I couldn't help but personally rejoice in the Lord in light of
this news because of what we're studying today.
Because as we come to the remainder of Second Kings
chapter 2, what we're going to discover is a minister who has
been taken and how God has a plan still a minister who is
removed, though not for the same reason why many ministers are
removed from ministry today, who ended faithfully, was taken into
heaven in a miraculous way. And what we're going to discover
is how the one of the greatest men of God is taken from the
people of God, God's message, God's word, God's plan has not
been shaken. It goes according to his plan,
actually. And so I just can I tell you
something about these Bible studies in the past few years,
and it's really since the time we began, though we're
systematically going through books in the Bible chapter by
chapter, verse by verse. It has never failed where God
has come through with a message, with a study that is needed for
a situation, whether it's locally, regionally, nationally,
internationally. I can't tell you the amount of
times how on a specific Friday night, God spoke to a situation
that was occurring that week or even that very day.
It is incredible how this book is supernatural when we honor
it, God really speaks through it.
And so I encourage you to carry in your heart of faith and a
posture of reverence as we come to the Word of God because He's
going to speak to us. He's going to meet with us, and
he meets with those who hunger to experience that.
And so I want you to pray with me now as we are ready to turn
and ask God to help us in this text.
Lord, we do thank you for the study this evening.
We thank You that You have ordained this night to speak to
our hearts as we've come to meet with Your Word, to meet with the
God of the Word. And so, Lord, we do pray and we
do beseech that You would help us by the power of the Holy
Spirit to experience all that You have designed to determine
for Your people to know through this portion of Scripture.
So, Lord, open our eyes, open our minds, open our hearts to
receive everything that You desire for us to have.
We give You glory in advance, and we pray for the help of the
Holy Spirit and the delivery and the reception of this study.
We pray these things in the precious name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Amen. Meet with me in Second Kings
chapter 2. Let's begin together in verse
13. And I want us to read the
entirety of the rest of this chapter to get an understanding
of the picture that we are going to delve into together.
Second Kings chapter 2, beginning in verse 13.
And let's read all the way down to verse 25, it says here.
And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him
and went back and stood on the Bank of the Jordan.
Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and
struck the water, saying, Where is the Lord the God of Elijah?
And when he had struck the water, the water had parted, was
parted to the one side and to the other, and Elijah went over.
Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw
him opposite them, they said, The spirit of Elijah rest on
Elijah, and they came to meet him and bow to the ground before
him. And they said to him, Behold,
now there are with your servants 50 strong men, please let them
go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the
Lord has caught him up, and cast him upon some mount, or into
some valley. And he said, You shall not send.
But when they urged them till he was ashamed, he said, send.
They sent there for 50 men, and for three days they sought him,
but did not find him. And they came back to him while
he was staying at Jericho. And he said to them, Did I not
say to you, Do not go now The men of the city said to Elijah,
Behold, the situation of the city is pleasant, as my Lord
sees, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.
He said, Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.
So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of
water and threw salt in it, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have
healed this water. From now on neither death nor
miscarriage shall come from it. So the water has been healed to
this day. According to the word that
Elijah spoke, he went up from there to Bethel.
And while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of
the city and jeered at him, saying, Go up you bald head, Go
up you bald head. And he turned around, and when
he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord.
And two she bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the
boys. From there he went on to Mount
Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
From this moment on, you and I are going to continue to unravel
the history of Israel and Judas kings without the prophet Elijah
being in the picture. In God's perfect wisdom, he
deemed it right to miraculously and permanently remove this man
of God from the scene. But in God's rich mercy, he did
not abandon His people in doing so, but he raised up a
successor, namely Elisha, to be the new leading prophet for this
generation. And as we start to examine
Elijah's initial steps as a prophet, navigating this new
role without the guidance of Elijah, we're going to notice
some remarkable things. But what we have to understand
is that this pivotal point in Israel's history, he will emerge
as the prominent prophetic figure, and he will be the focus
of numerous studies ahead. So brace yourselves.
It's going to be an exciting time as we look at this man of
God and what he does for the glory of God.
And right away there seems to be no, no, no delay in action,
particularly no delay in miraculous power being
manifested through this man's ministry.
In fact, if you caught on to it, we see from verse 13 to verse 25
several miracles that take place and such quick timing and such a
brief amount of transition. We see him doing particularly
three things. There are three miracles that
Elisha performs by the power of God.
That will be the way we frame this study.
I want us to look at each of these miracles.
And by looking at each of these miracles, we can trust that they
have much to offer us in terms of lessons and practical truths
and understandings, in terms of the character of God, the nature
of God, the nature of man. And so I want you, if you can
with me, divide your thoughts in this passage with these
miracles. And the first one that we're
going to consider is in verse 13 down to verse 17.
Miracle number one in our study is the crossing of the Jordan,
The crossing of the Jordan. Now, if this miracle looks
familiar, we read it together. It's because it is.
Where did we see this before? Any idea where we saw them?
