Please open your Bibles this morning to the book of 2 Kings, chapter 13, you'll find that on page 369 in most of the pew Bibles, 2 Kings, chapter 13. As I read this chapter, I want you to note that the words of Elisha, with which he announced the beginning of his ministry back in 2 Kings chapter 2, are taken on the lips of Jehoash, the king of Israel, to mark its end. When Elisha inherited Elijah's mantle, as we've discussed before, it came with power and authority and also the responsibility to anoint Hazael, king of Aram, and Jehu, king of Israel. And we last heard from Elisha in chapter 9, verse 1, when he set in motion the anointing of Jehu and we've considered the consequences of that anointing. In chapter 13, we pick up the history of Israel a full 30 years later. And in verses 1 through 13, which give us the context for our text this morning, we are given a summary of the next 20 years covering the reign of Jehu's son, Jehoahaz, and his grandson Jehoash and his great-grandson Jeroboam II. And then the author has us stop and he has us back up in order to have us focus and give our attention to the final prophecy of Elisha. So follow along as I read for you the Word of God as found in 2 Kings chapter 13. We'll read the chapter in its entirety. In the twenty-third year of Joash, son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. So the Lord's anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael, king of Aram, and Ben-Hadad, his son. Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord's favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit. They continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole remained standing in Samaria. nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time as for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz all he did and his achievements are they not written in the book of the annals of the king of Israel Jehoahaz rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria and Jehoash his son succeeded him as king In the 37th year of Joash, king of Judah, Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned 16 years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit. He continued in them. As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all that he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah, king of Judah, Are they not written in the book of the annals of the king of Israel? Jehoash rested with his fathers and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. And now we stop and rewind to consider this final prophecy of Elisha. Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash, the king of Israel, went down to see him and wept over him. My father, my father, he cried, the chariots and horsemen of Israel. Elisha said, get a bow and some arrows, and he did so. Take the bow in your hands, and he said to the king of Israel. And when he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king's hands. Open the east window, he said, and he opened it. Shoot, Elisha said, and he shot. The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram, Elisha declared. You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek. Then he said, take the arrows, and the king took them. Elisha told him, strike the ground. He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, you should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times. Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders, and so they threw a man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. Hazael, king of Aram, oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. Hazael, king of Aram, died, and Ben-Hadad, his son, succeeded him as king. Then Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, recaptured from Ben-Hadad, son of Hazel, the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns. Here ends the reading of God's word. Well, our text this morning in verses 14 through 25 draw us into a pivotal event in the history of Israel that happened during the reign of Jehoash. An event in which the Lord grants new life to Israel, to his wretched people, through his dying prophet, because of his covenant. The context that leads up to this story reminds us that when the Lord grants new life to Israel, he's granting it to a wretched people. If you recall, even though Jehu made things better in Israel, he destroyed Baal worship, he eliminated the house of Ahab, even though he made things better, things were still not good. Under his leadership, Israel remained a wretched people, sinful and rebellious against God, because they did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, their first king. Because that was the case, we read in chapter 10, verse 32, that in those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites through their territory east of the Jordan. If you remember when we considered Elisha anointing Hazael, how he cried, how he wept, when he knew in advance what this man would do to the nation of Israel. And with Jehu it had begun. Jehu's son Jehoahaz continued these sins. Therefore, we read in chapter 13, verse 3, that the Lord's anger burned against Israel and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael, king of Aram and Ben-Hadad, his son. Now, Jehoahaz sought the Lord's favor, we're told, in verses 4 and 5. He sought relief and the Lord listened to him and he sent them a deliverer so that Israel had a time of peace. And that deliverer was, we're not told in the text here, but history tells