03.06. The Nature of the Mockery

The Nature of the Mockery

Elisha was pursuing his solitary way to Bethel, and we may believe him to have been not without recollections and meditations of the deepest interest, if we reflect only upon his recent experiences. We here can hardly help being reminded of his forefather Jacob, on his solitary journey to this very place, and of his communion with God; but we can better imagine than describe the prophet’s present emotions. Elevated and invigorated by his contemplations of the past, how painful must have been the contrast of the scenes of moral darkness which actually surrounded him! The holy ground where Jacob was constrained to exclaim, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven;" how entirely, how mournfully, was it changed! Bethel had become a Beth-aven, a house of wickedness. The place once dedicated to the glory and praise of Jehovah, was now a refuge of lies, and of every idolatrous abomination. But for what purpose, might Elisha have thought, could the Lord be sending him hither? Perhaps, many a bright ray of hope had begun to shine through the gloom of his melancholy reflections, and he might suppose that possibly God intended by his means to transform this place again into a Bethel. However, he advances towards the polluted city.

It is not unlikely, that it was already known in Bethel what sort of a man was approaching its gates, and the prince of darkness was already on the alert to keep his palace, and to guard his territories. In Elisha he beheld an enemy, whom, probably, he dreaded more than he had dreaded the Tishbite. This may seem at first sight incredible; for how simple and unpretending was the appearance of the husbandman from Abel-meholah, compared with that prophet whose spirit and power were as the lightnings of heaven; so swiftly could they inflict death and destruction. But the most zealous asserters of the law are not regarded by the adversary as his most formidable opponents. He well knows that the holy law of God, far from melting the hardened heart into a willing surrender of itself to the Lord, becomes, through human depravity, the occasion whereby sin works in us all manner of concupiscence; for the rebellious disposition of man only spurns its holy restraint the more, the nearer it is brought to him. The gospel, on the contrary, the sweet message of mercy, fills the enemy of souls with real alarm for his kingdom. He knows its secret energy, its power to allure, convince, and subdue; and he is never more active in opposition, than when its sounds penetrate within his dominions. How then could he remain neutral, when he beheld Elisha approaching one of his most devoted cities? He was aware of the blessings which this man of God had conferred upon Jericho, which portended to him the loss of that city and neighborhood, and for aught he knew, the loss of Bethel also. He, therefore, hastens to take his measures, and has his agents ready at hand; most probably those lying priests who were always his willing instruments. He suggests to them the danger that threatens them; he incites their jealousy and rage, and points out to them the carnal weapons with which they might most readily assail the enemy of their dignity and rule. The priests, we may suppose, instigated a rabble of hardened and impudent youths to try the prophet’s firmness, by going out of the town to meet him and insult him. This young generation of vipers think themselves men enough to encounter the odious prophet.

Elisha arrives within the precincts of the idolatrous place; not to curse and to destroy it; no, but with the gracious design of collecting backsliders under the banner of love; when, behold, the rabble of rude clamorous youths rush wildly out of the gates of the city! Our version says, "little children," but the words in the original also signify young people. They come behind the man of God as he is going up to the town; they raise a loud and insolent laugh, and are not ashamed to cast at him the lowest and most offensive mockery, making even his venerable appearance the subject of their profane raillery.

Baldness was regarded by the lower orders as a kind of disgrace; for as it was one of the usual consequences of the leprosy, so it was accounted a sign of personal and mental degradation. Hence, in using this opprobrious epithet, the young profligates had a most malicious intention. Their expressions are not to be viewed as a mere burst of youthful wantonness; but as poisoned arrows, pointed and directed by refined and satanic malignity. It is as if they had said, "Thou effeminate leper! thou would-be prophet! we fear thee not! Go up! Go up!" as if they meant, "Imitate thy master! Enter thy fiery chariot, and follow him through the clouds!" It seems to have been a scoffing allusion to the ascent of Elijah; partly skeptical, and partly in derision of Elisha. "Wilt thou ape the dreaded Elijah? then magnify thy office, and show thyself." At all events, it was more than a mere sally of childish unruliness: it was the deliberate rancor of rooted and audacious impiety. The well known and mild demeanor of Elisha (for he was no stranger to them) seems to have unfettered their impious spirits. And the fact, that their hatred could overcome the power of that love, which beamed upon them in the whole appearance of this man, renders their crime the more aggravated. Who is not penetrated with grief while contemplating this melancholy spectacle? Alas! we cannot but believe that these youths were hastening to perdition. Better had it been for them to have been sacrificed in their infancy to the fiery idol Moloch, than to have thus survived, to become the victims of sin and Satan, and to die the death of the impenitent. But did such an evil generation disappear from the earth with the forty and two at Bethel? Alas! the present rising generation everywhere proves the contrary. It is one of the greatest afflictions of these evil times, that we look to many of them in vain for the hope of better times at hand. It is heart-rending to behold our youth drinking of those intoxicating fountains at which their fathers have so intemperately indulged, and to know that they are initiated in vain, theoretic, and infidel notions, which alienate the heart from God, and dissolve the most sacred obligations. Alas! the seed so thickly sown, is already springing up around us, luxuriantly rank. "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge." O ye parents, masters, and teachers, how many of you have torn down long ago the barrier of God’s word, and destroyed all reverence for it! and now you have yourselves to blame, that you are surrounded by a youthful band of rebels, whom you despair of controlling. You have taught them to view scriptural Christianity as an ignominious chain, forged by superstition in a dark age, and to regard those who preach it as canting hypocrites, or weak and gloomy fanatics; and though we now admonish them, in the name of God, to honor and obey their parents, yet with what effect we do it, you yourselves are painfully aware. You have filled them with conceits of the independence of man and of human reason, and it is but a just retribution that you have been the first bitterly to feel, in their misbehavior to yourselves, the sad consequences of your pernicious instructions. Should any imagine this description of our youth to be overwrought, let them only inspect many families and schools, and the most superficial observation will convince them of its truth. Alas! how many of our young plants are corrupted at the core! the very roots are rottenness; undutiful, and presumptuously obstinate; initiated from infancy in every mystery of iniquity and impiety, of whom no one would say, "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven;" strangers even to the show of filial obedience, modest submission, and respect to parents and superiors; they laugh at the rebuke of love, and spurn restraint with rebellious defiance. Those of low degree are vulgar, headstrong, and licentious; those of high degree are morally enervated, filled with vanity, and trusting in a lie. May God have mercy on the future age for which this generation is ripening! My brethren, the foundations of antichrist are laid; they are laid in the hearts of our children. The man of sin will have only to shake this human tree, and his disciples will fall into his arms like ripe fruit! The budding branches of the fig tree are full of sap, and their maturity is nigh. May God, in his mercy, overrule the approaching ruin and desolation!