2 Kings 13 Bible Study (Jehoahaz & Jehoash Israel Reigns/Death of Elisha) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Let's come together now to Second Kings chapter 13.

2 Kings 13 · chapter mention

I wonder if you notice that we have not seen or heard from the

prophet Elisha in quite some time.

The most recent mention of him occurs in Second Kings Chapter

2 Kings 9 · chapter mention

9, verse one, when this prophet sent a son of the prophet, one

of his students, to Ramoth Gilead to anoint the next king

of Israel. And his name was Jehu.

We haven't seen or heard from him since, but tonight it's

going to be different. The man of God will reappear in

this grand narrative of the kings.

But I will tell you from now, this will be Elisha's final

appearance in our study of Second Kings.

You see, we're not going to encounter Elisha ministering in

cities, serving the sons of the prophets, or confronting any

kings or armies in this chapter. What you will find is Elisha in

a room, in a bed, dying of an illness.

That's right. This text in the Old Testament

will define for us Elisha's earthly departure.

We have now come to the end of this man's incredible life, and

instead of swiftly informing us of his exit, the Spirit of God

provides rich detail about the final moments of his life.

And I'm eager to explore these truths with you.

But we have to touch on the verses that set the stage for

this incredible scene. We can't rush to it.

And so we're going to begin in verse one, read down to verse

three. We're going to take our time,

but I will tell you that we're going to spend the most time by

Elijah's bedside and seeing what happens there and who's in that

room and what he has to say, and what even happens a little bit

after he dies. And so I know our sister just

prayed, but if we can pray one more time before we even begin

to read and ask the Lord to help us as we sang over and over.

O Lord, we pray that you take our hearts and that you seal

them in your courts for your courts above.

And Lord, we ask that through this Bible study you would equip

us with everything that is good, that we may do your will that

which is pleasing in your sight through Jesus Christ, for whom

belong glory forever and ever. Amen.

Second Kings 13 verse one In the 23rd year of Joash, the son of

Isaiah, king of Judah, Jeho Ahaz, the son of Jehu began to

reign over Israel and Samaria, and he reigned 17 years.

He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed

the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, which he made Israel to

sin. He did not depart from them, and

the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he

gave them continually into the hand of Hazel, king of Syria,

and into the hand of Ben Haddad, the son of Hazel.

This seems like a very common introduction to a new biography

in the Book of Second Kings, but what you have here actually are

the beginnings of. God's promise being fulfilled,

the promises that he made, particularly to King Jehu.

Remember, we studied Jehu for a few weeks and because Jehu was

faithful to the Lord in exterminating the House of Ahab

and Baal ISM from the land of Israel, his main reward was

this, that his descendants would occupy the throne of Israel

until the 4th generation. And the start of that oath, that

pledge being realized, is found here in the opening verses of

chapter 13, because Jehu's son Joaz succeeds him and he now

secures the throne. But instead of acknowledging the

Lord's faithfulness, instead of walking in humility, we find the

son of Jehu committing himself to idolatry.

He doesn't recognize that it was the favor of God that positioned

them here. He doesn't think about God's

faithfulness to his father. He is completely self absorbed.

And he's completely consumed with idolatry and rebellion.

And this man's devotion to the worship of golden calves was met

with the Syrians harassing him as an expression of God's

discipline. We've seen this pattern before,

haven't we? And what happens next is what is

unusual for one who is a king in the Northern Kingdom.

Look at verse 4. Then Joe has sought the favor of

the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the

oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.

He doesn't. Seek the favor of the golden

calves. Maybe He did, but as we would

expect, they failed him. Whatever the background is, he

makes this decision to seriously seek the favor of the Lord.

This is uncommon, this is strange, this is unexpected.

But can I tell you what's more shocking to me?

Not that this wicked king seeks God's favor, but that the rest

of us tells us that God hears and listens to him.

That's what moves me more than anything.

Because you see, Joaz is not a struggling Sinner.

No, he was a bonafide idol worship.

He was somebody who was consumed with this.

It was his identity, it was his drive, it was his purpose.

Look at the language. He did not depart from

worshipping the idols that Jeroboam set up.

He clung to them. He was serious about this.

And yet the moment that he stopped and turned his face to

the true and living God, God responds to him.

And now there are a few things to learn about prayer in these

verses and about how God's response to prayer should

encourage us as well. So pay attention to this.

Number one, what we learned from this is that regardless of one's

vile history with sin, if a person truly, humbly implores

God, he will be heard. He will be received.

And that's something for you and I to consider for ourselves,

because many people are entrenched in sin the same way

Joe has was. But no matter how deep the

entrenchment of the ingrained patterns of sin you may be in,

you can escape it. You can escape it with sincere

repentance and even with a single call to God.

So God does not hang your sin over your head and put you in

some kind of penalty box before he's willing to hear you when

you cry out to Him. Which brings us to a second

thought, that such possibility in prayer only exists because of

this. God is abundantly kind.

He is abundantly kind. Look back at verse 4.

