For information on Elisha's calling, see Elisha in Elijah the Prophet.
Elisha was a prophet in the northern kingdom (Israel) for a time of great apostasy, the people had fallen away from the Lord. It can be the time when a service is most effective and most needed. God's power had worked through Elijah
in an extraordinary way. During Elisha's ministry it worked even more
because Elisha had received a double portion of Elijah's spirit.
The people of Jericho told Elisha that the water was bad and the land unproductive.
Elisha asked for another bowl of salt. He went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying that the Lord had healed the water. Never again would it cause death or render the land unproductive. The water then remained clean.
(2 Kings 2:19–22).
Jericho had been cursed by Joshua (Joshua 6:26). 500 years later it was rebuilt, see Ahab of Israel in Elijah the Prophet, but then got bad water and unproductive land, probably as a lingering effect after the curse. Now at last was the curse completely removed from the city.
Then Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was leaving, some boys came out of the city and mocked him. Elisha pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord.
Then two bears came out of the forest and mauled 42 of the boys. And he went on
to Mount Carmel and returned from there to Samaria. (2 Kings 2:23–25).
Bethel was the center of pagan worship of Jeroboam's golden calves at Bethel and Dan, see Rehoboam and Jeroboam, and the Division of Israel. These boys
were probably young men who knew Elijah and Elisha as prophets of God.
When they mocked Elisha it was a mockery of the Lord. This is a message of disrespect to the Lord and to those who represent him (Heb 10:31).
Jehoram of Israel
Jehoram, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in the 18th year of the reign
of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned for twelve years. He did evil
in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father and mother had done.
He disposed of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made.
But he clung to Jeroboam's sins.(2 Kings 3:1–3).
Mesha, king of Moab, raised sheep and had to pay Jehoram a tribute
of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 10,000 rams. After Ahab died,
Mesha rebelled against Jehoram who mobilized all of Israel and asked Jehoshaphat
to go with him to fight against Moab. Jehoshaphat replied that he would.
Jehoram set off with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom. After a circuitous march
of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals
with them. The three kings went down to Elisha to get a Word from the Lord.
Elisha said that he would come with a Word from the Lord because he had respect for Jehoshaphat who was a godly man. Elisha said the Lord would fill the valley with pools of water. God would also deliver Moab in their hands.
They would overthrow every fortified city and every large city, cut down
every good tree, stop up every spring, and destroy every good field with stones.
The next morning water flowed from the direction of Edom and the land
was filled with water. The Moabites had heard that the three kings had come to fight
against them; so every man who could bear arms was called up and placed
on the border. When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining
on the water. To the Moabites the water looked red like blood. They believed
that the three kings must have fought and slaughtered each other.
But when Moabites came to Israel's camp, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites.
They destroyed the cities, and each one threw a stone at every good field
until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down all the good trees. When Mesha saw that the battle had gone against him, he took 700 swordsmen
with him to break through against the king of Edom, but they couldn't.
Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him
as a sacrifice on the city wall. And there came great wrath against Israel.
The Israelites then withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
(2 Kings 3:4–27).
Mesha sacrificed his firstborn son to his pagan god. Human sacrifice was part
of his religion. It created great wrath against Israel. Israel responded
by withdrawing and they returned. There was no real resolution to the battle.
The wife of one of the company of the prophets called out to Elisha that her husband was dead and that the creditor had come to take her two children to be his slaves. She had nothing in the house except a jar of oil. Then Elisha told her that she would borrow vessels from all her neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. Then she would go in and close the door behind her and her sons.
She should pour oil into all these vessels. When all the vessels were full,
the oil stopped flowing. Elisha told her to sell the oil and pay her debts.
She and her sons could live on the rest. (2 Kings 4:1–7).
In ancient Israel, debt was one of the main reasons for slavery. One of the family members then had to work out the debt as a slave. God had given two provisions
for a fellow Israelite to become a slave in the Mosaic Laws:
- Must be released in the the seventh year (Exo 21:2, Deu 15:12).
