{"id":64057,"date":"2019-10-06T11:27:31","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T08:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64057"},"modified":"2023-05-01T12:39:49","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T09:39:49","slug":"i-shot-an-arrow-through-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-shot-an-arrow-through-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Shot an Arrow through the Air\u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[931,506],"acf":{"old_id":"64057","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"322","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Joash fails to understand Elisha\u2019s subtle message","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elisha became fatally ill and Joash, King of Israel, came to pay his respects, bemoaning Elisha\u2019s imminent departure with the identical terms used by that prophet to take leave from his own master, Elijah (2 Kings 2:12). Poignantly, Joash, who is described as not having strayed from the crimes of Jeroboam (11), paid homage to his kingdom\u2019s prophetic nemesis, while his Judean counterpart\u2014who was also named Joash\/Jehoash\u2014did not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elisha used this opportunity to perform one last mission (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/314\/post\/63337\">our description of \u201capostolic\u201d prophecy in 2 Kings 5<\/a>), combining it, in his customary fashion, with a miracle. He instructed the king to seize a bow and arrows and then placed his own hands over those of the king (15-16). Next, he commanded him to shoot an arrow through an eastern-facing window and declared: \u201cAn arrow of victory for the LORD! An arrow of victory over Aram!\u201d (17).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, a most curious episode ensued. Elisha instructed the king to strike the ground with his remaining arrows (18), but when the latter struck them but three times, the prophet got angry and accused the king of having thrown away the opportunity for total victory over Aram and settling for what can only be called a pyrrhic victory (19). Our question, of course, is: If Elisha wanted Joash to succeed, why did he not tell him how many times to strike? And since he did not tell him, how could he be angered by the fact that he struck them only three times rather than five or six?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I believe that the answer lies in the declaration of victory in v. 17, which prefaces God\u2019s victory over the king\u2019s. One may infer from their sequence that Elisha was intent on providing the king an opportunity to repent by soliciting his acknowledgment that it would indeed be the Lord who provided the victory, rather than the strength of arms. Also implicit in the shooting exercise was the relationship between the flight of an arrow and victory. Joash, arguably, ought to have drawn the unspoken conclusion on his own. His failure to do so indicated his unworthiness to enjoy God\u2019s support.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64059,"id":64059,"title":"2kings13-arrows","filename":"2kings13-arrows.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings13-arrows.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-shot-an-arrow-through-the-air\/2kings13-arrows\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings13-arrows","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64057,"date":"2019-10-06 08:27:11","modified":"2022-02-16 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Shot an Arrow through the Air\u2026\u201d","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Joash fails to understand Elisha\u2019s subtle message","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":64059,"id":64059,"title":"2kings13-arrows","filename":"2kings13-arrows.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings13-arrows.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-shot-an-arrow-through-the-air\/2kings13-arrows\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings13-arrows","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64057,"date":"2019-10-06 08:27:11","modified":"2022-02-16 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