2 Kings 2: ) Elisha brings the Word of Salvation

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1 2 Kings 2:19-25 Dear children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ, and guests, in the middle of the summer we began looking at what God reveals to us through the accounts of the life of the prophet Elisha. In a first sermon, on how Elijah enlisted Elisha into his service, we heard how the LORD always presses on. Within 55 years the northern kingdom, the ten tribes, had gone from the height of Solomon s reign to the depth of Baal worship during Ahab s reign. Elijah had won a battle against Baal, but was losing the war when Jezebel sought to take his life. Elijah ran for his life, and then asked the LORD to let him die. I m the only one left, he said when the LORD confronted him at Horeb. No you re not, said God. I ve reserved 7000 for Myself who have not worshipped Baal. Elijah, I want you to go and anoint Hazael king of Aram, Jehu king of Israel, and Elisha as your own successor. Elijah faithfully went to seek out Elisha. And Elisha faithfully follows Elijah. Elijah and Elisha. Remember what their names mean, boys and girls? My God is Yahweh, that s Elijah. And Elisha: My God is Salvation. Thus the LORD proved Himself faithful. Even when all seems lost and when office bearers are ready to quit, God continues. Always trust God. Five years later Elijah is taken from this earth. Jezebel had wanted to kill him. Elijah had wanted to die. God wouldn t let it happen. Elijah is taken directly to heaven. Elisha sees it happen. And as Elijah ascends, his cloak falls from him. Elisha will wear the mantle of Elijah, Elisha will do the work of Elijah. Just as Joshua succeeded Moses, so Elisha succeeded Elijah. The prophets of Jericho recognize it. The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha, they said (2Kings 2:15). And Elisha is proven to them a prophet of the LORD. A prophet went, a prophet came, the Holy Spirit of the LORD remains. God always provides for His people. Both sermons have pointed us to the Christ and encouraged us to have faith in God in our own circumstances. Jesus of Nazareth, from the human Jewish perspective, was the successor to John the Baptist, who was the Elijah promised by Malachi. Jesus was like Joshua and Elisha, pointing to God as the Salvation of His People. With this difference of course: while Joshua and Elisha continued what Moses and Elijah had begun, they did not truly finish it. The life of Joshua is followed by the period of the Judges. The life of Elisha is followed by the period of the exile. Only Jesus could truly say It is finished. For after Him came not a period during which God s people became dysfunctional. After Christ came the Holy Spirit and the age of the Church, the age of Kingdom expansion. Today we re to hear God s Word as it comes to us in the first public acts of Elisha. The healing of the waters of Jericho. The curse upon the boys of Bethel. These accounts have a common theme. The search for Elijah s body and Elisha s role in that, it had proven to the prophets, the faithful children of God, that Elisha was indeed anointed by the LORD. The events by Jericho and by Bethel proved the same thing, but now to the covenant people of God in the broadest sense of the term. Through Moses God had given His people clearly instructions on how to tell a false prophet from a true one. A prophet would prove himself by his deeds. That s what the events by Jericho and Bethel are about. Elisha established his authority as a prophet from the LORD. As such he prefigured Jesus the Christ, who is rightly considered the final fulfilment of Deuteronomy 18. And in word and deed Elisha made clear that God is a God of mercy and justice. Those who seek God s help, receive it. Those who scorn God, will suffer for it. When later we read from John 3, we ll see the parallel with Christ. We hear the Word of God, summarized with this theme: The LORD confirms to His covenant people that Elisha is His prophet. We will consider (1) Elisha brings the Word of Salvation; and (2) Elisha brings the Word of Condemnation. 1) Elisha brings the Word of Salvation After Elijah was taken into heaven, Elisha spent time in Jericho. We don t know how long he stayed there. It may have been less than a week. At some point in time Elisha the men of the city come to Elisha. The men of the city. They would be the civil leaders of Jericho. The switch in the narrative from the company of the prophets to the men of the city suggests that a sizeable portion of the city was not part of the company

