2 Kings 13

It’s a well-known principle that what a person believes ultimately determines how a person behaves. Eve believed the Devil’s lie that she wouldn’t die; she ate the forbidden fruit, and she eventually died. With his eyes wide open, Adam believed he should imitate his wife, so he took the fruit and ate it, and he plunged the human race into sin and death (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12–21; 1 Tim. 2:14). When we believe the truth, God works for us, but when we believe a lie, the Devil works against us. When our Lord was tempted by Satan, He countered Satan’s lies with God’s truth and said, “It is written” (Matt. 4:1–11). The three kings presented in these chapters illustrate three different kinds of faith, none of which is the kind God’s people should have today.

Now the focus moves from Judah to Israel and the reign of Jehu’s son Jehoahaz. It’s no surprise that he chose Jeroboam as his model, because his father had done the same thing (10:29). Jehoahaz would rather worship the golden calves than the living God, but when he found himself in trouble, he turned to the Lord for help.

The people of Israel shouldn’t have been surprised when the Lord brought the Syrians against them, because the people knew the terms of the covenant God had made with them before they entered the land of Canaan. If they obeyed Him, He would give them victory over their enemies, but if they disobeyed, He would cause them to fall before their enemies (Lev. 26:17, 25, 33, 36–39; Deut. 28:25–26, 49–52). People still believe Satan’s lie, “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3: nkjv). “Do whatever you enjoy,” says the enemy, “because there are no serious consequences to sin.” But whether to chasten or to bless, God is always true to His Word.

The situation became so painfully desperate that Jehoahaz cried out to God for help, just the way Israel had done during the period of the judges (Judg. 2:10–23). God in His mercy heard and answered the king’s prayer and promised to send a deliverer, but only after Jehoahaz was off the scene (v. 22). Hazael died and his son and successor Ben-Hadad was a weaker ruler, so it was possible for someone to break the iron grip Syria had on Israel. Historians aren’t agreed as to who this deliverer was. Some point to the Assyrians who began to attack Syria in the days of Ben-Hadad and weaken his power. Others feel the deliverance came through one or both of Jehoahaz’s successors, Jehoash (v. 25) and Jeroboam II (14:25–27). The statement “Israel dwelt in their tents” (v. 5) means “they lived in peace and didn’t have to seek refuge in the walled cities.”

Did the promised blessing of God change the king? Apparently not, for he didn’t remove the idols from the land (v. 6; 1 Kings 16:33) nor did he encourage the people to return to the Lord. Crisis faith is rarely deep or lasting. Once people see hope of deliverance and their pain eases up, they forget the Lord and return to their old ways until the next crisis. The Syrians left Jehoahaz with a mock army that was more of an embarrassment than it was an encouragement. Yet God had promised that if His people trusted Him and obeyed His Word, their enemies would flee before them (Deut. 28:7; 32:30; Lev. 26:8).

But crisis faith is undependable. How many times I’ve heard hospital patients say, “Pastor, if God heals me and gets me out of here, I’ll be the best Christian you ever met.” God did heal them and allow them to go home, but I never met them again in church. Yes, there are such things as “foxhole conversions” and “deathbed conversions,” and we don’t want to discourage anyone from turning to God in the hour of crisis. The British historian William Camden wrote, “Betwixt the stirrup and the ground / Mercy I asked, mercy I found.”

But how many times can we call on the Lord when we’re in trouble and then ignore Him when we’re safe? People who depend on crisis faith need to heed the warnings of Proverbs 1:24–33 and Isaiah 55:6–7, and they shouldn’t assume that because God heard and helped them, they’re automatically going to heaven.

For some reason, the death of Jehoash is mentioned twice, once before the historian records his life (vv. 12–13) and again at the end of the story (14:15–16). His great defeat of Amaziah, king of Judah, is also mentioned before it’s described (14:8–14; 2 Chron. 25). But the most important thing about Jehoash was that he had sense enough to visit the prophet Elisha and seek some blessing from him. Consider five facts about Jehoash.

He followed the wrong examples (vv. 10–13). Like his father, he modeled himself after Jeroboam I, the first king of Israel. This meant he visited the golden calves and bowed down to idols. And, like his father, he turned to the Lord only when he was in trouble and time was running out. The Syrians were still in control and the prophet Elisha was about to die.

He made a wise decision (v. 14). We haven’t heard from or about Elisha since 9:1, when he sent one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu to be king of Israel. This means over forty years of silence as far as the record is concerned, yet Elisha was at work in the land and the Lord was with him. Now he was an old man and about to die, and the king of Israel went to see him. Let’s at least give Jehoash credit for visiting the prophet and seeking his help. Was it Elisha who told Jehoahaz that God would send a deliverer (vv. 4–5)? Was his son Jehoash that deliverer? Only Elisha knew God’s plan and the king was wise enough to visit him.

