In 2 Kings 13 the story travels back to Israel. After the death of Jehu, while Joash was still king in Judah, Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz took the throne. Although Jehu had been instrumental in turning Israel back to God, they quickly fell away after his death. They returned to the practices of some of their former kings, like Jeroboam, and did what was evil in God’s sight. Under the leadership of Jehoahaz, they worshipped other gods, and as a result, God punished them. God allowed Syria to destroy Israel, completely doing away with their army. This drove Jehoahaz back to God, and when God saw that he had returned to Him, He sent them help. Israel was able to hold off the Syrians from causing any more problems, and Israel was spared. However, they continued to follow after other gods and did not completely turn back to God, which carried over into the reign of their next king, Jehoash. Like his father, Jehoash did what was evil in God’s sight.
The rest of 2 Kings 13 looks at the end of Elisha’s life. While on his death bed, Elisha was able to have one last conversation with Jehoash, king of Israel. Once again, remember that Jehoash and Joash are the same person. We previously saw this when a Joash reigned in Judah. This person, however, is king in Israel, but there are two different spellings for the same person. So this latest king, Jehoash, was king when Elisha died.
Elisha told Jehoash that he would have victory over Syria, for God was going to give them the victory. Due to the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He was not going to allow Israel to be destroyed (at least not yet). So he promised that Israel, under the reign of Jehoash, would defeat Syria. But when giving the prophecy, Elisha commanded Jehoash to keep shooting arrows into the ground, and Jehoash only did it three times. Thinking that he would continue until the quiver was emptied, Elisha condemned him for not completing the task. As a result, he promised Jehoash that they would only find victory over Syria three times instead of doing away with the threat of the Syrians forever. After his death, Elisha’s predictions once again came true. Even with a change in command in Syria (as Hazael died and his son, Ben-hadad took his place), Israel continued to have victory over Syria and took back their cities from the Syrians three times.
Finally, there was one last miracle of Elisha. Even in his death, God had given him the ability to heal another man. When some Moabites were traveling through the land, they threw a body into the grave of Elisha (possibly not knowing that Elisha was in there). When their dead bodies came into contact with one another, the man was healed and made alive. Now while Scripture does not tell us anything else about this man, can you imagine what he must have thought or what the men who had thrown his dead body in must have thought? They must have realized that they were in the land of Israel, and while we will never know, it may have caused them to seek after God. They had probably heard of some of the amazing miracles that had been performed in Israel, and this may have been enough to cause them to seek after God (but we may never know).
Thus ends the life of a great man of God. Elisha was one who truly followed after God and obeyed His commands. He allowed God to use him in miraculous ways and trusted that God would be able to work through him. While there may have been times when Elisha wondered how God would be able to resolve such an “impossible” situation, he allowed God to work through his life. He knew that God had a plan, and he was only God’s servant. So when life seems impossible, we can trust that God has a plan. He is all-powerful and can work everything out for good, according to His will. We must learn to trust God, and allow Him to work through us. We cannot live this life on our own, and if we try to do so, we will fall every time. So be like Elisha and let God work in your life as you surrender to His will.
Matt
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