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2Kings 12-13

Thursday Evening Bible Study

February 28, 2013

Introduction

Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?

After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel split into two nations.

The northern kingdom would be known as “Israel”.

The southern kingdom was known as “Judah”.

12:1-16 Temple Repairs

:1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba.

:1 Jehoash

Also known as Joash.

This was the boy king. When his father was killed by Jehu, his grandmother Athaliah decided to take control of the kingdom and killed everyone else who could possibly lay claim to the throne.

Joash survived because his aunt took him and hid him in the Temple where he was raised by his aunt and uncle, the high priest Jehoida.

When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada pulled a coup, had Athaliah killed, and made the little boy king.

:1 His mother’s name was Zibiah

His father was Ahaziah, son of Joram, son of Jehoshaphat.

His grandfather, Joram, was married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.

Even though Joash was a descendant of King David, he also has the genes of Ahab and Jezebel as well.

:2 Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

:2 all the days in which Jehoiada …

Jehoiada was his uncle, and was the high priest.

Jehoiada will be like a father to Joash, but there is quite an age difference. When Jehoiada dies, he’s 130 years old.

(2 Ch 24:15 NKJV) But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died.

Joash will die some time after that, and he will be only 47 when he dies. That means that Jehoiada is at least 70 years older than Joash, old enough to be a great grandfather to the king.

When Joash’s grandmother, Athaliah, tried to kill all the royal children, Joash was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, the wife of Jehoiada.

Jehoiada took care of little Joash, and raised him in the ways of the Lord.

For a time, this is a great thing.

While Jehoiada was alive, it was a great thing.

The problem comes when Jehoiada dies.

That’s when Joash rebels against the Lord.

(2 Ch 24:15–22 NKJV) —15 But Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. 16 And they buried him in the City of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house. 17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. 18 Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. 19 Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. 20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.’ ” 21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and repay!”

Quite a sad turn of events at the end of Jehoash’s life!

As soon as his uncle dies, the strong guiding influence he’s so grown accustomed to is gone.

And he doesn’t seem to know how to handle things on his own.

Lesson

Beneficial relationships

In a sense, we all need people in our lives to provide a healthy influence.

The process of discipleship happens when someone like Paul encourages and mentors someone like Timothy.

(2 Ti 2:2 NKJV) And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

If we surround ourselves with the wrong kinds of friends, it can lead to trouble.

(1 Co 15:33 NKJV) Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

We all need each other, like each part of your body needs the other parts.

(1 Co 12:20–21 NLT) —20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

The church is supposed to be a sort of “support group” where we can help each other.

(Ro 12:9–10 NLT) —9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

Lesson

Teach them to solo

In a sense, we all need people in our lives to provide a healthy influence.

The problem comes when we sometimes go too far in trying to help others.

Sometimes we do a little too much when it comes to managing their problems, even to the point of controlling their lives or making all their decisions for them.

There is a place for total managed care – but that’s for people who are really sick. If you are really sick, you go to a hospital and they take complete care of you. But as you get better, you eventually get released.

When our kids are little, it’s what we are supposed to do as parents, to manage their little lives.

But as our kids grow, we have to learn to cross that threshold where they are learning to manage their own lives.

It’s important that we as parents instill in our kids the right values and the ability to make good decisions.

But just teaching them these things isn’t good enough.

Eventually you need to start stepping back and see whether they’ve really learned it or not.

Sometimes you have to learn to just let go and see if anything has sunk in!

Illustration:

When you teach your kids to ride a bike, you can only do so much with training wheels.

After a while, it’s time to try without the training wheels.

But even without the training wheels, you usually have to run alongside them, holding them up, until they get the knack of balancing on two wheels.

But for you to successfully teach them, you eventually have to let go and stop running with them

Illustration

If you take flying lessons, you will spend a lot of time learning things in the classroom.

Then you log in long hours with a flight instructor in the seat next to you as you actually learn to fly.

