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2 Kings 2. I'll begin reading 
in verse 1. And it came to pass, when the 
Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that 
Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Then Elijah said to Elisha, 
Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel. But 
Elisha said, As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will 
not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. 
Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to 
Elisha and said to him, Do you know that the Lord will take 
away your master from over you today? And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent. Then Elijah said 
to him, Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to 
Jericho. But he said, As the Lord lives 
and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to 
Jericho. Now the sons of the prophets 
who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, Do you know 
that the Lord will take away your master from over you today? 
So he answered, Yes, I know. Keep silent. Then Elijah said 
to him, Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the 
Jordan. But he said, As the Lord lives 
and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So the two of 
them went on. And fifty men of the sons of 
the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the 
two of them stood by the Jordan. Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled 
it up, and struck the water. And it was divided this way and 
that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. And 
so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, 
Ask, what may I do for you before I am taken away from you? Elisha 
said, Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. So 
he said, you have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see 
me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if 
not, it shall not be so. Then it happened, as they continued 
on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with 
horses of fire and separated the two of them. And Elijah went 
up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried 
out, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen. So he saw him no more, and he 
took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 
He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him 
and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Then he took 
the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the 
water and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when 
he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that, 
and Elisha crossed over. Now when the sons of the prophets 
who were from Jericho saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah 
rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him and 
bowed to the ground before him. Then they said to him, Look now, 
there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them 
go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the 
Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into 
some valley. And he said, You shall not send 
anyone. But when they urged him, till 
he was ashamed, he said, Send them. Therefore they sent fifty 
men, and they searched for three days, but did not find him. And 
when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he 
said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not go? Then the men 
of the city said to Elisha, Please notice, the situation of this 
city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and 
the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new bowl, 
and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then 
he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt 
there, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water. 
From it there shall be no more death or barrenness. So the water 
remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he 
spoke. Then he went up from there to 
Bethel, and as he was going up the road, some youths came from 
the city and mocked him and said to him, go up, you bald head, 
go up, you bald head. So he turned around and looked 
at them and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. 
And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of 
the youths. Then he went from there to Mount 
Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria. Amen. I remember 
hearing a story one time about C.H. Spurgeon. He used to always 
tell the students at his pastor's college not to plagiarize or 
not to steal sermons. And so one time he was visiting 
and one of his students was preaching a sermon and Spurgeon thought 
the sermon sounded very familiar. And so he called the young man 
over and he said, don't you remember your lesson in the college? I 
told you not to take messages from me, specifically. And the 
young man said, I didn't take it from you, Mr. Spurgeon, I 
took it from Matthew Henry. And Spurgeon said, oh yeah, that's 
where I got it too. And I say that to simply say 
I took Matthew Henry's headings out of his commentary for this 
chapter. I think the chapter breaks down 
into two broad sections focusing on the prophet that was and the 
prophet that has come. And those two points are the 
translation of Elijah, verses 1 to 12, and then the manifestation 
of Elisha in verses 13 to 25. So after Elijah ascends, we then 
see Elisha engaging in miracle working. And those miracles authenticate 
to the sons of the prophets that he is, in fact, the replacement. 