It’s too bad spiritual leaders aren’t appreciated during their lifetime but are greatly lauded after they die. The Pharisees were better at building tombs for the dead than they were at showing thanks to the living (Matt. 23:29–32). Faithful servants of God never “retire” even though they may leave their lifelong vocation and step back from public ministry. Even from his deathbed, Elisha was serving the Lord and his people. As long as God gives us strength and sanity, we should serve Him the best we can in whatever ways He opens for us. How grateful I am for “senior servants” who have counseled and encouraged me, and the memories of their lives and ministries are still a blessing to me (Heb. 13:7–8 niv).

The king showed respect for the prophet and even addressed him with the same words Elisha used for Elijah when Elijah was taken to heaven (2:12). Elisha was like a father to the nation and was more valuable than all their armies! Elisha knew that Jehoash was in trouble because of the Syrians and graciously used his failing strength to help the king. Yes, Jehoash was a compromising king who disobeyed God, but Jehovah is “the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34: nkjv). He had promised deliverance for His people, and He would keep His promise. However, Elisha gave Jehoash God’s promise of victory but did it in a way that required the king to exercise intelligent faith.

He made a great mistake (vv. 15–19). King Jehoash was not a man of faith, but he could follow directions. However, he lacked the spiritual discernment and insight that people have who live in the Word and walk by faith. When the prophet put his hands on the king’s hands, it obviously symbolized a conveying of power from God. When Elisha commanded him to shoot an arrow toward the area where the Syrians were in control, it clearly spoke of victory over the enemy (Deut. 32:42; Ps. 120:4). This much the king could have understood because Elisha gave him a clear promise of victory.

But when Elisha told him to take the remaining arrows and strike the ground with them, he didn’t have the spiritual understanding he needed to make the most of it. Had he been a faithful worshipper of the living God, he would have seen the truth, but he was blind like the dead idols he worshipped (Ps. 115:3–8). Shooting one arrow guaranteed victory, but the number of times he smote the ground determined how many victories God would give him. Because Jehoash had ignorant faith, he limited himself to only three victories over the Syrians.

As sick as he was, the prophet Elisha expressed righteous anger over the king’s ignorance and unbelief. What an opportunity Jehoash missed for utterly destroying his enemies! “According to your faith let it be to you” (Matt. 9: nkjv). It isn’t enough for us simply to know God’s will and obey it, as important as that is, but we should also understand God’s will and God’s ways (Eph. 5:17; Ps. 103:7). The commandments and acts of God reveal to us the character of God if our spiritual eyes are open (Eph. 1:17–20). This is how we understand the ways of God and how better to serve Him, and this is how the Lord increases our faith.

He received a great encouragement (vv. 20–21). When Elisha died, the king may have wondered if his promises died with him. To encourage the king, the Lord graciously performed a miracle after Elisha died. The Jews didn’t embalm corpses as did the Egyptians. They merely washed the body and wrapped it in clean cloths along with spices. One day, when the arrival of Moabite raiders interrupted a committal service of a man recently deceased, the mourners quickly put the body into Elisha’s tomb and fled. But God used that occasion to give the man life! Surely this miracle was talked about among the people and the king may have heard the account from the lips of the men who saw it. This miracle told him that, though the prophet was dead, Jehovah was still the living God and the God of power. His promises would not fail.

The prophet Elijah never died but was caught up into heaven (2:11–12), but the prophet Elisha died and was buried. However, Elisha performed a miracle even after he was dead. God has different plans for each of His servants and it’s not our business to compare one with the other or to question what He does (John 21:19–23).

He won the three victories (vv. 22–25). The Syrians were determined to destroy Israel and make it a part of their empire, but the Lord had other plans. His covenant with the patriarchs (Gen. 12:1–3) and His grace toward their descendants moved Him to look upon Israel’s affliction and rescue them from their enemies. It was only when the people sinned so flagrantly that they blasphemed the name of the Lord and defiled His land that God permitted both Israel and Judah to be defeated and taken into bondage. In 722, Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, and in 586, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. The people of Judah returned to their land after the seventy years of captivity expired, but the people of Israel were assimilated into the Assyrian empire.

King Jehoash won three great victories against the Syrians, and this was sufficient to enable him to recover towns that Hazael and Ben-Hadad had taken from Israel, and then King Jeroboam II recovered the rest of the land. The Lord enabled Jehoash to increase his military power (v. 7) and overcome the Syrians led by Ben-Hadad III. God’s promise came true and God’s people were spared. During the reigns of Jehoash and Jeroboam II, the kingdom of Israel reached its zenith and there was prosperity in the land. However, with all its achievements and wealth, it was still a land filled with idolatry and much sin. During the reign of Jeroboam II, the prophets Hosea and Amos ministered to the people of Israel. When you read their books, you see the true conditions of the land.