Three Arrows–or Six?

Three Arrows–or Six?

(No. 2303)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, APRIL 9, 1893.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL
25, 1889.

"And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the
king of Israel, Strike the ground. And he struck three times, and
stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, You should
have struck five or six times; then had you struck Syria till you had
consumed it: whereas now you shall strike Syria only three times." 2
Kings 13:18,19.

IT is a very difficult task to show the meeting place of the purpose of
God and the free agency of man. One thing is quite clear–we ought not
to deny either of them, for they are both facts. It is a fact that God
has purposed all things both great and little. Neither will anything
happen but according to His eternal purpose and decree. It is also a
sure and certain fact that, oftentimes, events hang upon the choice of
men. Their will has a singular potency. In the case before us, the
arrows are in the hands of the king of Israel and, according to whether
he shall shoot once, twice, three times, or five or six times, so will
the nation's history be affected. Now, how these two things can both be
true, I cannot tell you. Neither, probably, after long debate, could
the wisest men in Heaven tell you, not even with the assistance of
cherubim and seraphim! If they could tell you, what would you know, and
in what way would you be benefited if you could find out this secret? I
believe that it would be as difficult to show that these two things do
not agree, as it is to show how they can agree. They are two facts that
run side by side, like parallel lines. Things are often left to the
will of men, yet everything does come to pass, in the end, according to
the will of God! Can you not believe them both? And is not the space
between them a very convenient place to kneel in, adoring and
worshipping Him whom you cannot understand? If you could understand
your religion, it would be one that did not come from God–it would
have been made by a man of limited capacity, like yourselves, who was,
therefore, able to make what you can comprehend. But inasmuch as there
are mysteries in your faith, to the top of which you cannot climb, be
thankful that you need not climb them.

But sometimes a practical question about these two points does arise.
It is correct to say, speaking after the manner of men, "If men are
earnest, if men are believing, if men are prayerful, such and such a
blessing will come." And that the blessing does not come may be rightly
traced to the fact that they were not as prayerful and as believing as
they ought to have been. I believe that God will save His own elect,
and I also believe that if I do not preach the Gospel, the blood of men
will be laid at my door. I believe that God will give to His Son to see
the travail of His soul, but yet, if you who are His people are not
earnest in seeking the salvation of souls, and they perish, their blood
will be required at your hands! This remark seems to be suggested by
the story before us. God knew how many times the Syrians would be
beaten and yet He left king Joash to decide whether they should be
beaten three times or six times.

Next, reflect what great things may lie in a man's hands. There stood
Joash, an unworthy king, and yet in his hands lay, measurably, the
destiny of his people. If he will take those arrows and will shoot five
or six times, their great enemy will be broken in pieces. If he will be
dilatory and will only shoot three times, he will get only a measure of
victory. And poor Israel will ultimately have to suffer, again, from
this enemy, who has been only scratched, and not killed. You do not
know, dear Friends, what responsibility lies upon you! You are the
father of a family–what blessings may come to your household, or may
be missed by your children–through your conduct! Dear Mother, you
think yourself obscured, yet your child's future will depend upon your
teaching, or non-teaching! Great events depend upon little matters, as
large vessels hang upon small nails, and you who are here, tonight,
sitting in the pews, and meditating upon your future course of action,
may do that which shall lead many to Heaven. But if you decide another
way, you may do that which will curse many through time and eternity.
Remember that, and remember in what a position of responsibility you
may

be placed many a time in your life–and how necessary it is that the
Grace of God should be with you, to guide you, that you may not be an
injury to others by what you do or leave undone.

Once more, notice what great results may come from very little acts. It
was a very trifling thing, was it not, to shoot an arrow from a bow?
Your child has done it many times in his holidays. He has taken his bow
and shot his little homemade shaft into the air. This is what the king
of Israel is required to do–to perform this very slight and common
feat of archery–to shoot from an open window and to drive his arrows
into the ground beneath. And yet upon the shooting of these arrows will
hang victory or defeat for Israel. So there are some who think that
hearing the Gospel is a little thing. Life, death, and Hell, and worlds
unknown, may hang upon the preaching and hearing of a sermon! To hear
attentively and not be disturbed in the sermon may seem a very
insignificant thing and, yet, upon the catching of the Word of God may
result either the attainment of faith or the absence of faith–and so
the salvation that comes by faith! In our affairs that appear to be
trifles, we are often shaking worlds. That which looks like a great
action may turn out to be a puff-ball, and nothing more, but a little
occasion may prove to be great in its consequences. The mother of
mischief is no bigger than a gnat's egg and the beginning of Divine
Grace is no larger than the mustard seed. Therefore, do not trifle with
little things, for on these little things may hang the greatest things,
even the great things of an eternal state!

