Evidently the year beginning in the spring (see p. 109), with the month of Nisan, approximately our April. That was the natural season for military campaigns, for the rainy season was over, and the crops in Palestine were ripening. Thus the invading armies were able to live off the land and to carry away the new stocks of grain.

 Moab lay to the east of the lower Jordan and the Dead Sea (see on ch. 3:4). Joram and Jehoshaphat had gained a measure of victory over the Moabites (ch. 3:24), but the enemy had now recovered and was making marauding expeditions into the territories of Israel.

 Elisha was not privileged to ride the fiery chariot to heaven. It was his lot to suffer a lingering sickness and finally death. Many a devoted child of God has been called upon to pass through long hours of sickness and suffering. The reason may not always be plain, but in these trying moments comfort may be found in the knowledge that God is working all things for good, even the afflictions of the enemy (Rom. 8:28). Satan must be permitted to annoy lest he be able to advance the charge that he was not given a fair opportunity with every soul. This principle is clearly illustrated in the experience of Job (chs. 1, 2). It is further verified in the lives of godly men, who, despite their piety, suffered much pain and distress. The sufferer does well in trying moments to ponder the experiences of these worthies: (1) To reflect on godly Elisha, who had been instrumental in healing others of their diseases, even bringing back the dead to life, pining away of a mortal disease; (2) to behold John the Baptist, languishing in prison and shamelessly beheaded because of the rashness of a dissolute king; (3) to listen to the prayer of Paul for the removal of the “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan,” and the response in the negative (2 Cor. 12:7-10); (4) to consider the fate of the disciples, all of whom met death by violence except John, and even he endured torture and banishment; (5) to contemplate Jesus, the supreme Exemplar, who, though He was the Son of God, suffered as no child of humanity will ever be called upon to suffer, and who declared, “The servant is not greater than his lord” (John 15:20).

In his final illness, Elisha did not complain or lose his faith in God. He knew that the presence of the Lord was always near and that angels were ever by his side. As he lived, so he died, trusting, hoping, faithful to the end.