Elisha 2

Elisha  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Another Day, Another Freaky Miracle.

Last week we looked at the path Elisha took as he followed Elijah and watched his go up into heaven.
⚡ Gilgal -> Mount Horeb (Sinai) -> Jericho -> Across the Jordan
After he received Elijah’s mantle, he reversed his journey and some crazy things happen!

Jordan River.

We looked at the crossing of the Jodan River last week and the symbolism of that.

Jericho.

The next stop on the journey back is Jericho. Apparently Elisha decided to stay there for at least a few days.
2 Kings 2:19 NLT
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.”
The water is “bad” (‘ra’) is the same word as the tree of the knowledge of good and ‘ra’.
WHY would a condition like this exist in a place that God told Moses was a land flowing with milk and honey? In a place where spies once gathered a cluster of grapes so big they had to carry it on a pole?
In Joshua 6 we read about the conquest of Jericho and how it was reduced to rubble with the blast of trumpets and shouting of the people. Only Rahab the prostitute and her family were speared.
Joshua 6:24–26 CSB
24 They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord’s house. 25 However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her, because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she still lives in Israel today. 26 At that time Joshua imposed this curse: The man who undertakes the rebuilding of this city, Jericho, is cursed before the Lord. He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn; he will finish its gates at the cost of his youngest.
There was a curse on Jericho or at least on the person who would try to rebuild it. It just so happens, during the reign of wicked King Ahab, that city did get rebuilt...
1 Kings 16:34 CSB
34 During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he finished its gates, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
So the city that Elisha was staying in had only recently been rebuilt. But that water problem - things are unproductive or infertile, whether the original language meant land or people or both.
2 Kings 2:20–22 NLT
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.
There are 4 elements to this CURE that we should note:
It required faith
The men of the city approached Elisha believing that he could undo the curse and when Elisha told them what to do, they did it.
Salt & new jar
A new jar is without contamination. This jar, full of salt, was taken to the source and applied.
It was an act of God
This was miraculous! It was an act of God to take something ordinary and common and make it cleanse something that was polluted.
It was permanent
It lasted because God did it.
Last week we mentioned that Elisha helps point us to the life and ministry of the Messiah. Do you see that in this miracle?
Mankind is sick from the curse of sin that keeps us from experiencing life and being fruitful. God provided a way for that to change by sending Jesus, the pure sacrifice, to purify us, once and for all, if we will act in faith and obey.
When Jesus taught he even made subtle links back to this passage:
Matthew 5:13 CSB
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
In the context of that verse it certainly means that we are to live in such a way as to point people to God so they can experience the purification that He can bring.
This is a reminder that our mission is to join God on his mission of telling others about Jesus.
Jesus, on the last day of the festival of shelters (a reminder of the freedom from slavery to Egypt and the exodus), made this claim:
John 7:37–39 CSB
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
“as the Law & Prophets has said” - but there is not an exact reference to this phrase in the Law & Prophets. There are inferences, and one of them could be this miracle of the waters of Jericho, that cursed place, being changed from poisoned to pure by an act of faith. Those that act in faith will have LIVING WATER coming from them, not waters of death.

Bethel.

Elisha goes BACK to the place of the Covenant - back to the “house of God” which is Bethel. Here, one of the most random/bizarre events takes place!
2 Kings 2:23–24 CSB
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children.
This is one of those miracles that you just HAVE to include in any study of Elisha. It is crazy, shocking, disturbing and amazing all at the same time. It often leaves us with more questions than answers. Let’s unpack what took place in verse 23.
The NLT reads, “Go away, baldy”. I am not really fond of the NLT on verse 23 because I think we lose a little of the nuance of this passage. I prefer the way the CSB, ESV and NASB translate it with “Go up...”
Elisha went “up” to Bethel because it was about 3,000’ above sea level from what I have read. Jericho was at about sea level.
This phrase could mean a few things.
This could mean “go up” to the high place, as Bethel was considered one of the high places.
This could mean “go up” to God, as Bethel was the house of God and perhaps they were taunting Elisha to go see God like Elijah did?
OR, perhaps it was a jab at Elisha as if saying, “If you area prophet like Elijah, let’s see YOU go up into heaven like he did!” [Remember, in 1:11, Elijah “went up” into heaven - same phrase]
In any case, there was a mocking of the prophet of God. Calling Elisha “baldy” was also mocking him.
RANDOM: Elijah was described as hairy, Elisha as bold - further noting the differences between these two prophets.
I think for us to understand what is taking place, we need to know the history of what happened in Bethel. We talked about it being the place where God reaffirmed his covenant with Jacob (Israel) and it was named the “house of God”.
However, after Solomon’s reign, the kingdom divided into the Northern and Southern kingdoms. In the South was Jerusalem and a place to worship God.
In the north, Jeroboam, the 1st king of the Northern Kingdom, did something horrible!
1 Kings 12:27–29 CSB
27 If these people regularly go to offer sacrifices in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, the heart of these people will return to their lord, King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and go back to the king of Judah.” 28 So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan.

