2 Kings 13:14-21
Based on an idea by Dennis Marquardt
In 2 Kings 13:14-21 we read of the last chapter in the ministry of the prophet Elisha. Before he died, he performed a prophetic act that shaped the life of the kingdom for years to come. And after his death God did a miracle — He raised a dead man who came into contact with Elisha’s bones. In both cases we see that the ministry of a man of God can go on even after his death.
But what must our lives look like so that, even after we die, we may keep on making a positive difference for the advance of God’s kingdom on this earth?
In the prophet Elisha we see the positive example, and in King Jehoash the negative one. Even though God had handed him the opportunity to win Israel’s total deliverance from Aram, King Jehoash let his chance slip through carelessness, laziness, and shallowness.
Let us not miss ours! Let us serve God with all our heart! Only so can we have full victory over the enemies in our lives.
THE MESSAGE OF CHARLEMAGNE
In the story of Charlemagne’s pointing finger we have a wonderful picture of how a person can send a message and shape the future even after his death.
Many centuries ago Charlemagne (742–814), king of the Franks from the Carolingian dynasty, ruled a large part of the European continent. Through a strange turn of events this unscrupulous and coarse ruler proclaimed a very important spiritual message to the world — not during his lifetime, but after his death. And the message was delivered by the bones of his index finger!
When he died, he was given a glorious burial. They dressed him in a purple robe. His body was set upon a throne of ivory overlaid with gold and precious stones. On his head they placed a crown set with diamonds, and, propping up his hand on a special support, his subjects put a scepter in it — the symbol of his royal power. On his finger they placed his signet ring. And in his lap they laid a scroll inscribed with his exploits. Many of them were evil, yet the accounts of them had been mixed together with verses from the Bible, to make it appear that he had God’s approval. Finally his tomb was sealed.
Several centuries later the seal was broken to uncover a few surprises. As with every dead man, his flesh had rotted away, and on the throne there sat only his skeleton. His flesh had turned to dust and had slid down to the foot of the throne together with his robe, which had also been eaten away and destroyed. The support that had held up his arm and wrist had shifted too, and the bones of his arm had fallen to the floor, dragging down with them the scroll that had lain in his lap.
Those who opened his tomb noticed that his hand lay in a strange way upon the scroll now spread out on the ground, with his index finger pointing to a particular place. When they drew near to read the exact spot where it had come to rest, they were surprised to see that it pointed to a specific verse from Luke 9:25:
By a strange turn of events, the bone of a dead man expressed a greater truth than he had spoken in all his life:
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:25)
We must live in such a way that our ministry keeps on making a difference even after our death. Let our lives be a testimony that God can use for the blessing of others.
THE EXAMPLE OF ELISHA
One example of such a life is God’s prophet Elisha. In 2 Kings 13:14-25 we see that he speaks words which change the destinies of many people even after his death.
“Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died.” (2 Kings 13:14)
Elisha is now eighty years old, and he is dying of some drawn-out illness — a very different end from that of his predecessor Elijah, who was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire and did not taste death. Yet we see no trace of bitterness in Elisha. He is ready to serve whenever he is sought out.
It is striking that forty-three years had passed since he was last mentioned, back in 2 Kings 9. What had happened during those forty-three years about which the Bible says nothing of Elisha? No great miracles are recorded for that period. And yet most likely, all through that time, Elisha was simply serving God and His people faithfully. A routine, faithful service — that was the substance of his ministry, and very often it is the substance of our lives too.
Very often we think that having a great ministry means supernatural miracles happening to us every week. But the truth is that the main content of spirituality is rather an ordinary, day-after-day faithfulness in our everyday lives. It is precisely this constancy in God that produces a good testimony in us — a testimony that can influence the future.
HOME
We must not be troubled by the fact that we seem not to see at once the results we expect, and that we do not receive the respect we deserve.
In his book Talking to My Father, Ray Stedman shares the following story:
An elderly missionary couple had worked in Africa for many years. The time came for them to return to New York. After decades of serving God, they had no pension provided for them; their health was broken; they were depressed, discouraged, and afraid.