us that was the nation of Assyria. Just beginning to bloom and blossom to the east of Aram, just becoming a world force. And they were pressing against Aram so that Hazael had to retreat from Israel in order to protect himself. And during that time, Israel was able to go back home and live at peace. But we read in verse 6 that despite this blessing, they again continued their idol worship. And not only did they continue it, they added to it by adding the worship of the Asherah, which was symbolized by a pole. The Asherah was a goddess of Assyria, their new savior. They showed their allegiance by adding to their gods. Therefore, the Lord turned Hazael against Israel again. According to verse 22, he oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. And according to verse 7, we're told that Hazel, literally children, you've heard the word to pulverize. He pulverized them. He turned them to dust. He reduced their army to the size of a small parade. Fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand troops. You would think Israel got the message. As a nation, they were on the verge of extinction. And yet, according to verse 11, Jehoash continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. He continued in the sins of Jeroboam. He had no love for the Lord, but he liked to believe that the Lord was on his side. Like investors, he and his fathers had diversified, investing their trust in a number of gods. Some in the golden calves at Bethel and Dan, that was the national gods. Some in the Asherah that had been imported from Assyria, and some, of course, in the Lord. To Jehoash, Elisha was a significant broker in his religious portfolio. He hadn't done a lot in a long time. It had been 30 years or more since we've heard anything out of Elisha. But when he acted, it was priceless. He was an important resource to the king. So then, according to verse 14, when Jehoash learned that Elisha was sick, he went to visit. And when he saw Elisha, he saw that he was not only sick, he was terminally ill. He was on his deathbed. And he wept over him. And he cried, My father, my father, the horsemen and chariots of Israel. For to his way of thinking, This was not so much concern for this man who lay dying before him as it was concern for himself and for his nation. For when Elisha died, they would lose this broker who had access to the armies of heaven. The strength of Israel would die with Elisha. And this was of grave concern to the king. Now, we need to stop because we're tempted. at least I'm tempted, at this point to follow the easy temptation to play the Pharisee and point my finger at Israel and say, Thank you, God, I'm not like them. These wicked people who run from their God and treat him like an asset to pull out of the bank anytime they want. Well, we know better, don't we? The scriptures tell us that what we see in them is just what is true of us. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There's no unrighteous, not even one. There's no one who understands. There's no one who seeks God. That no one includes us. By nature, we're all like Jehoash. Wretched. We're all ungodly sinners who look out for ourselves rather than the concerns of God or our neighbor. And we all suffer the misery that sin brings. Our own sin, the sin of others, the misery that God's curse against sin brings with it as well. We know sin and we know misery. Even we, gathered here, who in Christ, through faith, stand justified in the sight of God, without condemnation in His court, clothed with His righteousness, we still struggle against sin and feel its misery. We must admit with Paul from Romans chapter 7, verse 21, that when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. What a wretched man am I. And though we can rest assured that there is now no condemnation for us in Christ Jesus, we are still called, as Israel was called, to continually throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. The story is about them, but it is for us and for all God's people, for by nature we too are often stiff-necked and rebellious, loving our sin, even as we hate its misery. Too often we live like Jehoash, content to trust in ourselves and in other people and in other things rather than in the God who has made us and who has redeemed us in Christ. The question is, when we finally look for a Savior, where will we look? Where do we begin? And that's what turns us back to the story. Because when Jehoash went looking for a Savior, his last stop was the home of Elisha. And whatever hope he came in with was dashed when he saw this man on his deathbed. And whether he realized it or not, he had before him a picture of Israel dying. And the end was near. But in spite of the fact that Elisha was dying, and in spite of the fact that Israel was undeserving, the Lord grants new life to his wretched people through his dying prophet. Elisha, whose name means Yahweh saves, as we've considered before, was enabled by the Spirit of God to give one last prophecy. A prophecy of word and of deed done in a room. And everything that was done and said there symbolized what would be said and done outside that room by Jehoash. With the last of his strength, Elisha rose up in his bed and he commanded Jehoash to prepare for war. Get a bow and some arrows. Take the bow in your hands. And the king did as he was told and he placed a quiver of arrows on his back and he took his bow in his hand. And then before Elisha gave the command for him to go