This miracle performed in the very same chapter?
Not not Joshua necessarily. That's what we concluded when
Elijah and Elijah crossed through the Jordan originally.
But in the very same chapter back in verse 8, we learned that
Elijah, accompanied by Elijah, crossed the same water with the
same instrument and were brought through to the final departure
destination before Rather Elijah's departure into heaven.
And now we have Elijah who is returning back to his home and
is now faced with the same barrier and he's going to
confront it in the same way. He's going to take the cloak
that Elijah left behind. Remember when he ascended into
heaven, he left behind his mantle.
And now Elijah is going to take that very same article of
clothing, and he's going to hope that God is going to come
through in the same way he did for his predecessor.
And what we learn is that it does happen.
But the fact that Elijah does this should not confuse us
because it would be a great mistake to think that it's the
cloak that contain power. It was not Elijah's mantle that
provided any kind of supernatural assistance.
Notice again here back in verse 14.
Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and
struck the water, saying, where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?
So Elijah's confidence was not in his mentor, was not even in
what his mentor left behind for him.
Elijah's confidence was in the God of Elijah, and I believe
what Elijah is doing here is he's praying.
It's a brief prayer. It's a sigh of a prayer, but
it's a prayer nonetheless. And it reveals the ultimate
source of his trust. It's not in the cloak, it's not
in Elijah again, but it is in the God of Elijah.
And one of the key lessons from this miracle is that you and I
have to learn, if we're going to see any spiritual success, to
rely on the Lord. And that reliance is ultimately
expressed through prayer. And the fact that Elisha does
this at the beginning of his ministry, really with this first
miracle that he's going to perform, reveals that this was
foundational for him and it is foundational for us.
It has to be foundational for us to build everything that we do,
any effort, any plan, any endeavor, with the realization
that we cannot know true effectiveness unless God
intervenes on our behalf. You have to learn how to depend
on God and to seek His help in prayer.
That's what we see right away. And it's not that methods are
wrong. It's not that resources are not
helpful. It's not that people in our
lives don't play a role. But we have to understand that
apart from God extending His hand, dispensing His grace, no
matter what we have at our disposal, it is futile.
So Elijah uses an instrument, right?
He's going to use a cloak to, to create a dry path for him to
cross that border. But that cloak is powerless.
It has no value if God is not behind, behind it, animating it
and energizing it by his Spirit. And you have to believe the same
about your efforts. You have to believe that no
matter what you do with your hands, no matter what position
you have been granted, if the Lord is not with you in his
empowering mercies, then you will not know true fruit.
You will not know true fruit. And you access that grace when
you pause and pray before you pursue or participate.
That's what this man does right at the outset of everything,
right at the moment where Elijah is taken and Elijah takes his
place. We find him at the brink at the
start and he, he prays. Where is the Lord the God of
Elijah? And we can move on, but I can't
help but look at what he prays or how he prays.
How does he pray? You know what he could have
said? Where is the Lord the God of
Israel? He doesn't pray that.
And it's not that he doesn't believe that God is not the God
of Israel. So why does he say, where is the
Lord, the God of Elijah? Well, the obvious answer is that
he needed the same God who helped Elijah perform his duty
to help him perform his duty. But I believe there's something
even deeper than this because Elijah could have addressed the
Lord in many ways. He could have referred to the
Lord in other amazing ways, but he chooses to speak about the
Lord in connection to Elijah. And here's what I believe.
It's because Elijah's personal relationship with the Lord made
a monumental impact on Elijah. All that he had seen, all that
he had heard in Elijah, his mentor, his teachers walk with
the Lord made such an impact on him that he desired the same
walk that his master had. And I think this is something so
important to understand. If you doubt that Elijah was
impacted by Elijah, look back at how he refers to Elijah in verse
12. This is when Elijah was raptured
into heaven. And as Elijah is beholding this
site, notice how he calls out them in Second Kings 212.
And Elijah saw it and he cried. My father, my father, pause.
That's how you and I understood that Elijah had this personal
relation, this intimate relationship with his master.
It wasn't, it wasn't professional merely, it wasn't
formal, it wasn't educational merely.
There was a real heart to heart connection.
He calls him my father, my father, but he doesn't stop
there. Notice what else he says?
The Chariots of Israel and it's horsemen.
And he saw him no more now that's that's him still
addressing Elijah. He's not addressing the Chariots
that came the the miraculous Chariots there that separated
the two. He is he is addressing Elijah as
the Chariots of Israel and its horsemen.
What does that mean? Well, let me ask you something.
What do Chariots and horsemen represent for a nation at this
time? What did that signify?
Your army, your strength, your protection, your confidence in
some way. So do you know what Elijah is
saying about Elijah? That Israel's true strength,
Israel's true protection was actually found in this man of
God, in this man's presence, his message, his intercession.
In essence, what's happening here is that when Elijah has
been taken up, Elijah understands as a great loss for
the people of Israel. You think that this is an
exaggeration? Do you remember how Elijah is
addressed when he is about to die?
Turn to 2nd Kings 13. Look at look at it with me in
verse 14. This is when Elijah would be
removed from the earth, but in a far different way.
It's amazing how with Elijah, he was taken up in such splendor
and miraculous fashion and Elijah is going to be taken.
Well, look at it with me in verse 14 of Second Kings 13.
Now when Elijah had fallen sick, now look at that.
So guy who performed many miracles, including healing the
sick, fell sick and that's how he would die.
That's a very important insight for those who believe that
Christians should never be sick. And there are thousands, in fact
millions of people who believe that.
Now when Elijah had fallen sick with the illness of which he was
to die, Joash, king of Israel, went down to him and wept before
him, crying, My father, my father, the Chariots of Israel
and its horsemen. So in the same way that Elisha
address Elijah, now we see here the king of Israel addresses
Elisha by saying what you are, the Chariots of Israel and its
horsemen. In a metaphorical way, you are
the strength of this people. You, you are the true deliverer
as you represent God as this nation's prophet.
So I, I say all that to say that Elijah really was influenced and
impressed by Elijah and his walk with the Lord.
And so when he says, where is the Lord God of Elijah, he's
really saying, I, I want, I want God to walk with me like he did
with Elijah. I need him.
And if he's truly called me, then he, he has to come.
He has to come through for me. There are many people in this
life, in this generation who want to influence others towards
something. In fact, there's a whole genre,
there's a whole breed of people even in Gen.
Z who are called influencers. I have most of them are not
influencing anybody for anything significant.
But if you're going to desire to influence anyone towards
anything, may it be this. So let me speak, let me speak
briefly to fathers and mothers and siblings, especially older
siblings, aunts and uncles, teachers, pastors.
Be encouraged by this that it is indeed possible to live for the
Lord Jesus Christ in such a manner that it would encourage
others to yearn for their own devotion with the Lord.
In fact, that is what God designed leadership in the
church to be. So when I was meditating on this
last night, my mind went to Hebrews 13, seven and you know
this passage very well where the Lord says, remember your
leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God, consider the
outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
So listen, leaders are not just called to speak the word of God,
but showcase through their practical day-to-day living of
the blessing of serving God. So in other words, leaders have
been have been positioned to cause others to say, I want that
Christ focused passion. I want that Christ energized
purity. I want that Christ inspired joy.
So this is this is a high call for those who are summoned to
serve the Lord and the local church.
Their lives are to radiate that kind of inspiration.
It's more than just speaking the word.
It's allowing people to see what the word lived out produces and
for it to be contagious. At the same time, as much as
there is a responsibility for leaders to motivate, that's not
the intention of this verse. That's not the primary command
of this verse. There is a mandate for those who
are under such leaders to imitate.
So leaders motivate and people who are under such leadership
have to imitate. Not replicate, but imitate.
In other words, when the Lord visibly works in overseers in
your life, it is meant for you to realize that I have something
to aspire to in my own faith. Do you understand that God
presents models to you, namely through the leadership in your
local church. And if they're a godly
leadership, all the better not for you to admire them from a
distance, but for you to look at their lives and say, that's
possible for me. Then I can know that blessing in
my marriage. I can know that blessing with my
children. I can know that joy in prayer
and in holiness. And how we see that translating
between Elijah and Elijah is is clear right here in verse 14.
What was Elijah known for according to James?
Yes, he was a man with a nature like ours.
But why did James draw from Elijah to present him as an
example to the Christians that he was writing to?
What was it for? Prayer?
He was a man of prayer. What's Elisha doing in verse 14?
He's praying. And I think to myself, don't
underestimate your faithfulness and what it can do to others.
That's not your primary goal. It's a byproduct as you love the
Lord with everything that's in you.
And my, my meditation went further.
I thought to myself, what if Elijah had succumbed to the
temptation of discouragement because he lived amid national
apostasy? What if he allowed his zeal to
cool down because he felt as though there was no true
response to his ministry? And that is another lesson in
itself. If you want one Sure way of your
faith blessing others, live jealously for the glory of God,
even if nobody else does. Just live for the Lord.
Who cares who doesn't live for the Lord?
Who cares? Whose content in their
lukewarmness? Who cares?
Who treats the local church like who cares?
Who doesn't Study and relish in the Word of God?
Who cares of those who don't pray?
Who cares? Who cares?
You live devoted to the Lord and watch how God will use that to
make an impact on someone. And in this case it was Elijah.
And so he asked for the Lord, the God of Elijah, and God comes
through. He'd struck the water.
The water was parted to the one side and to the other, and
Elijah went over. Now look at what happens in
verse 15. We're still under our lessons
from the first miracle. Now when the sons of the
prophets who were at Jericho, Psalm opposite them, they said,
the spirit of Elijah rest on Elijah, and they came to meet
him and bowed to the ground before him.
What do we have here? We have your very important
illustration that is applicable to anybody who aspires to serve
God in any capacity. God not only had Elijah part the
the sea there, the waters of the Jordan, so that he would know
that the Lord was with him, He did the same so that others
would know that the Lord was with him.
If God has truly called you to some kind of a ministry, He will
work on your behalf to identify that to others.
You do not have to advertise yourself.
You do not have to pressure others.
You don't have to try to convince them of your gifting or
of your calling. When God truly has His hand on
your life, others will recognize that, at least those who need to
recognize it. And there's so many
illustrations that throughout the Word of God.
That is not where I want to focus because there's something
about the sons of the prophets that I want to look at.
It's not just how they came and approached Elijah with an
initial respect, but they also came with an itching skepticism.
So they bowed down before him. But notice what happens in verse
16. And they said to him, behold,
now there are with your servants 50 strong men.
Please let them go and seek your master.
And maybe that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast
him upon some mountain or to some valley.
So what are they saying essentially?
Well, we recognize that you are are the new director of our
seminary, but we want to, we want to make sure that Elijah
actually was taken up into heaven.
This is not innocent. This is not a group of people
who knew a leader for some time and are trying to adjust with
transition. All transitions in life can be
difficult, especially when there's a change in spiritual
leadership. But that's not what's happening
here. This should disturb us to a
degree because these sons of the prophets understood that Elijah
was to be taken up into heaven. Do you remember when Elijah and
Elijah were going from one place to the next and in two of those
places the sons of the prophets approached and they went to
Elijah and I said, do you know? Do you know that today the Lord
is going to take away your master from over You guys
remember that study? They knew it.
It was made known to them that Elijah was to be removed and
replaced. So what is it that they're doing
here By begging Elijah to create a search committee to try to
find Elijah? I believe that the most fitting
explanation is that while they acknowledge Elijah as their new
leader, they wanted to confirm Elijah's departure before fully
accepting it. This is unbelief.
And what's even more
discouraging is that when they asked this, look at how Elijah
responds at the end of verse 16 and he said you shall not send.
In other words, you're wasting your time.
The Lord did take him. No matter where you look, how
many people you send, it's not going to amount to anything.
But his instructions made no difference.
They persisted. They asked.
We want to know to the point where it says he was ashamed.
And it's not that he gave in to the pressure.
He says, you know what, I'm going to teach him a lesson the
hard way. Let him learn by going, OK,
fine, go. And so they go.
And as we conclude the thoughts from Elijah's first miracle,
there are two things to learn, one from the sons of the
prophets and one from their new leader.
OK, the first thing is that the sons of the prophets were
disobedient. They were unbelieving and they
were disobedient. And whenever you are unbelieving
and whenever you're disobedient, it always cost you something.
Always. And in this case it cost them
their energy and it cost them their time.
Notice what happens here verse 17.
And when they urged them till he was ashamed, he said send.
They sent there for 50 men, and for three days they sought him,
but did not find him. You could have used those three
days for better things. So imagine looking up the hills,
looking to every cave valleys for three long days with no
results. Unbelief leaves you stranded.
Listen. It leaves you unsatisfied.
Always God says one thing and you listen to your flesh.
Instead, you're convinced and persuaded by your own wisdom or
the wisdom of others. And for these guys, it took him
three days to realize that God was right all along.
You know what happens with some people I've seen?
I've seen them take much more time than three days, three
years before they get get it. People, they understand.
You know what I grew up hearing about in the Word of God?
Well, my parents taught me what the pastor was saying when I was
barely awake. They're actually right.
For some people it's three years.
You know, for other people it's actually 3 decades before it
finally clicks. Jesus Christ is the truth.
He is truly Lord. I've wandered and I've searched
for all these years only to realize that I was a fool.
I hope it takes you 3 seconds to get it.
Not even 3 days. I hope that if you're in this
place and you've not fully strengthened to the Lord Jesus
Christ, you would not have to learn the hard way.
You would learn by just trusting what God has to say.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
These men were disappointed. I promise you, you'll be
disappointed too, if you choose to be the Lord of your own life,
or if you choose to not trust God in a certain area.
No matter how passionate or convinced you are, no matter how
difficult it is to embrace what God has to say about it, if you
don't obey it, you will come out losing, I assure you.
But Speaking of timing, there's a lesson to learn from Elijah's
perspective. Consider it from his angle.
Here's this man who has been left behind, who is now going to
operate as a prophet without any really human help.
He comes to the waters of Jordan, of the Jordan.
He strikes it, and the Lord proves himself, I'm with you,
I'm walking with you. What would, what would flood
your soul in that moment? Courage, joy, peace,
exhilaration. And when was it that the sons of
the prophets came with their doubts?
Right after, right after Elisha tasted something of the
faithfulness of God, it was confronted with some level of
discouragement. I've lived the Christian life
long enough, especially in the context of ministry, to know
that this is a very predictable pattern, that discouragement
tends to be right around the corner when God does something
wonderful in your life. And if you think that again, is
an exaggeration, I think we see it repeated in the very same
text. So look back at verse 19.
Elisha is going to do a miracle for the city of Jericho and it's
going to bring healing to the land.
And then look at verse 23. He went up there from there to
Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys
came out of the city and jeered up saying go up you bald head.
Go up you bald head. It's frequent, it's common.
I've seen it in my own life. I've seen it in the lives of
other servants of God. Right after Elijah sent his
confirmation into ministry, you had a group of men who doubted
it. You have to understand here that
in their desire to look for Elijah, they're saying something
about Elijah. You understand that, right?
We want to make sure that Elijah is really gone before we crown
you as the father of us, the sons of the prophets.
More than that, when they kept insisting and Elijah, as their
new leader, was saying, don't send them, don't send them, do
they obey? No, they didn't listen So much
for a good start. As the new Dean of the school,
they're not even taking your words seriously.
So I want you to understand here that discouragement is
strategic. That shouldn't make you cynical.
It should make you cautious, though.
Cautious and aware that unexpected behavior and bad news
tends to make an appearance around the time when the Lord is
doing a work, creating a testimony.
So that's some lessons we can learn from miracle number one.
But we still have two more miracles.
So let's go to miracle #2 the miracle we studied was the
crossing of the Jordan. And the miracle we're about to
now explore is the healing of the waters.
Let's look at verse 18. And they came back to him while
he was staying at Jericho. And he said to them, Did I not
say to you, Do not go Now The men of the city said to Elijah,
Behold, the situation of the city is pleasant, as my Lord
sees, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.
He said, Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.
So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of
water and threw salt in it and said, Thus says the Lord, I have
healed this water. From now on neither death nor
miscarriage shall come from it. Read your Bible slowly.
Look at verse 19 again. Where is this setting?
Where is this taking place now? The men of the city?
Which city? Anybody have an idea?
Jericho. We just read it verse 18, right?
They were in Jericho. They were probably the elders,
the leaders of the city. This is where Elijah was waiting
for the return of those guys who were sent out to try to find
Elijah. So he's waiting there in
Jericho. And while he is there in
Jericho, the leaders wanted to take advantage of the
opportunity and presented to them A cause, a need.
And they said, look, everything is pretty well here except for
our water source. It's it's, it's not allowing us
here to to see life, to see vegetation, to see our livestock
thrive. And it should not surprise us
that this situation is taking place in Jericho.
Why? Because we studied something in
the book of Joshua concerning Jericho.
What was it? Jericho was cursed.
Joshua pronounced a curse over Jericho.
And I'm persuaded that this is one of the fruit of the curse.
This is one of the results of the curse and I believe here
what we also have is that it's a it's a stark illustration of the
world that we live in as well. Look back here verse 19.
Now the men of the city said to Elijah, behold, the situation of
the city is pleasant, as my Lord sees, but the water is bad and
the land is unfruitful. So on on the surface, the
activity of the city of Jericho seemed promising.
It seemed profitable, but upon investigation, what you realize
is that it lacks substance, that it was a lifeless.
So it seemed pleasant on the surface level, but in reality it
was dreadful. It was dry, had nothing really
to offer. And that is the same illusion
that you and I are surrounded by in this world.
You understand that, right? That on the surface it seems,
and I know it seems to be harder to believe now with the growing
carnage and chaos around us today, but generally that is the
case. We perceive with our senses as
we look around, that there's a general happiness, that there's
security, that there seems to be a purpose that satisfies people
as they ignore God, as they serve their own passions.
But listen, when you really dig deep, and you don't have to dig
too deep, actually, it will reveal that there is
unfruitfulness in it all. But this is really a miracle of
hope and grace because this place that is cursed is now
going to be reversed. One of the symptoms of God's
judgement against this place is now going to be reversed in some
way. So how does Elijah go about it?
He asked for a new bowl. So a bowl that's free from
contamination to put salt in it, which is an obvious illustration
of of a purifying agent. And then he throws it into the
water. Now, here's what's significant,
that the the unfruitfulness of the land is a symptom.
It's a symptom of a deeper issue.
Why was the land unfruitful? Because something else was bad.
What was it? You can answer.
I'm not going to bite. It's OK.
The water, the water was bad. That's why the land was
unfruitful. Now, what I find so significant
is that the way Elijah approaches this problem is the
way the Lord God approaches the barrenness of man.
In what way? Elijah wasn't running around to
every tree, every shrub, every farm and trying to fix it.
He went to the source, and the source was a contaminated,
polluted spring, and in dealing with the spring, everything that
those waters touched would also be affected.
When the Lord saves a Sinner, he doesn't deal with the external
elements. He goes to the source, He goes
to the heart, and he purifies that heart, knowing that the
life of the Spirit will pump into every aspect of that
individual's life and they will receive that grace, that power
that begins in the spring of the man's soul.
It's a beautiful picture here of how the Lord works on us, and
I'm reminded of one verse among many that illustrates that
point. You remember what we are told in
in Titus 214 about the Lord and what He does through His Son the
Lord Jesus. It says here in Titus 214, who
gave Himself for us to redeem us from all unlawlessness or
lawlessness, and to purify for Himself a people for his own
possession, who are zealous for good works.
What comes before the zeal for good works?
A purification. You know what that word purify
is in the Greek? Literally to clean, literally
like a dirty dish, a clothing that has stains on it, That's
the same word. So the Lord purifies for himself
a people and what follows that is what a zeal for good works, a
zeal for good works. Can I say something though?
It's possible for you to to lose your zeal for good works, right?
Many Christians are lacking that passion.
That's a symptom. That's a symptom of a deeper
issue. If you find yourself pulling
away from the word of God, the presence of God, the people of
God, there's something deeper going on.
Your heart needs to be worked on.
It's not. It's not you mustering up the
strength for you to wake up and go to church that Sunday because
last Sunday one of the elders came up to him and said we
haven't seen you in a few months.
You're just treating the symptoms.
There needs to be a deeper cleansing and you need to come
before the Lord honestly, and ask them to surgically make out
exactly what it is that needs to be altered so that where your
heart is and what it touches would truly make a lasting
impact. And that's exactly what happens
here. Look at the lasting impact in
verse 22. So the water has been healed to
this day according to the word that Elijah spoke.
I want the same for you. If you are dry and callous in
this place, it's not about setting an alarm clock earlier
or trying to whip up some kind of emotion for you to be more
zealous for the Lord. You need the Lord to do a
healing work again, and He is capable of doing it if you
humble yourself. You know what I love about these
men, They were at a point where they realized that Elijah was
most likely passing through, but when he was in their
neighborhood, they seized the opportunity, said please hear us
how to do something about this. I know a lot of people who are
who are spiritually dead, unfruitful, and they're content
in that place. And if you're going to be
content in that place, then you'll stay in that place.
I love what Elijah does here. He doesn't just wave his hand
like a wand and deal with the issue.
He actually calls the people to participate in the process.
He says what verse 20, He said, bring me a new bowl and put salt
in it. So they brought it to him.
So what are you willing to do in order for God to bring healing?
Because what this miracle teaches us is that God is
willing to heal. Unfruitfulness, physical
unfruitfulness, spiritual unfruitfulness.
So if you've lost the fragrance, if you, if you've lost that
sense of passion, that pursuit, God can heal that He can.
That's a brief segment for this study.
We're going to spend more time in the last and final miracle.
There's a clear contrast between the second and third miracle.
Look at verse 23. He went up from there to Bethel,
and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of
the city and jeered at him saying go up you bald head, go
up you bald head, and we know the rest, right?
He turns around, pronounces a curse, two she bears come out
and mall 42 of them, and then he just goes on to Mount Carmel.
I assure you, you did not hear this in Sunday school.
Even those who are beyond Sunday school still can't seem to
reconcile this with the character of God, with the New
Testament, with how we're supposed to respond to those who
mock us and scorn us. But let me just present this
clear contrast here. In Jericho, the people humbly
beseeched Elijah, but in Bethel they viciously rejected him.
In Jericho, the power of God through Elijah overcame death
and brought life. But in Bethel, what do you have?
Death claimed the lives of many young men in Jericho.
Elisha was used to reverse a symptom of the curse, but in
Bethel he pronounces a curse. That might be a clever contrast,
but we still got to make sense of this.
How? How is this in our Bibles, and
what do we do with it? What do we take from it?
I think the relief will come when you consider three things.
OK, so if you're a note taker, put these sub points down.
The first thing is the place. The second thing is the people.
The third thing is the prophecy. So under the third miracle,
which is the miracle of the death of 42 boys, you have to
consider the place. You have to consider the people.
You have to consider the prophecy.
So look at the place. Where did this all take place?
He went up from there to where? Bethel.
Bethel rich spiritual heritage or no very rich spiritual
heritage. This is where Jacob encountered
encountered God in a very significant way and he named it
Bethel, which means what House of God.
So in its DNA, in its origination, it carried weighty
meaning. But that didn't last very long,
right? Because in the days of kings,
first Kings Chapter 11, going into chapter 12 specifically,
there was a division in the Kingdom.
Who was the king of the northern Kingdom at first?
What was his name? This is review.
Jeroboam. Yes.
And who was the king of the southern Kingdom?
At least the first king Rehoboam.
Easy to remember, they rhyme. Jeroboam was the king of the
northern tribes of Israel. Very nervous that at some point
his people were going to unite again with the southern Kingdom
because they were instructed to go to Jerusalem to worship the
Pilgrim feast. And so he comes up with this
evil scheme and that is to create 2 new locations of
worship. One was located where Good Dan,
the other place, Bethel. So the House of God now became a
den of idolatry and it carried and strengthened in that
reputation throughout the years. And So what we have here is
Bethel. It hasn't healed from its
idolatry and apostasy yet. In fact, some of the most
notorious evil people resided in Bethel.
Can I prove that to you? Do you remember that once A had
became king, what happened with Jericho?
It was rebuilt, right? The city of Jericho was rebuilt
at a cost. If any man were to rebuild the
cities of Jericho, the lives of that man's children was was to
be taken. But do you know who that man
was? Do you remember at least
there'll be good Bible quiz question.
Go to 1st Kings 16. I can't just tell it to you.
I want you to see it with your own eyes.
Look at first Kings 16 verse 34. In his days being King Ahab, in
his days Hyel of where Bethel built Jericho, he laid its
foundations at the cost of a Byram, his first born and set up
its gates at the cost of his youngest son, Sega, according to
the word of the Lord, which they which he spoke by Joshua, the
son of Nun. So the guy that rebuilt the city
was from Bethel. Gives you an idea of what kind
of crowd we're dealing with. So this is the kind of people
that Bethel produces, and these are where these children came
from to harass the prophet of God, very hostile, very anti
Yahweh, one of the capitals of apostasy.
That's the place. But let's look more specifically
at the people it says here. And he went up from there to
Bethel in verse 23. While he was going up on the
way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him
saying go up your bullhead, go up your bald head.
This is probably the most disturbing aspect of this brief
story. Some small children.
So the image that most people have is you have kids who are
outside and the outskirts of Bethel are probably playing
soccer. And then the prophet Elijah
walks by and they notice that he doesn't have hair.
And they said, hey, look, Baldy's over there.
Get out of here, baldy, get out of your baldy.
Then Elijah was in a he was tired, he was in a bad mood,
turned around, looked at the kid, says curse, curse.
Are you in the name of the Lord? And the two bears come and just
maul them and have a buffet with these kids.
Is that, is that what's going on here?
The Hebrew word for the, the the word small children here is much
broader. It's used to identify a wide
range of demographics. Let me give an example.
So in Genesis 37, two, we're told there that Joshua was how
old? Anybody remember how old, excuse
me, Joseph was, Huh. He was 17 years old.
And in that same verse, we're told that he was a boy.
And it's the same word used here when it comes to some small
boys. And there are other instances
where that Hebrew word is used to even describe much older
young men. And so it's very possible that
we're not dealing with kids from the nursery here.
We're dealing with maybe teenagers and how we can even
confirm that is their behaviour. They were aware of who Elijah
was. They were aware about events
surrounding him and his ministry and who he was in relation to
them as the people who come from Bethel.
So we're not given the exact age of these boys, but they were old
enough to confront this man. And I want you to show, I want
you to show you exactly how they confronted him.
They were not just outside hanging out of the city gates.
Look here again in verse 23, the second part, some small boys
came out of the city and jeered at him, saying go up you bald
head, go up you bald head. So they saw him walking.
They were inside, saw him and chose to go out and pursue him.
And we can even believe that they were following him because
look at verse 24. And he turned around and when he
saw them. So it's very likely that they
were, they were starting to annoy him, yes, mock him, sure,
but who knows what else they had in mind.
This is not a group of five kids.
We're told that 42 of the boys were mauled, meaning that there
were more of them. We're talking about a gang, a
big crowd. They're they're here looking for
trouble. The prophet is in danger here.
So they recognize who Elijah was from a distance.
And more than that, look at the nature of their insult.
Go up, you bald head one. I'm encouraged to know that God
doesn't. Elijah was known as what he was
a man. That was he was he hairless?
No, he's actually very hairy. So Elijah was hairy and Elijah
barely had any hair, at least on his head.
I'm so glad that the Lord doesn't choose is based on our
appearance. He uses hairy people and people
who don't have hair, but they say go up you bald head.
Was that just merely an insult on his appearance?
Is there anything in the near context that would suggest what
they're getting at by saying go up?
What happened? Who went up recently?
Elijah, He was taken up. We have every right to believe
that that news of Elijah being taken in such a miraculous way
into heaven spread and it even reached Bethel.
And so when these kids from Bethel are saying go up, you
ball that what are they essentially saying?
Get out of here. In the same way that Elijah was
removed, Why don't you join him? Go up to heaven and leave us
alone. This is what they're saying.
That's just making fun of their his appearance.
They are vocalizing their disdain and their rejection of
God because this man represented God.
And it's a very dangerous thing for messengers of God,
especially in the old covenant, to be mocked in this way
persistently. Here's a verse to confirm that
in Second Chronicles 36 verse 16.
This is when Judah was about to be judged by their exile.
It says here. But they kept mocking the
messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his
prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people,
until there was no remedy. Notice the close connection
between the messengers of God being mocked and people
despising his words. So when a man of God is rebuked,
when a man of God is persecuted, rejected, denied, ultimately
they're doing that to the God that they represent.
So when they said go up, you bald head, yes, mocking the
messenger, but ultimately despising the word of the Lord,
that brings us to our final subpoint.
Not just the place, not just the people, but the prophecy.