2 of the prophets. But that doesn t yet mean these men are all unbelievers. The fact that these men of the city went to Elisha looking for help suggests at least that they looked up to him. At the Carmel event five years earlier the people had confessed: Yahweh, He is God. Elijah had prayed for rain, and rain had come. Elijah had taken on the house of Ahab; Ahab s son Ahaziah had died and Joram, Ahab s second son, was now king. And now citizens of Jericho (the company of the prophets) came with the story of Elijah having gone to heaven, and of Elijah s spirit resting upon Elisha. No doubt the two crossings of the Jordan were recounted too. It makes sense that the leaders of Jericho, some maybe old enough to have known the days of Solomon, turned to Elisha with their problem. A huge problem it was. There had been a time when Jericho was a place of fertile land. It was here between the bank of the Jordan River and the city of Jericho that the Israelites first ate the produce of the land and the manna could stop falling. Picture that a moment: the Israelites, tens of thousands of people, crossing the Jordan and then finding enough food to feed them all. The plains around Jericho during the days of Joshua must have been fertile. But during the days of Elisha they were such no more. The men of the city point out, the city is well situated. It s in a good spot. But the water is bad and the land is unproductive. The water is bad. The lower reaches of the Jordan valley are very similar to the Fraser River between Hope and Chilliwack. A river, some flood plains, and steep mountains. Jericho was a few miles from the river, a little way up the side of the mountain. It sat on a bit of a plateau. That plateau was watered by a permanent spring. Water for the land and water for the city. And now the water was bad. For the purposes of survival, the people of Jericho could get water from the Jordan. But there was no way they could get enough water onto the plateau to water their crops. With the water gone bad, Jericho had become a dying city. Exactly what the nature of this bad water was, we can t tell. The Hebrew words speak of it causing death and miscarriage. The word used for miscarriage is an odd word, it s only found here in the Bible. What makes it unclear is that in verse 19 it is said the land miscarries. Because of the lack of clarity, the various Bible translations deal with it differently. 1 But it s probably not important for us to know what exactly the problem was, as long as we understood that while the town was in a good spot, the water was bad, which means the town was in a spot suitable for agriculture but the water was not suitable for agriculture. And however it happened, where there could have been blessing from the LORD in the form of life, the curse of God rested upon the lands of Jericho, they produced death. Elisha is told of the problem. And, given the way Elisha reacts, he is told in the hope that he can do something about it. Elisha does. Boys and girls, Elisha asks for a new bowl filled with salt. A new bowl, it would mean someone would have run to the pottery store and gotten a bowl that had been fired but never yet been used. A new bowl was a special bowl, a holy bowl. A bowl that could be used in the service of God. Just like Jericho was to become a new city in the service of God. This bowl is filled with salt. Jericho would certainly have had plenty of salt. For just south of Jericho was the lake the Israelites knew it as the Salt Sea. Now, here s a bit of irony. For boys and girls, do you know what we called the Salt Sea today? The Salt Sea that s the Dead Sea. And why is it called the Dead Sea? Because there is no life in it. There s no fish in the Dead Sea, there are no plants by the Dead Sea. The land around the Dead Sea is barren. And what makes it barren? The salt. It s the high concentration of salt that kills all life. We don t know what made the water of Jericho bad. It could have been increased salinity levels following the drought of 8 to 5 years earlier. It could also have been an earthquake causing the water to absorb a concentration of some poisonous mineral. We don t know. But using salt to cure it, that truly is an odd thing to do. Salt water will kill a plant, not cure it. 1 The NIV adds the word land in verse 21. The ESV is inconsistent in its translation (v.19: unfruitful, v.21: miscarriage). The NKJV, I feel, does the best job by translating the land is barren and barrenness.

