A Foreshadowing

2 Kings 13:14-20

“14 Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, King Joash of Israel went down to him, and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows”; so he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow”; and he drew it. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17 Then he said, “Open the window eastward”; and he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. Then he said, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram! For you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18 He continued, “Take the arrows”; and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them”; he struck three times, and stopped. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Aram only three times.” 20 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 As a man was being buried, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.”

Two things catch the readers’ eye in this scripture: First, King Joash, at the deathbed of Elisha, repeats the exact phrase that Elisha said when Elijah was taken up.  Second, After Elisha’s death, a dead man was resurrected after being placed in the grave of Elijah.

Elisha is linked by this passage to the life of Elijah and to Christ.  Elisha was a servant and apprentice of Elijah, and Elisha’s life was a foreshadowing of the yet to be incarnated Christ.  

Our lives as Christians are to be modeled after the life and teachings of Christ.  We are to be examples of the living, resurrected Christ in the world…

and a foreshadowing of the future Kingdom of God. 

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)