Scripture:
II Kings 13:15-19 NKJV
[15] And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. [16] Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. [17] And he said, “Open the east window”; 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 you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.” [18] Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times and stopped. [19] And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”
Observation:
Over the last few years, this scripture has come to my mind a few times. I have only honestly heard it preached once. The man who brought it did an amazing job. In fact, the word he brought out of this scripture still has an impression on my life. Most of us are familiar with the 2 verses that proceed where we stopped, and they are acquainted with them through a popular contemporary Christian song. The lyrics go something like, “Just ask the man who was thrown on the bones of Elisha if there’s anything that HE can’t do.” That lyric speaks of confidence and sureness. It speaks of having an absolute faith in the LORD. A faith that brings passion and fire. Which is what I really want to talk about this morning. As I was thinking about this scripture and the instructions that were given to Joash. I started to get a picture in my mind of how all this went down. I can almost see the 2 men, Joash and Elisha, standing in an upper room in the castle having a conversation. Elisha’s illness having some effects that can be seen by the king, and the king’s confidence is somewhat shaken by that. Elisha had been a part of his council since the beginning of his term as king, and to see him in the condition that he was, more than likely had some kind of an effect on the king as well. However, even though his confidence was shaken, it didn’t stop him from diving in to find out how to move the kingdom to the next level. He knew that Elisha was just the man to tell him how to do that. As Elijah starts to give Joash instructions, however, I can picture the question on the king’s face. What do you mean shoot arrows out the window? What’s that going to do? Shouldn’t I be shooting the enemy? Little did the king know, but there was a deeper purpose for the action that Elisha was instructing him to take. You might say it was a test to see where his heart was. Pulling back the bow and firing 3 shots out the window to the east. Now, I know that may not have any significant meaning to those who read the bible from a surface level. But the fact that Elisha placed his hand on the king’s hand was a statement in and of itself. What was being said is, the LORD is with you. The arrows to the east had meaning as well, due to the fact that it’s the direction the savior comes from. Do you see the picture that is being painted here? You’re not going to unless you open your eyes to the spiritual content that is in the bible. It’s all about faith in the one who died for you. As the instructions continued and King Joash was growing weary. I see him maybe starting to question whether Elisha even knew what he was talking about anymore. Looking at him with arrows in his hand and a puzzled expression on his face. “Maybe he is going senile, or getting dementia, strike the ground? What does this have to do with victory over Syria, I just don’t get it.” However, Joash wanted to follow what was being said even though his heart was not all the way in it. As he started to strike the ground, pulling one arrow back and then another then finally a third arrow shot into the ground. As he looked at Elisha with a puzzled expression. Elisha looked back at him with confusion. Where is the faith? Where is the confidence in what is being said? Do you trust what the LORD has told you to do? You should have followed with blind faith, knowing that victory was not a question but as sure as we are standing here. Your passion precedes you. You struck 3 arrows into the ground. You should have emptied your quiver. You will strike the Syrians but will not destroy them completely.
Application:
I believe that after some statements that were made in the observation. Some explanation is a necessity, and that brings me to a question. DO you trust what the LORD has told you in HIS word? Do you trust it enough to follow through with what it says even though it may not make sense to you at the time? In the last few days, it seems like this principle has been on my heart. GOD’S ways are not our ways. HE does not do things the way we think they should be done. HE may ask you to do something that makes no sense to you at the time. But maybe HE wants to see where your heart is at. As I was typing that statement, one of my favorite stories in the bible came to mind. It’s about a man named Gideon. GOD was sending him into battle with the Midianites. So he rounded up the army and prepared them for battle. As the LORD looked at the army, HE told Gideon. You have too many men. Tell those who are scared to go home. They don’t belong in the battle anyway. A large number of men turned around and left. But the LORD wasn’t done yet. Looking at the army, HE gave further instructions. Take them to get a drink. The ones that drink this way keep the ones that drink that way send home. This process left Gideon with 300 men who were brave, confident, and wise. As the instructions continued for Gideon. They got a little strange. But Gideon did not question. He just did what the LORD had said. He found victory in that battle. Even though it may have made no sense to him, his heart was to trust in the LORD with everything that he had in him. Obeying what was said without question or reservation. He just did it. My question to you is, do you see the difference in the 2 stories this morning? I don’t know about you. But I want the trust that I have I GOD’S word to show by my willingness to do what is said inside of it. I want to just obey without question, and if I’m honest, sometimes that’s just hard. Sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense, and as I look at it through my eyes, it never will. I don’t know if you know this or not, but with GOD, there is always more to the story than we can see. In fact, it’s impossible to please HIM without faith. Faith is doing what the bible says even though the evidence you see says… It’s never going to work. Faith says,” I know what it looks like, and people may think I’m absolutely crazy but I’m going to empty my quiver into the ground with confidence knowing that it’s what GOD said. I may not have arrows to fight, but the battle is not mine. I trust in my savior.”
Prayer:
Father, we know that sometimes we get overwhelmed, and our confidence is not where it should be. We look at what we see, and what you say about it just doesn’t make sense. However, our trust in you is sure. We know that you can see our hearts, and even though inside of us, there may be an apprehension, we trust what you say is true. Our confidence is not in us. it’s in you, and we know that it’s not misplaced. You tell us you have given us victory in Christ, and we believe that. We are walking out that victory. Stepping forward regardless of what it looks like, knowing that you will provide for those who seek after you. Your word says that if we seek you first, all everything else will be taken care of, and that’s the truth. We trust that we will not be left defeated because you have already won. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen.