What was the lesson Elisha wanted to teach Joash using the arrows?
2 Kings 13:18 - 19
ESV - 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.
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Tim Maas
I would say that, in regard to this particular issue, Joash had already unfortunately and irremediably displayed that he did not possess the pre-existing faith and zeal that Elisha had sought by his command regarding the arrows. (That is, there was nothing more that the prophet could teach Joash to "undo" the king's previous action, or to allow the king to apply his mistake to future occurrences.) In my opinion, if Joash had been earnestly desirous of victory, and had already possessed the type of faith that Elisha sought, Joash would have spontaneously kept on smiting until the prophet told him it was enough, or (at any rate) would have smitten the ground more than three times.
Shirley H
Arrows were a form of divination. Joash the king was at a crossroad of sorts. I think then, as now, we are constantly in a position of asking who we trust. What do you believe? Who do you respect more? Joash needed help. So he went to Elisha. Elisha placed his hands on the king’s hands, but Joash did not understand that the prophet was blessing him with power from God. Joash shot the arrows, I think he should have paid more attention to Elisha. His weak faith was exposed by his half-hearted response. More suffering followed. In Ezekiel 21:21, we see the king of Babylon using arrows as divination. He was at a crossroads. Another form of questioning was to toss dice, or consult an idol, or an image. Genesis 31:19, Judges 18:14, 1 Samuel 19:13. There are many false gods in any period of time. Why not trust the God who loves us? He is the Almighty One and only!
Saju samuel
“Yesterday’s failures or victories do not determine the outcome of today’s battle.” The prophet asked two tasks, shooting with the arrows and striking with the arrows. The king did the first task and got comfort and hope from the prophet. But the second task was not a full success. God was looking at the king’s strong and burning desire to save his kingdom from the enemy and his attitude until he completely eradicated the enemies of Israel. But his second action looked like a compromise, less serious or overconfidence based on the prophet’s first comment. Once you’re saved you automatically enter into warfare, known as spiritual warfare. God is expecting a continuous fight throughout our spiritual life. Many gave up because of their lazy fighting spirit.
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