2 Kings Chapter 13
Arrows and Open Windows
Today we come to our
final study in the life of Elisha A) From this point on in the book of 2
Kings the focus is on the Kings
B) We see in this Chapter that Elisha goes home to be
with the Lord.
C) Elisha has ministered in
D) His ministry has been marked by the Miraculous
1) Thru Elisha the Lord performed more miracles than
anyone in the OT
E) In fact aside from
Jesus – The Lord performed more miracles thru Elisha
than anyone else in the Bible
The other thing that has
marked his ministry has been his interaction w/ Kings
A) That is how it ends as well. – We are going to pick
up the Story in v.14 – Before lets Review
B) We saw in our study of Ch.9 that a man by the name
of Jehu became King
1)Jehu eliminated the line of Ahab – and removed all
the Baal worshippers from
C) Massive reform – But the
Knock on Jehu was although he was God instrument. Not his servant
1) Although he professed to have a Zeal for God he
really didn’t have a heart to seek friendship w/ God
D) But as a result of Jehu’s obedience to take care of
the family of Ahab and the worshippers of Baal
1) God promises that his family will sit on the throne
for 4 generations
As we come to Ch.13 we see
the first fulfillment of that Promise – His son Jehoahaz assumes the throne
A) He reigns for 17yrs & did evil in the sight of
the Lord
B) Because of the sin & idolatry in
1) When that occurs it gets the attention of King
Jehoahaz who repents – pleads w/ the Lord
C) God shows mercy & delivered
them from
1) But once
D) Well Jehoahaz dies and his son Joash is now
reigning in his place
1) Once again they are having problems with Syrians
E) So Joash turns to the
Prophet Elisha – who is now old & sick & has been in obscurity
for about 45yrs
RD V.14-19
So Elisha is sick to the
point of death – last encounter with a King. –
A)Joash comes to Elisha and is distraught – Oh my father… the chariots of
B) Now the army of
C) But that is not what Joash is reverencing here
1) See he knows that if Elisha dies – the nation is
really in trouble.
D) The Chariot was the strongest weapon of the day
& what Joash is basically saying is – You are
our Chariot.
Elisha had been used so
mightily by God
A) In times past he told
B) A whole army was prevented by God from capturing
him
1) Another time a whole army was blinded and he led
them by the hand to the King – captives
C) Another time the Syrian army was scarred off during
his ministry – heard sound of a great army
1) The city of
D) Joash looks at Elisha he
sees this man of God that has been the only constant good thing for the nation
1) Now Elisha is about to die and Joash weeps – WE ARE
DOOMED.
E) Because in Joash’s mind Elisha is the strongest
weapon in the nation.
Spurgeon: “May we seek to
live in such a way that even ungodly men would miss us when we are gone.”
Well Elisha does an
interesting thing here: He says to the King – take a bow and arrows
A) Draw it back – he gets behind the King – puts his
hands on his –
“Kick open the window – Shoot toward
Aphek where Syrians are camped”
B) Elisha interprets the meaning of this little
exercise in v.17
"The arrow of the LORD's deliverance
and the arrow of deliverance from
C) In essence what Elisha is
saying to the King is this is the Lord’s deliverance
1) I am not the Chariot of
D) The same open window in
front of me is open in front of you. –
1) I am dying but God is not dying.
E) Joash you need to understand – that if you turn to the Lord – trust in the Lord –
Deliverance is yours
1) God who has worked so powerfully thru my life is
the same God who wants to work in your Life
Same thing holds true for us
today. God has not changed
A) We see all this crazy stuff going on in our world –
more evil, corrupt
B) But God’s burden has
not lessoned.
1) He is as burdened about lost souls as He has ever
been
C) He is as burdened for the growing
of His Church as He has ever been.
1) He has as much enthusiasm to touch people and work
in their lives as He EVER HAS.
D) God’s servants come &
go – Church movements come and go – But God remains the same!
E) Same window of opportunity to see the power of God
that was opened before these two men is opened before us today!
It is interesting to me that
in the book of Revelation Jesus writes a letter to seven Churches
A) Seven actual Churches - / could also represent 7
individuals –
B) But it seems very clear that those Churches correlate
with the different periods in Church History.
C) Beginning w/ the early Church Acts [
D) There we are given two
choices concerning the type of Church or believer we want to be.
1) There is the
E) Jesus says: I wish that you were either hot or cold
but because you are lukewarm ……….
1) Unfortunately that is the condition of much of the
Church today.
But then there is also
the Church of Philadelphia
A) Jesus describes the
B) Promise to keep them from the hour of trial
1) Gives them the reminder
– I am coming quickly
C) But then he gives them a hint of what they are to
be doing in the mean time.
'These things says He who
is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no
one shuts, and shuts and no one opens":
8 "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and
no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have
not denied My name.
I don’t know about you but that is the
Church that I want to be.