He is, in fact, the one that has come to succeed Elisha the 
prophet. And as we move through the passage 
tonight, no doubt you have heard, or if you haven't heard, this 
is your first foray into 2 Kings 2. Perhaps you never knew this 
story about the two female bears coming out of the woods and mauling 
42 of the youths. Certainly, you can imagine that 
this is one of the least loved passages for those who are opponents 
to the Scripture, and I would argue at times Christians get 
troubled by such passages in Holy Scripture, and I'm not sure 
I'm going to be able to answer every particular concern that 
you have tonight. but try to put it into its context 
and try and see what's happening so that we can see the significance 
of such things. But before we get into this, 
I just want to read a brief quote by Paul House concerning the 
significance of Elisha. Elisha is like Elijah, another 
larger-than-life sort of character that engages in a whole host 
of wonderful things for the glory of God and for the kingdom of 
God. And essentially what we have now, though we have a divided 
kingdom, we have the northern and the southern kingdoms, of 
Israel and Judah respectively, we've had stability in terms 
of the prophetic ministry under Elijah the prophet. And now comes 
Elisha. So it's the changing of the prophetic 
guard. And some might be tempted to 
wonder if we're going to get as good a man as Elijah. Well, 
Elisha certainly is as good a man. And Howe says, again, the Lord 
uses several prophets while blessing one person in an extraordinary 
manner. Many prophets are mentioned, 
but it is Elisha who follows Elijah as the man of God. He performs miracles, protects 
Israel, and appoints kings in Israel and Syria. One he anoints 
as king, Jehu, leads a purge of northern and southern leadership, 
which in turn makes reform possible in Judah. So Elisha is a very 
significant figure. We've already met him in 1 Kings 
19. There we learn that it's going 
to be him that takes the mantle from Elijah to undertake the 
prophetic ministry here in Israel. So let's look at the translation 
of Elijah in verses 1 to 12. Note the plan of God in verse 
1. It says, it came to pass when the Lord was about to take up 
Elijah, into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with Elisha 
from Gilgal. So God had revealed this to Elijah. He knew that this was coming 
and everybody else in the chapter knows it's coming as well. Certainly 
Elisha does because he's clinging onto him and he wants to be with 
him. when that time comes. The sons of the prophets, notice 
in verses 3 and 5, they're also uniquely aware of the fact that 
this is going to take place with Elijah. They, of course, remind 
Elisha, and he tells them in both instances to keep silent. 
I think the idea is simply, you don't talk about somebody's death 
or translation in their presence. Now, they don't know the significance 
or they don't know the specifics of how this is going to transpire, 
simply that God is going to take him. Now I believe that as we 
move through the chapter only Elisha genuinely knows what happens 
in terms of Elijah going up in this whirlwind. I don't think 
the sons of the prophets actually witnessed that because they want 
to actually go and look for the body of Elijah. Perhaps they 
thought that just his spirit had been taken by the Lord and 
his body was somewhere else. They wanted to find his body 
and give it a proper burial. So there was some consciousness 
of something going to happen to Elijah in terms of God taking 
him, but the specifics are not clear to everybody involved at 
this point. Now note the particular journey 
to the Jordan from verses 2 to 8. Elijah wants to be alone in 
this venture. Notice at verse 2 he says, Elijah 
said to Elisha, stay here please for the Lord has sent me on to 
Bethel. Now the text doesn't indicate 
why Elijah wanted to be alone. Now, commentators generally speculate 
that it was one because he was humble and modest. He didn't 
want everybody to see this sort of translation from earth to 
heaven in this very vivid and powerful way. Others suggest 
that it was a means to prevent Elisha's grief, that he didn't 
want Elisha to see him translated and thus feel bad at the absence 
of Elijah. Others suggest that it was a 
means by which Elijah was testing the affection and the love of 
Elisha. Would Elisha just say, okay, 
I'm not going to go with you, or would Elisha tenaciously and 
persistently seek to be alongside of Elijah at this particular 
time? Again, the text doesn't indicate, but Elijah desires 
to be alone. But the fact is that Elisha is 
persistent. And the reason for his persistence, 
I think, is well explained by John Gill. It says he was being 
determined to see the last of him and to have the benefit of 
his company in conversation, his heavenly discourse, and instruction 
from him as long as he could, and in hope of receiving a blessing 
from him at parting. Makes sense. I mean, if you had 
been a friend of Elijah's, you'd want to be the friend of Elijah 