to war, he placed his hands on the king's hands. His frail, dying hands. in order to symbolize that it is the God of Israel, not Elisha, the God of Israel who gives power and strength to his people. And then Elisha said, open the east window, the window that opened in the direction of Aram. And he told him to shoot, and he shot one arrow. And then in verse 17, Elisha gives its meaning. He says, the arrow shot was the Lord's arrow of victory. A victory over Aram, you will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek, the place of the first battle. By the word of the Lord in victory, by the word of the Lord, victory was given right then. And in that victory, Israel would enjoy a new life, from the verge of extinction to expansion. All that Jehoash had to do to experience the reality that was promised to him there was to trust and obey what the Lord had told him to do. And what followed would reveal whether he had true faith to trust the Lord and to do it with the assurance that the Lord was good to his word. And so Elisha told him to take the arrows, referring to the remaining arrows in his quiver, and he told him to strike the ground, meaning to shoot them into the ground. And he did so. He struck it three times, and he stopped. By shooting only three arrows instead of emptying his quiver of the five or six, Jehoash revealed that he trusted himself more than he trusted the Lord or his word. He had already determined that when he went to war with Aram, he would hold back reserves, just in case the victory wasn't complete. Therefore, with an angry rebuke, Elisha went on to prophesy that what Jehoash feared would come upon him. You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times. Your victory will not be complete. That which he feared had come upon him. And then suddenly, we're no longer in the room. Suddenly, in verse 20, we jump forward to a time that's after Elisha's death. Elisha has died and been buried in a tomb where, as verse 21 tells us, a miracle took place. The body of a dead Israelite was being carried outside the city to be buried. And just then, a band of Moabites, a band of raiders, appeared on the scene, and these men needed to get back in the city to be safe. So a proper burial was out and they threw him in the first tomb they could find. It just happened to be Elisha's tomb. When the body of the man touched Elisha's bones, he was restored to life and he stood on his feet. And then as suddenly as the story appears, it ends. No explanation. No follow-up. If it weren't so intriguing, it might be easy to just skip over it and go from verse 19 to verse 22. The story reads fine without it. But because it is intriguing, it causes us to stop and ask questions. And over the years, many questions have been asked of this text, but the only question we need to answer when it comes to miracles recorded in the Scripture, the only question that we need to answer is why did it happen? For what purpose was it given? Every miracle performed by God is for the purpose of authenticating or verifying the truth and dependability of the word of God which has been spoken. Every miracle is for the purpose of attesting, verifying, witnessing that which God has said. And we need to remember that when we see this story and say, okay, why is it here? Because this miracle was performed to authenticate and verify the truth of Elisha's prophecy to Jehoash the king. And why was it necessary? Because to Jehoash, the word of the Lord's prophet was only as good as the prophet. Elisha gave the testimony of the prophecy while he was still living. As long as he remained alive, The king had reason to spend resources and go to war to Aram. But now Elisha was dead. Hadn't the promise died with him? Why commit any resources to a war that is already lost? And so we should believe and we should understand that Jehoash had lost his motivation for fighting. He'd lost his motivation for going to war. So by this miracle, the Lord, who lives publicly and in an undeniable way, authenticated the word of the prophet, who was now dead, bore witness to himself that he is the one who granted the victory. And he is the one with the power to secure it. And he did so through a picture, an Israelite man who had died. By the power of God was restored to life. A picture of Israel. A picture for the king to see. And to this public and powerful motivation to believe and to act on the word that Elisha had given to the king, the Lord added the perfect opportunity. Mode of an opportunity. According to verse 24, there was a change in leadership in Aram. Hazel, the oppressor of Israel, had finally died. And Ben-Hadad, his son, had become king. And so we read in verse 25 that Jehoash did, in fact, act on the word of the Lord. And he fulfilled the prophecy of Elisha. He recaptured from Ben-Hadad, son of Hazel, the towns he had taken in battle from his father, Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him. And so he recovered to Israelite towns. So you see, the story of the resurrection belongs in this promise that was given to the king. Now, again, we pause to reflect on the significance for us. This happened thousands of years ago. We've been reminded many times in this series that the prophet Elisha was a type, a living picture of the ultimate prophet of God who is yet to come, Jesus Christ, our Lord. As Paul says of Christ in Colossians chapter 2, in Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form. Therefore, everything that Jesus said is the word of God. And he came into this world with words and actions, but he came with words. And he came with a command to take action, to repent and to believe. When his ministry began at his baptism, John the Baptist declared that the time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. And after his ministry was complete, the apostles proclaimed the same. As Paul says of himself in Acts chapter 20, I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. Repent and believe is the command. But to this command, Jesus added a promise, a promise of new life for his wretched people. For all whom God the Father had chosen to give him. Jesus spoke of this in chapter 10 of John's Gospel when he says, I give them, my people, eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hands. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father's hand. The promise attached to the command is new life. And Jesus explained how this promise could be made, how it could be delivered on when he told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man, so he himself, must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. The promise. all that wretched men need do to obtain the promise of eternal life is to trust Jesus and to obey Him. Trust Him when He says, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And when we have that trust, it shows itself in obedience and a willingness to obey when Jesus goes on to say, Take my yoke upon you. and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Repent and believe. And trust the one you believe in. And the promise is yours. It's so simple that it's a stumbling block to those who think themselves righteous and don't think they need it. And it's foolishness to those who think themselves wise and think they have a better way. But the gospel is that simple. And yet, it's impossible for any man to believe. It's too good to be true. But though that is the case, it is not impossible. In fact, it is certain that God will give to all his people the gift of faith to hear it and believe it. And in order to facilitate that hearing and that believing, the Lord has provided the ultimate miracle to authenticate as well as fulfill the gospel, the word of the gospel, resurrection from the dead, but not of another. And not of a nameless man, but of himself, in his own power. Jesus said that he came to lay down his life for his people. And he laid it down of his own accord, and he would take it up of his own accord, for he had the authority to do both. And by that miracle of his resurrection, he would establish the command and the promise it's essential to the gospel apart from the resurrection there is no gospel the disciples were like Jehoash they had spent three years with Jesus Christ learning at his feet seeing his miracles hearing the promises and how do they respond when he died they quit all was lost they hid out in the upper room and on the road to Emmaus their faces were long for they had hoped that he would redeem Israel and that hope was dashed when he died. And so to those men the Lord granted an extraordinary gift. He granted them the witness of the resurrected Christ. And it was not until they saw him and in some cases like Thomas until they touched him Did they believe what God, Jesus Christ, had told them? But because they did, by the gift of faith, through the witness of Christ resurrected, believe the gospel, they were equipped and commissioned to witness to that and to witness to us. We will not see Jesus Christ crucified or resurrected in the flesh until glory. And so we have the testimony of those who have. The eyewitness accounts of the disciples. And when we hear their testimony, we are to heed the command to repent and believe. To admit that we are wretched sinners who need a Savior. And to look to Christ, who is the only one. To trust Him when He says, come to me. And to obey Him when He says to take His yoke upon us. And when we do, by God's grace, hear that gospel and believe it, we have already the gift of life. New life granted to us who by nature are wretched people. And it comes to us only through Christ, his ultimate prophet who died and who was raised again. And so when we consider this story and we consider the truth that it tells us about Jesus Christ and the work he's done for his people, and we consider that God grants new life to his wretched people through a dying and now living prophet, we have to ask why. Why would he do it? Why would he do such a wonderful thing? The author anticipates our question when he tells us that he did so and that he does so because of his covenant. Because of his covenant. In verse 23 we read, The Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He showed Israel grace. He showed them favor that they did not deserve. In fact, they deserved his opposite. And the author goes on to say that he continues, the Lord continues to this day, and we should take that time reference as to the day of the events. Until that time, he was unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. It was a day of salvation for Israel because of God's covenant. The Lord established that covenant with Abraham in Genesis chapter 15, verse 18, saying to your descendants, to your seed, I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river of the Euphrates, the promised land. And the Lord first fulfilled this earthly promise under King David so that King Solomon, when he took the throne, ruled over the