- Must not to be treated as a common slave (Deu 15:13–15).
Israel was now in a time of apostasy so it's not known how closely
the people followed these guidelines, most likely they were ignored. This woman couldn't be sure if she would see freedom for hers sons if they became slaves.
The reason she should close the door behind her is that God's miracles aren't a side show or entertainment, they show God's grace and mercy,
see God's Attributes.
In Shunem lived a rich woman who invited Elisha to eat some food. She told her husband to make a small room on the roof with walls and place there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he could go in there when
he came to them. Elisha asked her if he could do anything for her.
His servant Gehazi told him that she had no son, and that her husband was old. Elisha told her at about that time next year she would embrace a son.
The woman conceived and gave birth to a son at that time the following spring,
as Elisha had told her. (2 Kings 4:8–17).
This rich woman showed hospitality. A leader in a Christian congregation
should be able to show hospitality, see The Book of Timothy and The Book of Titus.
When the child had grown, he complained of a headache and died.
She got up and put him on Elisa's bed and closed the door behind him and went out. Then she went to Elisha at Mount Carmel. She asked him if she had asked for a son. Elisha told his servant Gehazi to take Elisha's staff and go. If he met someone,
he wouldn't greet him, and if someone greeted him, he wouldn't respond. He should put the staff on the child's face. The mother of the child said that she wouldn't leave him, so Elisha followed her back. Gehazi went ahead and laid the staff on the child's face, but there was no sound or sign of life. So he returned
to meet Elisha and told him that the child hadn't woken up. When Elisha entered
the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. So he went in and closed
the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got up
and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes,
and his hands on his hands. As he reached over him, the child's flesh
grew warm. Then he got up again and walked up and down the house once
and got up and stretched himself over him. The child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes. Then he called Gehazi and told him
to call for the Shunammite. So he did. When she came to him, Elisha told her
to pick up her son. She came and fell at his feet and bowed to the ground.
Then she picked up her son and went out. (2 Kings 4:18–37).
See time 37:08–40:30 in Most Christians Get These 10 Bible Questions Wrong.
The child didn't wake up when Gehazi put the staff on the child. It was a change
in the circumstances when the mother didn't want to leave Elisha and he therefore accompanied her back. Elisha then had to act himself to bring life back into the child.
Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land.
When the crowd of prophets sat before him, he told his servant to put on the big pot and cook stew for them. One of them went out into the field to gather herbs,
and found a wild vine, and plucked from it his knee full of wild gourds, and came
and chopped them up into the pot, not knowing what they were. And they poured out some for the men to eat. But as they ate from the pot, they cried out that there was death in the pot and they couldn't eat it. He told them to bring flour, and he threw it into the pot and told them to pour some out for the men,
so that they could eat. And there was no harm in the pot. (2 Kings 4:38–41).
This speaks of having faith. See Faith in Faith, Hope, and Agape Love.
A man from Baal-shalishah brought to Elisha bread from his first fruits,
20 loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha told his servant
to give it to the men so they could eat. His servant asked him how he could give the bread to 100 men. Elisha said the Lord told them to eat
and have some left over. The servant placed it in front of them. They ate
and had some left over according to the Word of the Lord. (2 Kings 4:42–44).
Elisha was willing to give away the food and was blessed (Proverbs 11:24–25).
Naaman was the commander of the Aramean king's army. He was a great man
in the eyes of his master and highly esteemed, for through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a brave soldier, but he had leprosy. (2 Kings 5:1).
God can use pagan nations, see God is sovereign in God's Attributes.
Groups of raiders from Aram had gone out and captured a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She told her mistress that a prophet in Samaria was able to cure him of his leprosy. Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten sets of clothing. Elisha told the king of Israel
to let Naaman come to him and he would know that there is a prophet in Israel. Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door
of Elisha’s house. Elisha sent a messenger to tell him to go and wash himself seven times in the Jordan, and his flesh would be restored and he
would be clean. But Naaman turned and went away in a rage. (2 Kings 5:2–12).
Naaman reacted with pride when he received this strange message from a messenger and not from Elisha himself. He felt offended. This is what human nature does many times. Naaman had to humble himself to be able to do as he was told.
Naaman’s servants went to him and said that if the prophet had told him to do something great, he would have done it. So why not make this easy thing. So
he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times as Elisha had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean as a young boy.
Then Naaman and all his servants went back to Elisha. Naaman told Elisha that
he now knew that there was no God in all the world except in Israel.
He therefore wanted to give him a gift. Elisha replied that he doesn't accept anything. Naaman said that he would never again offer Burnt Offerings and sacrifices to any god other than the Lord. But that the Lord would forgive him for the following: When his master (Hadadezer) went into the temple of Rimmon to bow and he leaned on his arm, he had to bow there too.
Elisha said to him to go in peace. (2 Kings 5:13–19).
Elisha knew that it's the heart that matters to God and that Naaman had to do
his duty to his king. Since we don't know what's in other people's hearts,
we shouldn't judge, see Do not judge others in The Sermon on the Mount.
After Naaman had travelled some distance, Gehazi, Elisha's servant,
hurried after Naaman. Gehazi told Naaman that two young men from the company
of the prophets had just come to him, and he asked Naaman for a talent of silver and two sets of clothes to give them. Naaman gave him two talents and two sets
of clothing. Gehazi put them away in the house for himself. When he entered
and stood before his master, Elisha asked him where he had been.
Gehazi replied that he hadn't been anywhere. Elisha told him that Naaman’s leprosy would stick to him and his descendants forever. Then Gehazi went away from Elisha’s face, and his skin was leprous,
it had become white as snow. (2 Kings 5:20–27).
Gehazi lied to both Naaman and Elisha, to be compared to Ananias and Sapphira.
The leprosy that had been on Naaman was now on Gehazi and all his descendants. For Gehazi, godliness was a means of financial gain (1 Tim 6:5b).
God's Spiritual Gifts aren't for sale and we aren't to take advantage of them.
However, this doesn't mean that the servants of the Lord shouldn't be taken care of. The warning is against evil and greed (Heb 13:5).
The place where the prophets met Elisha was too small. So they went to the Jordan
and began cutting down trees to build a new place to meet. When one of them was chopping down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water and it was borrowed. Elisha cut a stick and threw it where it had fallen and made the iron float. Then the man stretched out his hand and took it. (2 Kings 6:1–7).
Nothing is too small for God. We can always turn to him for help.
This is an example of a supernatural event. God deals with matters in different ways.
The king of Aram was at war with Israel. Time and again, Elisha warned Jehoram,
the king of Israel, to be on his guard in various places because the Arameans
would be there. This enraged the king of Aram. The officers to the king of Aram
told him that the prophet Elisha told the king of Israel the very words he spoke
in his bedroom. When the king of Aram heard that Elisha was in Dothan,
he sent horses, chariots, and a strong force there. They went by night
and surrounded the city. Elisha told his servant that those who were with them
were more than those who were with the king of Aram. Elisha prayed
to the Lord to open his servant's eyes. Then his servant saw the hills
full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:8–17).
The presence of God's heavenly hosts surrounded the city. God had to open
the servant's spiritual eyes so that he could see it. They were protected by God.
What we don't see, we normally don't take into account. However, the spiritual space is no less real than the physical space we live in. Listening to the voice
of the Holy Spirit is something that takes time and is a learning process,
learning to tune the heart to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Ways to become more sensitive to his voice are fasting, prayer, studying God's Word and not living in sin, see To hear the voice of God in Psalm 131: I have quieted my soul.
When the enemy came down upon him, Elisha prayed to the Lord that
he would strike this army with blindness. So he did. Elisha then told them that he would lead them to the man they were looking for, and he led them to Samaria. When they entered the city, Elisha prayed to the Lord to open the eyes of these men. The Lord did so, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.
