Joy in Passionate Obedience

2 kings 14

There's a strange story at the end of Elisha's life that begs interpretation. The king of Israel, joash, is sitting beside the deathbed of Elisha morning his imminent demise. The kings fear is for the armies of Israel without their spiritual advisor. Elisha asks the king to draw his bow and shoot out the window. Then he asks the king to take the arrows and beat them on the ground. The king does so three times and then stops. Elisha uses one of his last breathes to rebuke the king for not striking them more times.

The questions beg to be asked in is passage. The first one is if any poor chap was struck by that prophetic arrow shot from the window. The second is of a more serious nature, why was the king chided for not striking the arrows for more than three times? Elisha didn't ask him to continually strike them. The number and severity of the striking was completely up to the king. Joash seems to get a bad rap for something he really wasn't instructed to do. Why on earth was Elisha so angry?

I believe a possible answer to Elisha's anger is in the fervency of the obedience of the king. Joash had a definite need for protection. Elisha was giving him a chance to experience Gods power even in his absence. The command was given for joash to perform the miracle and he simply did as he was told, nothing more. The error is in the passion between the lines. With the God of the universe offering his services, joash simply followed orders. Gods commands were given to receive His blessing. Joash was willing to obey but not with the expectant fervency that should have accompanied his obedience. In short, it was a heart issue.

There are many times I do not understand the commands of God. His requests seem foolish to me. Honestly there have been many times where I haven outright disobeyed the commands of God. There have also been many times where I obeyed with my hands while holding my heart in faithless apathy. God wants both my hands and my heart when it comes to obeying Him. He wants me to burn with expectation as I receive the very commands of the Creator. From this passage it would seem that the measure of Gods blessings toward us are directly proportionate to the passion in which we welcome them.