That lesson seems to me to lie upon the very threshold of our subject,
tonight. But I cannot detain you on the threshold. We must enter into
the theme, itself.

I. First, let me speak of SOME MATTERS IN WHICH MANY MEN TOO SOON
PAUSE. There are some who, having great opportunities–and we all have
them, more or less–shoot only three times when they ought to shoot
five or six times.

One of these matters is in the warfare with the evil within. Some, as
soon as they begin their Christian life, fit an arrow to the string and
shoot down big sins, such as swearing, or drunkenness, or open
uncleanness. When they have shot these three times, they seem to think
that the other enemies within them may be tolerated. My Brother, you
should have shot five or six times! There remains a bad temper within
you that must be conquered. Or there remains an unforgiving nature that
must be slain. There is no going to Heaven with that evil thing alive.
Or you are proud and self-confident. Have you not an arrow for that
evil, for God hates pride, and so should you! But certain people say,
"Well, you know, that is my constitution." Well then, you must be
constituted differently, or else you will not get to Heaven. "Oh!" says
one, "that is my besetting sin!" How often is that used as an excuse!
If I were to go across Clapham Common, tonight, and a dozen men were to
come around and knock me down and rob me, I should be beset by them!
But when I stay at home and ask them into my house, and feast with
them, and let them rob me, I cannot talk about being beset, for I have
invited them there. Some professors tolerate themselves in sin. I
repeat, they tolerate themselves in sin. One says, "Well, you see, I
always was so hot-tempered." You must get cool, my Brother. Another
says, "I was always very irritable." You must get rid of that
irritableness, my dear Friend–the Grace of God should teach you to
overcome that evil habit. We sin, but we must not tolerate any sin. It
will ruin a man if he sits down and says, "I cannot overcome that sin."
You MUST overcome it–every sin is to be overcome–and if you have
struck three times and stopped, you must not rest satisfied. The man of
God, tonight, will not give you any peace if that is your condition.
But he will say to you, "You should have struck five or six times."
There must be a clean sweep of every sin, for Christ has died, not to
save us in our sins, but to save us from our sins.

There are some who shoot three times and then leave off with regard to
Christian knowledge. They know the simple Truth of Justification by
Faith, but they do not want to know much about Sanctification by the
Spirit of God. Why not, my Brother? Can you be saved unless you are
sanctified? Some are perfectly satisfied with laying, again, the first
principles, always going over those–but they want to know no more. I
beseech you, strive to be educated in the things of God! Read not only
the first spelling book, "Believe and live," but go on to read in the
high classics of holiness and communion. Seek to be well established in
the faith and, "to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which
passes knowledge." Be a diligent student of the Word of God– give
yourself wholly to it. Lie asoak in Divine Truth till it colors you
through and through!

Some, again, sin in this way with regard to Christian attainments. They
have little faith and they say, "Faith like a grain of mustard seed
will save you." That is true. God forbid that I should discourage the
little ones! But are you always to be a little one? A grain of mustard
seed is not worth anything if it does not grow–it is meant to grow
till it comes to

be a tree and birds lodge in its branches. Come, my dear Friend, if you
have little faith, do not rest till you have great faith, till you have
full assurance, till you have the full assurance of understanding! You
love Christ, but why not love Him more? You have hope, but why not a
clearer expectation? You have a little patience, but why not have
abundance of Grace to endure affliction, and to glory in tribulations,
also? "Oh, I cannot get to that!" Truly, the man of God is not angry,
tonight, but he would be a little angry with you if he thought that you
meant that utterance! You can get to it– you must get to it! You are
not to be content without the prize of your high calling in Christ
Jesus, but you are to run and press forward, and not to be satisfied
unless you daily make progress in the Divine life.

