ELISHA’S ARROWS
(week 02/14)
OLUBI & SARAH JOHNSON
2Kings 13:14-19 AMP: Now Elisha [previously] had become ill of the illness of which he died. And Jehoash king of Israel came down to him and wept over him and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen of it! [II Kings 2:12.] (15) And Elisha said to him, Take bow and arrows. And he took bow and arrows. (16) And he said to the king of Israel, Put your hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it, and ELISHA PUT HIS HANDS UPON THE KING’S HANDS. (17) And he said, open the window to the east. 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 smite the Syrians in Aphek till you have destroyed them. (18) Then he said, take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Strike on the ground. And he struck three times and stopped. (19) And 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 destroyed it. But now you shall strike Syria down only three times.
Here, we have an account of Elisha instructing the King of Israel, Jehoash to shoot 1 arrow into the air and strike several arrows on the ground: prophetic actions that would cause Israel to have military victory over Syria.
This story also contains a prophetic present truth that is applicable to the church today and in this New Year of 2014 in particular.
Elisha typifies the present day intercessory prophetic ministry, through whose intercession and prayers the church (typified by Israel) has been gaining victory over the devil operating through the air, the soul and the body (Eph. 2.2-3); hence the King calls the prophet:
1. Father—symbolizing spiritual fatherhood (1 Jn. 2.13-14).
2. The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof—symbolizing the military strength of Israel and so typifying the spiritual power of the church to overcome satanic forces in spiritual warfare (Eph. 6.12-18).
The prophet puts his hand upon the hand of the King as he shoots an arrow into the air—this symbolizes the synergy of the spiritual covering the prophetic intercessory ministry gives to the rest of the church leadership to cause the power (typified by the arrow) they release in prayer to be sufficient (2 Cor. 12.9) into the air to overcome Satanic power in the air.
After this, the prophet instructs the King to take more arrows and strike them on the ground—this symbolizes releasing the power of God through short prayers in the understanding and in the Spirit throughout the day to overcome the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life (1Jn.2.16) coming from Satan upon the soul, body and circumstances through the air (Eph. 2.2-3).
Now, the King only strikes the ground 3 times; the prophet is angry, as this is NOT sufficient to give total victory and so rebukes him sharply. In the same way, we are to pray using the blood (Heb. 13.20-21), the Word (1 Jn. 2.5) and power of the Holy Spirit (Jude. 1.20, 1Jn. 4.12-13) 4 times a day (once every 6 hours (Dt. 6.7, Mk. 13.35) and at every opportunity and in every temptation making a total of at least 5-6 times daily and so fulfilling (Mt. 5.17) the instruction of the prophet in this prophetic present truth shadow.
So in this year 2014, we are to DAILY (Lk. 9.23, Heb. 5.7) ‘shoot the arrow of victory into the air’ by praying, under the spiritual covering of an intercessory prophetic leadership, for about 1 hour daily (Mt. 26.40, Act. 3.1) with all kinds of prayer in the Spirit to enforce the Kingdom in our lives, perfect our obedience and cause Christ to be formed (Gal. 4.19) in our souls and bodies. Then, after doing this early in the day during the 4th watch, we pray consistently using the blood, the Word and the Spirit to release the power to overcome the lusts of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life once every 6 hours, at every opportunity and in every temptation making a total of at least 5-6 times daily to have TOTAL victory over satanic attacks of sin, sickness, ignorance, poverty and circumstantial afflictions.
In this way, in 2014, we will fulfill:
2Corinthians 2:14 MKJV: Now thanks be to God, who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ, and He revealing through us the odor of the knowledge of Him in every place