Notice that it says here that the Lord listened to him for he

saw For he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria

oppressed him. We're given another reason later

in this chapter why God was so favorite, favorably treating the

Israelites and I want you to see it because it's going to provide

a full picture. Look at verse 22 of this

chapter. We're fast forwarding a bit, but

we need to in order to consider a dimension to this incident.

Second Kings 1322. Now Hazael, king of Syria,

oppressed Israel all the days of.

Joaz But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on

them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has

He cast them from His presence until now.

From this perspective, you and I are forced to acknowledge that

the reason why God was so compassionate towards this

generation was because of a covenant, because of a promise

that God made to the patriarchs to preserve this nation.

It was an unconditional promise. But when you come back to verse

four, we have another dimension to this, that God not only was

willing to respond to this king and this Kingdom, though they

were rebellious because of a covenant, but also because of

his kindness. Because what does it say in

verse four that he saw the oppression of Israel?

He saw the pain, He saw the frustration, He saw their

destitution. So it's more than just him doing

this out of obligation. It's more than just him being

committed to his name and his faithfulness.

It's because he actually has a heart for those who are in sin.

He actually is broken hearted for those who are caught in the

web of immorality, debauchery, abuse, transgression.

Call it what you want actually. Moves his heart to see somebody

as a slave to unrighteousness. And so when a Sinner cries out,

God is willing to because he actually loves the Sinner.

See, if you just had 22 and 23, you would see and you would

probably say to yourself, Oh yeah, because God wants to show

that he is a promise keeping God.

And that is still wonderful. There's nothing, nothing not

amazing about that. But to see this personal element

only provides a greater picture of his character.

So he's. Moved by this and he's willing

to intervene even though that this pain was caused by their

own rebellion, he wants to rescue them.

Lastly, prayer in crisis. If we're going to learn a few

things from verse 4, here's a final thought.

Prayer in crisis does not promise permanent change.

Does Geo has call out to the Lord?

Yes. Does the Lord respond to His

humility? Absolutely.

Does it change this man for the rest of his life?

Look at verse 5. Therefore, the Lord gave Israel

a Savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians,

and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.

Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the

House of Jeroboam, which He made Israel to sin, but walked in

them, and the Ashra also remained in Samaria.

We're not granted the identity of the deliverer that God raised

up, but that seems to be less of a concern when we read the fact

that even though God brought salvation, the people returned

to their vomit. This is language.

Of a savior, deliverer, the people being restored.

Really. The whole.

Scene up to this point, does it remind?

You of any book that we have studied in the past that has a

very similar rhythm concerning the people's spirituality.

Any any idea the book of what such with the letter J judges.

I believe that the Holy Spirit is being precise here and

depicting something that we've seen over and over in the days

when Israel was ruled by judges. It's this circuit that we have

studied before. Live in sin, worship false gods

oppressed by a foreign neighbor, cry out to God.

Repeat. And it's a reminder, this verse

that the unsteady spiritual pattern that was common in the

days of judges that we find here in the days of second kings is

nothing new for many profession Christians today.

Listen, you have many churchgoers, many pseudo

spiritual Christians who are content living in that kind of

cycle of anemic spirituality. I've seen it.

What does it look like? Live in sin.

Get in trouble, come to church. Set up a couple counseling

sessions with the pastor. Feel emboldened because you have

tasted some kind of relief, so now this person's posting more

verses on their Instagram. Go back to your sin.

Repeat. Many people live like that, and

I believe that the physical description of what we read in

verse 7 here mirrors the condition of the souls of those

who are content to live in that circuit of compromise.

Look at verse 7. For there was not left to Jo as

an army of more than 50 horsemen and 10 Chariots and 10,000

footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them

like the dust at. Threshing What is sad

description for a nation's army? Can you imagine?

For an entire country, you have what?

10,000 foot men, no more than 50 horsemen.

So this analysis is meant to depict this vulnerable state,

this embarrassing condition. And I make the case here that

the vulnerability of the nation, the weakness, the leanness of

what you find here is a reflection of what happens to

the spirituality in the condition of the inner man for

those who choose to live and relate to God in the same way

this king does. Let me put it this way.

Please hear me. I say this in great love, you

will never ever, ever tap into true power, true purpose, true

pleasure in your soul if you relate to God like a 911 call.

If the only kind of interaction you have with God is in

emergencies void of any personal relationship, don't expect to

know true life, true joy, true strength.

You'll never know it. Only when you know how to abide

will the life source of heaven flow into your being.

But to choose only to call upon Him to save you from something,

and you premeditatively know that you're not going to commit

to the cause of Christ and the gospel of Christ.

Don't expect a robust true life. You'll be limping spiritually.

You'll remain a spiritual skeleton.

And I don't want that for you. God doesn't want that for you.

I was reading this morning, I was sitting before the Lord with

First John before me, and I was reminded of a promise, an

indirect promise that is available to all of us.

Turn to the New Testament. Look at First John chapter 2.

1 John 2 · chapter mention

There's this interesting series of statements that John makes to

young children, fathers, and young men.

He's speaking about spiritual children's, spiritual fathers,

spiritual young men. I want you to see what he says

about the spiritual young men in verse 14 of First John 2.

