12a) ARROWS OF DELIVERANCE
2 Kings 13:14-21 tells us what Elisha said to the Joash, the king of Israel, when he was dying, "And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said Shoot, and he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. And Elisha died."
This is a sad ending to the great prophet of Israel. He dies an angry man because the king should have struck the ground with more arrows than only three. He should have struck the ground five or six times. The prophet could have departed this earth with a mighty final victory of deliverance for the people of God. But, the king of Israel lacked prophetic insight.
Perhaps one of the reasons for not striking the ground with more than three arrows was that he may have had only three arrows left to fire. Like the king of Israel, the present day church lacks prophetic vision for arrows (children). We must view all our children as arrows to bring forth deliverance in some special way for the kingdom" per Christian family is not going to do much damage to the kingdom of darkness. compared to the "five, six or more arrows of deliverance."
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell