In Joash’s twenty-third year as king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria and reigned for seventeen years. Jehoahaz did evil in the sight of the LORD, following the sins of Jeroboam who made Israel to sin.
The LORD’s anger arose against Israel and He delivered them into the hands Hazael, king of Syria and Ben Hadad his son all their days (v1-3).
Jehoahaz pleaded with the LORD, and in His mercy. He as not a godly man, but the LORD listened to him. We are told why the LORD listened – because He saw the oppression of Israel and gave deliverance from the Syrians (v4,5).
This is another instance where the prayers of one man affected a nation before God.
However, despite the deliverance they continued in their sins and the wooden image remained in Samaria (v6).
Jehoahaz’s army was left with fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten-thousand foot soldiers. The king of Syria had destroyed the rest, making them like dust at the threshing floor (v7). I was reminded of this a few days go driving behind a tractor with a high-sided trailer carrying what appeared to be the remains of threshing, it was blowing in the wind and landing on the road ahead. I wondered how much would be left in the trailer when he reached his destination. God made them weak because of their disobedience and lack of commitment to Him.
The rest of the acts of Jehoahaz are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. He died and was buried with his fathers in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.
Once again, the name of Joash and Jehoash seemed to be interchangeable. He became king over Israel and reigned sixteen years. He did evil and continued in the sins of Jeroboam (v10,11). He began his reign in the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah.
The rest of the acts of Joash, including his might in fighting Ahaziah king of Judah (2 Chronicles 25:17-25), are written in the chronicles of the kings of Israel (v12). Joash died and was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. His son Jeroboam succeeded him (v13).
The scene changed and we returned to Elisha who had become sick. Joash king of Israel went to him and wept over him. This incident is not in chronological order (see v13). Joash cried out to him, “O my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen.” (v14). These were the words used by Elisha when her witnessed Elijah went up in a whirlwind to heaven (2 Kings 2:12).
Elisha told Joash to take a bow and some arrows, and Elisha put his hands over the king’s hands as he took an arrow in the bow to fire it (v15,16). He then opened the east window and told Joash to shoot. Elisha said that this was the arrow of the LORD’s deliverance from Syria, and he must destroy the Syrians at Aphek (v17). Aphek was where Ahab had defeated the Syrians (1Kings 20:26). Joash was told to take the arrows and strike the ground. It probably meant shoot at the ground. It was rather a strange request, but it had great significance. He did so and struck the ground three times. Elisha said that he should have struck five or six times. If he had done so he would have destroyed the Syrians, but only having struck three times, he would only have partial victory (v18,19) and would only strike the Syrians three times. It probably seemed insignificant at the time, but it would prove important for their future.
Elisha died and they buried him. Not an astonishing send off like Elijah who was caught up in a chariot of fire, just a simple burial (v20) or was it? Moab invaded the land in the spring of that year. The many raiders who came against Israel was usually God allowing punishment upon them for their idolatry. As they were burying a man, they saw the raiders from Moab and quickly (suggested by some Hebrew Scholars that the word is ‘threw’) put him in the tomb. As they did so, the body of the man touched Elisha’s bones and revived, and he stood up (v21). An amazing sight!
This is one of those strange events which we have to wonder why it is there. Even after studying and reading we may never know, and we have to conclude that we don’t know. There are several interpretations of this account, but we have to conclude, I think, that it simply demonstrates God’s power, confirms the prophet Elisha as a man of God who gave God’s word to a faithless people. A one-time event displaying that God’s power transcends physical death and can be revealed from God’s servants even after their death.
Some religious denominations venerate relics and teach (wrongly) that they have special powers. We do not read that Elisha’s bones were taken out of the tomb to be used again, touched, kissed, viewed and pilgrimages made to them. Some even teach about grave soaking, where one lies on a person’s grave and receives some sort of power. We read no such thing in the Bible.
Nowhere in the Bible do we see God commanding his people to consult the dead. In fact, he expressly forbids it (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). To speak with the spirit of the dead is prohibited and the punishment for such practices was death (Leviticus 20:27).
Hazael oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz, but the LORD was gracious because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them out from his presence (v22,23). Hazael died and his son Ben Hadad reigned in his place (v24). Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured the land from Ben Hadad, the cities he had taken from Jehoahaz by war. Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured cities (v25). (see v18,19). Perhaps Joash wished he had now fired more arrows.