John says in first John 214 I write to you, fathers, because

you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the

word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil. 1

What sandwiching this truth of the word of God abides in you

the strength of these young men and the ability for them to

overcome the evil one. Now this is not limited to young

men. This is available to all of us.

But notice here he describes him as strong, and he praises their

ability to wage good warfare against Satan himself.

On what basis? The word of God abiding in them.

You want to be strong you. Need to know how to abide?

You will never be able to know true victory over sin.

You'll never be able to overcome the lies and the arrows and the

threats of the evil one. Never, unless you know how to

abide. If you just dial God once in a

while and think that's what it means to walk with Him, you're

fooling yourself. You're deceiving yourself.

How many examples can we go to look at this abiding meaning?

It lives in you, the Word of God, because it lives in you.

It surges strength in your being and you're able to face Satan

himself and overcome. That's only available for those

who know how to abide. So we come back to our text and

we learned that Joaz dies unfaithful, verse 8.

Now the rest of the acts of Joaz and all that he did and his

might, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of

the Kings of Israel? So Jehoias slept with his

father's, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash, his son,

reigned in his place. This man dies unfaithful.

But the Lord's faithfulness to Jehu continues.

How do we know that? Because he told Jehu.

Your sons will rule and reign until the 4th generation.

And so now we have Joash, who represents the next one in line.

And when you just. Glance at verse 10 down to verse

13. That's all we're given

concerning Joash's biography. It's a very brief obituary, so

let's read it. And tell me if it sounds

familiar. In the 37th year of Joash, king

of Judah, Joash, the son of Joaz, began to reign over Israel

and Samaria, and he reigned 16 years.

He also did what was evil in the side of the Lord.

He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of the

bat, which made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.

Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and

the might with which he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah,

are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings

of Israel? So Joash slept with his

father's, and Jeroboam sat on his throne, and Joash was buried

in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Typical. Typical.

Snapshot of a king. Who clung to the sins of

Jeroboam? Maybe accomplish a military feat

or two. And it seems like the historian

is not very interested in elaborating on Joash's reign,

except for one thing. Yes, we're told that he died.

But for the rest of this chapter, he wants to bring us by

the spirit to a particular incident, something monumental

that took place under Joash's reign.

And it is this, the death of Elijah the prophet.

Elisha died under this administration, and more than

that, this very king is actually going to interact with Elisha in

his dying moment. And that's where the Holy Spirit

wants to emphasize. That's where we're going to

spend our time exploring the rich truths for our own walk

with Christ. So let's look at verse 14.

This is where we're going to be spending most of our time.

Now the stage has been set. Let's read verse 14.

Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was

to die, Joash, king of Israel, went down to him and wept before

him, crying, My father, my father, the Chariots of Israel

and its horsemen. There are a handful of

observations we can make from this one verse and I'm actually

curious to know, and you're free to answer this, just don't make

your answer too long, but just bullet point answers.

What about this verse offer something interesting in terms

of just maybe details or something that you've seen

before? What stands out to you from

verse 14? Let's make this a little bit

more interactive. Any idea?

Just raise your hand. Yes, it was.

This was also said for Elijah. Isn't that interesting that what

the king says about Elijah, Elijah said about Elijah, his

mentor. Remember this?

Yes, I was going to say that Elijah was called from the

chariot to heaven, but Elijah died even though Elijah asked

for a double. Portion very, very good

observation my brother. There's a stark contrast between

Elijah's exit and Elijah's exit. So our brother mentioned here

how Elijah was taken up into heaven without dying.

You know, we find. Elijah, who had a double portion

of what Elijah had. And he died a very ordinary,

predictable death. Very good.

Anything else worth mentioning before we unravel this together?

Those are the two major ones, so let's touch on them.

The immediate thing that stands out is how Elijah, the miracle

worker, the vessel that God used to heal polluted water and

disease men, is now himself dying of a sickness.

That's remarkable to me. Because I think that it is a

severe blow to one of the lies of the prosperity gospel, the

prosperity gospel that tells you that you can do what if you have

the faith. Claim perpetual perfect health.

OK, so here's my question. Here's my question.

Is Elijah outside of the will of God at this point?

Is Elijah operating in unbelief? No, no, no, no.

In fact, what you have Elijah doing here?

Serving God in his dying moments, operating as a

messenger of God even here and now.

So the claim that this man is sick because he did not have the

faith is way off, dangerously off now.

If anything, this is a reminder to us that we're all destined to

die. And the way that God will

transition his children from this world into the next varies.

Was Elijah any less loved by God than how God treated Elijah?

Absolutely not. Was he less faithful than

Elijah? If anything, you can say that

Elijah was more consistent with his trust in God than Elijah

was. We didn't study any crisis of

faith with Elijah, did we? Elijah doesn't veer off into the

wilderness and asked to die. No, he was pretty stable from

the beginning. And yet Elijah was taken up in

glorious fashion, and yet this man falls to sickness, and he's

going to give his final breath in this way.

So this is something that we have to consider for ourselves.

God doesn't give us an answer for why this is the case, but in

His infinite wisdom He determines the timing and the

manner by which you and I graduate into glory.

