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2KINGS
CHAPTER 13

1 In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. 3 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-ha'dad the son of Hazael, all their days. 4 And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for he saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. 5 (And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.

Jehoahaz, Jehu's son, took over Israel. Some of this is confusing because of the names. For instance, in the last 2 chapters we studied about Jehoahaz, the son of Ahaziah, who was king of Judah. This Jehoahaz in chapter 13 is NOT the same one.
It is said, in the Bible, at the introduction of every king of Israel, that they departed not from the ways of Jeroboam. That means that each king chose to keep Israel separate from Judah and to do so by worshipping the two golden calves which Jeroboam had made.
They worshipped other gods also. But the chief means of worship was these two calves.
When Syria (verse 3) began to dominate Israel, they took all their money, their chariots, their weapons - and left Israel in a sad state of affairs. THEN Jehoahaz began to pray to Jehovah God! And guess what? God ANSWERED!
God answered him because God saw the "oppression" of the people (verse 4), and because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (verse 23).
He did not answer Jehoahaz according to the righteousness of Jehoahaz.
God gave them a "savior" - it was Jehoahaz's son Joash. He took command of the armies and began to win some battles.

6 Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained the grove also in Samaria.) 7 Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 9 And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.

But they wouldn't stop worshipping the golden calves! Jehoahaz still led them in this idolatrous practice, even after receiving blessings from God. Even though God had "delivered" them from the Syrians, He did not let them get back a large army (verse 7). What a pitiful state! The glory of God's people reduced to nothingness!
They were reduced not because God forsook them, but because they forsook God. The "proof was in the pudding." God had just delivered them when they called. They could've had SO MUCH more power, if they would've given themselves to God.
Christians, this is applicable to today. We COULD have a lot more power if we'd stop worshipping the things of the world and give ourselves solely to God.
Jehoahaz died and his son Joash (also called Jehoash) took the kingdom of Israel.

10 In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 11 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein. 12 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13 And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

Not much is said about the reign of Joash in these verses. But we see more the important role he played in Israel in verses 14-25, and in the following chapter. Joash, like all the kings before him, could not bring himself to give up the golden calves and surrender totally to Jehovah God.
Joash died.

14 Now 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. 15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. 16 And 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. 17 And 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. 18 And 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. 19 And 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. 20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 21 And 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. 22 But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. 24 So Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-ha'dad his son reigned in his stead. 25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-ha'dad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel.

The next two stories take place during Joash's life.
Elisha is ill and about to die. He is obviously an old man at this time. Some 45 years have passed since the Bible recorded anything about Elisha.
One very interesting thing about Joash here: He evidently trusted Jehovah, and knew that all things rested in God's hands. We know that because of what he said to Elisha, when the prophet was dying.
"O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsement thereof." (Verse 14)
This phrase refers to the REAL strength of Israel. The REAL strength of any nation is the spiritual warrior(s)!
Elisha is old, but God is still using him. Friends, age is not a factor in the service of God. Neither is illness. What's important is our availability to God.
Elisha told Joash to shoot an arrow through the windo toward the East. That is the direction of Syria. Then Elisha prophesied that Joash would have victory over the Syrians in Aphek.
Then Elisha told Joash to strike the ground with his arrows. Joash did so, three times. Elisha chided him saying, "You should have done that five or six times!"
The striking of the ground was prophetic of the fact that Joash's forces would defeat Syria three times.

Elisha died. He was not taken into heaven in chariots of fire as was his predecessor Elijah. Even though he had asked for and received a "double portion" of the spirit of Elijah, he was not given the glory of being carried away from death. He DIED.
Friends, God is the one who chooses how we leave this earth. He gives greater glory to some and to some He gives lesser glory. We should never be concerned with how much more someone else has or how much less we have. We are all SERVANTS of the Lord, and He can choose what He will for each of us.

Later, evidently in the heat of battle, the Israelites were carrying a man to be buried. They saw a band of warriors coming and hastily threw the man into Elisha's "sepulchre" (grave). A strange thing happened. The man REVIVED! As soon as his body touched the dead bones of Elisha, he came alive again!
God is still "God of the LIVING!" (Matthew 22:32)
And Elisha was God's divinely chosen prophet for the times.

When Hazael (king of Syria) died, his son Benhadad took over. He evidently was not the warrior his father had been. But it wouldn't have mattered if he were a GREATER warrior. Joash decisively beat him THREE times, according to Elisha's prophecy.
What God SAYS is going to happen HAPPENS!

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