2 Kings 13:14-2114Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 15And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. 16And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. 17And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. 18And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 19And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. 20And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 21And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. (2 Kings 13:14‑21)
Elisha was a true prophet in Israel many years, telling the people and the kings God’s words, and had wisdom to tell them before, what was to happen later, and had power from God to do very great miracles which were to help, and to teach them. Yet often the words be told them were not believed, and sometimes the kings tried to kill him. But God kept him safe, and he lived during the rule of several kings, and when his last sickness came, he must have been a very old man.
The king over Israel at that time had regard for Elisha, and came to visit him, and called him, “Father”, which was a title of respect for an old person, speaking of him also as “the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.” That meant that he knew Elisha was the one to help them against their enemies, as chariots and horses were used then in war. The king wept, thinking Israel would have no more power.
But Elisha told him they would still be helped: he told the king to open the window and shoot with his bow and arrow, while Elisha placed his hands upon the king’s hands. The king shot the arrow.
Then Elisha told him to strike the ground with an arrow the king did so three times, but that was not enough. Elisha showed him that if he would use more energy, God would help him drive away the enemy altogether. As it was, he would win three times over them. Later we read that this came true; the king won three times over the army of Syria (vs. 25).
Elisha died and was buried. In that land people were buried in what was called it sepulcher, or tomb, dug in the stony hills and a heavy stone fitted for the door.
Later, a man of Israel died, and the friends were preparing to bury him, when they saw a band of soldiers, who had come, from another land; they were afraid and hurriedly put the dead man into the tomb where Elisha was buried. A strange thing happened: thin dead man came to life. We are not told more about this but it gave those people again to see the power of God to raise from death.
After Elisha’s death the kings and men of Israel did more and more evil. The Lord sent other prophets to show them the right way, but they would not honor Him. At last He let an enemy capture the cities, and take the people away to be slaves, and sent other people to live in Israel (2 Kings 18:11,1211And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: 12Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. (2 Kings 18:11‑12)).
Could you tell of these wonders done by God’s power to Elisha?
ML 08/06/1939