elisha's reproof to joash.
2 Kings xiii. 18, 19. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the Mng of Israel, Smite tipon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God ivas tvroth with him, and said. Thou shouldest have smitten Jive or six times ; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it ; whereas now thou shall smite Syria hut thrice.
IN this passage is recorded a conversation be- tween King Joash and the Prophet Elisha. The prophet was dying ; and the king, who had utterly neglected him before, now went to visit him, and
374.]] elisha's reproof to joash. 527
was full of concern about the loss, which both he and all his people would sustain : the king even wept over him, and most pathetically exclaimed, " O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof^!" Thus it is that the ser- vants of the Lord are too generally treated : they are neglected and despised in their life ; but, when they are no longer able to benefit the world, their loss is deeply felt.
On this occasion God put fresh honour upon his servant, and made him a messenger of glad tidings to the king. These tidings were conveyed under two symbolical representations ; the shooting of an arrow towards Syria, and the smiting of a bundle of arrows upon the ground. But it seems that the king, though apprised of God's gracious intentions towards him, was not by any means either so en- larged in his expectations. Or so ardent in his desires, as he should have been : he was lukewarm ; and by his lukewarmness he both displeased the prophet, and deprived himself of a great measure of that mercy which God had designed to bestow upon him.
Now this subject affords us a fit occasion to con- sider,
I. What messages of mercy God has sent to us —
Innumerable are the intimations which God has given us of a glorious deliverance from all our spi- ritual enemies : they have been given,
1. By significant emblems —
[What was the preservation of Noah and his family in the ark, but a representation to us of that deHverance which shall be vouchsafed to all who are found in Christ? All the rest of
a This is the same expression as Ehsha himself had used in refe- rence to EUjah, 2 Kings ii. 12. The people of Israel were forbidden to multiply chariots and horses, that they might look to God alone as their strength. And they were now so reduced by Hazael king of Syria, that they had only ten chariots and fifty horsemen left ; ver. 7. But if they had attended to Elisha, they would not have needed any such protectors, because God himself would have defended them. This truth the king now acknowledged, feeling that he was about to lose the best support of his kingdom.