Sermon Outline

INTRODUCTION
The Omride dynasty had a long-lasting impact on both the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Though the two kingdoms are no longer ruled by a single dynasty, they are very similar, twin prostitutes, as Ezekiel 23 describes it.

THE TEXT
“In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD . . . .” (2 Kings 13:1-25).

AN IDOLATROUS COVENANT PEOPLE
Through much of Kings, the parallel of North and South has emphasized the South’s apostasy. When the South becomes a mirror-image of the idolatrous North, it’s a sign of Judah’s doom. Here, the mirroring goes the other way: Yahweh’s faithfulness to David’s house is reflected in His faithfulness to Israel for the sake of Abraham (vv. 22-25). Despite her idolatries, despite several generations of Omride rule, and despite a king and queen that had explicitly abandoned Yahweh and promoted Baal, Israel is still Yahweh’s covenant people.

EXODUS
An exodus/conquest typology is running under the surface here. This chapter includes a number of Exodus references: “Going out” (v. 5; cf. Genesis 15:14; Exodus 12:41); “savior” translates the Hebrew moshia, a pun on Moses (v. 5); “tents” is not literal, but reminds us of the wilderness camps of Israel following the exodus; the basis for Yahweh’s deliverance is the covenant (vv. 22-25; Exodus 2:24-25). The conquest is evident in the fact that Jehoahaz recovers cities from Aram.

JEHOAHAZ
The general evaluation of the reign of Jehoahaz is negative, and as a result his military power is drastically reduced (v. 7). They are compared to dust on the threshing floor. Given this introduction, it is all the more remarkable that Yahweh intervenes to send a savior. Yahweh has compassion on a sick king, and a sick kingdom. The salvation Yahweh promises is partly military, but this military/political deliverance comes, as the first exodus did, with a demand to submit to Yahweh as Lord. This Israel fails to do (as Israel did in the wilderness after the exodus).

JEHOASH OF ISRAEL
Not much is told of the reign of Jehoash, except that he did evil. The one incident from Jehoash’s reign is his encounter with the dying Elisha. He pays respect to Elisha as “father” and “chariots and horsemen” (v. 14), just as Elisha had done to the departing Elijah (2 Kings 2:12). Elisha responds by assuring Jehoash of victory. It is important to see that the two signs go together. The first identifies the arrow as the arrow of victory, aimed at Aram to the east (v. 17). It promises victory at Aphek, reversing Israel’s defeat there (1 Samuel 4) and completing Ahab’s abortive victory (1 Kings 20; cf. 2 Kings 13:25). Having identified the arrows as the arrows of victory, Elisha instructs Jehoash to pound the arrows on the ground, the “land” of Aram. Israel has been reduced to dust, and Elisha is telling Jehoash that he has the opportunity to reverse the process and pound Aram to powder. Instead of pursuing total victory, Jehoash (like Ahab) stops short.

PROPHETIC POWER
Elisha remains a source of life after his death, raising the dead even from the grave. During the spring of the year (v. 20), the time of rebirth, marauding bands of Moabites are harassing Israel. This hints at the later situation just before the exile of Judah (24:2), and suggests that the grave is a symbol of exile (as in 1 Kings 13; Ezekiel 37). When the marauding bands come, and Israel is thrown into the grave of exile, there is still hope for renewal and resurrection. If Israel heeds the words of the prophets, even their death is not the end: They will leap up from the grave.