Elisha and the She Bears

Today we are going to look at one of those passages of scripture that the atheists always point at to bring derision to God and His kingdom.  It's the story of Elisha and the she bears.

So, here's the story. Elijah has just been caught up to heaven and Elisha has received his mantle and a double portion of his anointing.  Elisha is sad and he is basically retracing the steps back from where they had been when Elijah was taken up.

As he approached Bethel, well, let's just see what the Bible says.  
In 2 Kings 2:23-24 we read, 

"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."

I'm going to give you the interpretation that I had in my mind to give as I started studying this out. I wanted to make sure I was staying true to the Word of God, but I knew what I wanted to say. At least I thought I did.  After that though, I'm going to share what I believe God showed me as I studied.

So, here's what I thought I knew. It is the condensed version and, as we must always remember, context is key.  The Bible says when Elisha saw Elijah taken up, which was the condition of the double portion we mentioned before, He cried, 

"My Father! My Father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof," 2 Kings 2:12.

Then he took hold of his clothes and rent them in two.  Needless to say, he was pretty sad.

So, then he stops at Jericho (after parting the Jordan I should add) and the sons of the prophets ran out to him and said, 

     "The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha," (vs. 15)

They recognized God's anointing on Elisha and that Elijah had indeed, passed his mantle to him.  Their water was bad.  Elisha healed the waters and went on to Bethel.  Somewhere between Jericho and Bethel, which isn't very far, Elisha runs into these 'children' who mock him.

Remember how I always remind you that Bible days are not our days and Biblical people's ways are not necessarily our ways?  I mean, who among you has ever thrown dust on your head at bad news?  

Things are not always as they seem at our first reading.  The word for children here is na'ar and as used could absolutely mean little child. But, it can also mean a young man.  Consider that Solomon used it of himself in a prayer to the Lord when he became king at 20 years old (1 Kings 3:7).  It is used of Jeroboam whom Solomon saw as a mighty young man of valor and made him ruler of all the charge of the house of Joseph (1 Kings 11:28).

It is the word used when Rehoboam, son of Solomon, was young and indecisive.  Bear in mind, he was king at the time and a spry 41 years old when he was crowned.

This word is used of: young man 76 times, servant 54 times, child 44 times, lad 33 times young 15 times, children 7 times, youth 6 times boys 1 time.  I believe we can agree that the word could mean young men, or in this case, hooligans.

When Elisha had gone to Jericho, he was received as a prophet with Elijah's anointing.  But here, the youth were saying, "You're no prophet! Go up to Bethel where the real gods are."  You see, King Jeroboam had set up a golden calf (I know, right?) at Bethel.

I could go into the significance of the 'baldness'. I could go on about the she bears who may have lost babies due to the bad water in Jericho.  There are a lot of things we could go deeper into with this story.  But, there are two things we do need to think about when we consider this story.  If these were indeed young men, there were at least 42 of them.  Those were not good odds for Elisha. If there had been a fight, we can assume Elisha would have lost

The other thing is, the Bible doesn't say the bears killed them, just tore them. I admit, it's a pretty strong word but, I live in Alaska. People get mauled by bears more often than I like to think about and many of them live.

Let's think again... 42 youths were 'torn' by two angry bears.  Don't you think there were probably a lot more than just the 42 that were mauled if two bears tore 42 of them before they could disperse? Just a thought.

OK, now let me share what God showed me through my study of this passage.  I must say, it is very likely for me alone, but I will share it anyway.

Stop apologizing for God!

If these 'youths' were cute, little, cherubic, baby toddlers, God is just. God is God!  God isn't just righteous, He is righteousness!

You always hear people say, "God can't lie."  It's not just because of God's character, it's because the words out of His mouth are the reality of the universe!  If God declared black is white, it wouldn't be a lie. Black would become white because God declared it.

The Bible says in Nahum 1:2-6, 

"The Lord is a jealous and avenging god; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries and keeps wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before Him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before Him, the world and all who dwell in it.  Who can stand before His indignation?  Who can endure the heat of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by Him."

This is our God.  This is the Mighty One of Israel whom we serve.  

We are living in a wicked generation who mocks God much worse than those youths mocked the prophet.  Oh Father, spare them from your indignation!  Oh Church, rise up and warn them!

They may not believe now but everyone will believe when Jesus splits the sky!  They mock now but they will wail at the Great White Throne of The Most High God.

I will never gloss over the hard things in the word of God again or try to make God other that what He is which is slow to anger and of great kindness.  But, He is also mighty in power, jealous, vengeful and... well, let's just see what the Bible says,

"The Lord is coming out form His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it and will not more cover its slain." (Isaiah 26:21)

"I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them."(Ezekiel 25:17)

Want something out of the New Testament?

"Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which He was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit if grace?" (Hebrews 10:28-29)

"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done." (Revelation 22:12) 

It is time we, as a church, believed in the God we serve and believe what He says in His word.  Judgement is coming and would to God that it would only be two angry she bears.