2 Kings 13:10-19
"10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. 12 Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, and the might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 13 So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14 Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 And 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. And Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands. 17 And he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. And he said, “The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18 And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And 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 Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.”"
We should not miss the greeting with which Joash addressed Elisha - 'the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof' - which, as in the story of Elijah, we saw to mean that the prophet, by his spiritual stature, was better than an army to Israel, and his presence in the land was a source of protection and strength against all enemies. This truth is very clearly indicated in 20. When Elisha died and was buried, the land was immediately invaded by the Moabites. When an ambassador is recalled, war is usually the next step, and when God called Elisha home to himself, it was as if His restraining grace and protection were withdrawn from the land, and it was left open to the aggression of the enemy. There could scarcely be a greater testimony to the significance of the prophetic office than this, and it gives us some idea of what the function of the Church of God ought to be, and could be, in the body politic of the nation. It is not often realised that history itself bears witness to the wholesome and salutary effect that a strong and vital Church can have upon national and international life. 'Ye are the salt of the earth' said Christ, and salt has a twofold function, to add flavour to food, and to prevent corruption. This is as good a commentary on Elisha's ministry as any, as witness the miraculous manifestations and the life-giving vitality on the one hand, and the restraining influence on the other. We should pray that God will again revive His Church, to make her testimony of this calibre in our troubled and disordered world.