at the very end. You wouldn't want to miss any 
opportunity for a holy conversation, or for example, or for instruction, 
or fellowship, or anything like that. So we can understand why 
Elisha wants to be in the presence of Elijah. And then note this 
reference to the sons of the prophets. They are stationed 
in each of the cities here. Notice in verse 3, now the sons 
of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to 
him, Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from 
over you today? Now, most say that this is some 
type of school of prophets. And Gil, I think, nails it very 
clearly and very briefly when he says, Perhaps founded by Elijah 
as a nursery for religion and to check upon the idolatry of 
the times. In other words, it was a training 
ground. It was a place where the prophetic ministry would 
be taught, would be trained, would be encouraged, would be 
exhorted, so that they in turn could go to the various persons 
in their cities and bring the covenant word of God to the nation 
of Israel, both northern and southern kingdom. And then note 
the specific locations involved that these men traveled to, ultimately 
ending up at Jordan, where Elijah is translated. They moved from 
Bethel to Jericho to Jordan. And there we see that Elijah 
and Elisha work together, they move together. And again, I think 
Paul House describes the significance well. The trip from Gilgal to 
Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan retraces the first movements 
Israel made in the promised land according to Joshua chapters 
1 to 8. In other words, oftentimes you get subsequent or later revelation 
using convention or literary allusions to previous revelation 
to remind us of certain things, to tell us certain things about 
the consistency of Scripture, the unity of Scripture, and the 
fact that Elisha can be considered as a Joshua-like figure, successor 
to Elijah, the way Joshua was to Moses. and that Elisha as 
well does represent something of a Moses character. At any 
rate, he goes on, and the parting of the Jordan may also remind 
readers of the crossing of the Red Sea. It's recorded in Exodus 
14, but I think as well the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua chapters 
3 and 4 at the very initial phase of the conquest. He goes on to 
say, such a scenario calls attention to the similarities of Elisha's 
succession of Elijah and Joshua's succession of Moses. Therefore, 
the text stresses the continuity of God's message and God's messengers 
in Israel's history and places Elijah on par with Moses. Again, 
you have to appreciate the significance of this in this particular setting. 
If Elijah, the prophet, was ministering at the time that you live, and 
he was about to die or to be translated into heaven, there 
would probably be a question in your mind, who's going to 
follow in his shoes? I mean, who follows an Elijah? Who follows a Charles Haddon 
Spurgeon? Who follows a John Calvin or 
a Martin Luther? Who fills that particular void? And so the author here, in weaving 
this narrative, highlights where they stopped historically, but 
he expects us to reminisce and consider the fact that what we 
have here is a Moses-Joshua sort of a convention, and the fact 
that God's Word is faithful. That though one prophet either 
dies or is translated, that doesn't mean the prophetic Word is gone. 
Forever settled in the heavens is the Word of the living and 
the true God. Whether it's Elijah, whether it's Elisha, whether 
it's Joblo, in a small village in some part of Canada, the reality 
is that God's Word marches on. He goes on to say, the reverse 
tracing of Joshua's itinerary also serves as a reminder that 
every foot of the promised land belongs to God and is under the 
authority of God's Word. As well, as we look at the geography 
here, as these city names are mentioned, Bethel, Jericho, Jordan, 
both Elijah and Elisha go there together. Some suggest that the 
end of chapter 2 is sort of a folklore appendage. They don't like the 
bear story. They think that's a murderous 
assault by Elisha in an ungodly way, and they believe it's folklore, 
and this passage was just somehow attached here to sort of add 
some sort of mystique concerning Elisha. Well, Davis points out 
that Elijah goes to the very same cities as well, and he shows 
that structurally the whole chapter hangs together, and that this 
is not an appendage. It's not something that's an 
add-on, but rather it's vitally connected to everything that 
precedes it. Because we not only have the bear story, we also 
have the water story. And I'm going to give you a bit 
of a hint as to how we're supposed to understand those latter two 
miracles. As a Moses-like figure, Elisha 
demonstrates under God that he has the power of both blessing 
and cursing. If those who come to God in repentance 
or in faith and they say our water supply is poison, it's 
not just a little bit dangerous, but it's actually poison water. 
Elisha brings this or takes this bowl of salt and cures the water. There's blessing there from Jehovah. 
