up to Joash and Jehoash (which of course is a variant spelling of Joash). The Arameans were again oppressing the Israelites and King Jehoash came to Elisha to seek God's help. Jehoash was asked to shoot an arrow out the window in the direction of Aram and was told that the arrow represented victory. He then instructed the king to strike the ground with the remaining arrows. I did some reading on the verbiage used here and learned that the Hebrew translation indicates that the king should strike the ground with the arrows in terms of their hitting the ground after being shot from a bow. We don't know how many other arrows there were, but know that Jehoash only did as he was told with three of them, despite having been instructed that they were the Lord's arrows and represented victory. The Bible doesn't record every word of this exchange. What we have is a synopsis, but Elisha's reaction helps us to read between the lines. He was dismayed at Jehoash's lack of faith. Whether he didn't believe God would give him such resounding victory or whether he balked at the simplicity of the symbolic task (as Naaman did when told to wash in the Jordan seven times for healing from leprosy), Jehoash greatly reduced the amount of blessing that God would extend to him.

It is really sad to imagine how many times my lack of faith may have frustrated God's intent to bless me. This account takes me back to that phrase from 2 Chronicles chapter 16. At that time, King Asa of Judah was facing attack from Israel and sought an alliance with ben-Hadad of Aram. The Lord was disappointed that Asa had not sought help from Him as opposed to a pagan king and he spoke these words..."the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen the hearts of those fully committed to Him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war!"

In both cases, these kings had opportunities for great blessing that were missed opportunities.

Tomorrow's reading:2 Kings 14:1-27, 13:12-13, 15:1-5; 2 Chron. 25:1-28; Jonah 1:1-4:11