03.04. The Judgment at Bethel: 2Ki_2:23-25
Chapter 2 The Judgment at Bethel
"They compassed me about like bees," saith the psalmist; and his words may well direct our thoughts from the tried believer, to Him whose sufferings are often portrayed in the Psalms. The words have been fulfilled respecting Christ in every age; and wherever his Divine image is faithfully represented, his people also find that his opposers are restless and active. But, let Christ be our refuge and strength, and the more we are opposed, the more diligently let us abide in him.
"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. And he went from thence to Mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria." This event has, at first sight, a very repulsive aspect; and we feel as if it would have surprised us less, had we met with it in the history of Elijah. In that of Elisha it appears, at first, opposed to that peaceful character we have described. A deadly burst of vengeance upon a troop of wanton youths; a curse pronounced upon them in the name of the Lord! How characteristic of the legal dispensation! but how opposite to all we have said of the character and call of Elisha, as a messenger of the kindness and love of God our Savior! Yet summer does not cease to be summer, on account of an occasional chilling tempest, which, clearing away the vapors, opens to the earth freer access for the genial warmth of heaven. This apparent dissonance, as will soon appear, serves only to heighten the general harmony.
Here then is impious mockery cast at the prophet. Let us consider its origin, its nature, and its consequences.