2 Kings 2
McGeeCHAPTER 2THEME: The translation of ElijahThis chapter brings us to the conclusion of Elijah’s life. He is translated into heaven in a chariot of fire. Then Elisha comes into prominence. The chapter closes with the incident of irreverent hoodlums being attacked by bears.
2 Kings 2:1
ELIJAH’S DEPARTUREElijah is trying to get Elisha to stay back. Elisha will not leave Elijah because he knows that Elijah is going to leave the earth that day. Elisha wants to be present when the Lord takes him home.
2 Kings 2:5
The interesting thing is that people, then as well as today, were turning to all kinds of people and places for information. This is the day when the fortunetellers and those who deal with the zodiac and the occult are handing out many suggestions. People are turning everywhere except to God. You won’t get any information from these areas that you cannot get from God. The sons of the prophets had information that Elijah was going to leave, but Elisha already knew it. They could not tell him anything new.
2 Kings 2:6
The Lord had parted the River Jordan for Joshua and the people of Israel at least five hundred years before this; now He repeats the miracle for Elijah and Elisha.
2 Kings 2:9
Now don’t miss that. Elisha actually was a greater prophet than Elijah. He had a double portion of the Spirit of God upon him.
2 Kings 2:11
This is a spectacular conclusion of a spectacular life!
2 Kings 2:12
ELISHA RECEIVES A DOUBLE PORTION OF ELIJAH’S SPIRITThis man Elisha is taking Elijah’s place, and he demonstrates his faith. He takes Elijah’s robe and smites the waters just as Elijah had done. The power is not in the robe nor in Elijah; the power is in God, and Elisha knows that. Elisha had the faith Elijah had, and it is faith in the God of Elijah. He asks the question, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” This is the important question today. Instead of looking to men or women, methods or some nostrum for help, as many people do, why not look to the Lord God of Israel? He is the living God. He is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to Him, my friend. Elisha took Elijah’s mantle, smote the waters, and they parted. He crossed over the river to begin a new phase in his life.
2 Kings 2:15
ELISHA SUCCEEDS ELIJAHThe sons of the prophets (the theological students of that day) were still watching and they saw Elisha part the waters and return across the Jordan River. They doubted that Elijah had really gone up. They suspected that the Lord had dumped him in some abandoned area. What a peculiar idea they had of God!
2 Kings 2:17
Elijah was indeed gone, and there was no need to investigate. Elisha said, “I told you so!” Then the men of the city of Jericho came to Elisha with a problem.
2 Kings 2:19
Elisha made the bitter waters sweet. This was his second miracle. Today you can see those waters in the valley at Jericho. I did not drink the water when I visited there because water out in the open in that land is apt to be contaminated. I am told, however, by those who were brave enough to drink it, that the water was sweet and delicious to drink. Next followed an incident which has been criticized as much as anything in the Scriptures. This incident is pointed out with glee by the enemies of the Word of God who bemoan the brutal slaying of these poor little children. First, let’s look at the background. Elisha was returning from Elijah’s translation when this event took place. The word had gone before him concerning what had taken place. As he went up to Bethel, “little children” mocked him. Elisha cursed them in the name of the Lord, and two female bears came out of the woods and “tare forty and two children.” Not only the critics but also many sincere believers have been stumped by this portion of Scripture. The scorner says, “You don’t mean to tell me that God would destroy little children like that!” What is recorded here seems to contradict other portions of Scripture. First of all we need to recognize that when we come into the world our human minds are more or less neutral. They are neutral on practically every subject but one, and that is an innate streak of rebellion against God. Man has an inborn bias against God. Man, first of all, is skeptical about the Bible. Man will believe anybody or anything except God. If you don’t believe this statement, notice how people fall for the “scientific approach.” Let a man on television put on a white coat and pince-nez glasses, make a statement about mouthwash, deodorant, or toothpaste, and everybody runs and buys it because it is “scientific.” Well, my friend, that reveals the nature of man. If a man is an honest doubter, he will find there is an answer to all the problems and questions that concern the Word of God. That does not mean that I can answer all of the problems, because I cannot. This is one question, however, that I can answer, and I want to spend a little time with it. Now Elijah was succeeded by Elisha. In many respects Elisha was greater than Elijah. This will undoubtedly be a surprise to many people who consider Elijah one of the greatest prophets, and possibly one of the witnesses who will one day return to earth during the Tribulation (Rev_11:3-7). If you want to measure these two men by the miracles they performed, Elisha performed the most miracles. Elijah was the man for the public. Elisha was the one who ministered personally to individuals. Because his ministry was largely in this area, it was not quite as exciting and dramatic as Elijah’s ministry. He was a gentle man in contrast to Elijah. Elisha was a young man at the beginning of his ministry. On this occasion he was returning from beyond Jordan where Elijah had been caught up in a chariot of fire and taken to heaven. News of this event had spread like wildfire over the countryside. Many people knew about it as Elisha returned to Bethel. Probably the news media of the day carried the news about Elijah. I guess the Bethel Bugle had a headline about the prophet and the chariot of fire. The Bugle would not confirm the story, but they did report that there were those who had seen the event take place. Bethel means “house of God.” It was first mentioned by Abraham, then by Jacob. Bethel, however, did not continue to live up to its name. At the time of the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam, you will recall, placed one of the golden calves in Bethel for the people to worship so that they would not continue to go to Jerusalem to worship. There was also a school for false prophets at Bethel. It was, of course, an imitation of the school of prophets in Judah. It was in this atmosphere that the children of Bethel were educated. They were godless. They had no training. They had no discipline at home. I think Bethel was a great deal like Los Angeles, where I live. How ironical it is: Los Angeles means “the city of angels,” and we have everything else but angels here. Now Elisha is on his way to Bethel.