Here's the second thing that stands out to me is the response

of Josh, the king of Israel. Here you have the ruler of a

nation who is willing to leave his palace and visit this man.

And not just pay respect, but to weep over him.

Now here's what's so startling. We just read between verse 10

and 13 that this Josh was evil. He falls in the ways of

Jeroboam. So how do you make sense of

this? How do you have a man who

betrayed the true God show such reverence and admiration for a

man of God? Some accused of insincerity,

some claim that this is just a concern that's rooted in

political fear. What's going to happen with our

Kingdom now that this man of God who has done so much for this

nation is leaving us? But I think that would be

unfair. I believe that these tears are

actually an indication of some commendable comprehension on

Josh's part. You see he.

Was an idolater, but I also believe that he recognized the

impact that Elisha had on the Kingdom and the influence that

he had for the nation, and he admired it.

And it's hard to debate that when you consider what he says

about Elisha. What does he say?

My father, My father meaning what I I truly recognize you as

the spiritual guide of this nation.

Even though he didn't personally abide by the word of the Lord,

he could not deny that Elisha had an incredible role to play

in the stability of this people. Whatever was left of this

ability, of this people. Then he goes on to say, what?

The Chariots of Israel and its horsemen?

We've studied this before. What is he saying?

By declaring this, you're the true source of this nation's

security and strength. Not our javelins, not our

horses, not our not our Chariots, nothing.

Not our arrows, not our swords. Your walk with God is the real

reason why we know the security that we have enjoyed, the true

power, the true reason why we were able to accomplish what we

were able to accomplish. This is something so

fascinating. As our sister said, this is what

Elijah said about Elijah. And here's the most mind blowing

part. The same man who expressed these

things is called evil in verse 11.

He's called evil. When I put those truths

together, this is what it taught me and I hope it teaches you the

same, that it's possible for someone to say the right things.

It's possible for someone to even.

Honor the right people. It's possible for someone to

acknowledge the benefits that God's truth can bring to

society, to a family, to a culture, to the law of the land,

and even praise the efforts of servants of God and still not be

saved. You've probably seen some

funerals of great ministers in our own nation where their

funeral is broadcasted and you have politicians attend who

showed their respect and even maybe paid tribute with

beautiful eulogies. Do you think those politicians

are safe because of that? There's no indication whatsoever

that somebody's right with God, and that's something that you

and I have to consider for our own lives because maybe this is

hard to grasp. So let's confirm it in another

way. Do you remember who Balak, king

of Moab, hired to curse the nation of Israel when they came

out of Egypt into the promised Land?

Balaam. And so Balaam, this false

prophet, attempts to curse Israel without their knowledge.

And as he attempts to do this with one Oracle after the next,

the Lord intervenes and turns those curses into blessings.

And I want you to see what Balaam confesses with his first

Oracle, with whatever revelation that God had given him.

He made this incredible. Expression and confession about

the righteous go to Numbers 23, verse 10.

Numbers 23:10

Balaam says something in verse 10 of Numbers 23.

Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the 4th part of

Israel? Let me die the death of the

upright, and let my end be like his.

Here you have a wicked man who is under some kind of a trance.

He's experiencing some kind of a vision, and in this experience

he learns about the end of the righteous.

He learns how the righteous die and what happens after they die.

So what does he say? Personally?

He goes, oh, let me die that kind of a death.

Let me end this way. Let me transition from this life

to the next. In that manner Balaam desired to

die the death of the righteous. But he did not want to live the

life of the righteous. How did Balaam die under God's

judgement? Because he loved money more than

anything else. Money was his God.

And yet still you see that this wicked man, this false prophet,

this example that the New Testament uses more than once to

say this is an evil, an attitude, this is an evil

outlook in life. This is an evil set of

convictions. There are people like Balaam in

the church today that harass the church and deceive the church.

That kind of a person can still have a smidgen of holy ambition

and affection and still not be regenerate.

Let me die the death of the righteous.

He didn't die the death of the righteous because he didn't want

to live the life of the righteous.

And so just because you have somebody who expresses or in a

moment or maybe in spontaneity says something right, expresses

something right, maybe even for a moment, conforms to something

right, does not necessarily indicate that they are

transformed. And that's what we see here with

this king. So he weeps over him.

And there is obviously a mixture of grief here.

I think part of the concern that he has was he really believed

that Elisha kept the nation together.

Now he's about to slip away into eternity.

And so as king, he goes, what's going to become of my Kingdom?

Elisha knows this. More importantly, God knows

this. So he actually extends comfort

to this troubled ruler. This is fascinating.

Come back to the main text, if you will, and look here at verse

15. And Elisha said to him, take a

bow and arrows. So he took a bow and arrows.

Then he said to the king of Israel, draw the bow, and he

drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the

King's hands. Pause.

Elisha has provided these instructions to the king because

he's preparing him to receive a prophetic word by symbolic

gesture to comfort him and to teach him and to remind him that

even though he's going to die, God is still available.

God can still be sought. God is still willing to come

through. And before we get into the

precise details of the prophecy, you know what I find here?