3 However, salt also has the property of preserving. Salt, precisely because it kills life, will keep meat fresh. If you pickle your vegetables in salt, they will stay edible for much longer. So salt also extends life. The Bible scholars I consulted on this passage all draw a line from salt as a preservative to the action of Elisha as healing the water. There s something to be said for that. At the same time, I m sure every farmer looking at what Elisha did would have shaken his head: Elisha was making the water even worse! Everybody in Jericho would have known that you can t farm on the shores of the Salt Sea because there was too much salt there. And so there is a miracle taking place. There is no natural explanation for the result Elisha achieved. Clearly, this was an act of God. Clearly, God was with Elisha. Elisha throws the salt into the spring. And solemnly he proclaims the word of the LORD. There stands My God is Salvation and he says: This is what the LORD says: I have healed the water. Never again will it cause death or barrenness. And the author of the book of Kngs or a later editor adds the comment the water has remained wholesome to this day. Indeed, even today, almost 3000 years later, the spring still flows and its water is still good. What s the significance of what happened? First of all, here was a public confirmation of the ministry of Elisha. The LORD made clear that Elisha is his prophet and that Israel should take note of what Elisha would have to say. If the words of a prophet come true, then Israel knew the prophet had been sent by the LORD. The men of Jericho, including the sons of the prophets, had it made absolutely clear to them: Elisha is a prophet of God, just as Elijah had been, indeed, just as Moses had been. In a similar way the Lord Jesus would prove Himself to be sent by God, and the Gospel writers could appeal to this to urge their readers to put their faith in Christ. I think, for example, of what John wrote: Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name. (John 20:31) This event was also a lesson for God s people in seeking help. For someone reading the books of the Kings as one story, the account told in 2Kings 1 is only a few minutes ago. King Ahaziah, son of Ahab, sick and looking for help with the Philistine gods, in defiance of Elijah, the man of God. And now, the men of Jericho, with death producing water, look to Elisha for help. Will Yahweh indeed prove to be Salvation? And so the LORD also proves Himself in the miracle of Elisha. When people, whatever their past, turn to put their trust in God, the LORD does indeed provide a way out. When we page through Holy Scripture, we see this time and time again. When people turn to God, God graciously lifts His curse. We ve seen it especially come true in Christ. Israel had crucified the Messiah sent by God. When the apostle Peter confronts them with this, many were cut to the heart. What are we to do? Peter tells them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you. Many did, all those appointed to eternal life, and so many were saved. The prophet Isaiah would later proclaim, and the apostle Paul quote it, blessed are the feet of those who bring good news. Elisha brought Jericho good news. It was clearly proper for the people of Israel to respect Elisha, now wearing the mantle of Elijah. That being so, the contrast with what is told us next could not be greater. 2) We see, in the second place, how Elisha brings the Word of Condemnation The first thing Elisha does after Elijah is taken from him is, so it seems, to retrace the steps of their last journey. Elisha heads to Bethel. Picture the road. Jericho is located 225 metres below sea-level yes, 225 metres below sea level. Bethel is situated around 850 metres above sea-level. That s an elevation difference of almost 1100 metres, over 3000 feet. From Jericho to Bethel it s only about 10 miles as the crow flies. So distance wise it s from here to Yarrow. And height wise, imagine starting at the Chilliwack River and going to the top of Elk Mountain. As to the trail: a bit of

4 up and down, and then a steep climb. Close to Bethel the trail had a number of switchbacks. As Elisha is making his way up the road youngsters have come out of the town which is up just over the ridge. As is often the case in mountainous terrain, especially where the trees are clumped in groups, those higher on a trail spot those lower first. For those who know the show, think of Mantracker going for the high ground when he is looking for his prey. That s how come the youths of Bethel had spotted Elisha before Elisha spotted them. The youths of Bethel poke fun at Elisha. They were boys, the Hebrew makes that clear, probably ranging in age from 5 to 15. They were typical boys. Of the boys will be boys type. But there s a sinister side to this story. For the way the boys act in public towards the anointed of the Lord reflects the attitude of their parents. Adults will have a tendency but keep themselves in check. Younger children are less hampered by conscience. What the boys do reflects on what their parents think. Who were their parents? Obviously citizens of Bethel, but more we cannot say with certainty. Bethel was a divided town. There was a company of the prophets there. But Bethel was also the place where one of Jeroboam s golden calves stood. There was a false temple to Yahweh in Bethel. And in that false temple there were priests and helpers appointed by Jeroboam, priests and helpers who were not Levites. False office-bearers. Opponents of Elijah and Elisha. Sometime earlier Elijah and Elisha had come and gone with being hindered. A school of the prophets could exist in Bethel. But there is also the reality expressed by the youths of Bethel: a disdain and hatred for the true worshipers of the LORD. A hatred of the false church for the true church, if you ll excuse the anachronism. The boys are up on the ridge. Come on up, you baldhead, they say. Kind of