But when these young men curse the name of God Most High vis-a-vis 
His representative on earth, there is cursing to be had. This 
is the consistent message from Deuteronomy 28, and Elisha indicates 
that he is that sort of a man of God. He is a both blessing 
and a cursing man of God. And so this section is absolutely 
crucial in the particular cities are mentioned there not just 
simply to furnish an illusion to the book of Joshua, but to 
show us that Elisha retraces in these same cities to demonstrate 
that God now is in fact with him and that he has in fact received 
the double portion that he asked from Elijah. So it does hang 
together. And then note very specifically 
this mantle at the Jordan in verses 7 and 8. Notice, they 
get to the Jordan, this is where the translation, the ascension, 
the assumption of Elijah is going to take place. And in verse 7 
it says, "...and fifty men of the sons of the prophets went 
and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by 
the Jordan." Now, Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and 
struck the water, and it was divided this way and that, so 
that the two of them crossed over on dry ground." Again, the 
same thing's going to happen with Elisha at the same river, 
and these prophets are going to witness it, and they're going 
to remember. Hey, not too very long ago, like moments ago, Elijah 
put this mantle in the water and it divided. Elisha has now 
put this mantle in the water and it divided. Guess what? The Spirit of the Lord is upon 
Elisha. It confirms and authenticates 
that he is God's man. Remember, more often than not, 
the miraculous in the scripture is not first and foremost intended 
to dazzle and to impress the people of God, or even the non-people 
of God. It is to confirm the revelatory 
word. In other words, the man who is 
working the miracles is an authorized representative of the living 
God. So that when he operates or does those miracles, you can 
believe that the word that proceeds from his mouth is in fact the 
true word of God. You see that with Moses, you 
see that with the prophets, you see that with Jesus, you see 
that with the apostles. The miracles, the signs, the 
wonders were never meant as an end of themselves. and end in 
and of themselves, but rather they were a means to confirm 
and verify that the word spoken by Moses, by the prophets, by 
Jesus, by the apostles was the word of the living God. See, 
the miracles serve that particular function. Now, certainly people 
benefit as a result of the miracles, that man that was paralyzed and 
was lowered through the roof and received the forgiveness 
of sins and was told to take up his pallet and walk. The taking 
up the pallet and walking was a confirmation that Jesus was 
able to forgive him of his sins. So, the miracles did benefit 
persons, but they were as a means to authenticate that these were 
God's representatives speaking God's word of truth. So, this 
incident at the Jordan is most crucial for understanding how 
Elisha is confirmed later on. So, Elijah took his mantle, rolled 
it up, struck the water. It was divided this way and that, 
so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. Now, note 
the ascension of Elijah proper. Note the request in verse 9. Elijah says, ask what I may do 
for you before I am taken away from you. And Elisha said, please 
let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. Now this has 
been understood in a whole host of ways. It doesn't necessarily 
mean that it's a double portion of Elijah's spirit. It could 
be the spirit of the prophets. In other words, Deuteronomy 21.17 
speaks of the double benefit of a firstborn son. And Elisha 
may be suggesting to Elisha, as your firstborn son, in terms 
of the prophets, may my portion be double over what these other 
prophets have. It could be that he asks for 
a double portion of the spirit that Elijah himself had. But 
it doesn't necessarily mean it's out of a godless ambition or 
a desire to be even more. No, it simply means perhaps that 
he's keenly aware of his own weakness and his own limitations 
and how desperate he is in need of that spirit so that he may 
engage in the prophetic ministry. I think that John Gill describes 
this well. He says, not from a spirit of 
vanity and ambition to be greater than his master, but from an 
eagerness to promote the glory of God. You see, we're so used 
to persons asking for a double portion of the Spirit to be upon 
them so that they get more money, they get more cars, they get 
more houses, they get more comfort, they get more stability, that 
when a genuinely humble man of God asks for it, for the promotion 
of God's glory, it's foreign to us. We're just so used to 
persons abusing the goodness and the gifts and the graciousness 
of God that when we meet an Elisha in the scripture who wants a 
double portion, not to spend on his own lust, but to spend 
on the glory of God, we really have to explain it and qualify 
it and put it in its biblical context. So Gil says, not from 
a spirit of vanity and ambition to be greater than his master, 
but from an eagerness to promote the glory of God, the interest 
of religion, to reclaim the Israelites from their idolatry and establish 
the true religion, which he might observe Elijah was not able to 
do with that measure of grace and gifts he had. I don't think 
that's inaccurate to suggest. Elisha saw Elijah's difficulties 
in the prophetic ministry. Elisha's not a fool. He says, 
Elijah, I know that you are a gifted man of God. You preached, you 
brought fire down, you did incredible things, and yet Israel is still 
devoted to her idols. If we're going to see an Israel 
free from her idols, then it may require a double portion 
from you. So please grant that to me so 
that I can go out and proclaim the word of God Most High through 
the destruction of idols and the promotion of the true religion 
in the land. And then notice, Elijah answers 
in verse 10. You've asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, 
if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for 
you. But if not, it shall not be so. And now Elijah is translated. Perhaps you've seen the picture. 
