HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 710
2 KIN G S 1 4
father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” he cried.
15 Elisha told him, “Get a bow and some arrows.” And the king did as he was told. 16 Elisha told him, “Put your hand on the bow,” and
Elisha laid his own hands on the king’s hands.
17 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.”
18 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. 19 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.”
20 Then Elisha died and was buried.
Groups of Moabite raiders used to invade the
land each spring. 21 Once when some Israelites
were burying a man, they spied a band of these
raiders. So they hastily threw the corpse into the
tomb of Elisha and fled. But as soon as the body
touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man revived
and jumped to his feet!
22 King Hazael of Aram had oppressed Israel during the entire reign of King Jehoahaz.
23 But the Lord was gracious and merciful to
the people of Israel, and they were not totally
• Blessings
2 KING S 1 3 :1 8 -1 9
How can I receive a big blessing from
God? Elisha told Jehoash that an arrow
represented God’s triumph over Aram.
Then Elisha told the king to pick up
several arrows and strike them on the
ground. The king halfheartedly struck
the ground just three times, and as a
result he received only temporary victory.
Jehoash’s expectations were small,
his request halfhearted, and he missed
the full blessing God intended to give
him. Do you want a big blessing from
God? Then think big and pray big. Ask
repeatedly and enthusiastically for an
overflowing experience of God’s love
(Ephesians 3:14-21) and an expanding
impact for God’s Kingdom. If you yearn
for God’s blessing and are open to whatever God wants to do in your life, God
will give you more than you can even
imagine. But your heart must be in it.
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destroyed. He pitied them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to
this day he still has not completely destroyed
them or banished them from his presence.
24 King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Benhadad became the next king. 25 Then Jehoash
son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-hadad son
of Hazael the towns that had been taken from
Jehoash’s father, Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated
Ben-hadad on three occasions, and he recovered the Israelite towns.
Amaziah Rules in Judah
Amaziah son of Joash began to rule over
Judah in the second year of the reign of
King Jehoash* of Israel. 2 Amaziah was twentyfive years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His
mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. 3 Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight,
but not like his ancestor David. Instead, he followed the example of his father, Joash. 4 Amaziah did not destroy the pagan shrines, and
the people still offered sacrifices and burned
incense there.
5 When Amaziah was well established as
king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. 6 However, he did not kill the
children of the assassins, for he obeyed the
command of the Lord as written by Moses in
the Book of the Law: “Parents must not be put to
death for the sins of their children, nor children
for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to
die must be put to death for their own crimes.”*
7 Amaziah also killed 10,000 Edomites in
the Valley of Salt. He also conquered Sela and
changed its name to Joktheel, as it is called to
this day.
8 One day Amaziah sent messengers with this
challenge to Israel’s king Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz and grandson of Jehu: “Come and meet
me in battle!”*
9 But King Jehoash of Israel replied to King
Amaziah of Judah with this story: “Out in the
Lebanon mountains, a thistle sent a message to
a mighty cedar tree: ‘Give your daughter in marriage to my son.’ But just then a wild animal of
Lebanon came by and stepped on the thistle,
crushing it!
10 “You have indeed defeated Edom, and you
are proud of it. But be content with your victory and stay at home! Why stir up trouble that
will only bring disaster on you and the people
of Judah?”
11 But Amaziah refused to listen, so King Jehoash of Israel mobilized his army against King
Amaziah of Judah. The two armies drew up their
battle lines at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12 Judah
14
14:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant spelling of Jehoash; also in 14:13,
23, 27. 14:6 Deut 24:16. 14:8 Hebrew Come, let us look one
another in the face.