But the day of reckoning comes when you take your “solo” test and go up all by yourself.

Lesson

Who do you depend upon?

Are there people that you continually look to for guidance and direction?

Paul told the Philippians that he wanted them to walk in obedience not just while he was with them, but even more when he was gone.

(Php 2:12–13 NKJV) —12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

God wants us dependent upon Him.

The disciples were much like us.

But they actually had Jesus Himself to depend upon and lean upon.

Yet Jesus was constantly preparing them for the day that He would no longer be with them.

And He had a plan in mind for when He was gone:

(Jn 14:16–17 NKJV) —16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

(Jn 14:25–26 NKJV) —25 “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

(Jn 16:13 NKJV) —13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

The life of walking under the power of the Holy Spirit isn’t really an option in the Christian life.

It’s a necessity. It’s how we learn to fly “solo”.

:3 But the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

:3 the high places were not taken away

It’s possible that these “high places” are referring to pagan altars set up throughout the countryside.

It was a typical practice in these ancient times to build places of sacrifice on top of hills, being much closer to heaven that way!

That’s why they are called “high places”.

And often this phrase is used to describe these pagan altars (1Ki. 14:22-23)

But it also could refer to altars to Yahweh that had been scattered throughout the land.

When Solomon became king, before the building of the temple, he offered sacrifices at the high place of Gibeon. (1Ki. 3)

(1 Ki 3:4–5 NKJV) —4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

He was bringing sacrifices to Yahweh.

But God told Israel that when they came into the Promised Land, and when God finally picked out a place for worship, the other “high places” needed to go.

(Dt 12:5 NKJV) “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.

Jerusalem is that clear place. After the Temple is built, the other places should have been abandoned.

Why did God want a central, singular place of worship?

(Dt 12:8 NKJV) “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today— every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—

Without a central place of worship, and a central place for God’s truth to be taught, the Jews would lose sight of God’s absolute truths.

They did not have printing presses, let alone computers, radios, and TV’s.

After a while, whatever the local religious leader thought would be okay.

But with a central place of worship, the Law would be kept, studied, and taught.

God’s standards would be held to.

It won’t be until Hezekiah becomes king (2Ki. 18), that the other high places are removed, along with all the rest of the idolatry that creeps in just prior to his reign (2Ki. 18:4)

When he is attacked by the Assyrians, look at how they described Hezekiah’s actions:

(2 Ki 18:22 NKJV) But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?” ’

He not only had removed the false god high places, he had removed the other Yahweh high places.

:4 And Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money of the dedicated gifts that are brought into the house of the Lord—each man’s census money, each man’s assessment money—and all the money that a man purposes in his heart to bring into the house of the Lord,

:5 let the priests take it themselves, each from his constituency; and let them repair the damages of the temple, wherever any dilapidation is found.”

:4 the dedicated gifts

Joash now is going to set about to have the temple be refurbished.

He asks for this money to be once again collected at the temple.

There were three categories of these finances:

census money

This was money that every person twenty years and older was obliged to pay every time they were “numbered” (Ex 30:13,14)

It was a half shekel for the ransom of their souls, and it is called the collection or burden Moses laid on them in the wilderness (2Ch 24:6,9)

assessment money

When a man makes a vow, changes his mind, and then has to buy himself out of it (Le 27:1-8), he had to pay for not giving God what he had promised.

The Targum calls it “the money of the redemption of souls”

a man purposes in his heart

Money that a person decides freely in their own heart that they want to give to the Lord.

Money from these categories of gifts were to be set aside to pay for the refurbishing of the Temple.

:6 Now it was so, by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash, that the priests had not repaired the damages of the temple.

:6 the priests had not repaired

Lesson

Finish what you start

We don’t know when Joash first started collecting money for the Temple repair, but after a while he began to notice that nothing was being done.

God is continually at work in our lives, and He finishes what He starts.

(Php 1:6 NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

We too ought to finish what we start.

