2 Kings 2:19-25
Notes
Transcript
19 One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem, my lord,” they told him. “This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.”
20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.” 22 And the water has remained pure ever since, just as Elisha said.
23 Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!” 24 Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them. 25 From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel and finally returned to Samaria.
The Transfer of Prophetic Authority
The Transfer of Prophetic Authority
Background of what has happened to Elijah and how Elisha now is the prophet of God
2 Kings 2:1-18 runs in the background
These 2 scenes help to solidify Elisha as God’s Prophet
ELISHA
ELISHA THE PROPHET Son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah; successor of the prophet Elijah. Elisha was active in Israel for 60 years (892–832 bc), performing miracles, teaching students, and acting in state affairs during the reigns of kings Joram (Jehoram), Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash (Joash).
JERICHO...
19 One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem, my lord,” they told him. “This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.”
20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.” 22 And the water has remained pure ever since, just as Elisha said.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Old Testament
Jericho is primarily known for its famous walls which “tumbled down” in Josh 6 at the blast of the horn and the sound of the Israelite battle cry. The biblical account depicts a violent military campaign initiated by this victory; this campaign created a reputation for the Israelites that became the standard by which subsequent campaigns would be described and measured. This memorial of God’s judgment is spoken of in the terms of “just as he had done to Jericho and its king” (Josh 8:2; 10:1, 28, 30).
Joshua laid a curse on anyone who might rebuild Jericho
26 At that time Joshua invoked this curse:
“May the curse of the Lord fall on anyone
who tries to rebuild the town of Jericho.
At the cost of his firstborn son,
he will lay its foundation.
At the cost of his youngest son,
he will set up its gates.”
This curse was fulfilled about 500 years later when Hiel rebuilt the city at the cost of his two sons...
34 It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid its foundations, it cost him the life of his oldest son, Abiram. And when he completed it and set up its gates, it cost him the life of his youngest son, Segub. This all happened according to the message from the Lord concerning Jericho spoken by Joshua son of Nun.
Bitter waters…
Reminder of the times that the people of God dealt with bitter water and how God answered their cry
23 When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).
24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25 So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.
It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.
Elisha is shown to be a prophet in line with Moses and also Elijah due to this miracle.
He added salt to the bitter water (which in fact seems odd as salt would make it more bitter). And, the little bit he added cleansed the entire water. But, this is to show that it is actually God at work THROUGH Elisha. This is not a magic trick, but the prophet is anointed by God to speak God’s word and administer God’s miracles.
He used this time to SPEAK the word of God
21 Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.”
This is indeed God’s doing.
The Scene with the Children
The Scene with the Children
Compare the different welcome Elisha received in Jericho vs on the way to Bethel...
Why so serious an offense over the scoffing of Children?
Bethel?
26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David. 27 When these people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead.”
28 So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”
29 He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan—at either end of his kingdom. 30 But this became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols, traveling as far north as Dan to worship the one there.
31 Jeroboam also erected buildings at the pagan shrines and ordained priests from the common people—those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi. 32 And Jeroboam instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in imitation of the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves he had made, and he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made. 33 So on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a day that he himself had designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He instituted a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Worship at Bethel
Worship at Bethel. The religious center at Bethel was intimately connected with bull imagery (2 Kgs 10:29), a legacy of the Canaanite worship of Baal at the site (Na’aman, “Beth-aven, Bethel,” 19–21). The prophets Jeremiah, Hosea, and Amos condemned the sanctuary at Bethel and the heresy and idolatry connected to it (Jer 48:13; Hos 10:15; 12:4; Amos 3:14; 4:4; 5:5, 6; 7:10, 13; Pfeiffer, Das Heiligtum von Bethel). In particular, Amos prophesied judgment on “the altars of Bethel” (e.g., Amos 3:14).
28 In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. 29 He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.
13 At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol Chemosh,
as the people of Israel were ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel.
15 You will share that fate, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day of judgment dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
14 “On the very day I punish Israel for its sins,
I will destroy the pagan altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
4 “Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel.
Keep on disobeying at Gilgal.
Offer sacrifices each morning,
and bring your tithes every three days.
5 Present your bread made with yeast
as an offering of thanksgiving.
Then give your extra voluntary offerings
so you can brag about it everywhere!
This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,”
says the Sovereign Lord.
5 Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel;
don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
6 Come back to the Lord and live!
Otherwise, he will roar through Israel like a fire,
devouring you completely.
Your gods in Bethel
won’t be able to quench the flames.