It turned out that they were traveling on the same ship as President Roosevelt, who was returning home after a great hunting expedition in Africa.
No one paid the missionaries any attention at all. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the president as he boarded the ship, and the passengers who were trying to catch a glimpse of the great man.
As the ship sailed across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife: “This is not fair. We have given our whole lives to faithful service to God in Africa. Is it right that now no one should care about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip, and everyone treats him as a great deal, while no one gives us so much as a second thought.”
“Dear, don’t torment yourself this way,” his wife answered. “I feel the same as you do, but what can we do?”
When the ship docked at the New York pier, there was a large crowd of people who had come to welcome and greet the president. The mayor and the other important people of the city were there. The president’s arrival was on the front page of every newspaper. But no one noticed the return of the elderly missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and settled into a cheap apartment, hoping the next day to find work so as to secure an income to live on.
That evening the man’s spirit was crushed. He said to his wife: “I cannot bear this treatment. If God allows this, then He is not fair.”
His wife answered: “Why don’t you go into the bedroom and tell Him so in prayer.”
A little while later the missionary came out of the room, but now his face looked completely changed. His wife asked him: “Dear, what happened?”
“The Lord and I have settled it,” her husband answered. “I told Him how bitter and wronged I felt that President Roosevelt should get such a warm welcome and such a hearty reception on his return from a hunting trip, while no one said even a ‘Welcome home!’ to us. When I had finished, it was as though God laid His hand on my shoulder and simply said, ‘But you are not home yet!’”
Even if we do not see fruit on this earth, and do not enjoy the applause of people, we must not be discouraged! When we come home to the Lord, if we have served Him faithfully, we will have our own glorious welcome. But let us know this: the greatest and best testimony in our lives is not the scattered miracles that catch people’s attention, but our faithful obedience to God in our everyday lives!
THE LORD’S ARROW OF VICTORY
“Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. ‘My father! My father!’ he cried. ‘The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’” (2 Kings 13:14)
Jehoash, king of Israel, who came to visit the old prophet, was not a good and godly man. Even so, by his conduct he showed a peculiar respect and admiration for Elisha. He even wept at the thought of losing the man of God, and asked him for one last piece of counsel to help him in the governing of his kingdom.
The words King Jehoash used at his meeting with the prophet — “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” — were a way of saying that the prophet of God was more valuable to his people than all the cavalry of Israel.
“Elisha said, ‘Get a bow and some arrows,’ and he did so. ‘Take the bow in your hands,’ he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. ‘Open the east window,’ he said, and he opened it. ‘Shoot!’ Elisha said, and he shot. ‘The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!’ Elisha declared. ‘You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17)
Elisha tells the king to open the window that faces Aram and to shoot as an act of faith that God will give the Israelites victory over their enemies. Elisha laying his hands upon the hands of Jehoash was a symbol that the victories over the Arameans would be accomplished by God’s strength and might. God was the one who would give them to Israel. At the end of the chapter we see that God was faithful to give Israel three victories over Aram and to help Jehoash recover the Israelite cities. And yet the victory over the Arameans was not complete, and the responsibility for that lay with the king of Israel alone.
BEING SATISFIED WITH PARTIAL SUCCESS OFFENDS GOD
Up to this point the king was simply doing what Elisha told him to do. But now Elisha tested the faith of Jehoash. He told him to strike the ground, but he did not tell him how many times to strike. The king could not go on doing only what the prophet told him to do. He had to have his own initiative and his own faith.
“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and the king took them. Elisha told him, ‘Strike the ground.’ He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19)
This shows us the importance of personal faith. We cannot go to heaven on someone else’s faith!
The king struck only three times. This angered Elisha, because it revealed a mediocre faith. And because the king’s faith was mediocre, his results would be mediocre too.
The king’s heart was not perfectly set toward God. He stopped too soon. When we stop too soon, it creates problems for our spiritual growth. When we stop too soon, it can lead to the loss of precious human souls. When we stop too soon, it can turn into an obstacle for the cause of Christ.
Let us never stop too soon!
With a mediocre faith and a mediocre commitment, our influence on the future will be mediocre as well.