(Pr 12:27 NKJV) The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession.

Learning to finish what you start is an important component in “faithfulness”

(Lk 16:10–12 NLT) —10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?

I think there’s a sense in which our maturity hinges on learning to finish what ought to be finished.

Play “Guitar Hero” clip

There are some things that are determined by how diligent you are going to be. You don’t become a rock star without practicing. Finishing what you start.

:7 So King Jehoash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests, and said to them, “Why have you not repaired the damages of the temple? Now therefore, do not take more money from your constituency, but deliver it for repairing the damages of the temple.”

:8 And the priests agreed that they would neither receive more money from the people, nor repair the damages of the temple.

The money had been collected, but it wasn’t being used.

:9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put there all the money brought into the house of the Lord.

:10 So it was, whenever they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and put it in bags, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.

:9 the priest took a chest

Some churches follow this practice and call it a “Joash Box”.

Kind of like our Agape Box.

:11 Then they gave the money, which had been apportioned, into the hands of those who did the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house of the Lord,

:12 and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple.

:13 However there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, trimmers, sprinkling-bowls, trumpets, any articles of gold or articles of silver, from the money brought into the house of the Lord.

:13 there were not made … basins …

At least, not initially. Eventually they will be made with the money left over (2Chr. 24:14)

But when the work was finally complete, they had so much money left over, that they then started making all these other things for the ministry of the temple (2Chr.24:14)

(2 Ch 24:14 NKJV) —14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; they made from it articles for the house of the Lord, articles for serving and offering, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

Apparently, under Athaliah, all these equipment things had been scavenged and taken to be used in the temple of Baal (2Chr.24:7)

(2 Ch 24:7 NKJV) —7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord to the Baals.

:14 But they gave that to the workmen, and they repaired the house of the Lord with it.

:15 Moreover they did not require an account from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to be paid to workmen, for they dealt faithfully.

Good workers are hard to find. Joash found some. Maybe he went to “Angie’s List”?

:16 The money from the trespass offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord. It belonged to the priests.

Not all the money that came into the Temple went to refurbishing it. Some went to the priests.

When a person lived a long ways from the temple, rather than having to take a bull or a lamb all the way to Jerusalem, they could bring money instead, and purchase an animal in Jerusalem.

Whatever was left over after purchasing the animal was given to the priests.

12:17-18 Hazael Attacks

:17 Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath, and took it; then Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem.

:17 fought against Gath

Play Hazael attacks map clip

Hazael has come all the way from Damascus (about 150 miles) and attacked the ancient Philistine city of Gath which was apparently in the hands of Judah at this time.

Word gets out that his next objective is to attack Joash in Jerusalem, only 23 miles away.

:18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the sacred things that his fathers, Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things, and all the gold found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Syria. Then he went away from Jerusalem.

:18 sent them to Hazael

Joash gathers up all the gold he can get his hands on, and sends it to Hazael as a way of buying him off.

There’s a part of this story that we aren’t told in 2Kings. It seems that God allowed Hazael to come against Jerusalem for a reason.

After Jehoiada the priest died, Joash fell away from the Lord and even had Jehoiada’s son put to death. (2Chr. 24:22-24)

(2 Ch 24:22–24 NKJV) —22 Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son; and as he died, he said, “The Lord look on it, and repay!” 23 So it happened in the spring of the year that the army of Syria came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the leaders of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men; but the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.

This defeat at the hand of Hazael was a form of judgment against Judah because of what Joash had been doing.

12:19-21 Southern Joash Dies

:19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

:20 And his servants arose and formed a conspiracy, and killed Joash in the house of the Millo, which goes down to Silla.

:21 For Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him. So he died, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Then Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

:21 his servants, struck him

When the Syrians (vs. 17) had finally left Jerusalem, Joash had been wounded by them (2Chr.24:25), and while he was weak, his servants rose up and killed him.

