Title: Elisha's Death 1 (2 Kings 13:1-25)
Content 1, Consider commands important.
2, the king with loose hands 3, the prophet's last command Today, we want to receive grace by examining the relationship of the king's faith before the death of a virtuous priest.
Elisha, a man of God, who had received the robe of power as Elijah's chief disciple, had also come to the time of his death.
Death also came to Elisha, the protagonist of many miracles and miracles.
This means that everyone has a time of death for everyone.
It shows that God saves people and heals people, but when the time comes, He calls them to God's side.
It can also be an opportunity for grace to tell us to do the Lord's work to the best of our ability while we are here because we do not live here forever.
At this time, commentators estimate Elisha's age to be between 90 and 120, but the exact age is unknown.
Even at the last moment before his death, Elisha is doing his best for his mission.
To summarize today's text briefly, King Joash visited Elisha's hospital when Elisha, a man of God, fell ill.
It was customary at the time for kings to go to the death of the prophets.
But Joash went to Elisha's bed and wept, mourning Elisha's death.
Verse 14 says, “When Elisha fell ill to death, Joash king of Israel went down to him, and with tears on his face he said, “My father, my father, Israel’s chariots and horsemen.”
From the words of this king, we can see how much the king trusted Elisha.
He was serving Elisha like a father.
He trusted Elisha like a chariot of an army.
The king believed that because of Elisha, the stability and peace of Israel could be guaranteed.
But now, Elisha, the man of God, is not sick to death. Then, is the fact that God is calling Elisha is the fact that God has forsaken Israel? Someone you want to keep.
We hope that you will receive today's Word by thinking that I am the king of Israel, Joash, who is standing in front of Elisha today.
1, Consider the importance of commands.
While weeping in front of Joash Wai Elisha, Elisha, the man of God, gives the following command to King Joash.
In verses 15-17, Elisha said to him, “Take the bow and the flesh.” Then he took the bow and the flesh. 16 And he said to the king of Israel, “Take the bow in your hand. 17 Then he looked at his hand and said, "Open the eastern window. Immediately the fruit. Elisha said, "Shoot, immediately shoot." Elisha said, "This is the flesh of the Lord's army, the flesh of salvation for the Syrians. The king will strike at Aphek to destroy the Arameans." There are several commands in verses 15-17.
The first is to take the bow and flesh.
We often make mistakes and misunderstandings here.
God is omnipotent and omnipotent, and he is the one who creates things out of nothing, so there is a question as to why he should mobilize simple steps or methods while doing the work of salvation.
Today, when Elisha gives orders to King Joash, is it possible to tell the king to hold the bow and the flesh? Is it possible to say without the bow and flesh? Yes, God can do the work without using any means.
But we need to know that God can still be glorified at all costs.
Verse 16, "Then he said to the five men of Israel, "Grab the bow in the king's hand. Immediately he took it with his hand, and Elisha looked at the king's hand with his own hand." It is to say a prayer on your hands.
The reason that the hand of Elisha, the man of God, was lifted from the king's hand is to make him work as powerfully as Elisha's hand, although the king's hand.
He did not command them to shoot the bow before praying.
After praying with his hands clasped in the king's hands, he gave orders to shoot the bow toward the east.
This is the common method used by God.
Before we believed in Jesus, we did not come to believe in Jesus because we did a lot of service, a lot of loyalty, and a lot of prayer.
God is calling and blessing us regardless of our past lives.
However, once you use those who have been called, please keep in mind that you are using the method you do for Joash.
I am so thankful that you put your hands on my hands and let me shoot the bow. Let go of the illusion that God will draw the bow that I should draw.
Don't get me wrong, someone will pull the bow I'm supposed to draw.
Keep in mind that the bow I have to draw is mine.
2, The king with loose hands In verse 18, "And he said, Take the flesh, and immediately take it, and Elisha said to the king of Israel, Strike the ground, and it struck three times and stopped."
Who is giving orders to the king now? Who is giving orders? Who told him to strike three times and stop? Elisha told the king to take the flesh and strike the ground.
Then, hitting the ground until Elisha tells him to stop is the obedience that the commanded person should do.
Why does he stop after hitting three times as he pleases? See verse 19.
"The man of God was angry and said, "O king, I will strike you five or six times..." Elisha got angry and rebuked the king.
Then why did the king stop hitting the ground1) because he did not have faith.
When God made the bow to be drawn toward the east, it was because he wanted to give the king as much territory as he pulled.
In the east, the land was occupied by the enemy Hazael (10:33).
Then, when he told them to hit the ground, he wanted to give them the land according to their faith as much as they hit the ground, or as much as they believed the Word.
2), because of his status as a king.
To the king, the king's consciousness that I am the king was strong.
A king is not an archer...
The king is not the one to strike the ground with the flesh of the bow in front of the prophet...
It would have been considered too foolish for the king to strike the ground with his flesh in front of his servants.
would have felt embarrassed.
It would have been considered insignificant.
This is because the flesh is put into the bow and pulled, not the instrument to hit the ground.
He is truly a clever and clever king.
So the king struck the ground, and after hitting it three times, he stopped at his own will.
Dear saints,
Perhaps God is commanding you to do things that you have not done, or perhaps God is treating you as an ignorant person, or perhaps God is not ignoring your career or ingenuity.
3). Because I thought that I should have stopped.
It was because the king thought he could do it enough after only hitting it three times.
Whatever the number of times God required, the thought that I had to do this was what made him stop beating.
Beloved saints, see if there are any things you stop doing while praying. Do you ever stop doing faithful service while carrying out the cross? People who believe in Jesus need to be ignorant.
There must be some foolishness
There must be a heavy
There must be persistence
3, the last command of the prophet
Verse 19, "The man of God was angry and said, "The king will strike five and six times. If he had done so, he would strike against the Syrians to an end. So now the king will strike against the Syrians only three times." Here, this command is a command with the meaning of continuation.
It means that if we continued to fight, we could lead the war against Syria to victory.
Elisha watched to see how well the king obeyed his orders, and when he hit him only three times, he was furious.
God is looking down on us now.
You see how many times you hit it.
You see who is hitting how much.
Don't become people who provoke God's wrath by stopping, but keep hitting until God tells you to stop.
volunteer.
Do not dwell on allegiance, sacrifice, devotion, prayer, the way of the cross, little faith, blocked new knowledge, little fruit, little joy, little confidence, little contentment.
God is a great God God is a God of power.
Let's become the owners of God's great blessings by pulling hard on God's command and pulling it all the way to the end.
Amen !!!