fullness of the promised land. But from that high point in the history of Israel, it was all downhill. Because of Solomon's sin, the kingdom was divided. And by the time Jehoash became king, the king of our story this morning, the northern kingdom had been whittled down to nearly nothing. It was on the verge of extinction. And it was then that the Lord, because of his covenant, acted to reestablish the borders of the northern kingdom. And he began it with these three victories of Jehoash. And he completed it with his son, Jeroboam II, The longest living king in the history of Israel. In chapter 14, verses 25 and 26, after telling us that it was Jeroboam who restored the borders of Israel, the author reminds us of why. Since the Lord had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven. Because of his covenant, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, son of Jehoash. From the depths of destruction, the pit, the Lord granted new life to this nation, a life so robust it took them to the expanse of the promised land in the north. And how did they respond? How did they respond? They responded like every man does in his own strength. They despised his grace. Even after this great blessing, they continued in their idolatry, they continued in their sin, so that after another 70 years, the Lord finally treated them as they deserved. And he destroyed the nation, and he dispersed the people. We need to know and we need to understand that in so doing, he did not break his covenant promise. The promise was greater than Israel, it always has been, it always will be. Where Paul explains in Galatians chapter 3 that the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The scripture does not say and to seeds, meaning many people, but and to your seed, meaning one person, who is Christ. See, the promise has always been to Christ. Through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through David, Solomon, and all the kings of Israel. It's always been to Christ. He alone is the faithful Son. He alone is the true Israel who does His Father's will. And He came in the flesh to do it. And He lived it perfectly. And He took to Himself the death of that the wretched people He would save might have life. He took their sin. He bore God's wrath. So that the life that He earned as the Son of God, the true Son of Israel, he could give by grace to his people. Christ inherited the heavenly and eternal promised land and he is pleased to give it to his people who trust in him. The holy land, the promised land, the land that we read of in our text today was just a picture. It was just a picture of this heavenly city to which we all aspire. According to Hebrews chapter 11, beginning in verse 9, By faith, Abraham, to whom the promise was given, he understood this. He made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country, as did Isaac and Jacob, his sons, who shared in the promise with him. For he was looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. They were all looking beyond the earthly promised land to the heavenly promised land that Jesus Christ, our Lord, has inherited and is even now preparing for you and for me who trust that he's done so for us. For you see, the promise that Christ inherited is shared with all those who trust him for the new life that we need to live with God. Paul explains this in Romans chapter 4 and beginning in verse 16, he says, the promises, referring back to the promise to Abraham, the promises come by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's children. He's the father of us all. He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed. The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Well, with this final prophecy of Elisha, we end this series on the high note of the Gospel, to which it points. We have seen and been reminded of the truth that the Lord alone grants new life and that it's by grace alone that he grants it to his wretched people, his undeserving people, through his dying and now the ever-living prophet, Jesus Christ, and that he grants it to us because of his covenant. The promises of which are obtained through faith alone, in Christ alone, our only hope. And I pray this day that you hear this message and you rejoice to know that that promise is yours. And if it is not, hear the command, repent, and believe, and trust the promise that new life is yours in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we do rejoice in the goodness you have shown to us, your people. Lord, you have shown us, and we, by the gift of faith, recognize that we are a wretched people, undeserving of your favor, undeserving of your goodness. And we praise and thank you, Father, that you've given us not only the word of the gospel, but you have fulfilled and portrayed the gospel in the undeniable death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you, Father, that by your Holy Spirit you work faith in your people. That when we hear the good news of the gospel and we consider the cross of Christ and the resurrection three days later, that we believe, that we trust, and that our only hope is found in him. We thank you, Father, that in him all the promises that you have made are yes and amen. And through faith in him they are ours already. although we still wait for the day when our faith will be sight. Until that day, Lord, sustain us in this hope, sustain us in this promise. For the sake of Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.