(2 Ch 24:25 NKJV) And when they had withdrawn from him (for they left him severely wounded), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died. And they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

One reason the servants killed the king was because of how the king had killed Jehoiada’s son.

:21 buried him …in the City of David

They buried him in Jerusalem, the same city that his ancestors were buried in, but they didn’t bury him in the tombs of the kings (2Chr. 24:25)

We saw this before when stinky Jehoram died:

(2 Ch 21:19 NKJV) Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness; so he died in severe pain. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning for his fathers.

They didn’t give Jehoram the same respect they did with other kings.

Apparently the people didn’t like Joash very much!

This is kind of ironic when you think that Joash seemed to want to please the people:

(2 Ch 24:17–18 NKJV) —17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them. 18 Therefore they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass.

Lesson

Give in – Lose respect

Sometimes I’m a jerk, and I need to give in and listen to the people around me.

Play “Peer Pressure” video

The real problem comes when we have friends who are telling us to do the wrong things, not the right things.

Sometimes I do things just for the sake of having people like me.

It affects the clothes we wear, the places we go, and the people we hang out with.

You can call it peer pressure.

When you continually give in to things you don’t agree with, especially if they are things that are right, you may gain some temporary new friends, but you’re gaining no one’s respect.

It even works with raising kids.

The parents who never put their foot down, but are always caving in to their children’s demands are also the parents who are never respected by their kids.

Every once in a while you have to say “NO”, and stick to it, maybe even enforce it as well.

But when you give in, you are teaching them that they have no limits.

And you’re losing their respect.

Respect is a valuable thing, but it’s not easy to obtain.

(Pr 22:1 NLT) Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.

13:1-9 Northern Jehoahaz

:1 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years.

:1 Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king

This next chapter switches back to the northern kingdom to look at the dynasty that Jehu started, as his son takes over.

Jehoahaz reigns from 814-798 BC

:2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them.

:2 followed the sins of Jeroboam

As all the other kings of the northern kingdom have before him.

Jeroboam was the man who divided the nation of Israel, taking the ten northern tribes with him.

In setting up a separate kingdom, he also set up an alternate form of worship, by installing his own places of worship, complete with golden calves.

The idea was to keep the people in the north from getting drawn back to the south through the worship at the temple in Jerusalem.

:3 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael, all their days.

:3 the anger of the Lord was aroused

Jeroboam rebelled against Rehoboam in 931BC it’s now been 117 years of following after these golden calves.

You would think God would begin to lose a little bit of patience with these people. Correct.

Lesson

Patience first

God will use the “paddle” every once in a while.

But He uses patience first to get our attention and give us a chance to change.

(Ro 2:4 NKJV) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

(2 Pe 3:9 NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

When God described Himself to Moses, He said,

(Ex 34:6 NIV) And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

God is not quick to anger. He’s slow to anger.

Sometimes we get to wondering why God doesn’t bring judgment on certain evil people a little more quicker.

God is being patient on them as well.

God wants them to have a chance to turn around as well.

Personally, I like the fact that God is patient.

Otherwise I would have been dead a long time ago.

:3 He delivered them into the hand of Hazael

God again uses this man Hazael, king of Syria, to bring judgment on his own people when they’ve gone astray.

God had told the prophet Elijah long ago that this would be so (1Ki. 19:15-17)

(1 Ki 19:15–17 NKJV) —15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.

When Elisha went to complete the anointing of Hazael, Hazael was at that time the servant of king Benhadad. Elisha had wept when he realized how much trouble Hazael would cause for Israel (2Ki. 8:11-15).

We’ve now seen several instances where God has been using this king to bring judgment:

It was with a war with Hazael at Ramoth Gilead that King Joram of Israel was wounded, going back to Jezreel to recover, and then was killed by Jehu (2Kings 9:15).

Because Jehu didn’t follow the Lord completely, but continued with the calf worship, God allowed Hazael to begin to cut back the borders of Israel (2Kings 10:32)

When Jehoash of Judah fell away from the Lord and began to follow after idols, even killing God’s prophets, God allowed Hazael to take the city Gath from Judah, and then to loot the city of Jerusalem of its valuables. (2Kings 12:17.18)

And now Jehoahaz of Israel is facing Hazael, because of his own disobedience to the Lord.

Lesson

God’s loving discipline

It’s not because God is trying to destroy us, it’s because He loves us that He allows hard times to come when we are rebellious.

(Heb 12:6–11 NKJV) —6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that God allows difficulty because He no longer loves us. Wrong.

It’s a loving parent that disciplines their children.

God wants us to turn around. And this will happen in Jehoahaz’ life.

:4 So Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.

:5 Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.

:5 the Lord gave Israel a deliverer

a deliverer – yasha‘– to save, be saved, be delivered

An interesting phrase. It’s a little unclear just what the writer means here.

1) It could be referring to Jehoahaz’ son, (northern) Joash. He would bring some temporary relief from Syria. We’ll see this at the end of the chapter, 2Kings 13:25.

(2 Ki 13:25 NKJV) —25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.

2) It might refer to Jehoahaz’ grandson, Jeroboam, who “saved” Israel (2 Ki. 14:27)

(2 Ki 14:27 NKJV) —27 And the Lord did not say that He would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.

3) It could be referring to the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III (not mentioned in the Bible) who fought against Damascus and defeated it in 803 b.c., causing the Syrians to turn their attentions from pestering Israel, to defending their own country.

:6 Nevertheless they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin, but walked in them; and the wooden image also remained in Samaria.

:6 wooden image – ‘asherah – a Babylonian/Canaanite goddess.

Even though Jehu got rid of all Baal worship, he apparently overlooked this Asherah pole and left it alone.

:6 they did not depart from the sins

Instead of taking advantage of God’s gracious answer to their prayers, they didn’t change their ways.

Lesson

Taking grace for granted

When God gives you a chance to change, take it!

Just because the pressure is off doesn’t mean that God isn’t serious anymore about your sin.

Remember:

(Ga 6:7–8 NKJV) —7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

:7 For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.

Israel’s army was left with practically nothing, considering their army used to number in the hundreds of thousands.

:8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

:9 So Jehoahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then Joash his son reigned in his place.

13:10-13 Northern Joash

:10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years.

:10 Joash … Jehoash

Yes, we have two more kings reigning with the same names. One is in the north, the other is in the south.

Both forms of the name are the same, both fellows have the same name.

You can only tell them apart by keeping track of their location and their fathers’ names.

:11 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.

The same old Jeroboam problem keeps just going and going.

Jehoash is “evil” because of his choice of continuing in the sin of Jeroboam.

There are a few good things about Jehoash. He is a man who seems to have valued Elisha the prophet. But he is called “evil” because he keep the nation in the same old sin.

:12 Now the rest of the acts of Joash, all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

We’ll look at that the war with Amaziah when we get to chapter 14.

:13 So Joash rested with his fathers. Then Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

:13 Joash rested with his fathers

Joash’s death is recorded here, but the rest of the chapter still deals with events that take place during his reign.

13:14-21 Elisha Dies

:14 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!”

:14 my father, the chariots of Israel

The Targum (an early Jewish paraphrase) here is,

“my master, my master, who was better to Israel by his prayers than chariots and horsemen.”

Joash knew that Elisha was his greatest asset as a king. He was the “chariot of Israel”, their best weapon. He was very sad at the prospect of losing Elisha and what that might mean to Israel as a nation.

This was exactly what Elisha had said when Elijah was about to be caught up into heaven (2Ki. 2:12)

(2 Ki 2:12 NKJV) And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.

To Elisha, Elijah was the one great defense and protection for the nation of Israel, he was their “chariot and horsemen”.

Note: I think what’s happening here is a cry of desperation from Joash. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do without Elisha. There is no visible successor to Elisha as there was with Elijah.

What’s going to happen from here on out is going to be a response from Elisha on the defense of Israel.