I see a man who is being eaten up with disease, giving whatever

strength he has left. To fulfill his duty as a

messenger of God. Look at the language here again.

It says here that he laid his hands on the King's hand.

So he just mustered up the strength.

And I wonder if he was laying down.

I don't know how he was positioned, but at some point he

gets up, he speaks with authority and he even places his

shaky hands on the hands of the king.

While he's holding that bow and arrow.

And I am moved because from the beginning, when Elijah

surprisingly threw that mantle on him, to the final days of his

life, you have a man who gave everything to serve the Lord.

Isn't this a moving thing? It should be moving to you

because it's possible for you and I to have that same

trajectory. I told you I was reading First

John today, but earlier this week I was looking over the the

words of First Peter and I want to show you something that

blessed me. It turned into a prayer and I

hope it becomes your prayer. Leaving this place in First

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

Peter Chapter 4, a very practical passage.

But notice this detail that confirms and adds to what we're

saying here about Elijah. First, Peter 410 Peter says as

each has received the gift, use it to serve one another as good

stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks

oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the

strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may

be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion, forever and ever.

Amen. Two thoughts come to me from

this passage. The first one is this, that the

strength that you know. The capacity that you have with

your mobility, with your agility that has been supplied by God

every single day, whether you're aware of it or not, for the

purpose of you serving him. The breath in your lungs, the

ability to move, to type, to walk, to carry, to be here after

a long week of work. Every ounce of that energy is

aimed to serve God. That's glorious.

That's why you live. But beyond that, if this

strength does come from God, then it invites me to seek Him

for more of it so that I can live for His glory.

And so I read this the other day, and these verses became the

prayer of that day. Lord, give me more strength.

I don't want there to be any physical, emotional, mental, any

kind of obstacle that would limit me from doing what you've

gifted me to do. I want to do it forever.

I want to do it for the rest of my life.

This is what are you speaking about here.

There is a strength that God supplies and never take any, any

strength that you know for granted.

I've said this before, allow me to say it again.

The very fact that you were able to tie your shoes this morning

or this evening was permitted by God.

You couldn't do that without God saying you can do.

That oh, I don't know about that.

You have a limited view of God's sovereignty.

You do praise team your ability to sing.

You don't take that for granted because that can be taken from

you overnight. Any preacher in this place, you

can become mute in a moment. So with all the strength that

God has given you for any kind of ministry in between the

examples I gave all don't take it for granted.

And don't you ever, ever, ever feel intimidated to come before

him, Say, Lord, give me more of the strength, secure the

strength, multiply the strength. I find this man who is riddled

with disease, yet with a little strength he had, he says I'm

going to serve him. The final sight that we have of

this man is he's prophesying. That's what he is.

He's a prophet. I want to end that way.

And maybe you're thinking someone inspired by Elijah's

example, but also disappointed because if you're honest with

your track record and the devotion to the Lord of the past

and maybe even today, it's not consistent, far from consistent.

You hear about Elijah from beginning to end, and he was.

He was a straight arrow, no pun intended.

But here you are, and you can barely keep yourself together

for a week. Maybe there's even wasted long

stretches of time where you gave the peak of your existence for

selfish ambition and purpose. If that's you, if you're feeling

this way, if any of us are feeling that way, there is hope

for us. I think of Jacob.

Jacob was a scoundrel. Jacob was a trickster.

Jacob was a deceiver. And much of a story in Genesis.

He's just messing up with people and he receives the fruit of

what he sold. He reaped the consequences of

his deceiving ways, but is that how he ended?

Manipulating and twisting arms and playing these games?

That's not how Jacob ended. If you go to Hebrews, we're told

in one verse what this man looked like on his dying day.

I want you to see it. Go to Hebrews 11.

Meet me in verse 21. Hebrews 11/21.

I'll wait for you. I want to read it together.

By faith, Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of

Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

That's how Jacob ended. Jacob ended by doing two things.

Not deceiving people, blessing people, not running from God,

worshipping God. Why do I bring this to your

attention? Because the script of your life

can change if you're willing to believe it.

Make the decision today that with whatever strength you do

have left, whatever time you have left, that this will be

your goal, that you will leave this place being a blessing to

others and being a worshipper of God.

Let's come back to 2nd Kings 13. So he positions the King's

hands, but now he prophecies in verse 17 and he said open the

window eastward and he opened it.

Then Elijah said shoot and he shot and he said the Lord's

arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria.

For you shall fight the Syrians and AFAC until you have made an

end of them. Here's the essence of the

message. You, King Joash, will overcome

your enemies. Why would this be important for

him to hear? Because he's worried that when

Elijah dies, so will there hope. And he says no, your hope

doesn't die with me. I'm going to die.

God doesn't die. God doesn't sleep for that

matter. And so he identifies as arrow

symbolically as the Lord's arrow of victory.

That is where your source of strength comes from, King Joash,

not in me. And so he's essentially

redirecting. He's pointing him to the right

source, look to God. He's going to remain, he's going

to supervise, He's still available, he's still

accessible. So keep your eyes on him.