There's a famous painting. I have it on a book that I have. 
Looks like Mr. Alder Leaston. The picture of... It's a famous painting of Elijah, 
presumably. I mean, we didn't have pictures 
of Elijah. I guess this is what we would guess he'd look like. 
He'd look like Mr. Alder Leaston. Long gray beard and... You know, sitting in a chariot, 
but he's not in the chariot. The chariot simply divides or 
separates Elijah and Elisha. He goes up in the whirlwind. 
This is what the text says. Notice in verse 11, then it happened 
as they continued on and talked that suddenly a chariot of fire 
appeared with horses of fire. and separated the two of them, 
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." There was a lot 
of fire associated with the ministry of Elijah. There was fire at 
Mount Carmel when fire came down from Yahweh and consumed Elijah's 
sacrifice. There was fire when it came to 
Ahaziah. Remember those men that wanted 
to seize Elijah? It shouldn't be that hard. It 
was last Wednesday, and God sent fire down to consume the 50 plus 
1 in two instances. So 102 men met their fate, death 
by fire, from God. So it really ought not to surprise 
us that when this godly man is translated back into heaven, 
There's fire present, there is this pomp, and there is this 
show. It's a glorious and a splendid end in terms of an earthly ministry 
for a very proven servant of God. Of course, we meet Elijah 
the prophet again on the Mount of Transfiguration, wherein he 
and Moses are there at the Mount, and Peter says, It is good for 
us to be here. Let me build three tabernacles 
for you, Jesus, and for Moses, and for Elijah." So Elijah is 
certainly a very excellent and wonderful character in the biblical 
narrative. So here he is translated up into 
heaven. Now note Elisha's response in 
verse 12. Elisha saw it, he cried out, 
my father, my father. Again, it's not paternal in terms 
of genetics, but his father as the prophet. And then he says, 
the chariot of Israel and its horsemen. This is how he describes 
Elijah, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen. In other words, 
any success, any stability, any health that Israel still maintains 
vis-a-vis in the world setting or in the world context, in terms 
of subduing Syria, in terms of not being subdued by Syria, in 
terms of not being subdued by these surrounding nations, the 
glory is owing to God ultimately, but to the prophet Elijah. In 
other words, it's not the kings, it's not their savvy, it's not 
their might, it's not their military ability. The strength of Israel 
is in the prophetic word of the living God. That's what sustains 
this kingdom. That's what holds it together. Elijah has been Israel's true 
power as chariotry is the driving power of an army. And then notice 
later in 2 Kings 13, 14, Elisha is given this same title himself. 
