Yesterday we learned he visited the prophet Elisha right before Elisha passed away. The author of 2 Kings adds an interesting little postscript to the story of Elisha.
"Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet." (2 Kings 13:20b-21) The author brings up the subject of Moabite raiders in the second half of verse 20 in which he told us that Elisha died and was buried. Many scholars have taken that to mean that the Moabites considered it a good opportunity to begin attacking Israel now that Israel's chief prophet is dead. Perhaps they concluded that without Elisha interceding with the Lord on behalf of Israel, the Lord would not protect the nation from invaders.
King Jehoash seemed to fear that the death of Elisha represented a threat to the nation. In our last study session, as King Jehoash stood weeping by Elisha's sickbed, Elisha promised him three victories over the Arameans who were presently troubling the land. The fact that Elisha brings up the subject of an enemy nation while the king weeps indicates that one of the most pressing matters on the king's mind was national security. But the nation's security does not depend on Elisha being on the earth. The nation's security depends on the God of Israel, who proves this by performing a miracle soon after Elisha's death. The miracle involves Elisha, in a sense, but it is not performed by Elisha. The Lord Himself performs this miracle to prove that He is still acting on behalf of Israel even though Israel's chief prophet has passed on.
When the Moabite raiders enter a cemetery where Israelite men are burying a body, the Israelites are alarmed and want to get out of the area quickly---no doubt because they are unarmed and outnumbered. Their intention is likely to return at a safer time to finish digging the grave but in the meantime they open the door to the tomb of Elisha and deposit the man's body there where it will not be scavenged by animals. But when the man's body touches the bones of Elisha, he is raised back to life! Interestingly, nothing more is said about this miraculous event. We don't know the man's identity. We don't know how the gravediggers reacted when he was resurrected. We don't know how long he lived after being raised from the dead. We don't know whether the Moabite raiders witnessed this event and if it struck terror in them. I would like to know much more about this story and can only presume that the reason no further details are provided is because the details were well known to those still living at the time the author penned these words, rendering further explanations unnecessary at that time.
As well as performing this miracle to prove He still cares about Israel and is still acting on behalf of the nation, the Lord prevents the Arameans from thoroughly oppressing or even destroying Israel. We have already learned that Hazael, the king of Aram, has repeatedly attacked the nation and has defeated and subjugated a number of the cities and towns of Israel. But the Lord places a limit on how much the Arameans can do and He gives the Israelites three major victories against this enemy.
The author reminds us that the Arameans troubled Israel repeatedly during the reign of Jehoash's father, Jehoahaz. The Arameans continued to trouble the nation during the reign of Jehoash but the Lord had mercy on the people and brought about some relief from the enemy. "Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day He has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from His presence. Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns." (2 Kings 13:24-25)
The new king of Aram is not the first king of Aram by the name of Ben-Hadad. Hazael called his son by the name of the man who was king of Aram before Hazael, which is ironic when we consider that the first Ben-Hadad was murdered by Hazael himself in 2 Kings 8. Hazael went into the king's room while he lay sick in bed and suffocated him to death, then he assumed the throne in his place.
We must back up a few verses in the narrative to capture the death of Jehoash. "Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel." (2 Kings 13:13) Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, is also known as Jeroboam II because Israel's first king after the ten northern tribes split from the two southern tribes was also named Jeroboam. Before we move on to study the reign of King Jehoash's son, Jeroboam II, we must complete our study of King Amaziah of Judah who was on the throne of Judah during part of Jehoash's reign and for fifteen years of Jeroboam II's reign.
No comments:
Post a Comment