Flashback! Back to the Exodus!

The place that once was referred to as the stairway between heaven and earth, where God spoke to man, became a monument to idolatry and apostacy.
Continue reading 1 Kings 12 and you will see how horrible it got: they made their own festivals on the 8th month, appointed priests to serve the calves, offered sacrifices to the calves. This was still happening during the time of Elisha.
So in our brief encounter, we have youths (probably teens) from a city that has become the center of idolatry, mocking the prophet of God.

Elisha curses them.

Then we see how Elisha responded. We do not read that Elisha called out the bears, we read that he cursed them. The significance is that the resulting mauling appears to be the design of Yahweh himself!
That has been unsettling for MANY people! How could God allow this?!?
In Deut 12 God warned the people when they entered into the promised land. He said they would be blessed if they obeyed and cursed if they choose to follow idols. They would be cursed if they offered sacrifices in any place other than the place God would have his name dwell (Jerusalem). ⚡
Deuteronomy 12:13–14 CSB
13 Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see. 14 You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.
In Deut 13 we read that if a city is found worshipping other gods, that city was to be desolated, burned and never rebuilt.
This is the condition Bethel was in.
Remember, the life of the prophets are meant to speak of what God is doing and to protect the name and reputation of God.
Bethel was to be cursed as a city because of its idolatry, and these youths cursed because of their contempt of the prophet.
Israel was warned before they ever entered the promised land about the curse that would be upon them and the death and destruction it would bring (only a remnant would survive). Not too long from this bear encounter, God is going to have the Northern Kingdom ransacked by Assyria. Perhaps the bear mauling is a picture of the curse that is to come?
In Jesus day, things were not much different! What WAS different was a prophet who was sent by God not to bring a curse, but a blessing.
When Jesus was on the cross, we see a similar mocking or jeering of “the prophet” in the place where God chose to have his name dwell (the house of God).
Luke 23:35–37 CSB
35 The people stood watching, and even the leaders were scoffing: “He saved others; let him save himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”
While mankind, and those who put Jesus on the cross, those that mocked THE prophet of God who was sent by the Father, certainly deserved to be cursed, they already were cursed, which is why Jesus came.
Matthew 27:39–43 CSB
39 Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him and said, 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God rescue him now—if he takes pleasure in him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Only, instead of calling down fire from heaven on them, or cursing them to destruction, Jesus said this: ⚡
Luke 23:34 CSB
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided his clothes and cast lots.
Elisha’s bizarre story with the bears reminds us that God wants his people to worship him alone. He is a jealous God. And God wants us to listen to him and obey him. But those that rebel against God are destined to death as part of the curse.
Only a renewed people can live in a place where God dwells. Only a people who have been made clean and purified by faith in God (salt/water miracle) can live in the presence of God.

Mt Carmel.

The third stop mentioned in NOT mount Horeb (where Moses and Elijah spoke with God) it was Mount Carmel.
THIS is the famous mountain where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal. Elisha was NOT with Elijah at that time, so perhaps this was a nostalgia trip for Elisha to see the place where his mentor had so boldly demonstrated God’s power.

Samaria.

This was the capital of the Northern Kingdom.
Unlike Elijah who hid in caves and foraged in the wilderness, Elisha traversed from city to city without fear and was comfortable even in the capital.
This is significant because It was KNOWN that he was a prophet like Elijah and the kings were still wicked and the nation is still worshipped Baal at that time. While Elijah started the work of purging the nation of Baal worship, he did not finish that work.
There are other miracles like the filling of jars with oil to provide for a widow. SOOO many cool hyperlinks that story in 2 Kings 4:1-7.
Also in chapter 4, a woman who is barren in given a son. How many links can you make to THAT story?! wow
THEN that same boy does and Elisha brings him back to life. Again, we are a ton of references we can link to.
PLEASE enjoy reading 2 Kings 4-5 and seeing how many of the stories you can find in the gospels! :)

Gilgal.