In 2 Kings 13 at verse 14, Elisha had become sick with the illness 
of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel 
came down to him and wept over his face and said, Oh my father, 
my father, the chariots of Israel, and their horsemen." So what 
is God telling us in these descriptions of His prophetic servants? The 
Word is everything. You see, that's an application 
that we're going to make over and over again as we move through 
the rest of Kings, because that's the application God makes over 
and over again in 1 and 2 Kings. It is that prophetic Word that 
is everything to the Kingdom of Israel. Now, of course, he 
is sad in terms of his own loss. Notice in verse 12, he saw him 
no more. He took hold of his own clothes 
and tore them into two pieces. He's not sad for Elijah. Elijah's been translated in the 
presence of God Almighty, but he's sad for himself and for 
Israel. The great man is gone. A champion 
of Israel is gone. Certainly, that will have an 
effect. upon the nation as a whole. Now that brings us, in terms 
of the second broad section of the chapter, the manifestation 
of Elisha in verses 13 to 25. Notice in verse 13, he also took 
up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went 
back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Now this was, of 
course, the mantle, the garment, the piece of of attire that Elijah 
wore that signified that he was indeed the prophetic mouthpiece 
for God Most High. So now that's been given to Elisha. It's not magic. There's no hocus 
pocus. When we get to the bowl of salt 
that Elisha pours into the water, it's not magic. It's very conspicuous, 
it's the word of the Lord that heals the waters. But oftentimes, 
the prophets used symbols. The prophets used acted parables. The prophets gave us, or gave 
their hearers, some visible representation of the invisible reality of the 
living and the true God. Tabernacle, temple, it wasn't 
as if God actually lived in the Holy of Holies. God transcends 
that, but it's the physical emblem or symbol or representation of 
the invisible God. The problem is when we treat 
those things like magic or when we get superstitious about those 
things. Remember the brazen serpent that 
was lifted up in the wilderness? What ultimately happened with 
the children of Israel? They started bowing down to it. 
You're not supposed to do that. It's a visible emblem designed 
to lead you to faith in the living and the true God. So this mantle 
functions in that particular manner. So he's at the Jordan, 
and then notice in verse 14, he took the mantle of Elijah 
that had fallen from him and struck the water and said, where 
is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had struck the 
water, it was divided this way and that, and Elisha crossed 
over. You see, this is for Elisha. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Again, that's not a question 
in terms of, you know, where is he among Baal or Asherah. 
He is conscious of the reality of what is transpiring. He was 
present in 1 Kings 19. He knew that he was the successor 
of Elijah. And so this is a means for Elisha 
for his own confirmation and then for the sons of the prophets. 
And notice that is specifically how it plays out in verse 15. 
Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, 
they said, the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. So there you have it. Elijah 
is translated, Elisha is manifested as the prophetic successor of 
Elijah the prophet. Now as I already mentioned, these 
men want to seek for Elijah. Notice in verse 15b. And they 
came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. Then they 
said to him, Look now, there are fifty strong men with your 
servants. Please let them go and search for your master. Lest 
perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him 
upon some mountain or into some valley." Now that's not outlandish 
on their part. Remember that was precisely the 
complaint of Obadiah. the concern of Obadiah in 1 Kings 
chapter 18. Remember when Ahab shows up and 
tells Obadiah, go fetch Ahab, I want to talk to him. Obadiah 
says, if that happens, the spirit of the Lord may spirit you away. And then I'm going to be stuck 
with Ahab that's looking. I'm giving you the Jim Butler 
paraphrase just to kind of cut to it. Obadiah was concerned 
that the spirit might spirit away Elijah, and then Obadiah 
would be standing there holding an empty bag in front of Ahab. 
So these prophets have the same idea, lest perhaps the Spirit 
of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain 
or into some valley. Again, I suggest they didn't 
see the actual translation. And so they don't know, has just 
his spirit been translated? Is his body laying somewhere? 
Will the animals get it? We want to find it. We want to 
bury it. We want to give it its proper respect and its due honor 
and that sort of thing. But notice, he goes on, or Elisha 
says, you shall not send anyone. Now, Davis develops an interesting 
lesson here. He says that Elisha is indeed 
the prophetic word of the living God. They've recognized that. Verse 15, the spirit of Elijah 
rests on Elisha. As well as the prophetic word 
of God, he's also a man who's wise. And these men have acknowledged 
the fact that the Spirit of the Lord rests upon him, or the Spirit 
of Elijah, rather, rests upon Elisha, and yet they're not listening 
to him. They're not taking in what he 
has to say. He says, you shall not send anyone. As a general rule, when the prophet 
of the living God says, you shall not send anyone, don't keep trying 
to wear him down. Don't keep trying to say, no, 
but we want to send somebody. That is ultimately what they 
do. Verse 17, they urged him till he was ashamed. He said, 
send them. And again, the ashamed there 
doesn't mean ashamed in the sense that, you know, he's going to 
go home and cry. It's just they've worn him down. 
