Read: 2 kings 13; 12:17-21; 2 Chron. 24:23-27
Jehoahaz became king of Israel after his father, Jehu died. He worshipped the golden calves that Jeroboam had made and allowed the pole of Ashterah to stand so God reduced his army. Following after other things other than God allows our defense of the enemy to lessen making us more susceptible to temptation and defeat.
When Jehoahaz died, his son, Jehoash became the next king. He was also an evil king.
In Judah, Joash was ruling. When he heard that the King of Aram was coming to attack him he gave him all the treasures of the Lord which saved their lives but not their souls. There is no way to appease the enemy. He will always come back for more. The King of Aram brought his army came back in the spring and because Judah had abandoned the Lord. When we compromise, the next time it will be easier to give in. God let the Armeans defeat them with a much smaller army than Judah had. Joash was wounded in the battle but it was his two advisors who murdered him because he had murdered Zechariah, the priest’s son. Sin only reaps death.
Elisha had an illness that had flared up again so the king of Israel, Jehoash came to see him and grieve with him. Elisha asked him to participate in a prophetic act. He wanted him strike the arrows on the ground as a picture of what he would do to Aram. Since he only struck them three times, he would only defeat them three times. Those arrows are like Scriptures to us. When we use them, they produce results. When we stop using them, they stop producing results.
Lord, help us not to get weary in our fight against sin.
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