The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-25
READING FOR TIE DAY.


DEATH OF ELISHA % Kings xiii, l4-25.
Golden Textile being dead yet speaketn.-Heb.
II. A..
For many years we have no record of the do
tngs of this prophet He was present at the
anoiting of Jehu, forty five years before. But
his influence and character were felt. and it was
o natural and graceful thing for the young king,
Jehoash, to visit the sick and aged prophet to
obtain his advice and blessing. The kingdom OF
Israel had been greatly weakened by its loss of
territory and men captured by Hazael. the King
OF Syria. Nearly ali of their possessions east of
the Jordan had thus been lost r. Kings x. 33),
and Israel bad a very small army left. But had
the king been strong in faith and character, he
might have had one of the most glorious reigns OF
any of Israels kings, as God was about to give
back the lost possessions. Now we are made to
feel again a prophets power. and the strong spirit
that filled these men of God. Elisha's influence
on the nation must have been profound, and the
king, as he weeps over the dying prophet and
cries, sob, my father! my father! the chariot or
Israel and the horsemen thereof" expresses the
common feeling that such a man is himself q
host, and equal to chariots and horsemen for the
defense of the nation.
Before he departs he would give the Young
king a lesson in such impressive form that 1T
would never be forgotten. The prophet was
nearly, Or quite. ninety years old, residing in Sa-
maria, the city of the king. The use of the ex-
preston "my father, the same that was used by
Elisha himself at the time OF the ascension OF
Elllau IL hlDRS ii, LIB COulQ " ave Uccu uSCo
by mere chance by the king. His thought was,
.'Who now shall fill thy place and protect
IsraelW Then the prophet teaches him, by
an impressive objectlesson, that he, as
king, might be equal to the work. 1t was
common for the prophets to make their prophe-
cies in some symbolic form. He orders the king
to take bow and arrows and to open the win
dow eastward, and to shoot toward Aphek, or
the land of the Syrians. Remember that it was
the custom to declare war by discharsing an
arrow into an enemy's country. Now, while the
king draws the bow, Elisha puts his hands upon
the kings hands, and so impresses the fact that
in this war about to begin against Syria the God
of Elisha would be with Israel, and the arrow
shot by the king was a type of the arrow of the
Lords deliverance and the arrow of deliverance
from Syria. The prophet bids him take more
arrows, and smite upon the ground, that is. shoot
them into the earth, AS though the enemies were
there seen. Inspired by what had gone before,
we might nave supposed that the king would
have shot arrow after arrow with all his might,
until the prophet had bid him stay his hand.
But the weak king smote thrice. and stayed.
The blood of the old saint was up and on fire;
he was wroth with the king, and told him that
he would only smite Syria thrice, instead Of five
or six times.
HEART TRUTHS.
1. ITO obey is better than sacrifice" Obedi-
ence means blessedness. Full obedience is full
ness of blessing; partial obedience hinders per
feet blessing. To do Gods commandment is to
have right to the tree of life.
2 BLESSED are the dead which die in the
Lord" Men honor them; angels minister to
them; God rewards them. Does death then end
allg NAY; it is but the vestlbule to life-full,
glorious, eternal.
3. A good man never dies. His influence is
immortal. His name and memory are ever
green and fragrant. "He being dead yet speak
eth" and the voice echoes through ali the ages.