like Come on then, if you dare. Scholars aren t sure what to make of the word baldhead it s probably simply a derogatory term. But yes, boys and girls, those youths of Bethel were daring Elisha to do them harm. Come on then Elisha can t pin-point where this is coming from. It seems to be behind him and so he turns around. And when he turns around and looks up the ridge, he sees the youths there. And in righteous anger he curses the boys, he curses them in the Name of Yahweh. The prophet My God is Salvation pronounces a curse. Realize, brothers and sisters, we re not told what Elisha wanted God to do exactly. Elisha did not say May two bears come out of the woods and maul you. The form of the punishment is determined by God. Elisha is indignant and curses the people as Moses once warned a curse would come upon the people if they refused to trust in God and listen to God s prophets. The curse is immediately fulfilled. A hint of Deuteronomy 18 in action. Two bears come out of the forest and 42 of the boys are mauled. Not all the boys are mauled. But 42 of them are that s a lot of boys. Picture the boys scattering when the bears come out, some running up a path, getting blocked in by the mountain, and then the bears tear into them. And by the way boys and girls, boys will be boys will be boys will be lunch. That s the way Jamie Soles phrases it in his song. But the Bible doesn t tell us that the bears ate the boys. Maybe they did, maybe not. The Bible doesn t even say the bears killed the boys. No doubt some, even many of the boys did die of their wounds. Some on the spot. Some at home. And some didn t. The word maul catches what happened very accurately. Again: God determined the form in which the curse became reality. It s quite possible that Elisha himself was surprised, even appalled, by what the curse he had uttered brought on. It was a lesson for all, especially for the people of Bethel, not to mess with the prophet of the LORD but to take him seriously, very seriously. The message got through to them. With 42 boys mauled and Elisha responsible, there would have been boys who could tell the story, one can well imagine the anger there could have been towards Elisha. But Elisha is not harmed in any way. He comes to Bethel and he leaves Bethel. What happened to the boys of Bethel was a warning to Israel. The prophet My God is Salvation not only brings the Gospel of God brings salvation but also the message of without God there is no salvation. Putting it this way had me think of what we read in John 3. Maybe you could turn to that with me, John 3:16-21.

5 Read John 3:16-21 Elisha means My God is Salvation. Jesus Joshua in Hebrew means Yahweh is Salvation. Elisha was a prophet bringing the Word of Salvation, and ignoring and opposing that Word brings condemnation. See, beloved, how the same is true for Jesus? God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world. But this does not mean condemnation does not exist. Those who reject the Son, by their rejection bring condemnation upon themselves. It s not the fault of the office-bearer that people do not experience the salvation God brings. There s another side here too. Elisha pronounced a curse upon the boys of Bethel. Jesus Christ pronounced a curse upon the leaders of God s people in His time I think of the woes of Matthew 23. Judgment came upon the people Christ cursed in 70 AD, when Jerusalem was taken and the temple destroyed. The point is that officebearers acting in the God s Name will not only bring the Word of Salvation but will also bring the Word of Condemnation. Those who seek the help of the LORD through those ordained by God, will be helped. Those who mock the LORD s anointed will experience God s condemnation. Elisha did both. He acted in accordance with the LORD s character: he was both merciful and just. He acted as an instrument, the LORD healed the waters of Jericho, the LORD sent the bears that mauled the boys of Bethel. Elisha was an instrument. But he did what was his to do: to bring the Word of God in word and deed to God s covenant people, disobedient though they might be. And so the LORD confirmed to His covenant people that Elisha is His prophet. Beloved, we too are called to respect those whom the LORD sends to us. I think first of Jesus the Christ, sent to be our Saviour. Have faith in Christ, listen to Him. I think of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son to build the church. Hear God s Word and seek Him in prayer. I think also of the office-bearers Christ gives to His church. Ministers, elders, and deacons. Acknowledge them and show respect for them, for the Word they bring. And those of you in office, realize it s not always easy. Elisha probably felt good as he healed the waters of Jericho. He probably didn t feel so great after watching 42 boys of Bethel get mauled by two bears. Elisha could have gone straight from Bethel to Samaria. But he first went to Mount Carmel. He would have almost had to go through Samaria to go there. And Mount Carmel, there was nothing there. Bible scholars conclude Elisha sought some solitude in the place where Elijah had scored such a great victory. He had some thinking to do. To be a prophet of the LORD is no small thing. Elisha felt encouraged he went on to Samaria to live in the city of the king. Elijah began his ministry by fleeing from the king. Elisha begins his ministry by being a neighbour to the king. Some 500 years ago the situation among God s people compared well to that of northern Israel in the days of Elijah and Elisha. Then too, God raised up men like Martin Luther and John Calvin to be His spokesmen. They spoke, and their words have become both words of salvation and words of condemnation. Since then, many others have stood up. And so we go on, until one day the Word of God will speak the final Word and usher in the Kingdom of Perfection. For those who serve God, salvation. Those who oppose God, one little word shall fell them. Amen.