The Death of Elisha

2 Kings 13: 10-25


We have been learning about Elisha, and some of the miracles God allowed him to do. I’ve learned a lot from Elisha. I’m glad God recorded all so much for us. Aren’t you? Do you know that many men had to give their own lives to get this book into our hands? What a book! We should always cherish our Bibles. It’s the most valuable thing we have in our possession.

Well, we know that Elisha had a lot of power in his life, but did you know that he had power after he was dead too? We will learn about that right now. In this portion of scripture Elisha was sick, and up in years. King Joash came to Elisha one last time for counsel. He was afraid that with such a small army he would not win over the Syrians. He came and wept over Elisha’s face, and cried, “O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” Those were the exact words Elisha spoke when he saw Elijah being taken from him up into heaven.

Elisha told king Joash to take his bow in his hands, and shoot an arrow out of the window toward the east. After he shot the arrow, Elisha said to him in verse 17, “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.”

Then Elisha told him to take the arrows that were in his hand and smite the ground with them. Joash smote the ground three times, and then he stopped. The prophet Elisha was upset at Joash for only hitting the ground three times. Elisha said to him, “You should have smote the ground five or six times, then you would have won all the battles until you had consumed them, but now, since you only hit the ground three times, you will only win three battles over Syria.”
You know, sometimes the Lord might just test us to see how much we mean business for him. That’s just what Elisha did with Joash. WE can take the battles that they fought in the Old Testament and apply them to the spiritual battle of today. The spiritual battles of today are fighting the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Don’t give up after just three tries. We have to keep fighting, and fighting, and fighting. If we keep fighting, the Lord will help us get the victory over the sin in our lives. He’ll help us win those battles.

The great prophet Elisha died, but he still had healing power in his bones. In verse 20, the Bible says that the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. At the time of the invasion, some men were trying to bury a dead man when they heard a band of men coming toward them, possibly Moabites. With fright, they threw the dead man into the sepulcher of Elisha. When the dead man touched Elisha’s bones, he came back to life.

Do you know what the Lord showed me in comparison to this? He showed me that when a dead sinner plunges into that red, crimson blood of Jesus Christ they come to life, praise God !! There’s still plenty of healing power in the death of Christ.

In verse 23, the Bible says that the Lord was gracious unto the Children of Israel, 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 presents as yet.
Boy, oh boy, oh boy. What a God !! He gave Israel chance, after chance, after chance. So many kings did evil in the sight of the Lord, but God had mercy because of his covenant.

Praise God, it’s because of Jesus Christ, that we obtain any mercy at all from God. Whenever the children of Israel made God mad enough to wipe them out, God thought of Abraham. And praise God that if my sins ever made him mad enough to throw me away; he won’t because he’s reminded of his own Son who died for me. Thank God for his written word, the word that says “No one can pluck me out of his hands,,” and “He is with me , wherever I go,” and “ These things have I written unto you, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Praise God, he will never cast me out of his presence, because I have his written word. It’s his covenant to me.

Joash only won against Syria three times just as the Lord told him he would. I’m glad the word of the Lord is true. And what God says, he means. I thank God for the life and death of Elisha, and I especially thank God for the life and death of my Lord Jesus Christ.