Others, again, seem satisfied with little usefulness. You brought a
soul to Christ, did you? Oh, that you would long to bring another! Do
you not remember what the General said, in the war, when one rode up to
him and cried out, "We have taken a gun from the enemy"? "Take
another," said the General. If you have brought one soul to Christ, it
should make you hunger and thirst to bring another! You have been in
the Sunday school. Keep to it–increase your class and rest not till
all your girls and boys are saved! You preach, sometimes, in the
villages. Preach twice as often–you will do that without knocking
yourself out. Some dear friends have only enough Grace and enough
usefulness to serve as specimens of what they ought to do. I have heard
of one, who, going to Paris, walked into a restaurant and asked for a
beef steak. They brought him a little something on a plate and he took
it all up upon his fork at once, and said, "Yes, that is the kind of
thing! Bring me some of that." Some people's usefulness just serves for
a mouthful to a really earnest person. We say to such, "Yes, that is
the right sort of thing! Bring us some of that." Why are you not doing
much more? You have done more than some others, but why do you stop at
the third shot? "You should have struck five or six times."

And this spirit comes out very vividly in prayer. You pray–otherwise
you are not the living children of God at all–but oh, for more power
in prayer! You have asked for a blessing–why not ask for a far greater
one? We need more Christians of the type of the importunate widow. They
have become very scarce nowadays. I should like to see that woman's
successors, those who will not let the King go unless he blesses
them–who lay hold upon the angel, as Jacob did, and wrestle all night
until they got a blessing. You have done well to pray, but you should
have prayed much more. What blessings are waiting, what treasures are
in the hands of God, ready for the man who can bend his knees and stay
at the Mercy Seat till he wins his suit with God!

The Church of God, as a whole, is guilty here, as to her plans for
God's Glory. She is doing much more, now, than she used to do, but even
now, though she strikes three times, we may say to her, "You should
have struck five or six times." Oh, that the Church of Christ had a
boundless ambition to conquer the world for her Lord! Oh, that we never
rested day or night till our neighbors knew the Savior, till sinners of
every class were made to know that there is a God in Israel! Start up
you, you who have done so little, Churches that have been satisfied
with now and then stirring the Baptismal Pool, and the adding of
half-a-dozen in a year! Oh, for cries to God, and labors for God of a
very different sort from those of the past! My time would fail me if I
dwelt on this point. You will all think of many matters in which we
begin well and then we stop.

II. But now, secondly, let me speak of THE REASONS FOR THIS PAUSING.
Why do men come to a dead halt so soon?

Some of them say that they are afraid of being presumptuous. You are
afraid of being too holy, are you? Dismiss your fear! You are afraid of
asking for too much Grace? Be afraid of having too little! You are
afraid of conquering sin– tremble for fear of an unconquered sin!
There is no presumption in taking the largest promise of God and
pleading it, and expecting to have it fulfilled.

Perhaps one says, "/have not the natural ability to be doing more, or
enjoying more." What has natural ability to do with it? When all your
natural abilities are in the grave and you look only to the spiritual
strength of God, then you shall see greater things than these! Talk not
so, I pray you. Another says, "Well, I am getting old, I cannot shoot
as I used to do." Well, dear Friend, if you want to get old, the surest
way is to get old. I mean it. Think that you cannot do what you used to
do and give up your religious engagements because you are getting so
old? Give up preaching because you are so old? Give up the Sunday
school because you are so old and you will be old fast enough–that is
the sure way to make yourself old! Look at our statesmen and notice to
what an age they still continue working. One reason is because they
work on–if they gave up, they would have to give up! If we will but
persevere, we shall prove that there is life in the old dogs, yet. We
can do something, yet, in the cause of God, even though the hair turns
gray and the voice gets weak!

Let us not make an excuse out of our age until it really does prevent
us from doing our work for Him–then we must take to something else
that we can do to serve the Lord, and so bring forth fruit even in old
age.

Shall I tell you the real reasons why men pause in their work? With
some, it is because they are too dependent upon their fellow men. This
king Joash could shoot when Elisha put his hand on his hand–probably
Elisha only did that once, and then left him to himself and said–"Now,
you shoot." Then he only shot three times. There are many Christian
people who are a great deal too dependent upon their ministers, or upon
some elderly Christian who has helped them onward. When he is dead and
gone, or when he has moved away, then they do not shoot any more. I
want you, dear Friends, not to have to be carried all your days. We do
not object to be nursing fathers and nursing mothers to the children,
but we want you who are grown up to run alone. What would any father,
here, think if he had to carry his boy when he was twenty-six? It is
time, I think, that he went on his own two feet. There are some Church
members who still want always to have the influence of somebody who is
a superintendent to them, just as Elisha was to Joash in his shooting.
Do not let it be so with you, but shoot away, God helping you, and keep
on shooting till your arrows are all gone!