Later in 4:38-41 some of the prophets ate some poisonous gourds and Elisha threw some flour/meal on it and made it safe.
This was at Gilgal - meaning that Elisha completed the trip he started with Elijah.
Elisha performed a miracle in each place they had visited, demonstrating that God had appointed him to the position of prophet.
But there are two more miracles I think we should focus on today, and the first involved bread.
2 Kings 4:42–44 CSB
42 A man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with his sack full of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first bread of the harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” 43 But Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Am I to set this before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said, “for this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat, and they will have some left over.’ ” 44 So he set it before them, and as the Lord had promised, they ate and had some left over.
While some of the connections between Elisha and the Messiah seem hard to find and very concealed, this one seems super obvious! I am not aware of anyone else OTHER than Jesus who multiplied bread.
Again, just a few “random” verses in 2 Kings but it is there for a reason.
Mark 8:1–9 CSB
1 In those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called the disciples and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a long distance.” 4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed these people?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked them. “Seven,” they said. 6 He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well. 8 They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. 9 About four thousand were there. He dismissed them.
Of course there is another instance where there was bread and fish, five thousand men plus women and children fed with 12 baskets left over (Matthew 14:15-21). Arthur Pink has found 7 ways in which these two passages are similar.
Elisha: The Miracle Prophet 3. What It Foreshadowed

(Matthew 14:15–21, 15:32–39, Mark 6:32–44, John 6:5–13)

Taking bread and sharing it, giving it out and having more left over. While there is a lot that can be unpacked in the meaning and purpose of the miracle, our goal is to demonstrate how Elisha pointed to the Messiah.

Healing the Leper

The last miracle we will look at together (though there are others) is perhaps the most famous.
2 Kings 5:1–14 CSB
1 Naaman, commander of the army for the king of Aram, was a man important to his master and highly regarded because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was a valiant warrior, but he had a skin disease. 2 Aram had gone on raids and brought back from the land of Israel a young girl who served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 Therefore, the king of Aram said, “Go, and I will send a letter with you to the king of Israel.” So he went and took with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, and it read: When this letter comes to you, note that I have sent you my servant Naaman for you to cure him of his skin disease. 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a man of his skin disease? Recognize that he is only picking a fight with me.” 8 When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Have him come to me, and he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go wash seven times in the Jordan and your skin will be restored and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman got angry and left, saying, “I was telling myself: He will surely come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the skin disease. 12 Aren’t Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and left in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more should you do it when he only tells you, ‘Wash and be clean’?” 14 So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the command of the man of God. Then his skin was restored and became like the skin of a small boy, and he was clean.
This is a spectacular event! Many have dedicated entire messages to this one passage talking about the need to humble ourselves and follow God’s Word if we want to experience God’s healing, etc.
Others have drawn parallels to Jesus healing a bling man by telling him to wash in a pool.
However, of greater importance is the fact that only two humans in the Bible were used by God to heal lepers: Elisha and Jesus.
Also, of all the miracles that Elisha did, this is the ONLY miracle that is referenced in the New Testament, and that by Jesus himself: ⚡
Luke 4:25–27 NLT
25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”
In both of these examples, Jesus was referring to the fact that the ministry of healing and provision was directed towards those that are NOT descendants of Abraham.
In other words, just as Elijah and Elisha were used by God to bring about healing and provision for those outside the family of Abraham, Jesus came to do the same - bringing salvation to both the Jews & the Gentiles.
Again, as we consider the possibility that just as Elijah pointed to John the Baptist and Elisha pointed to the work of the Messiah, we can easily see how the miracles seem to point in that direction.
Elisha’s miracles point to the cleansing that comes through faith, the punishment that takes place on those that spurn God, the gracious way in which the Messiah would show compassion for people and provide for them, and the reality that pride can keep us from experiencing the healing (esp. spiritually) that God’s wants to bring through the Messiah.
While Israel was living in outright rebellion, God picked Elisha to show the nation that he still planned to fulfill his promise given in Genesis 3 - that one would be sent by God to restore and heal those who will humble themselves and trust the Word of God - both Jew & Gentile.
Through the miracles of Elisha we have a better understanding of what God promised in Genesis 3:15, we gain some more insight into depth of the Abrahamic Covenant, we see more of the salvation aspects of the Exodus and we see the major Bible them of the justice and compassion of God.
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