Jehoash was King of Israel during the days when the prophet Elisha was suffering from the illness that eventually led to his death. The nation of Israel was often being invaded by Aramean raiders and the desperate king went to consult with the dying prophet. Elisha tells him to stand at the window with a bow and arrow, and commands him to shoot an arrow out of the window. Then he tells the king to take the remaining arrows and strike the floor with them.
I've often heard this story used to illustrate that the blessing or victory we receive from God is in accordance with the level of faith we have; in accordance with what we ask for. If you remember the story, Jehoash (who presumably understood what all the arrow banging was about) strikes the ground only three times, and the dying prophet expresses anger at this. Elisha tells Jehoash that if he'd only kept going and struck the ground five or six times, Israel would have continued to beat the Arameans until that enemy was completely destroyed. But because the king stopped after three strikes, they would defeat the enemy only three times.
Re-reading the passage this morning, I got to wondering: was Jehoash's problem really due to lack of faith? Did he strike the ground only three times because he was only able to trust God for three victories. Or was his problem more about pride and presumption? Was he perhaps over-confident in believing that Israel would be able to defeat the Arameans after only three battles?
I realise that, with the coronavirus, there's also a danger of human arrogance when we begin to see breakthroughs - a danger that people and governments will feel that we conquered the enemy in our own strength.
But the same is true of our own prayer life, no matter what we happen to be praying for (or not praying for), including all the things that have nothing to do with the current pandemic.
There's always a danger that we stop praying too soon - either because we don't have faith for God to do more, or because we presumptuously feel that we now have the victory and can handle things ourselves from here on out.
In what areas do you need to be "striking the ground" a few more times this week?
This chapter tells of the very last prophecy in Elisha's lifetime. Read on below for something rather mind-blowing that happened after he was already dead.
