2 Kings 13.
WE return here to consider again the history of the ten tribes. The merciful God, slow to anger and of great kindness (Nehemiah 9:17) looked with pity upon His people Israel when they through their king Jehoahaz, cried to Him in their distress and He gave Israel a saviour.
Of Jehoahaz, son of the energetic Jehu who executed God’s judgments upon others more wicked than himself, but cared nothing for Him, we learn that he reigned seventeen years and did evil in the sight of the Lord, following the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; he departed not there from.
What a record for a man’s life! Summing it all up in a few words is this account of the career of Jehoahaz, and many another has a record no better.
Following in the ways of his predecessors, looking no higher for an example than to his own desires, and to the habits of others—sinners far from God, without thought of eternity—is this also your record, my reader? God knows your every thought, your whole course through life, and His judgment will not err.
The Israelites were delivered into the hands of Hazael and his son Benhadad, kings of Syria, because of their departure from God, and were made to suffer many days. And when Jehoahaz asked God, for Whom he at heart cared naught at all, yet knew His power, God, in pity because of their sufferings, gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians. Nevertheless, they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam. How long would God forbear? The day of reckoning was rapidly approaching.
Joash, or Jehoash, grandson of Jehu, did as his father. Remember, that these kings, and the people over whom they ruled, were not as the heathen; they were the descendants of that Abraham who walked before God, the father of the faithful; their ancestors had been brought out of the misery of Egyptian slavery into this land; by God’s power they had become its possessors as city after city and stronghold after stronghold was taken. Great were their blessings, and their privileges; they had the law of God, the presence of God was among them, yet they turned to worshiping the host of heaven.
Jehoash fought with and defeated the king of Judah who turned to idolatry (2 Chronicles 25:14-24), and when he died, a second Jeroboam became king of Israel. Verses 14-19, 22-25 give details of earlier days.
It is remarkable the way the ungodly kings of Israel knew the reality of the power of God, yet did not trust in Him. Joash, or Jehoash, wept at the prospect of the death of Elisha, and the prophet bade him shoot an arrow, then strike the bundle of arrows on the ground, showing him that he lacked the energy to destroy the power of the northern enemy, yet would be allowed to smite the Syrians.
In verses 20, 21 is a picture of what will happen to Israel in a day yet future. The true Prophet, while apparently lost to the nation, is still the Vessel and Guardian of all their hopes, and He will yet restore them to life in a way both unexpected and powerful.
ML 12/25/1927