Open the East Window
Open the East Window
2 Kings 13:14-19, 25 MSG
14 Elisha came down sick. It was the sickness of which he would soon die. Jehoash
king of Israel paid him a visit. When he saw him he wept openly, crying, “My father,
my father! Chariot and horsemen of Israel!”
15 Elisha told him, “Go and get a bow and some arrows.” The king brought him the
bow and arrows.
16 Then he told the king, “Put your hand on the bow.” He put his hand on the bow.
Then Elisha put his hand over the hand of the king.
17 Elisha said, “Now open the east window.” He opened it. Then he said, “Shoot!” And
he shot. “The arrow of God’s salvation!” exclaimed Elisha. “The arrow of
deliverance from Aram! You will do battle against Aram until there’s nothing left of
it.”
18 “Now pick up the other arrows,” said Elisha. He picked them up. Then he said to the
king of Israel, “Strike the ground.” The king struck the ground three times and then
quit.
19 The Holy Man became angry with him: “Why didn’t you hit the ground five or six
times? Then you would beat Aram until he was finished. As it is, you’ll defeat him
three times only.”
25 Jehoash son of Jehoahaz turned things around and took back the cities that Ben-
Hadad son of Hazael had taken from his father Jehoahaz. Jehoash went to war
three times and defeated him each time, recapturing the cites of Israel.
The greatest sin is not that we want TOO MUCH but that we want TOO LITTLE out of
life.