Again, Elijah didn't turn around and come up with a creative way
to judge these kids. And so thought to himself, let
me summon 2 she bears to to give them a day that they'll never
forget. Elijah knew the word of God and
Elijah understood that God warned that if his people were
to remain in a state of apostasy, then one of the acts
of judgement that would come. Does anybody remember we've
touched on this more than once in our previous Bible studies
where this particular act of judgement is defined.
Yes, we are creatures of repetition.
We need to remind ourselves there's a clear warning that
gives explanation to why it was 2 She bears came out and mauled
these children. Leviticus 26.
Look here with me in verse 21, This is God giving a series of
warnings to His people if they remain and continue in their
rebellion. And here's one of them in
Leviticus 26, verse 21. Then if you walk contrary to Me
and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you
sevenfold for your sins, and I will let loose the wild beast
against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy
your livestock and make you few and number so that your roads
shall be deserted. Wow.
So this is not random. This is not Elisha's idea.
This is Elisha as a conduit, fulfilling and executing God's
judgement that was warned and given to his people hundreds of
years before this took place. And one of the things that would
take place is that if this people were to remain in
unbelief, he would let loose the wild beast.
And who's going to pay for it? The children.
This is where I want to say when a nation rejects the true God,
overtime the children will pay a price.
It was true for Israel and it's true for the United States of
America today. But I also believe that the law
permitted this specific act of judgement at this point in time
because of a very important transition.
Elijah was taken. Elijah replaces him.
And right, right at the beginning of Elijah's ministry,
he's facing hostility. And this happens the fulfillment
of Leviticus 2621 to 22. Do you know why?
Because God wants to communicate something early on with this
shift that although a change in leadership occurred, God's word
did not change. This is the sober warning that
He is granting not just to those in Bethel, but to the whole
nation. Yes, Elisha now is my new man,
but my word remains the same. I haven't changed my protocol.
I haven't altered my warnings. I haven't deleted any of my
promises. They are still the same.
And I'd love to think about that as men of God come and go,
preachers who have made a wonderful impact, preachers who
have disgraced the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It doesn't alter God's word. And as time goes on, men of God
will come. Men of God will go.
The word of the Lord remains forever.
It remains forever. Here's what we'll conclude.
What happens next. Verse 25.
From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he
returned to Samaria. 3 miracles in succession, rapid fire
succession. And the way that this segment of
Elisha's ministry concludes is that he goes to Mount Carmel.
It would make sense for him to go to Samaria.
That's the hub of his ministry, that that's the capital of
Israel. That's where he's going to
minister. But before he goes to Samaria,
he stops in Mount Carmel. What's in Mount Carmel, we're
not told, but we know Mount Carmel's recent history.
This is where Elijah experienced one of his greatest
accomplishments. This is where Elijah saw God
come through an incredible way. I'm not told if Elijah was there
that fateful day, but he definitely heard about it.
And I like to think that when Elijah experienced these three
miracles, especially the disheartening final one, he made
his way to Mount Carmel, perhaps sat before the very arena where
God came through and just reflected, maybe even rested,
and he drew strength and courage from what just had taken place.
And now what will lie ahead. It's a reminder to us that as we
serve God, it's important to get alone and rest.
Rest in Him, remind ourselves of what he has done, what he's
capable of doing, so that we can be energized for what else lies
ahead. And I like to think that Elijah
here has perhaps learned from his master's mistakes.
Remember, Elijah got in a lot of trouble when he kept going and
going and going and going. He paid a dear price for that.
But here's his successor, who, after a brief spurt of events,
secludes himself, and he meets alone.
We're not told for what purpose, but he was before an act of
God's faithfulness, and that replenished him, strengthened
him and equipped him for what we're going to study in the
weeks ahead. Let's pray.
In fact, the praise team can come up.
I encourage you just even tonight, before we close this
Bible study that you would just reflect on some of these things.
Many truths have been explained. I pray that something touched
your heart. Maybe you resonated more with
miracle #1 miracle #3 miracle #2 just speak to the Lord, would
you? Well, we do ask that it's very
easy for us to become dry and stop bearing fruit.
So heal us if we're there, and Lord, if we're bearing fruit
like Elisha, that it's very, very possible that some might be
facing discouragement in one way or another.
May we be comforted to know that the greatest man, the greatest
woman of God faced the same temptation.
And may we be like Elijah in this story, who did not allow
the doubt and the unbelief of those he was called to serve to
derail him. He stood firm.
Help us stay firm and Lord, help us remember that even in recent
news, as ministers come and go, Your Word can be relied on.
Your Word does not change, it endures forever.
Help us be faithful until the end with it.
Help us be faithful with the goal of ultimately pleasing you.
And Lord, if it makes an impact on others, then we give you
glory for that. So we rejoice.
Your Word has indeed filled us and we pray, Lord, that as we
sing to you, you'd be blessed by our voices tonight.
In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
Let's stand. Let's worship the Lord.