A Final Request
“And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.””
II Kings 13:19
Elisha is dying. His time is short. Joash the king came to visit him.
“Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
II Kings 13:14
Joash is expressing his sorrow over the fact that Elisha, a mighty prophet of God, is sick and is about to die.
Elisha doesn’t focus on himself. He had not retired from being a prophet. Elisha knew that Syria was an enemy of Israel. He instructs Joash:
“And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, “Open the east window”; 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 must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them. ” Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped.”
II Kings 13:15-18
Why did Joash stop after only shooting 3 arrows? David Jeremiah suggests that Joash was not “all in” as far as his commitment is concerned.
You would think that he would have jumped at the chance to see his enemy finally defeated.
Elisha was furious. He told the king that he would only get to strike the enemy 3 times.
Elisha was dying.
This was Elisha’s final request of the king. His dying wish, if you will.
I’ve been a hospice Chaplain for many years.
In hospice, we minister to patients who are dying.
Whatever you do in life, think about this.
Do I use the “Joash” approach, or do I give my all to make their quality of life as good as I can? I may not be able to fulfill all their requests, but I can do something.