When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha if he would kill them.
Elisha told him that he wouldn't kill them. Instead, they should set out food and water so that they can eat and drink and then go back to their master. He prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eaten and drunk
he sent them away and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram
stopped raiding the territory of Israel. (2 Kings 6:18–23).
Elisha and his servant were protected. But Elisha went a step further and asked
for God's intervention, to be able to lead them to Samaria to the center of the camp of the army of Israel. They gave them food and water and let them return home. God used goodness to get them to stop raiding Israel’s territory.
However, that wouldn't stop them from sending their army to attack Israel.
Sometime later, Ben-Hadad II, king of Aram, mobilized his entire army and marched up and besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in the city; as the siege lasted so long. A woman called out to the king of Israel that another woman had told her
to give up her son so they could eat him that day, and the next day they would eat the other woman's son. They cooked her son and ate him. But the next day
the other woman had hidden her son. When the king heard the woman’s words,
he tore his robes. Under his robes, he had sackcloth on his body.
He said he would cut off Elisha's head that day. (2 Kings 6:24–31).
The goal of a siege was victory by starvation. Sackcloth was used as a sign of repentance. This level of cannibalism was exactly what God foretold through Moses when he warned them of what would come upon them if they abounded the Lord (Deu 28:53). Instead of coming to the Lord in humility, the king accused Elisha for it and wanted to kill him.
Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived Elisha told the elders that the king was a murderer
who sent someone to cut off his head. When the messenger came, they would close the door and wait for the king who was right behind his messenger. When the king came he told them that this calamity came from the Lord and he asked
why he should wait for the Lord any longer. Elisha replied that the Lord said that the next day a seah of the finest flour would be sold for a shekel,
and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.
The officer on whose arm the king was leaning told Elisha that even if the Lord
should open the floodgates of heaven this wouldn't happen. Elisha replied that
he would see it with his own eyes but not eat any of it. (2 Kings 6:32–7:2).
What Elisha is saying is, that the siege would be lifted and that food would be available at a much more normal price (two seahs were about 14 litres and a shekel
just over 10 grams of silver). The officer is the voice of doubt and unbelief, something we can all fall into. But even if something looks impossible, it's possible for God; all things are possible with God (Luk 18:27).
There were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They told
each other to go over to the Aramean camp and surrender. If they were spared,
they would live. When they reached the outskirts of the camp, there was no one there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they thought that the king of Israel had employed the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack them. So they had fled, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp, went into one of the tents and ate and drank. Then they took silver, gold, and clothes and went away and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also. Then they told each other that what they were doing wasn't right. They should immediately go and report this to the royal palace. They did so. One of the king's officers then advised the king, who didn't believe it, to take some men with five horses to find out what was happening. They selected two chariots with their horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army. They followed them as far as the Jordan, and found
the whole road strewn with the clothes and equipment which the Arameans
had thrown away in their flight. So the messengers came back and reported this
to the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. A seah of the finest flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley were sold for a shekel, as the Lord had said. Now the king had set
the officer on whose arm he leaned over the gate, and the people
trampled him down in the gate, and he died just as Elisha
had predicted when the king came down to his house. (2 Kings 7:3–20).
The king had heard Elisha's prophesy the day before but didn't believe it.
God saved Israel in a supernatural way when the nation was at its worst.
God shows grace and mercy when we don't deserve it.
Elisha had told the woman whose son he had brought back to life
that she would go away with her family because the Lord had decreed
a famine in the land that would last for seven years. She and her family
went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years. At the end
of the seven years, she returned and pleaded with the king for her house and land when Elisha's servant Gehazi told the king how Elisha had raised the dead.
Gehazi told the king that she was that woman.
The king then directed an official in her case to recover everything
that belonged to her, including all the income from her land
from the day she left the country until that day. (2 Kings 8:1–6).
