What Do You Expect?
Terminally sick, Elisha’s ministry never ceased, not even on his deathbed. The King of Israel at this time, Joash, who achieved notoriety for his rebellion against the Lord, came to see Elisha. Scripture records little in the way of his accomplishments other than to note that “he did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 13:11). In spite of the king’s questionable moral standing, he wept at the news of the man of God's impending death.
Elisha shares two prophetic messages with King Joash through a symbolic dramatization. Both of Elisha’s messages involved a bow and arrows. Elisha told the king to take the bow and after placing his hands on the king’s hands, he shot an arrow out the window to the East. Elisha explained the meaning of this action: “The Lord’s arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Aram; for you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you have destroyed them.” (2 Kings 13:17) Certainly this news had to cheer the king given the general malaise of Israel at this time.
The second prophecy proved more confrontational. This time Elisha told the king to take the arrows and strike the ground with them. The king, apparently perturbed by the strange request, perfunctorily strikes the ground three times with the arrows. Elisha responds to this halfheartedness with great indignation: “You should have struck five or six times, then you would have struck Aram until you would have destroyed it. But now you shall strike Aram only three times” (2 Kings 13:19).
In spite of his professed love for Elisha, the king had little reverence for his message. King Joash had little expectation that God’s word could be true, so he went through the motions that God’s prophet commanded him, only doing what he thought was the bare minimum required of him. Elisha’s message highlights King Joash’s lack of faith, which led him to treat God’s promises with smug skepticism. Instead of believing God’s Word and operating with great faith and expectation, King Joash reacted half-heartedly.
So many of us might see a reflection of our attitudes in King Joash. We too just go through the motions of worship and ministry. We too tend to think of things in terms of the bare minimum requirement. We desire maximum convenience and minimum commitment. We have little expectation for God to work and typically we are not disappointed. Because we aren’t operating with faith and expectation, we aren’t living in the kind of victory that is available to us.
As God’s people, let’s be filled with expectation about how God is working. Let’s worship and serve the Lord like we expect Him to do something. Let’s believe His promises and not sell short what God might want to do!