2 Kings 2:23
Then “little children” came out of the city. The accepted opinion is that these were precious little children. All of us are moved by children. I have a little grandson, and he has grandpa wrapped around his finger. These little ones really get to you. When you read this portion of Scripture, it touches your heart. If these “children” were beginners, primaries, juniors, or even junior high young people, I would have to admit that Elisha was rather cruel because what happened would be contrary to the teaching of the rest of Scripture. The Lord Jesus said, “…Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Mat_19:14). As you read the Bible, you will discover God’s tender care of the little ones. Remember that at Kadesh-Barnea the people of Israel refused to go into the land, and they gave the following excuse: “And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Num_14:3). They felt that their little ones would be in danger. But God said to them in essence, “You should have trusted Me. You thought that I would not take care of your little ones. Well, although you will die in the wilderness, your little ones, who you thought were in danger, are going to inherit the land and dwell in it.” “Little children” is naar or nahar in Hebrew. It is used of Isaac when he was twenty-eight, of Joseph when he was thirty-nine, also for the Sodomites who attacked the home of Lot. You will find it used in other places in Scripture, and it does not refer to little children as we think of them. For example, 1Ki_12:8 says, “But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him.” This verse is speaking about the time Rehoboam forsook the wisdom of the older men, the wise men, and consulted with the younger men who had grown up with him. The word translated “young men” is the same word translated “little children” in 2Ki_2:23. I am sure no one believes that Rehoboam was consulting with little juniors, or that he went to nursery school and talked things over with the little ones.
They were young men. When Samuel came to anoint as king one of the sons of Jesse, you will remember that his sons were grown. As they passed by Samuel one by one, he said to Jesse, “Are these all thy children?” Well, the word children is the same word used in 2Ki_2:23. It is used to describe Jesse’s grown sons. The youngest son, David, was not even there. The hoodlums who were taunting Elisha were young men, not little children.
You will find this word used in many places in Scripture, and in every other place it is translated “young men.” This was a crowd of young fellows. They were students of the false prophets. They were a gang that mocked and ridiculed Elisha. They said, “Go up, thou bald head.” What did they mean by that? They were telling him to do the same thing Elijah had done. They were saying, “Why don’t you take off like Elijah did?” They were ridiculing the truth in Scripture that God will take a people out of this world. This is the same attitude, Peter says, that will appear on the earth again in the last days. This incident in 2 Kings is given to us to let us know that God intends to judge those who ridicule the second coming of Christ. 2Pe_3:3-4 says, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” During the last days on earth there will be those who will ridicule believers about the coming of Christ. They will say something like, “Well, what is the matter? You haven’t gone up yet. You are still hanging around. I thought you were going to leave us.” This is the type of thing scoffers will say to believers.
Many are already saying, “Where is the sign of His coming?” For this reason we ought to be careful today in the way that we teach the second coming of Christ. We should not go out on a limb. We should not become fanatics on the subject. We should handle it with care, even in a manner in which the Word of God handles it. So 2 Kings is just a little picture of the judgment that will come upon those who will ridicule Christ’s return to earth. It is a fearful judgment.
2 Kings 2:24
It is an awful thing for a preacher to deny the deity of Christ and the work He did at His first coming. It is a terrible thing to deny and ridicule the second coming of Christ. This brings a very severe judgment. Notice that they called Elisha “bald head.” We do know something about this man: he had a bald head. There is a great deal about judgment in the Word of God. We need, therefore, to get our facts squared away. When you understand what we are talking about in this section, there is nothing here that is out of line with the rest of Scripture. He pronounced a curse upon them. Elisha sounds like Elijah here. He also sounds like the Lord Jesus Christ who said, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Mat_11:21). He went on to say, “And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell …” (Mat_11:23). That is judgment, friends. We are living in a day when there is a great deal of pussy-footing in our legal system. The lack of the enforcement of law on the part of some judges is a scandal; it is responsible for the lawlessness on every hand. It is responsible for the shooting down of policemen. It is not safe to walk our streets any more. The minds of people in this country have been brainwashed. When are we going to wake up?
When gangs of young hoodlums terrorize our neighborhoods, there should be punishment. I personally heard a leading attorney recently tell a small group, privately, that these young lawbreakers should be taken out and publicly whipped, as they used to do in the early days. He said if that were done it would break up a lot of the lawlessness. May I say to you that after the bears did their work, nobody else around Bethel ridiculed Elishayou may be sure of that.