15. Elisha said, "Get a bow and some arrows," and he did so.16. "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.17. "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."18. Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped.19. 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."
When someone is on their deathbed, it isn't typical that the dying one is looking to minister to others at that time, but we see the king looking to Elisha for godly guidance. As a faithful servant to the end, Elisha points the king to the spiritual concerns of Judah and specifically God's work in their victory.
There have been numerous reports of Christians encountering terminal illness having tremendous spiritual impact on other peoples’ lives. It was Teddy Roosevelt who said, "There has never been a man who lived a life of ease whose name is worth remembering." Perhaps it is because of suffering, some people gain powerful insight.
Elisha spent his strength to show king Jehoash that the battle he was going to face was not his own, but God’s. He instructed him to take a bow and arrow as a dramatic and prophetic way to demonstrate the victory Judah will have over the Syrians. Elisha told him to take the arrows and hit the ground. He struck the ground three times and stopped. Elisha rebuked him. He saw what God could do if only the king had more faith. That was such a disappointment for Elisha. King Jehoash could have been more zealous and followed though by striking the ground many times assuring that number of victories against their enemy but did not. So, he was to win those battles, but not be ultimately victorious over them.
Elisha was desirous to see the king have a victorious faith by trusting completely in the power of God and not in his own self. The striking of the ground became a symbol of trusting God only so far.
Since God gave Elisha a task, he would do it even when he was on his death bed. He was a faithful servant until the end. His focus was not on himself - it was on the Lord. He was a vessel for the master’s use, in living and in dying.
I went to the dying bed of a missionary lady whose face was distorted due to cancer. She and her husband served in Japan. Her brother and sister-in-law were also in her room. They had served the Lord in India. They were discussing how missionary work was so rewarding. They told me the story of the symbol of the cows which returned the cart carrying the ark of the covenant from the Philistines to Israel. When the cart arrived, the cows were sacrificed on the altar to the Lord. The motto of the logo of the cows was “for service or sacrifice”. They were willing to live or die for Jesus on the mission field or in their old age in the hospital.
I went away ministered to by this family of faith.
Application: we need always to be prepared to serve and sacrifice.
Prayer: Lord, let my focus always be on you because This world is not my home, I’m only passing through.
