14 When Elisha had fallen sick with the illness from which he would die, Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him, saying, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
15 Elisha told him, “Take a bow and some arrows.”
So Jehoash took a bow and some arrows.
16 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.”
So the king put his hand on the bow, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
17 “Open the east window,” said Elisha.
So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot.
And Elisha declared:
“This is the LORD’s arrow of victory,
the arrow of victory over Aram,
for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek
until you have put an end to them.”18 Then Elisha said, “Take the arrows!”
So he took them, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground!”
So he struck the ground three times and stopped.
19 But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”
20 And Elisha died and was buried.
Now the Moabite raiders used to come into the land every spring. 21 Once, as the Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. And as soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the man was revived and stood up on his feet.
REFLECTIONS
Written by Stephen Shead
I found this passage so strange! But let me see if I can lean into the two weirdest bits.
First, what King Jehoash says to the dying prophet Elisha: “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” These are exactly the same words that Elisha himself had cried out when Elijah was about to depart (2 Kings 2:12). The phrase means something like: “You are Israel’s greatest protection, far more than any army.” It shows that they knew the word of God is more powerful than any human force.
When faithful Elisha had said it to Elijah, God answered his cry by anointing Elisha himself as Elijah’s replacement. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, God provided another prophetic guardian. But here, the one who says it is the faithless, idol-worshiping Jehoash. It becomes very clear that he won’t become the new Elisha, because he fails the first prophetic test with the arrows. Perhaps this is a sign that God’s patience with Israel is finally running out.
The second weirdness is the dead man touching Elisha’s bones. I think this shows the tragedy of Israel’s failure. The ministry of one like Elisha promised to give life to the dead! But Elisha himself is now dead. His bones carry some residual power, like a chicken still running around after its head is chopped off. But even those bones will dissolve into dust.
How much greater is Jesus! Jesus, the great prophet and Word of God, died and was buried in a tomb. But God did not allow his body to decay (Acts 2:31); he glorified him as the risen life-giver. We have a mighty prophetic guardian for all who call him Lord – Jesus, the chariots and horsemen of the whole world. He is the one John saw in his vision: the rider called Faithful and True, the King of kings and Lord of lords who will judge the whole world and the Devil himself with justice and truth (Revelation 19:11-21).
The Bible warns us not to take God’s patience for granted (Romans 2:4). But for those of us who have answered his call to repent and trust in Christ, it’s such a comfort to know that Jesus lives to defend us in life from the assaults and accusations of the Devil, and to raise us with him in indestructible glory.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen is our Senior Minister.