And so he promises this empowerment to defeat the

enemies of the people of God. But the degree of this victory

will be determined by the level of faith that King Josh will

have. The promise of power has been

made clear. God is here, and the fact that

he puts his hands on his hands is a symbolic way of saying the

Lord's hands are available. That is where you're going to

really find your ability to do this.

However, his faith is going to be tested right away.

Here's the promise for power. Now let's see what kind of faith

you have to access it. So what does he do?

Look at verse 18. And he said, take the arrows and

he took them. And he said to the king of

Israel, strike the ground with them.

And he struck three times and stopped.

Then the man of God was angry with him and said you should

have struck 5 or 6 times. Then you would have struck down

Syria until you have made an end of it.

But now you will strike down Syria only three times.

Some feel uncomfortable with Elisha's response, his rebuke

really, Because it seems that the king is doing the best he

can with the limited understanding he had.

But if you really take into account how the king was

prepared before he actually was asked to do this, then you

realize that this is actually a demonstration of weak faith on

his part. How do we know that?

Because back in verse 17, he was already told that this arrow

signifies the arrow of the Lord's victory.

And then he goes on to say take the arrows.

He didn't give him a number he's applying.

Take all of them and strike the ground with the arrows, but

instead of emptying the quiver. He just stops at 3 and this is

what makes the Prophet upset, and rightfully so.

The king should have gone all the way and understanding the

interpretation, it's been made plain to him.

He should have made the connection and he should have

continued with the picture and fulfilled a greater prophecy for

his life. But he doesn't.

Here's the case that I want to make, that the anger Elijah

feels can be Amen by the righteous in a nation that many

spiritual leaders feel when they make known to the people of God

the very promises of God, but the people do not fully take

advantage of them. There's maybe apathy on the

King's part, maybe a level of unbelief, maybe both.

But this kind of reluctancy and hesitation in seeing the Syrians

defeated, you can say, mirrors how many Christians.

Approach and confront sin in their lives because the Syrians

here are a picture of the powerful consequences of sin,

and now God is providing a way for him to be able to overcome

it. But what does he do?

He's content with partial victory, and I say that many

Christians are the same way with the flesh.

You and I have better promises than Joash.

We have the promise of the gospel.

We have the inheritance of the power of the Holy Spirit.

We have God's hand, so to speak, willing to extend and reach into

the deepest part of you, who you are, and to liberate you from

any shackle or bondage. That's a promise that we can be

free because we are no longer under the law, but under grace.

Romans 6 says And yet how many people strive for complete

victory in their sanctification? I'm not talking about being

sinlessly perfect, but I am talking about being able to say

and be able to experience and testify that I am free and that

when temptations visit to me, I can say with the strength of

God. No, like Josh, people settle for

partial victory and they lack the zeal in the faith to claim

total freedom. Many are like this, many are

living like this. And I can see where Elijah's

coming from. Maybe you've known that and

counseling a friend or looking at a sibling and you know what

the promise of God can do for for your struggle against sin.

And people seem to not take it seriously.

So they shoot 3 arrows. They take bits and pieces of

God's promises and not the whole thing, and it burns your heart

because you don't want to see them continue in that suffering,

but God doesn't. Force himself.

If you want to settle with three, you can take 3.

With the measure of faith that you use, you'll receive.

Do not doubt the promises of God.

Do not cut them in half. Do not dilute them.

Don't even dilute them with what you see around you.

Believe Him and take Him at His word completely.

Don't just shoot 3 arrows. Don't just take some here and

leave others. Don't say this applies to you

and this lead seems realistic and this doesn't.

God's promises are meant to be experienced by his children

completely. Don't settle for anything less.

Unfortunately this king does. Verse 20.

So Elisha died and they buried him.

No open heaven, no horses from the sky, no fire, no whirlwind.

Just the man in the ICU and the machine flat lines.

Elisha died and they buried him. Now you would expect that this

is it. This is the cessation of his

ministry. There's no more message, no more

miracles. Prepared to witness probably one

of the most fascinating supernatural occurrences in all

of the Bible. Aren't you glad you came to

tonight? You're about to see something

that you've never seen before and you won't see after.

Let's finish the verse. So Elisha died and they buried

him. Now bands of Moabites used to

invade the land in the spring of the year, and as a man was

being. Buried.

Behold, marauding band was seen, and the man was thrown into the

grave of Elisha. And as soon as the man touched

the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

We're familiar with accounts in the Bible of living men.

Raising the dead. I have never read of any miracle

where a dead man raises another dead man, But it's here.

And our immediate question should be why?

Why is the Lord allowing this? Obviously this is the Lord's

doing, but why here? Why now?

Why in this particular moment? And I think there is a

historical answer. And then once we establish that,

we can draw at least 2-3 strong spiritual lessons.

So here's the historical answer. Notice again in verse 20, after

Elijah dies, we're told about bands of Moabites who used to

invade the land at a certain time of the year.

So we open this up by reflecting on the last time we heard from

Elijah. But here's another question.

When is the last time that we heard about the Moabites?

You can answer a few if you feel like you know the answer.

In our study of Second Kings, when was the last time the

Moabites made an appearance in this narrative?

Here's the answer. Second Kings Chapter 3.