And so he says, go ahead. Davis says this little episode 
shows the sons of the prophets that Elisha knows what he's talking 
about. Elisha is not only the bearer 
of God's power, but of God's wisdom. And I love the way this 
whole affair ends. You know how it goes when you 
tell somebody something and then they go out and do the exact 
opposite and then they come back to you. What do you typically 
always say or at least want to say? I told you so. Isn't that satisfying? Isn't 
that just make you feel wonderful? I don't know why that is. We 
just love to be right. Elisha does that at the end of 
verse 18. I'm not suggesting he does it 
with the same motivation I would do it. But notice in verse 18, 
and when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, 
he said to them, Did I not say to you, do not go? It will be 
an exercise in futility. You're not going to find his 
body. He's been translated. He's in the presence of God Most 
High. The next time he is going to 
be seen is on the Mount of Transfiguration. Do not go, mountain to mountain, 
searching for the body of Elijah. Did I not say to you, do not 
go? Now, notice, not only has this 
mantle confirmed that he is, in fact, the man that God has 
raised up as successor to Elijah, but notice the prophet's blessing 
in verses 19 to 22. Now the problem is indicated 
in verse 19, then the men of the city, this is Jericho, said 
to Elisha, please notice the situation of this city as pleasant 
as my Lord sees, but the water is bad and the ground barren. 
Literally the ground miscarries. If you look at verse 21, the 
end, from it there shall be no more death or miscarriages. Davis makes this observation. 
The land suffers from miscarriages better picks up the sense of 
the verb. Moreover, when Elisha announces Yahweh's healing of 
the waters, he assures townsfolk that the water supply will no 
longer cause death or miscarriage. The problem is far more serious 
than unproductive land. There was something lethal in 
the water supply, causing fatalities in livestock and humans. Hence, 
when verse 19 says, the land miscarries, I take land as a 
cipher for its occupants. In other words, livestock and 
people. So, you know, there was a time, 
probably it was a couple of years ago, Chilliwack increased the 
chlorine in their water supply. And I think you could taste it. 
You'd go to the tap, and what used to be fresh, clear water, 
you didn't taste any chlorine. Now there was that hint of chlorine. 
That's not the problem here in Jericho. It is causing barrenness, 
miscarriages on the part of female animals and female humans. This is a bad, bad situation. Now, if you think back in biblical 
history, what was the deal with Jericho? Jericho had been imposed 
with a curse by Joshua in Joshua chapter 6. In 1 Kings chapter 
16, a man rebuilds in Jericho, and it costs him his firstborn 
sons. This was a city that was effectively 
under a curse. But now notice what happens here. Now, again, it's not a curse 
of chlorinated water. It's a curse of death. People 
are having serious calamities trying to sustain life here in 
Jericho. So verse 20, he said, bring me 
a new bowl and put salt in it. I mean, isn't that just a beautiful 
thing that God does? Salt is the very contrary to 
what you want to put into water to make it potable, to make it 
drinkable, to make it something that sustains and nourishes life. 
You see, Yahweh is displaying His power here through Elisha. 
