Old Sandals

“Then Elisha died and was buried.”

Elisha was a great man of God. Anointed. And yet, when his life had run its course—rather, when his work was done, the Lord took him home.

The divine risk, inherent in the decision to create beings in the image and likeness of God, is the summit of almighty power, or rather a surpassing of that summit in voluntarily undertaken powerlessness. For the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Vladmir Lossky

About this time King Hazael of Aram went to war against Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. King Joash collected all the sacred objects that Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah, the previous kings of Judah, had dedicated, along with what he himself had dedicated. He sent them all to Hazael, along with all the gold in the treasuries of the LORD’s Temple and the royal palace. So Hazael called off his attack on Jerusalem.  The rest of the events in Joash’s reign and everything he did are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

Joash’s officers plotted against him and assassinated him at Beth-millo on the road to Silla.

Joash, the boy-king was only seven years old when he became king.  He was a righteous king; he followed the godly counsel of Jehoiada the priest.  This chapter records a sad failure, however.  It surely would not have been necessary for King Joash to “pay off” a pagan king with treasure taken from the Lord’s temple!

Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. And all the people of the land went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.

God raises up men to do His work.  Jehu was a warrior.  Jehoiada was a priest.  Both were servants of God.

Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and said to them, “Ahab’s worship of Baal was nothing compared to the way I will worship him! Therefore, summon all the prophets and worshipers of Baal, and call together all his priests. See to it that every one of them comes, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who fails to come will be put to death.” But Jehu’s cunning plan was to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.

Then Jehu ordered, “Prepare a solemn assembly to worship Baal!” So they did. He sent messengers throughout all Israel summoning those who worshiped Baal. They all came—not a single one remained behind—and they filled the temple of Baal from one end to the other. And Jehu instructed the keeper of the wardrobe, “Be sure that every worshiper of Baal wears one of these robes.” So robes were given to them.

Then Jehu went into the temple of Baal with Jehonadab son of Recab. Jehu said to the worshipers of Baal, “Make sure no one who worships the LORD is here—only those who worship Baal.” So they were all inside the temple to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty of his men outside the building and had warned them, “If you let anyone escape, you will pay for it with your own life.”

As soon as Jehu had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, he commanded his guards and officers, “Go in and kill all of them. Don’t let a single one escape!” So they killed them all with their swords, and the guards and officers dragged their bodies outside. Then Jehu’s men went into the innermost fortress of the temple of Baal. They dragged out the sacred pillar used in the worship of Baal and burned it. They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day.

In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel.

Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, “Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king.” But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.  When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, “This fulfills the message from the LORD, which he spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: ‘At the plot of land in Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel’s body.

Jehu was God’s avenger.  He was God’s instrument.  It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Elisha stared at Hazael with a fixed gaze until Hazael became uneasy. Then the man of God started weeping.  “What’s the matter, my lord?” Hazael asked him.  Elisha replied, “I know the terrible things you will do to the people of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women!”

The Lord permitted Elisha to see into the future, and it brought him to tears.  How fortunate we are that we can’t see the future. It’s better left with God.

So everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted when the king came to his house. The man of God had said to the king, “By this time tomorrow in the markets of Samaria, five quarts of choice flour will cost one piece of silver, and ten quarts of barley grain will cost one piece of silver.”
The king’s officer had replied, “That couldn’t happen even if the LORD opened the windows of heaven!” And the man of God had said, “You will see it happen with your own eyes, but you won’t be able to eat any of it!” And so it was, for the people trampled him to death at the gate!

Only God has the ability to see into the future.  Does this take away our choice?

As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, “O LORD, now open their eyes and let them see.” So the LORD opened their eyes, and they discovered that they were in the middle of Samaria.  When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”  “Of course not!” Elisha replied. “Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.”

Isn’t this a picture of our loving, merciful God?

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“God is not so much the object of our knowledge as the cause of our wonder.”

“Faith is not the supposition tht something might be true, but the assurance that Someone is there.”

“Faith is not logical certainty but a personal relationship.”

“Here, then, are the two least misleading ways of speaking about the the God who surpasses our understnding: He is personal, and He is love'”

Kallistos Ware

“Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?”  So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

The Jordan River wasn’t the most picturesque around.  It wasn’t the biggest. But it was the river Elisha commanded Naaman to wash in. That’s all that really mattered.

Elisha now returned to Gilgal, and there was a famine in the land. One day as the group of prophets was seated before him, he said to his servant, “Put a large pot on the fire, and make some stew for the rest of the group.” One of the young men went out into the field to gather herbs and came back with a pocketful of wild gourds. He shredded them and put them into the pot without realizing they were poisonous. Some of the stew was served to the men. But after they had eaten a bite or two they cried out, “Man of God, there’s poison in this stew!” So they would not eat it.  Elisha said, “Bring me some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now it’s all right; go ahead and eat.” And then it did not harm them.

Why did Elisha throw flour into the pot? Was the flour really necessary? Yes and no.  No, because it was just a physical symbol. But yes, because that is the way God works. He works through  things like flour, flesh and blood.