FERVENT IN SPIRIT
I believe that the episode with Jehoash, king of Israel, reminds us that we must be fervent and zealous in our service before God. In Romans 12:11 it says:
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:11)
What does this mean? In practice it means that in prayer we are to be constant, in the reading of the Bible diligent, in the winning of souls persistent, in the attending of worship faithful, in godly living devoted, and in giving generous!
Only with a diligent and fervent ministry would we have a good and positive effect for God’s kingdom even after our death.
THE STRANGE DEVOTION
A student walked into a photography shop carrying a framed photograph of his girlfriend. He wanted it copied — to have an exact duplicate made. To do this, the picture had to be taken out of its frame. As he did so, the photographer noticed that there was an inscription on the back of the photo. It read: “My dear Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more with each passing day. I will always love you. I will be yours forever!” It was signed “Diane,” and then followed a postscript: “If we ever break up, I want this picture back.”
The postscript on the photo showed that, in spite of the beautiful words, Diane’s devotion to Tom was not complete. Clearly the time came when she decided to leave him, and so that she could keep on having a photo of herself, her boyfriend Tom had had to make a copy.
We who have been baptized in water as an outward symbol of our love for God cannot turn back! We belong to Christ! There can be no postscripts in our devotion to Him. We belong to Him forever!
GETTING OUR ATTENTION
Elisha is now dead, and although the Arameans have been driven back for a time, a new enemy begins to trouble Israel — the Moabites come in raiding bands every spring and steal from the Israelites.
“Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb.” (2 Kings 13:20-21)
Through turning away from the Lord, the nation had lost God’s blessing.
One day, as a group of Israelites are trying to bury a friend of theirs, they see the advancing Moabite bands, and to protect themselves they fling the dead body into the nearest cleft in the rock — the tomb of Elisha.
From this incident we get the impression that nothing, it seemed, was going the way it should in Israel.
The constant battles with the enemy were in fact a way for God to draw the nation’s attention back to Himself… But they would not listen.
A woman who was on a trip in Israel came to a sheepfold set on the top of a hill. Her attention was caught by a poor sheep lying by the side of the path, bleating very piteously in pain. The woman came closer to see the cause of its suffering. Then she noticed that the sheep’s leg was injured. She asked the shepherd what had happened.
“I had to break it myself,” he answered. “This is the only way to keep this willful creature from wandering off from the flock and getting into places that are dangerous for it. From experience I have learned that a sheep will follow me closely once I have cared for it to restore it to health. Because of the loving relationship that will be formed between us while I care for it, in the future it will respond instantly to my calls and commands.”
Listening to the shepherd’s explanation, the woman answered thoughtfully, “Sometimes we poor human sheep are just as stubborn. We stray into our sinful ways, and as a result we expose ourselves to great dangers… until the Good Shepherd allows sorrows and troubles into our lives to hold us back. Then, coming to a closer and deeper fellowship with our Savior, we are finally brought to listen to His voice and to follow His leading.”
THE MINISTRY OF ELISHA’S BONES
After so many years, God was about to speak once more through the prophet Elisha.
“When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.” (2 Kings 13:21)
Something wondrous happened when the body of the dead man touched the bones of the man of God — the dead man instantly came back to life.
This miracle seemed to say: “The fact that the man of God has died does not mean that the God of the man has died too!” God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. He will always be the God who raises the dead.
The purpose of this great work of God was to send a call to repentance to all of Israel — a message that, though separated from God they are dead, renewing their contact with Him can bring them back to life.
Since God could not find another living man to preach the repentance that brings life to His rebellious people, He made the bones of the dead Elisha speak. This resurrection was a sign that carried God’s message that if the “dead” nation would turn to God, it would come alive!
It mattered very much whose bones they were. Elisha was no ordinary man. He was a faithful man of God. I believe that through this fact the Holy Spirit is telling us: “Give God something He can work with tomorrow through the way you live today!”
There can be a ministry of the bones only when the flesh has lived a life of faith. May God help us so to live that our lives make His presence known so powerfully that, when people come into contact with us, they too may be spiritually raised to a new life with Him!