The taunt from these youngsters seems to come from the confrontation of true faithfulness vs. idolatry
They recognize Elisha as God’s prophet. But, they are so bent on rebellion that they meet him on the way to discourage him.
This is not simply an insult to him due to his balding head - this is a challenge to his God-given authority - a challenge to his God-given commission.
23 Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!”
They weren’t chanting “Go Away...” they were chanting Go Up!
23 Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!”
This chant could carry a double meaning
1- Go Up like Elijah has done. God has just taken Elijah up into heaven with the chariots of fire. Maybe these youngsters are wishing Elisha to do the same thing. They just want him out of there, so he might as well go on up just like his predecessor. This is their admitting that they would not listen to him no matter what he says or does. They are a LOST CAUSE.
2- Go on up to Bethel and leave us alone, but see what happens there. Get out of here, sure, but hurry on your way to that idolatrous place and see what happens to you up there. If you think you were received poorly on the way, just wait until you get to Bethel!!
3 - Go on up to Bethel and offer idolatrous sacrifices there. This is the worst of the insults! These youngsters are mocking the integrity of the prophet and declare that he is going to go on up to Bethel, but he’ll be contaminated and convinced to change his ways when he gets there.
No matter how this is interpreted and viewed (and it quite possibly could be any of those ideas and a mixture of all of them) these youngsters are deliberately mocking the prophet’s integrity, his mission, his purpose, and MOST DISRESPECTFULLY the God he serves!
I am going to assume that the prophet gave them warning and a chance to change their ways, but when they didn’t he judged them and God provided the AMEN to the curse.
24 Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them.
How did these children get this way?
These young ones MUST have learned this behavior from those who had modeled apostacy and idolatry before them.
Honestly, we do not know how young they were. They could be young adults, truly. But, we know they they are behaving immaturely, and are old enough to know better as they are to be held accountable for their actions.
But, although at some point they choose their own adventure, so to speak, there is a sense in the text that they are this way because of the fault of their parents. Yes, at some point our children choose their own ways, but there is a responsibility of the parents to guide the ways of their children until such the time comes that they choose their ways.
And, even then, parental instruction early on begins to set the course our children will take.
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
There seems to be a lack of training at some point. These children were taught to revile and insult God’s prophets and the ways of God. Yes, there is rebellion in humanity, but these parents seemed to have dropped the ball, at some level, for the instruction of these boys.
And Who would suffer from this?
Although it was the boys who were mauled by the she-bears, it will be the parents and community that suffers from the mocking, the challenge, the insults of the ways of God and of God’s appointed and called spokespersons.
Idolatry does not only affect those who participate in it - it affects entire communities.
Can you imagine being the parents of these boys? Having to answer the question of how they got mauled by the bears? In an honor/shame society THIS IS A BIG DEAL! These parents would be shamed for how these boys disrespected their family, their community and the ways of God - this is something we do not fully grasp and understand in our individualistic way of looking at life and the world today.
Here we see the sinfulness of the parents carried into the next generations. Ultimately, God judged the entire community for their mockery of God’s ways.
Sinfulness does affect all!
What do We do with a text like this?
What do We do with a text like this?
Watch how we educate and train our children.
The education of the next generation IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY!
We are to show them, teach them, and correct them into God’s ways.
ALL LIVING GENERATIONS WILL SUFFER if we do not educate those below us in the ways of God!
Remember not to mock the things of God, nor the people God has anointed
I know we are not living in the Old Testament, but there is indeed a reminder that God is NOT to be mocked.
We might not fully understand God’s ways and we might not fully understand those who are called, appointed, to be spokesperson’s of God. And, those who are spokesperson’s of God must remember that they work on behalf of God (and many in our day have forgotten this).
But, there is the reminder that those anointed by God to speak on behalf of God must be respected as such! They are deserving of the honor and respect of God’s calling.
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
But, then, there is the faraway reminder of Jesus Christ.
21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
22 He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
The truth is, we are all like these children. We have made a mockery of God, we insult the ways of God, and we insult those called and anointed by God. We need the purification that God can provide (just like bitter waters).
Because of the grace that has come through Jesus Christ, we are no longer mauled in our sin. There is the threat of eternal judgment for those who choose not to repent of their sins. However, because of Jesus Christ, we can be redeemed from the she-bears of judgment!
So, let’s be careful to not mock the ways of God. Let’s instruct our children to follow God’s ways and instruct them NOT to bring shame on our families and our communities.
And, most importantly, let us consider our ways of rebellion and seek Jesus’ grace and forgiveness and allow HIM to transform us.
BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