Another reason why some pause is that they are too soon contented.
Joash thought that he had done very well when he had shot three
times–and that Elisha would pat him on the back, and say–"How well
you have done!" That kind of feeling creeps over many workers for the
Lord. They fancy that they have done their share. They have had their
time, now they will let somebody else take a turn. And they have done
the work so well, too! Ah, yes, the power to do more oozes out by the
leakage of contentment with what you have done! We have done nothing
well enough to say, "It is finished." Still is there much more land to
be possessed and, in the name of God, let us banish from our hearts all
contentment with our attainments, or with our services, and let us do
much more than we have yet attempted for that dear Lord who has bought
us with His precious blood!

Joash, too, I dare say, gave up shooting because he was unbelieving. He
could not see how shooting the arrows could affect the Syrians, and he
wanted to see. Oh, Brothers and Sisters, we do not, any of us, believe
enough in God! Believe in God to the uttermost. Thus will you be
successful workers and accomplish great things for God. No man knows
the possibilities that lie at his feet. It is impossible to measure
them–only unbelief can contract them. Remember that even Christ could
not do many mighty works in His own country because of the people's
unbelief. And nothing stops us from doing work for Him like unbelief in
the Ever-Blessed One.

I should not wonder, also, if Joash was too indolent to shoot five or
six times. He did not feel in a shooting humor. Now, whenever you do
not feel in a humor for prayer, then is the time when you ought to pray
twice as much! If you do not feel in a humor to take your class, say to
yourself, "You shall do it well, today. I will make you do so, poor
lazy flesh of mine!" I heard of a person who, being, weary in walking
to the Meeting House, stopped, and said to his legs, "Come, you have
carried me a good many miles to the theater–and I will make you carry
me to the House of God!" So may we say to ourselves and to one another,
"We were active enough when we ran to our amusements and went with the
giddy multitude to do evil–and we will be active, now, in the service
of our God." None of us will ever got to Heaven on a featherbed. No, it
is a marching pilgrimage from this place to the gates of pearl.

Joash also probably had too little zeal. He was not wide awake. He was
not thoroughly energized. He did not care for the Glory of God. If he
could beat the Syrians three times, that would be quite enough for him.
He thought that they would have had enough of it, too, and so he laid
down his bow and his arrows. I wonder whether I am speaking to anybody
who has just been putting up his bow and arrows, some Brother who has
made up his mind that he will retire from the school, or one who has so
much to do in the world that he must give up that village station? If
so, turn this subject over, and ask yourselves whether you were not
sent in here, tonight, on purpose to be told that you ought to have
shot five or six times and done much more than you have done. God does
speak to men, here, often–and very pointedly, sometimes. Some have
written to me to know who told me all about them–when I never heard
about them in my life. God does speak to men's consciences by His
servants and I put it to every child of God, here, whether this is not
a message from the excellent Glory–"Keep on! Keep on as long as there
is life in you! Keep on growing in Grace and advancing in the service
of Christ."

III. But now, thirdly, and very briefly, notice THE LAMENTABLE RESULT
OF THIS PAUSING.

When Joash had shot three times, he paused and, therefore, the blessing
paused. Three times he shot, and three times God gave him victory. Do
you see what you are doing by pausing? You are stopping up the conduit
by which the river of blessing will flow to you! Do not do that–to
impoverish yourself must certainly be a needless operation.

You will suffer in consequence, as this king did, for, after the three
victories, the rival power came to the front again. You will suffer in
many ways if you cease to draw daily supplies of Grace from God, or
cease to shoot the arrows against sin.

Others will also suffer with you. All Israel was the worse for Joash
leaving the arrows unshot. Your children, your neighbors, your
friends–who can tell how many may suffer because you are slack in
Grace and in the service of the God of Grace?

Meanwhile, the enemy triumphed. There is joy in Hell when a saint grows
idle! There is gladness among devils when we cease to pray, when we
become slack in faith and feeble in communion with God.

What was even worse, Jehovah, Himself, was dishonored. The worshippers
of false gods triumphed over Israel and the infinitely-glorious Jehovah
did not manifest His might as He would otherwise have done. Let us not
rob God of His Glory, for that is the worst of robberies, but let us
live so that as much glory as is possible may be gotten out of such
poor creatures as we are by the ever-blessed God.