The famine was probably a judgement on Israel because of the apostasy in the land. It's reasonable to believe that this godly woman was now a widow. Her land
was gone when she returned and she appealed to the king about it. In response
to her obedience to the Lord through the words of Elisha, she had lost everything. The king was so impressed about what Gehazi told him that the woman got her land back and more. That the woman came to the king at the same time Gehazi was talking with him about her was no coincidence. God used it to bless her.
Sometimes obedience causes problems in our lives (2 Tim 3:12, Mat 10:34).
In this case, the Lord solved the problem her obedience created.
Gehazi had previously contracted leprosy from Naaman. There is no information about how it had gone, when he was now able and allowed to talk to the king.
Elisha traveled to Damascus, and Ben-Hadad II, the king of Aram, was sick. The king sent Hazael to ask Elisha if he would recover from his illness. Elisha replied that
he would get well. But the Lord had revealed to him that the king would die. Then Elisha began to cry and said that he cried because he knew the harm
Hazael would do to the Israelites. Hazael would set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, struck their young children
to the ground, and tore open their pregnant women. The Lord had shown Elisha that Hazael would become king of Aram. Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master and told him that he would get well. But the next day Hazael
took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face
so that he died. Then Hazael succeeded him as king. (2 Kings 8:7–15).
Jehu of Israel
Ahaziah, king of Judah, went with Jehoram, king of Israel, to war against Hazael, king of Aram. The Arameans wounded Jehoram; so he returned to Jezreel
to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him. Then Ahaziah
went down to Jezreel to visit Jehoram. (2 Kings 8:25–29, 2 Chron 22:1–6).
Elisha called a man from the company of the prophets and told him
to anoint Jehu king over Israel. So he did. He told Jehu that he would destroy Ahab's house. The Lord would avenge the blood of his servants
the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the Lord shed by Jezebel.
All the house of Ahab would perish. God would cut off from Ahab
every male in Israel, slave or free. God would make the house of Ahab
like the house of Jeroboam and the house of Baasha. As for Jezebel, dogs would devour her in the plot of land in Jezreel, and no one would bury her.
Jehu told his master's servants that he had been anointed king over Israel.
They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him,
then they blew the trumpet and shouted that Jehu was king. (2 Kings 9:1–13).
Jehu conspired against Jehoram. Jehoram and all Israel had defended Ramoth-Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, but returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in battle. Jehu rode to Jezreel because
Jehoram rested there, and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to meet him.
Jehoram and Ahaziah each rode out in his chariot to meet Jehu. Jehu drew his bow and shot Jehoram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart
and he sank into his chariot. Jehu threw him into the field that had belonged
to Naboth the Jezreelite. They wounded Ahaziah in his chariot but he fled
to Megiddo but died there. Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When he entered the gate,
Jehu told the men to throw Jezebel down. So they did, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot. When they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet,
and her hands. The Lord had said through Elijah that dogs would devour
Jezebel’s flesh in Jezreel. Her body would be like dung on the ground so that no one would be able to tell that it was Jezebel. (2 Kings 9:14–37, 2 Chron 22:7–9).
God used Jehu to bring justice to the house of Ahab. But Jehu would become a butcher and go far beyond what God had decreed. Jehu wasn't a godly man.
In Samaria there were 70 sons of the house of Ahab. Jehu wrote a letter to
Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. They were to take the heads of their master’s sons and come to him in Jezreel the next day. They then slaughtered all 70 sons of Ahab's house.
They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel.
Jehu gave the order to place them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate.
Jehu killed all in Jezreel who remained of Ahab's house, as well as all his chiefs,
his close friends, and his priests, leaving him no survivor. Jehu then set out
and went toward Samaria. When he met some relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah,
he slaughtered them, 42 of them. He left no survivors. When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of the family of Ahab;
he destroyed them, according to the Word of the Lord
which had been spoken to Elijah. (2 Kings 10:1–17).
