"Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Joash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. "My father! My father!" he cried. "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!"
2 Kings 13:14 (NIV)
A man of great faith is lying on a bed dying, and a king of little faith comes to see him. The king is afraid of the enemy and his greeting reveals his distress, for Israel is about to lose the one man that could summon the chariots and horsemen of Israel. What is the king to do? Well, Elisha puts the bow in his hands, tells him to shoot an arrow (with Elisha’s hands over his) and then take the rest of the arrows in his own hands and strike the ground. Elisha then becomes angry with the king at his lack of faith, and tells him that his lack of faith means a partial victory not a full victory.
We read this story with amazement, looking back on a time and a period where God’s grace came upon His apostate nation; the breakaway tribes that refused to worship in Jerusalem and eventually became the hated Samaritans of our Lord’s time. It was grace, for these people deserved nothing but destruction. Instead of destruction, God granted them the prophet Elijah and then Elisha, and then other prophets after, and reserved among this group a large number (7,000 at the time of Elijah) of people who worshiped the LORD and not Baal.
Faith and grace are revealed in this account. The king is not a descendant of David, but the grandson of Jehu, and the people have turned away from God and are worshiping false gods. Yet God is willing to pour out His grace and power on their behalf in response to acts of faith by this king! How much more He is willing in this age of grace, where we have received grace upon grace through His Son, our Lord Jesus – how much more is He willing to pour out grace and power in our lives and our loved one’s lives in response to our acts and prayers of faith!
O friend may we be bold, may we pray bold prayers, may we intercede for our loved ones in faith and in boldness! May we never be rebuked for our timidity.
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