Saturday, April 12, 2014

You'd Better Pound That Arrow

2 Kings 13:14-20
When Elisha was in his last illness, King Jehoash of Israel visited him and wept over him. “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” he cried.

Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” And the king did as he was told. Elisha told him, “Put your hand on the bow,” and Elisha laid his own hands on the king’s hands.

Then he commanded, “Open that eastern window,” and he opened it. Then he said, “Shoot!” So he shot an arrow. Elisha proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s arrow, an arrow of victory over Aram, for you will completely conquer the Arameans at Aphek.”

Then he said, “Now pick up the other arrows and strike them against the ground.” So the king picked them up and struck the ground three times. But the man of God was angry with him. “You should have struck the ground five or six times!” he exclaimed. “Then you would have beaten Aram until it was entirely destroyed. Now you will be victorious only three times.”

Then Elisha died and was buried.
Jehoash knew how many battles it took to thoroughly win a war. But he had been through too many fights and he was sick of it. He did not want to win. He just wanted to settle for a "survived".

Despite the anti-climax ending, I will keep on pounding.
Freely I have received, freely I will give.

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