Yet again, glorious possibilities were lost. See what glorious
possibilities lie before you and do not let them lie there untouched!
If you were poor and there was a gold mine in your field at home, which
only needed the use of a spade to make you rich, would you not be sorry
that you had neglected it so long? Behold, the blessed promises of God
are before you! You children of God may be rich, blessed and
happy–will you leave this mine unworked? You Sinners who, as yet have
only begun to seek the Savior, seek Him more earnestly! Cling more
closely to Christ and you will soon get the blessing. Shall it be your
own hand that locks you out of the Kingdom of God? Suffer it not to be
so.

IV. I am warned by the time that I must close, but I must say a few
words about THE CURE FOR THIS PAUSING.

If we pause in our holy service, or in getting near to God, or in
sucking the marrow out of the promises, remember that the enemy will
not pause. You cannot make the drink traffic stop. You cannot make the
harlotry of London stop its temptations. You cannot make the infidels
stop. You cannot make the "Down-Graders" stop. They will all be at it,
with all their might, seeking to do mischief against the Kingdom of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And there is the same choice for you that the Scotch
captain put to his men–"Lads," he said, "you see the enemy there? If
you don't kill them, they will kill you." If you do not overthrow the
powers of evil, the powers of evil will overthrow you! Oh, that God
would give us to have no hesitation about our choice, but may we
continue, by the power of the Spirit, to shoot the arrows of God's
deliverance till Christ, Himself, shall come!

A cure for this stopping lies in the reflection that in other things we
are generally eager. If a man engages in business, he is all alive in
it. If a man takes to a certain study, he will weary himself that he
may understand it. And shall we do the work of the Lord half-heartedly
and, in matters of Grace, slur over things and only do as little as we
can? The Lord save us from this spirit! A little religion is a very
dangerous thing–drink deep if you would come to the sweetness of it.
It is bitter at the top–but when you drink it to the very depths–the
lees thereof are the choicest cordial for a fainting spirit. God grant
us to know the inner core of religion, for that is where the sweetness
lies!

And lastly, this question ought to prevent us from ever pausing. Can we
ever do enough for our Savior? Did He stop anywhere? Did He cry a halt
when the work was half done? Did He not set His face steadfastly to go
up to Jerusalem? When the scourges fell, He did not turn back and leave
us. When the nails were driven into His hands and feet, He did not
desert us. When He came to be forsaken of the Father, He did not
forsake us, but He went through with His work till He could say, "It is
finished." Oh, that we might, each of us, resolve that we would go
through with our work, saying, "I have lifted my hand unto the Lord and
I cannot go back! May every Christian man and woman say the same! And
you who have not yet believed in Christ, may you be brought to believe
in Him who died for the guilty! Surrender yourself to Him who died upon
the Cross and, having done so, when He looks upon you, and says, "Your
sins are forgiven you," look up to Him, and say, "I bless You for that
sweet word, my Lord, and now I will serve You all the days of my life."
May the Quickening Spirit add the Divine quickening to these feeble
words and set you all shooting five or six times, for Jesus' sake!
Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON. 2KINGS13.

Verses 1, 2. In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of
Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over
Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. And he did that which
was evil in the sight of the LORD, and followed the sins of Jeroboam
the son, of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
"Seventeen years"– that is a long time in which to do mischief.
Seventeen years of reigning over a people, influencing them all for
mischief, turning them aside from God and doing his utmost to erase the
name of Jehovah from the hearts of the people. Remember, this Jehoahaz
was the son of Jehu who had been called to the front because of the
sins of the house of Ahab. Though Jehu was brought forward to be a
reformer, yet he and his race were as bad as those who were cast out.
What a sad thing this is, when those who are planted where the
cumber-ground tree used to be, become just as barren as the one that
has been cut down, or are only fruitful in sour fruit!

See here the force of evil example. It was many years since Jeroboam,
the son of Nebat, had set up the calves at Bethel and Dan, yet here is
another king walking in his footsteps. You cannot tell, if you leave a
bad example behind, how your children and your grandchildren to distant
generations, may follow your evil footsteps. Bad examples are very
vital– they live on age after age–and influence others long after the
first transgressor is dead. The thought that we may be ruining those
who are yet unborn should keep us back from sin.