2 Kings 3 · chapter mention

You don't have to turn there, but it's when.

Moab, who is under the the subjugation of the Israelites,

freed themselves, became independent, and so Israel,

Judah and Edom partnered together to fight against the

Moabites. And it was Elijah's prophetic

instruction that rescued that team and LED them to the

Moabites to be able to engage in battle.

They disappear from the scene, and now we find them again in

this chapter. And I think there's a reason

why. Remember, Israel is at a very

weak point with our national security.

Moreover, their true source of security is gone.

Who is he, Elijah? I'm sure the Moabites had Intel.

I'm sure they knew that Elisha played a significant role back

in Second Kings 3IN guiding the nations to come up against Moab.

So now you not only have the Moabites who have rebelled

against Israel, but now they are emboldened to actually attack

Israel. And I had on top of that the

Syrians who are oppressing them. This is perfect.

So you have the Moabites now invading the land of Israel,

robbing them and pillaging and doing all these things.

So I believe what you have here. 1 The fact that this man was

able to resurrect just in come in contact with Elisha's bones

was a reminder to Israel that Elisha was a true man of God.

It's it's a really validation of the authenticity of his

ministry. Elisha's message, his miracles

can be traced to the true God. And even after he dies, that

people are being reminded he was right.

He was right all along. And hopefully this would have

served as a way of drawing the people to the true God.

Even after Elijah dies, God wants to communicate.

Did you remember what the prophet said?

You're in this mess because of your sin.

How many times has Elijah called you unto myself?

And so this demonstration of power was meant to get the

attention of the nation, not just to draw them back in,

secondly, but to encourage them. What was the fear of the king

and the people that once Elisha was taken from them, that God's

favor would be removed as well? And so the fact that you have

this deceased man resurrecting after Elisha dies was a

confirmation of the prophecy. Elisha might be gone, but God

isn't. Elisha might not be available.

God is still available. And they would have learned that

there's no doubt that this would have spread and reached the

Kingdom. The fact that this man left to

his feet after he was thrown into.

Elisha's tomb. So this would have been a source

of comfort. Elisha is gone, but God did not

abandon us. God's work goes on.

His purposes go on, even though his servants might go on.

But I believe there are very beautiful spiritual lessons from

this. The obvious 1 is that even

though Elisha's life was over, his ministry wasn't.

Like Abel, though he is dead, he's still what speaks.

That's what you find in Hebrews Chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And you might actually be a person who can testify that

you've come into contact with the material.

Maybe books, tapes, online sermons of those?

Who are no longer with us. But their message has been

preserved. Their example has been their

biographies have been kept with us.

And that brought you to life. That brought you to your feet.

I can tell you, and I've said this jokingly before, that some

of my favorite ministers are dead.

He's got us preserve their work. And though they are dead, they

still speak. And it's a wonderful

encouragement to us that our fruitfulness can outlive us.

And that sometimes, in God's wisdom, the greatest expansion,

the greatest breath to your ministry can occur when you go

into heaven, when you go into glory.

There are many authors who they have written great pieces of

literature, Christian literature that at the time did not really

reach anybody, but after they died touch the world they're.

Example after example of that, and we see something here by way

of symbolism that you have Elijah who's in the tomb, but

he's still touching people's lives.

But it's also a humbling reminder to us of the power of

God. It shows that the power of

Elijah in his ministry did not come from Elijah.

It was the. Lord, the same Lord who raised a

person from the dead. By coming into contact with a

dead man was the same Lord who touched many dead people while

that same man was alive. So whether Elijah was alive or

dead, it did not matter. God was the source of his

strength. So next time you feel pride

tempting you, God doesn't need you to be alive for him to use

you. He can use a corpse to perform

resurrection miracles. He doesn't need you and me.

He can use a lifeless, cold body.

In fact, by this description, it could be that his flesh actually

disintegrated. You just have his bones left.

So who are you and I to think the good that he's doing in me

or has done through me in the past?

It's a little bit because of, you know, my personality and my

looks and and my resources and my smarts.

God can. Kill you and still use you.

Remember that he doesn't need you standing behind anything.

He doesn't need anything, and I think this is a wonderful

reminder of that. How you're supposed to respond

to God using you while you still have life is that He's just.

Allowing you to enjoy it and to witness it.

To give you an opportunity to glorify Him through it.

Lastly, do you see a foreshadowing of Christ in this?

I hope you do. Though you and I wholeheartedly

believe that the body of Jesus after he died did not remain in

that tomb, you cannot deny the theme of how someone's death

brought life to others. Christ is here.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth is being foreshadowed here in that

in His death He raised sons of Adam unto life.

And if you need confirmation from the New Testament, let me

remind you of Romans chapter 5, verse 10.

Romans 5:10

For while we were still enemies of God, we were reconciled to

God by the death of His Son. It was the death of Christ that

made you alive. Yes, His resurrection is an

integral part of that, but you needed His death.

I needed his death. So what do we have here?

Little vignette of a man who died, a man of God, yes, but one

greater than Elisha, who would not just bring one person back

to life, and not just physical life, but eternal life, and

many, not some, but many sons to glory.

