The Cure for Half-Heartedness

The king of Israel struck the ground with those arrows only three times. Elisha was astounded. Everything in Elisha’s countenance waited for the king to break those arrows up on the ground, because after all the enemy would only be as destroyed as those arrows.¹

What was happening that day of Elisha’s death happens all the time when like the king of Israel, one loses the enthusiasm that would guarantee victory.

The reason is not stated for the loss of enthusiasm, but it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that it was lost. It was lost and would bear consequences on all of Israel.

Unlike the king, Elisha promptly felt the loss and it caused him anger. He was angry that instead of taking full advantage of the promises of God, the king had stopped short. But why?

Was it because the king felt some sympathy for the enemy? Was it because the king felt like a child on the ground smashing those arrows and became embarrassed? We don’t know. What we do know is that he stopped short of the kind of response he should have had to bring a complete end to Israel’s enemies. What we know is that the king is a lot like everyone we meet including ourselves.

What hope is there for such sinners? The same sort of hope given that follows that discouraging story about the king.

The prophet dies. They lay him in the ground. And guess what? A man was throne² into the grave with the prophet, and he resurrected! There’s the answer. The answer is that though the human response to God’s word will never be enough on its own (half-hearted are we all), the power and strength we need is found in one who raises the dead.

It’s the same kind of experience the apostle has in Romans 7 through Romans 8. It is the kind of response that in acknowledging one’s half-heartedness to deal with sin, turns and sees Jesus again, and says, “Thanks be to God for him!”

1. The biblical account can be read in 2 Kings 13.

2. I know this is a typo, I phonetically put “throne” for “thrown” but I kind of like it. So, it remains.