CHAPTER 13

(856 B.C.)

JEHOAHAZ REIGNS OVER ISRAEL

¹In 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.

²And 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 (Jehoahaz kept up the worship of the calves, and in no way suffered this worship to decline).

³And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days (Israels troubles were strictly because of her sin; while righteous living doesnt forego all difficulties, it definitely foregoes most).

⁴And Jehoahaz besought the LORD, and the LORD hearkened unto him: for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them (how much oppression do we encounter because of our sin? This one thing is clear, irrespective of what we have done or how bleak the situation, the only answer is, And Jehoahaz besought the LORD).

⁵(And the LORD gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians: and the Children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime. [A saviour means a deliverer from the hand of the Syrians. The gift of Jehovah and the principle which turned away wrath and provided a Saviour was not the existence of any moral worthiness in Israel, for she had none, but the unconditional Covenant made with Abraham, as stated in Verse 23. In effect, it was for Abrahams sake, and then, at times, for Davids sake, and then, for Jonathans sake. All illustrate the principle of Ephesians 4:32, for Christs sake. This great principle of Salvation gives all the glory to the Saviour and none to the person saved.]

⁶Nevertheless 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 [the devotion with which the ten Tribes worshipped the golden calf rebukes and instructs the Christian; it rebukes for, alas, how defective is the loyalty of even the most saintly person to Christ? Williams].)

⁷Neither 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 (before the Saviour, Syria had laid Israel to waste).

THE DEATH OF JEHOAHAZ; JOASH HIS SUCCESSOR

⁸Now 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?

⁹And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead (to rest with their fathers in the same royal sepulchre was to be duly honored at their death; to be excluded from it was a disgrace).

JEHOASH REIGNS OVER ISRAEL

¹⁰In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years (he had the same name as the king of Judah; actually, the two Joashes were contemporary monarchs for the space of three years).

¹¹And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin: but he walked therein (all of this tells us that Jehovah Elohim was not a Divinity invented by the Israelites, as some have claimed; for, had that been so, then would they have served Him faithfully; but the fact that they were continually forsaking Him, and turning to idols, and that there was perpetual contention between them and God, proves the Testimony of the Bible, that the God of Israel is God over all, blessed forever).

¹²And 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? (The account of the war with Judah is found in II Chronicles 25:17-24.)

¹³And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel (that Joash should call his eldest son Jeroboam, after the founder of the kingdom, indicated a thorough approval of that founders policy and conduct, which, of course, were evil).

ELISHA AND THE ARROW OF THE LORD

¹⁴Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died (it is believed that Elisha was at least 80 years old at this time; his illness was probably the result of mere natural decay). And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof (it is amazing how Joash, as well as previous kings of Israel, knew of the worth of Elisha, but still would not serve Elishas God; men love their sins!).

¹⁵And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows (although not mentioned here, evidently, Joash had sought direction from the Lord through Elisha, as it regards the threat of Syrian domination; the Holy Spirit evidently tells Elisha what to do).

¹⁶And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the kings hands (the intention was, no doubt, to show that the power which would be manifested was not the kings own power, but came from the Lord through the mediation of His Prophet).

¹⁷And he said, Open the window eastward (why eastward? The sun rose in the east; therefore, the Lord, through Elisha and this symbolism, was telling the king of Israel that if true Repentance would be forthcoming, Israels sun would not be setting, but rather rising). And he opened it (thus far, the king operates in faith). Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORDs deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for you shall smite the Syrians in Aphek, till you have consumed them (what a promise!).

¹⁸And he (Elisha) said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground (signifying the defeat of Syria). And he (the king of Israel) smote thrice, and stayed.

¹⁹And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, You should have smitten five or six times; then had you smitten Syria till you had consumed it: whereas now you shall smite Syria but thrice. (The promise of total and complete victory over the Syrians had been given, but, because of lack of faith, Israel fell short. To the king of Israel, defeating the Syrians three times was big in his sight. However, the Lord was ready to give much more. How often do we fail to achieve Gods best, simply because we stop short of total victory?)

DEATH OF ELISHA; THE MIRACLE AT HIS TOMB

²⁰And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year (Jerome says that the place of his sepulchre was near Samaria; according to Josephus, his funeral was magnificent).

²¹And it came to pass, as they (the Moabites) were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man (the corpse) into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet (this was the final miracle attributed to Elisha, even though he was now dead; this last miracle fulfilled the Promise of God, in that his ministry numbered twice as many miracles as Elijahs, and some were twice as great; so the double portion held true, even to the very end [2:9-10]).

ISRAELS VICTORY OVER SYRIA

²²But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz (the writer now returns to the subject of Syrian oppression).

²³And the LORD was gracious unto them (unto Israel), and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from His Presence as yet (ultimately, they were cast away, rejected, and removed out of Gods sight, because they continued to spurn His Mercy and Grace).

²⁴So Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead (Hazael, the usurper, gave his eldest son the name of the monarch whom he had murdered).

²⁵And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of 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 did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel (exactly as Elisha said would happen!).