EVEN DEAD THE MAN OF GOD HAD POWER

PROCLAMATION

“And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha; and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”  2 Kings 13:21 (KJV)

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The human author is unknown although some Bible scholars attribute this book to the prophet Jeremiah.  Jehoahaz the son of Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria.  He did that which was evil in the sight of The Lord and made Israel sin.  The anger of The Lord was kindled against Israel and He delivered them into the hand of the Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Ben-hadad son of Hazael. (2 Kings 13:1-3)  During this time Elisha fell sick.  Elisha told Joash king of Israel to take up a bow and arrows.  Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands, then told him to open up a window facing east, and shoot.  He did and Elisha said that the arrow was The Lord’s deliverance of them from Syria.  He said they would smite Syria and consume them. (2 Kings 13:14-17)  Elisha then told the king to strike the ground with the arrows and the king struck the ground three times.  Because he was less than enthusiastic, Elisha said he should have stricken the ground five or six times, he would only have a partial victory over Syria rather than total domination. (2 Kings 13:17-19)  Soon afterwards Elisha died and they buried him.  And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that they saw a band of men coming; and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha; and when the dead man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. (2 Kings 13:20-21)  And it came to pass later on that Israel would defeat Syria three times as Elisha had said. (2 Kings 13:22-25)

APPLICATION

The power that Elisha had was not his own, it was the power of God.  That power was still present in Elisha’s bones even after he died and was buried.  The Lord God is all powerful, (Matthew 28:18) and all things are possible through Him. (Matthew 19:26)  The men of God today do not wield that kind of power because we do not have that kind of faith in God.  If we had faith in God the size of a grain of mustard seed, we could move mountains (Matthew 17:20) and trees. (Luke 17:6)  We need to exercise and grow our faith.  For as our faith grows so does our influence and effectiveness in doing God’s work. (2 Corinthians 10:15)