Then Jehu gathered all the people and told them that Ahab served Baal a little;
he would serve him greatly. He called to him all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. But Jehu acted deceitfully to destroy the servants of Baal. All the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into
the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. Jehu had posted
80 men outside. He ordered the guards and officers to go in and kill them;
not to let anyone escape. So they cut them down with the sword. They
brought out the sacred stone from Baal's temple and burned it. They tore down
Baal's holy stone and demolished Baal's temple, and people used it as a latrine.
Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. (2 Kings 10:18–28).
Jehu eliminated Baal worship in Israel which was founded by Ahab's wife Jezebel.
But Jehu didn't turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, as he had caused
Israel to do, the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
The Lord told Jehu that because he had done what was right in his eyes
and had done to the house of Ahab all that he had in mind to do,
his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel in the fourth generation.
Jehu wasn't careful to keep the Mosaic Laws with all his heart.
He didn't turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel
to commit. At that time the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel.
Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory east of the Jordan
in all the land of Gilead. The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria
was 28 years. His son Jehoahaz succeeded him as king. (2 Kings 10:29–36).
Jehu was an instrument of God but he didn't turn to God. He ended up worshiping these golden calves. The Lord therefore began to reduce the size of Israel.
God used Hazael, king of Aram, to bring judgement on Israel because of that.
Jehoash of Judah
When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, who had been king of Judah, saw that
her son was dead, she destroyed the entire royal family. Jehoash, Ahaziah's son,
was hidden from Athaliah by Jehosheba, so that he wouldn't be killed.
He remained hidden in the temple, while Athaliah ruled the land.
(2 Kings 11:1–3, 2 Chron 22:10–12).
In the seventh year of Jehoash, Jehoiada the priest brought the captains
of the guards with him and had them come to him in the temple. And he made
a covenant with them and showed them Jehoash. A third of them should guard
the palace. And two divisions of them would surround the king,
each with his weapons in his hand. The captains did all that Jehoiada commanded. Then he took out Jehoash and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king of Judah and anointed him.
(2 Kings 11:4–12, 2 Chron 23:1–11).
When Athaliah heard about it, she tore her clothes and shouted that it was treason. Then Jehoiada commanded the captains who had been put in charge of the army
to bring her out among the ranks and not let her be killed in the temple. She was taken to the king’s house and there she was killed. Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people, and also between the king and the people. Then all the people of the land
went to the house of Baal and pulled it down; his altars and his images they broke, and they killed the priest of Baal before the altars. Jehoash took his place
on the throne of kings. He was seven years old when he became king
in the seventh year of Jehu's reign. Jehoash reigned 40 years in Jerusalem.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord throughout his time, because Jehoiada the priest taught him. Nevertheless, the high places
weren't removed; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings
at these places. (2 Kings 11:13–12:3, 2 Chron 23:12–24:3).
Bad company corrupts good character (1 Cor 15:33). Good company builds up.
Jehoiada influenced Jehoash in a good godly way.
In the 23rd year of king Jehoash's reign, he called Jehoiada and the other priests
and told them to repair the temple. Jehoiada drilled a hole in the lid of the chest
to be able to put money into it and placed it next to the altar in the temple. Whenever the priests saw that there was a lot of money in the chest,
the money was given to the workers who oversaw the temple.
And they paid it out to the temple workers. (2 Kings 12:4–16, 2 Chron 24:4–14).
Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130 years. After his death the princes of Judah came and the king listened to them. And they abandoned the Lord
and served the Asherim and the idols. God sent prophets to bring them back
to the Lord, but they didn't care about them. Then the Spirit of God came
on Jehoiada's son Zechariah, who asked them why they broke the commandments
of the Lord so that they couldn't prosper. Because they had forsaken the Lord,
God had forsaken them. But they conspired against him, and at Jehoash's command they stoned him to death. Jehoash didn't remember the kindness Jehoiada
had shown him and killed his son. When Zechariah was dying,
he prayed to the Lord that he would be avenged. (2 Chron 24:15–22).
See also time 4:47–6:49 in Bible Q&A • Episode 55.
