20. JOASH, or JEHOASH
JOASH, or JEHOASH
"Elisha fell sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows."
Elisha lay on his final sickbed. He was a much-respected man of God who had faithfully served the Lord for close to 60 years among a people who had, at best, paid only lip service to Him. King Joash himself came down to pay his respects to the old prophet. He wept. Elisha would be missed in the days to come. His presence in Israel had been a constant reminder of Jehovah’s presence with and protection of His people. But what was this? The man of God gave a series of commands to the king: "Take bow and arrows.Put thy hand upon the bow.Open the window eastward.Shoot." Step by step the king did as he was told. The old prophet explained, "An arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance.from the Syrians. Thou shalt smite the Syrians. till thou has consumed them." Now he went on, "Take the arrows. Smite upon the ground." The king did so, but only three times. Rather than demonstrating faith he was humoring the old prophet. The man of God was angry with King Joash: "Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then wouldest thou have smitten the Syrians till thou hadst consumed them, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice." Whatever Joash’s thinking may have been, he had just demonstrated his lack of faith and lack of obedience from the heart. He had gone through the motions of doing what the prophet said, but had not entered into the earnestness of the commands given him. When God speaks to us through His Word, He means what He says. Let’s take Him seriously and in faith obey Him and act!
"Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah.and came to Jerusalem, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the cornergate, four hundred cubits. And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages, and returned to Samaria."
What a sad picture before us here! We have seen conflict between Israel and Judah at other times, too, but this conflict goes beyond all that had been before. Joash (Jehoash), Jehu’s grandson, defeats Amaziah, king of Judah, captures Jerusalem his capital, breaks down a large portion of its wall, and takes away its treasure. It is true that Amaziah, flushed with pride at having smitten Edom, had challenged Joash to battle. Joash had replied, warning Amaziah of the consequences of his rash challenge, but Amaziah would not hear. God then had allowed him to be routed before Israel. Pride still goes before a fall and a haughty spirit before destruction. We have many examples of this in God’s Word, all in evident contrast to that One who humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
There is nothing new under the sun. Today, sad to say, believers also challenge one another to combat, forgetting that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against mighty satanic hosts of spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies. Rather than praying for the peace of Jerusalem, they break down its walls, making it difficult to maintain godly separation and protection from evil. The precious vessels of God’s house are taken, just as was later done by Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king. And hostages - we try to force our brethren’s good behavior through such pressure! What a loss for God when we believers treat one another thus!