Lesson

Prayer power

I know our nation doesn’t seem to place much value on the faith of Christians, but God pays attention. Your prayers for our nation are more important than you could ever realize.

(1 Ti 2:1–2 NKJV) —1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

:15 And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows.

:16 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.

Possibly signifying that God would also have His hands on things as well.

:17 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.”

:17 strike the Syrians at Aphek

Eastward was the direction of their enemies, the Syrians.

If Joash hasn’t got a clue yet, it’s pretty apparent that the things that Elisha is doing with Joash have to do with God’s deliverance for Israel from Syria.

Play Aphek map clip.

There are a lot of “Aphek”s out there. I found at least four of them.

This one is probably the one that’s located on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, about 44 miles northeast from Samaria.

Ahab already has fought two battles with the Syrians at Aphek. (1Ki. 20)

(1 Ki 20:26–30 NKJV) —26 So it was, in the spring of the year, that Ben-Hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. 27 And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the countryside. 28 Then a man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys,” therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” 29 And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And Ben-Hadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber.

:18 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.

:19 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.”

:19 the man of God was angry

Elisha is upset with Joash in the way that he’s handling these things.

The number of times that he was striking the ground was representative of the number of times that he would strike Syria.

Though Elisha explains this afterwards, it’s not something that would have taken a brain surgeon to figure out, considering all the discussion that has gone on before it.

Note:

It’s interesting to see the mixture of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility here.

God in His sovereignty declares that there will be victory over Syria.

Yet God allows man the deciding part of how much victory by his own choices.

Because Joash is only half-hearted in his smiting the arrows, God is only going to allow him a half-hearted victory.

Lesson

Half-hearted

It seems that we won’t often receive the full victory unless our hearts are really in it.

I remember many times “repenting” over certain sins, but only half-heartedly, knowing that at a weak moment I’d probably give in again.

But the victory comes during those times when your sin becomes so abhorrent to you, so filthy to you, so gross to you that you can even feel sick to your stomach as you fall on the ground weeping, knowing that you have to do WHATEVER it takes to get the victory.

Jesus made a strange statement:

(Mt 5:29–30 NKJV) —29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Seriously?

I’m not sure that Jesus is intending us to all go around with no eyeballs and no hands, because that’s what we’d really end up doing if we took this literally.

I think the point is this – do whatever it takes to stop.

Do whatever it takes to win the victory.

:20 Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.

:20 bands from Moab

These are roving bands of murdering bandits from the Moabites.

:21 So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

:21 as they were burying a man

There was a group of Israelites in a funeral procession, getting ready to bury one of their friends.

They saw one of the Moabite gangs coming toward them and needed to get rid of the body quick!

Elisha’s tomb was nearby, so they threw the body into the tomb as a sort of temporary solution. And are they ever surprised!

(Interesting twist: (Gill) The Jews say this man was Shallum the son of Tikvah, and husband of Huldah the prophetess, and was a good man, much given to alms, for which he was rewarded; and they further say, he went to his own house, and lived many years, and begat children, and particularly Hanamel, mentioned in Jer 32:7.)

13:22-25 Israel’s Victories

:22 And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

:23 But the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and regarded them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.

:23 the Lord was gracious

God uses Hazael as a sort of judgment, a chastisement for the nation. Yet God’s spankings weren’t meant to destroy the nation, only to get their attention and encourage them to turn around.

:24 Now Hazael king of Syria died. Then Ben-Hadad his son reigned in his place.

It’s interesting that Hazael’s son was named after Hazael’s old boss, the guy he murdered.

I wonder what happened first, the murder, or the birth of the son?

:25 And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz recaptured from the hand of Ben-Hadad, the son of Hazael, the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times Joash defeated him and recaptured the cities of Israel.

:25 Three times Joash defeated him

Just like the smiting of the arrows.

That’s great to have a victory!

But it’s not the full victory it could have been.