Notice also, at the end of the second verse, "He departed not
therefrom." There is a final perseverance in sin–some men seem to
prove it–"He departed not therefrom." He was warned against it. He was
chastened for it, but, "He departed not therefrom." If men hold on in
sin, how much more ought the people of God to hold on in righteousness!
Whatever happens to you when you are once in the good old way, may it
be said of you, "He departed not therefrom." If all other men should
turn aside, yet let that be said of you, "He departed not therefrom."
But, if you are in the wrong road, may the Lord cause you to turn from
it and to turn to Him at once! If you depart not from evil, you must
depart from God.

3. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He
delivered them into the hands of Hazael, king of Syria, and into the
hands of Benhadad, the son of Hazael, all their days. God's people
cannot sin without coming under chastisement. Remember this Word of the
Lord, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth:
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." If you become
Church members, and yet live unholy lives, you come under a special
discipline, a discipline which I plainly see to be going on in the
Church of God even to this day. "For this cause," said Paul of the
Church in Corinth, "many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep." No doubt God does send many rods to His rebellious family. He
is not one of those fathers who "spare the rod, and spoil the child."
Hazael and Benhadad were both wicked men, yet God used them as rods to
chastise His sinning people.

4. And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him. Bad
as he was, he knew the hand that smote him, and he sought Jehovah. What
a wonder it is that God hears the prayers of even wicked men! I have
heard it said, sometimes, that, "the prayer of the wicked is an
abomination unto God." There is no such passage as that in the
Scripture. It is "the sacrifice of the wicked," that is "abomination to
the Lord." Even when a wicked man cries unto God and even if his prayer
is not a spiritual and acceptable prayer, yet God may hear it in a
measure, as he did in this case. Sometimes that hearing of prayer leads
men to repentance and they then pray better prayers and receive greater
blessings.

4. For He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria
oppressed them. God cannot bear to see the sorrows of His own people.
Even when He, Himself, is laying on the rod, if His child cries, it
goes to His heart. Remember what He did to Pharaoh when He heard the
sighing and crying of His people in Egypt. There is nothing more
powerful with a father's heart than the tears of his child–and God
heard the prayers of this bad man because, "He saw the oppression of
Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them."

5. (And the LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under
the hand of the Syrians: and the children of Israel dwelt in their
tents, as beforetime. The Lord gave them deliverance from the cruel
fetters of the Syrians. They had been so tormented, so plundered, so
oppressed in every way that God had pity upon them and gave them peace.

6. Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of
Jeroboam, who made Israel sin, but walked therein: and there remained
the grove also in Samaria). Israel's repentance was only half-hearted.
They repented because they suffered. They repented because of the
suffering rather than because of the sin. They went back to the sin
after they escaped from the sorrow. Oh, be not so, my Hearer! If God
has chastened you on account of sin, let yours be a thorough
repentance. Go to God with hatred of your sin, for until you get rid of
sin, your being rid of sorrow will be a small blessing.

7. Neither did He leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen,
and ten chariots, and ten-thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had
destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing. God
helped them and delivered them, but they were brought very, very low.
If God's people sin, their deliverance will cost them dearly. Israel
was once a great and powerful nation–their armies went forth in vast
hosts–but now they have only the remnant of an army.

8. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his
might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel? They were not worth writing in the Scriptures. We have very
slender records concerning Je-hoahaz, but quite enough for such a
wicked man.

9-11. And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in
Samaria: and Joash, his son, reigned in his stead. In the thirty and
seventh year of Joash, king of Judah, began Joash the son of Jehoahaz
to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. And he did
that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. One sinner was followed
by another! This young man must have seen the mischief that his
father's idolatry brought on the people, but he went on in the same
evil way. Oh, you sons of godly parents, you ought to follow your
fathers' footsteps, for these wicked sons of wicked men followed their
fathers' evil example! Oh, that there were an inclination in all the
children of the godly to be like their parents, for there is evidently
a tendency in the heart of the children of the ungodly to be like their
sires!

11. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,
who made Israel sin: but he walked therein. I repeat what I said
before, what a mischievous thing is one evil example! When a man makes
another sin, the other who sins is guilty and the man who makes him sin
is a sharer in his guilt. Here is Jeroboam, dead for years, and yet he
keeps on sinning. I may say of him, "He, being dead, yet sins." His sin
goes on burning like a fire and surely the punishment continues if the
sin continues. As long as souls exist, sin will exist–you cannot stop
it. Sin will repeat itself again and again, and multiply in its
repetition spreading among thousands, perhaps, yet unborn! Oh, what an
evil thing is sin! Prove to me that sin ever ceases to operate and you
might give me some thought that the punishment will cease–but that can
never be–and, as long as sin continues to poison, God will continue to
punish.

12, 13. And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his
might wherewith he fought against Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Joash
slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was
buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Now, here is a story about
this Joash which is preserved to us.

14. Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness of which he died. An old
man, probably in his 90th year, he had served his generation well. We
read nothing of him for 45 years. He seems to have been in comparative
seclusion–perhaps in his old age he had been neglected and
forgotten–as many a man of God has been who once stood in the front
rank. El-isha has fallen mortally sick, at last, and he is about to go
Home.

14. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him. This is one good
thing that Joash did. He remembered that it was through Elijah and
Elisha that the men of his house, the house of Jehu, had been put upon
the throne, and when he heard that Elisha was dying, something like
compunction crossed his heart and he "came down unto him."

14. And wept over his face. As Bishop Hall says, he gave him some drops
of warm water–and if a cup of cold water, given to a Prophet, shall
not be without its reward–so neither shall those tender tears be
without their reward.

14. And said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the
horsemen thereof. Elisha must have opened his eyes when he heard those
words, for he remembered that those were nearly the last words that he
said to Elijah when his master was taken up to Heaven. Perhaps the king
had heard that and, with a kind of delicate thoughtfulness, he applied
the words to this grand old man who was now about to die. He was to
Israel, chariot and horsemen, for it was by his means that Israel had
been delivered.

15, 16. And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto
him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hands
upon the bow. And he put his hands upon it; and Elisha put his hands
upon the king's hands. Not because he could lend much strength, for he
was an old man, but because this signified that God would be with the
king, that the power which dwelt in the Prophet's God would come
through the Prophet's hands to help the king.

17. And he said, Open the window eastward. They had no glass windows in
those days, you know, but they threw back the iron bars that made the
shutter and opened the window eastward.

17. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he
said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance
from Syria: for you shall strike the Syrians in Aphek, till you have
consumed them. It was usual, in the East, when war was proclaimed, to
do it by shooting an arrow towards the enemy's country, and this brave
old man, soon about to breathe out his life, had strengthened the king
in the great weakness of the Israelite state to proclaim war once more
against Syria!

18. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. I suppose, a quiver
full.

18. And he said unto the king of Israel, Strike the ground. "Shoot the
arrows out of the window and let them strike into the ground and stick
there."

18, 19. And he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was
angry with him. Elisha was angry, but he did not sin. He loved the
people and he was grieved to think that the king was so slack and
slothful.

19, 20. And said, You should have struck five or six times; then had
you struck Syria till you had consumed it: whereas now you shall strike
Syria only three times. And Elisha died, and they buried him. God has
different ways of taking His people Home. Some go all of a sudden,
whirled away, as Elijah was. This Prophet died gently, worn out with
age, but there is something very beautiful about his death. A king
weeps over his aged face. He has the pleasure, though it was mingled
with pain, of helping to deliver his people and, after his death, God
bore full witness to him.

20, 21. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in
of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that,
behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the
sepulcher of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the
bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. Thus God gave
Elisha power, even after death, and certainly set the Divine seal upon
his message! It was as great a glory to him to give life to the dead as
it was to Elijah to pass to Heaven without dying at all.

22, 23. But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of
Jehoahaz. And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on
them, and had respect unto them, because of His Covenant. Ah, that is
what always lies at the bottom of God's mercy, "His Covenant." Oh, that
grand word, "covenant"! Some think very little of it. Few preach much
about it. But this is the very foundation of mercy. This is "the deep
that lies under," out of which all the wells of Divine Grace spring up.

23, With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither
cast He them from His Presence as yet. He would not do it till He was
fully driven to it, till provocation upon provocation should wear out
His patience,

24, 25. So Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad, his son, reigned in
his stead. And Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, took again out of the hand
of Benhadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of
the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him,
and recovered the cities of Israel. He shot three arrows and now it
came to pass that three times did Joash beat Benhadad and recover the
cities of Israel. Oh, that he had beaten the king of Syria six times,
and set Israel completely free from its enemy!