The influence on Jehoash was decisive. As long as he was influenced in a godly way by Jehoiada he did the right thing. But after his death he was influenced by other people who influenced him in the wrong direction and he took wrong decisions.
We can all be similarly drawn away and enticed by temptations to commit sin
in our lives, and it brings forth death (James 1:14-15). We need to be influenced
by God's Word to resist the influence of the world.
Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath (a great Philistine city)
and took it. But when Hazael intended to attack Jerusalem, Jehoash took all
the sacred gifts and all the gold that was in the treasury of the temple and in the king’s house and sent it to Hazael. Then he left Jerusalem. (2 Kings 12:17–18).
Instead of trusting in the Lord, he proactively paid him.
But the army of the Arameans again marched against Jehoash. They came
to Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people and sent all their spoils to the king in Damascus. Although their army had come with few men, the Lord gave into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the Lord. So they executed judgement on Jehoash. (2 Chron 24:23–24).
When Aram's army had left him and left him badly wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of Jehoiada's son and killed him on his bed.
His son Amaziah became king. (2 Kings 12:19–21, 2 Chron 24:25–27).
Jehoahaz of Israel
In the 23rd year of Jehoash, the king of Judah, Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu,
became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for 17 years.
He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam. The anger of the Lord was against Israel, and he continually
gave them into the hand of Hazael king of Aram and into the hand
of his son Ben-Hadad III. Then Jehoahaz sought the favour of the Lord,
and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel.
Therefore the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from the hand of the Arameans. But they didn't depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, and the Asherah also remained in Samaria. There was no more of Jehoahaz's
army than 50 horsemen, 10 chariots, and 10,000 footmen, for the king of Aram
had destroyed them so much. Hazael oppressed Israel all his days. When
Jehoahaz died, his son Jehoash became king in his place. (2 Kings 13:1–9, 22).
God gave Israel in the hands of their enemies to chastise them, to make them
turn from their ways. When we disobey the Lord, God allows us to experience
the consequences of our actions so that we turn back to the Lord. But there are also
consequences of life that have no connection to our actions. The reason then is because we live in a fallen world and not because of disobedience. It's important
to be able to distinguish between this to understand the cause. God is patient
in dealing with sin in the world because he wants people to be saved, see Salvation.
The reason God listened to this evil king, wasn't because he deserved it,
but because of God's mercy. God can bless us when we don't deserve it.
Jehoash of Israel
In the 37th year of Jehoash, king of Judah, Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for 16 years. He also did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He didn't depart from all the sins of Jeroboam.
(2 Kings 13:10–13).
When Elisha had contracted the disease from which he would die, Jehoash
went down to him and wept before him. Elisha told him to take a bow and arrows, draw the bow and shoot. So he did. Elisha said that it was the arrow of victory over Aram. Jehoash was to fight the Arameans until he had finished them off.
Elisha told him to take the arrows and hit the ground with them. Jehoash
struck three times and then stopped. Elisha became angry and said that if
he had struck five or six times; then he would strike Aram until he had finished it, but now he would strike them only three times. (2 Kings 13:14–19).
God wanted to test the king's passion, his passion to be free from Aram's oppression, how badly he wanted to strike Aram. But the king wasn't devoted
to the Lord in his heart. There won't be a complete victory over the enemy.
When Hazael, king of Aram, died, his son Ben-Hadad III became king in his place. Then Jehoash took back from him cities that had belonged to Israel. Three times
Jehoash defeated him and recaptured these cities of Israel. (2 Kings 13:23–25).
Elisha died, and they buried him. Bands of Moabites used to invade the land
in the spring. And when a man was being buried, a band was seen and the man was thrown into Elisha's grave. As soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha,
he revived and stood on his feet. (2 Kings 13:20–21).
According to Jewish tradition, they buried the people on the day they died
before the sun went down, so this man hadn't been dead that many hours.
This showed that the Lord was working through Elisha even after his death.