A) That is why we continue to support missionaries
around the world
B) That is why in about 2 weeks we are sending Phil and Rebekah down to Costa Rica to start a new work
1) That is why we are anticipating- Starting as many
as 8 more fellowships in that area over the next 5yrs
Guana Caste
C) That is why we are moving
forward to build a new Facility – expand
1)10,000’s of people in North county that don’t know
Jesus – We want to reach out to.
2) And there are 100’s of more kids that desire a good
quality Christians education.
D) That is why in April we will be over at the Amph.
Again at Brengle Terrace – Easter in the Park
1) We want to take advantage of the open doors and
open windows God places before us!
And that is why the signs
read as you leave the parking lot – You are now entering the mission field
A)To remind us that there is a world that God has
placed us in that needs Jesus
B) A world that needs to be delivered – Everyday we
have an open door before us
1) Let's seize the
opportunity.
Jack London eloquently described this kind of life: “I
would rather be ashes than dust! I would
rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze that it should be
stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a
superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and
permanent planet. The proper function of
man is to live, not to exist. I shall
not waste my days in trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
Continued
First I was dying to finish
high school and start college.
And then I was dying to
finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to marry
and have children.
And then I was dying to
retire.
And now, I am dying…and
suddenly realize I forgot to live.
C) So Elisha says to Joash
shoot the arrow thru that open and believe the promise of God
1) The Promise of victory / of deliverance
D) For you must strike the Syrians until you have destroyed them.
Then Elisha doesn’t
something else that is unusual
A) In v.18 he tells Joash to take the remaining arrows
and to strike the ground with them.
B) Now that word Strike is an action word – means to
beat. – Idea of Vigor / passion. /emotion
1) Elisha says – Strike the ground
C) Joash does – 3 times
. Elisha responds by getting mad- Angry with him… 5 or 6 times
1) This man of God’s last encounter with King is one
where He is Roth – He is angry Why?
D) He says since you only struck the ground 3 times
You will only have 3
victories /
1) If you would have hit the ground 5 or 6 times you
would have destroyed them
Now are you saying that the
destiny of an entire nation depended upon how many times a man stuck the
ground? - No
A) See this was a sign of Joash’s commitment
B) Sign concerning – how he is going to appropriate
the promise of God – God promised Victory
1) An Open window – Symbolic – so was this
Joash should have realized that
C) Problem is Joash is ½
hearted in his commitment – he is ½ hearted in his response –
1) So he only hits the ground 3 times / tap, tap, tap.
If I hand a pair of drum
sticks to a little toddler – Kindergartener – go beat the drums
A) Tap 3 times – no way – he is going to go to town –
unleash on those things –
B) That is what Elisha wanted Joash to do. Not to be ½ hearted – but believe the Promise of God
1) appropriate the promise of God – Passion for the
promise of God – Strike the ground 5-6, 12 times
C) That is God’s heart for us as his people. He
desires that we would be a people of vigor / passion
I think God hates ½ hearted
efforts, ½ hearted Christianity.
A) I know I do – It bothers me when I see people doing
just enough to get by.
B) If that is your M/O
and we are going to be working on a project together –
1) We WILL not get along very well. God deserves our
very best –
C) We might not be the most talented or gifted but we
should give the best effort.
God expects that type of
effort out of us.
A) Jesus said in
30
And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
B) Heart – Core of our
being –
1) Soul= Emotions
2) Mind –
Intellect
3) Strength – Talents
C) God doesn’t enjoy ½ hearted Christians /
1) ½ hearted efforts
D) Put your hand to plow –
don’t look back
E) Going into
1) Make sure you have enough to win
F) Building – Count the cost – Make sure you have
enough to finish.
Elisha is angry at King Joash
– because of his ½ hearted commitment
A) It was true that the nation didn’t have the
resources to conquer the enemy
B) Down to 50 horseman and 10 Chariots
And only 10 thousand foot soldiers
1) But they had
God on their side –
C) But God was searching to see the depth of their
commitment – the depth of the Kings faith
1) He was willing to meet them in their weakness and
insufficiency – but He wanted their whole hearts
“My prayer is that something in me would be
“open to heaven,” for the truth is that we all have as much of God as we truly
want.” A.W. Tozer
What about you is there
something in you that is open to heaven
A) Your walk more passionate now than – before
B) Following hard after God with a whole heart
Or are you half hearted in your worship
1) ½ Hearted in
your commitment
C) ½ Hearted in your Bible
reading
God wants to bless – he wants to work – but he wants
your whole heart. – Change today.
Finish the Story: RD V.20-21
A) This was a very unusual story – only time this
happened.
B) Even after his death his life was making an impact
1) Spurgeon, Whitefield,
DL Moody, Morgan, Elliot
C) Susanna Wesley – committed her two sons to the Lord
before she died – God used them to spark revival {Legacies are all about –
impact even after
D) But in order for us to make an Impact after we are
dead – We need to be fully committed while we are alive! Grace for
times/ but heart