So even in this you have the perfume of the gospel.

It's being sprayed right here and only the gospel centered

mind can see it. I see something here, that one

man, a man of God's death, actually was able to provide

life to another. Surely Christ's death would

perform greater resurrections. And it will and it will.

And that's available to those who have faith in Christ.

That though you die according to Jesus words in John 11.

Yet you shall live, You shall live.

Let's close this Bible study in prayer, shall we?

As you prepare your heart, I'll read the final verses of this

chapter. Now Hazael, king of Syria,

oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoaz.

But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them,

and he turned toward them because of His covenant with

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has

he cast them from his presence till now.

When Hazael king of Syria died, Ben had died.

His son became king in his place.

Then Joash the son of Jyaz, took again from Benedad the son of

Hazael, the cities that he had taken from Joaz, his father in

war. Three times Joash defeated him

and recovered the cities of Israel.

God kept his promise. Lord, we thank you from the

bottom of our hearts that in the Scriptures, in every part of it,

are woven gospel truths. We thank You that Christ is the

golden thread of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.

We can see him there. Lord, we ask with all the things

that we've heard that we would by your grace be able to retain

them. Help us like Elisha as we now

come to the conclusion of his ministry.

Serve you with every part of who we are until our final day,

Lord, and help us, O God, if we veer off.

If anybody even in this place knows that they are not in the

center of your will to remember Jacob even who changed the

direction because of faith and trusted in your goodness and

willing to rewrite his story. May that be so for some.

Here more we think about the legacy that we would have.

We do not ask for fame. We do not ask for influence.

We simply ask that by your wisdom, you would allow us to

reflect your character and to touch who you've appointed us to

come into contact with, and that they would see you in us.

Well, we pray for Maranatha Bible Church and every ministry

represented here. That You would allow us to be so

fragrant, so luminous, so filled with salt, that our absence

would be felt in the community, Lord, that our absence at our

workplace and our family gatherings would be felt.

That like Joash, who recognized the blessing of a man of God,

though he did not align himself to the same convictions, may our

testimony be similar. That when we are where we are,

people know it. And they can't deny the fruit

and the blessing that we offer because of Christ in us, the

hope of glory. So Lord, only you can make that

possible. Only you can animate us to such

a degree. And we submit ourselves to you

asking for it to be more true than it was when we walked in.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Let's stand worship the Lord.

If you ever want to do a Bible study in the chapter we covered,

I encourage you to revisit it with a different lens.

Trace the grace of God from verse one down to the final

verse of that chapter. Maybe you saw it throughout.

He kept His promise to Jehu and his descendants even though they

were wicked. He could have revoked it.

He could have stopped it. He could have said this is only

plunging you guys in the deeper darkness.

But He kept His word when Josh came to Elijah and was weeping

over him. He was an evil man.

And yet the Lord still you'd use Elijah to comfort him and to

remind him that I'm still available to you.

I mean, it bothers me when people criticize the Old

Testament, namely the character of God in the Old Testament.

It I have a low tolerance for it because when you study it, it

just, it's baffling. And lastly, even after Elisha

died, God went beyond that prophecy and raised a man from

the dead to tell that nation, I'm still here.

You can still cry out to me. Elisha might be gone, but I'm

still here. It's just, it blows my mind.

It really does. Maybe one of these days you can

do a whole, somebody can write a whole book just on the grace of

God in the Old Testament, story after story after story.

And if that's something that you endeavored to do, include Second

2 Kings 13 · chapter mention

Kings chapter 13 in it. Let's pray indeed, Lord, you are

a gracious God. Oh, I pray, we pray together

that we would feel fresh motivation to use our strength

to serve you. Thank you for this wonderful

example. And Elijah, we want to serve

you, Lord, and in our service to you.

If we are ever, ever tempted to feel like we are somebody,

although you can't do this without us, Lord, help us

remember that a corpse performed a miracle that none of us can

imagine ever performing, That you can use dry bones.

Never mind our strength, never mind our life, our breath.

But Lord, with whatever we do have left, we consecrated unto

you, we pray for your empowerment.

And Lord, lastly, for anybody who is only shooting a few

arrows, not claiming all of your promises, may that change today.

May we take your word as it is. Come before you say, Lord, I

want all of it. Whatever is available to me, I

want it. If you're saying that I could be

in victory over sin, I wanted. If you're saying that I can walk

in the Spirit, I want it. If I can bear the fruit of the

Spirit, yes, I want it. If it's possible to pray without

ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances to rejoice always,

Lord, I want it. We want all of it, Lord.

So may our attitude towards your promises change.

Leaving this Bible study. We love you and we thank you

that you remind us of these things every week.

In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen and Amen and Amen.

Ministers come and go. Bible studies come and go.

Churches come and go. Jesus remains forever.

Walk with him. Would you, God bless you, Say hi

to somebody before you leave. We'll see you next week.

By the way, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, we started last week our

series in the Book of Revelation.

So this Sunday we are opening up Revelation chapter one, verse

one. We're not going to stay just in

verse. One, but read chapter 1 before

Sunday. I'm sure I'll change your

experience of our service. God bless you.