I'm going to put salt in this water to clean it. This is the 
power of God Almighty. This is the glory of the one 
we worship. So they brought it to him. Then 
he went out to the source of the water and cast in the salt 
there and said, Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water. So again, it's not magic, it's 
not the effectiveness of the salt, it wasn't some special 
salt or a special bowl that was prepared for such a ritual that 
did indeed cleanse this water at its supply source. No, it 
was the word of the living God. This was a symbol, this was a 
sign, this was a display, this was a representation of the power 
of God Almighty at work. And the fact that it was absolutely 
contrary to what one would expect to clean up water further evidences 
His glory and His majesty and His excellence. So I have healed 
this water, from it there shall be no more death or miscarriages, 
so the water remains healed to this day according to the word 
of Elisha which he spoke. Isn't this a beautiful display 
of God's grace? About every few years or so, 
some new group resurrects the idea or concept of transgenerational 
curses. And they basically teach that 
these transgenerational curses means that you're under the whammy. 
You know, if your parents were wretched, you're just destined 
to suffer as a result of that. Now, I don't doubt, brethren, 
the scriptures teach that oftentimes children imbibe or children learn 
the idolatry of their parents. I think that's probably what's 
happening with these youths in Bethel. I doubt they just, you 
know, decided on their own to go and mock the prophet Elisha. 
They probably heard the prophets mocked in their living rooms 
every night by their godless parents. But at any rate, this 
idea teaches that these transgenerational curses means, you know, you're 
basically out of luck because your parents were terrible. Look 
at what this lesson teaches us. A nation or a city-state that 
was cursed by Joshua the prophet was reiterated when the city 
was refounded in 1st Kings 16. God says, I'm going to cleanse 
your water. That's the God of grace. You 
see amazing grace in 2 Kings 2. Certainly in the translation 
of Elijah the prophet, but in the cleansing of this water supply 
so that these people won't miscarry, so that these people won't give 
stillbirth anymore, so that these people will be able to sustain 
life in the land that they've been placed in. And then so we 
see there, there's the prophet's blessing. Now notice finally 
the prophet's curse in verses 23 to 25. Then he went up from there to 
Bethel. And as he was going up the road, some youths came from 
the city and mocked him and said to him, go up, you bald head. 
Go up, you bald head. If I'm guilty of plagiarism tonight, 
it's not Matthew Henry. I just took his two main headings, 
probably Davis. So if you want to really get 
me in trouble, email him and tell on me there. But he says, 
you know, is this just a case of a cranky prophet? You know, 
if he would have drank decaf that morning, would everything 
have been different? I mean, Elisha just get up on 
the wrong day? Is he having a case of the Mondays? 
Is he, you know, just discouraged? He's sad? Is that all that's 
going on here? Just a cranky prophet and some 
mischievous youths that just, you know, got more than they 
bargained for? There are several things we ought 
to consider as we move through this section. First, the location. 
Bethel. The word Bethel means house of 
God. It's a good thing. But what happens to Bethel in 
1 Kings chapter 12 under Jeroboam? It becomes a central location 
for calf worship. It's a hotbed of idolatry. They're 
not favorable to Yahweh in this particular city. They don't like 
God. They have rejected God. They 
have learned from Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and no doubt they 
have learned to bend the knee to these calves. As well, we 
need to understand something about the lads. Now, House, the 
commentator, says that this word or this description can describe 
men or young people from ages 12 to 30. Ages 12 to 30. Typically, commentators put the 
age from about 10 to 12. Now, again, that may be rough 
and it may be tough and it may be hard for us to understand, 
but we ought to at least appreciate that God does deal with sin wherever 
it is. It's not just an old problem, 
it's a young problem too. It's a problem that affects all 
the sons of Adam. But we need to appreciate that 
these young lads, young men, however our Bibles translate 
the word, youths here, there's more going on. Notice their intent. At verse 23, some youths came 
from the city. So it's not like they're just 
hanging out at 7-Eleven. They're not just sort of loitering 
somewhere and Elisha comes down the main street and they, you 
know, yell out, hey, bald head, that sort of a thing. They come 
out of the city. Elisha is not in the city. Elisha 
is passing through. They with intent go and find 
the prophet of God. Notice that they call him bald 
head. Now this indicates that they 
knew who he was. I mean, Matthew Henry develops 
this beautifully. You don't make fun of people 
with a physical, I don't know what he calls it, not infirmity, 
but I mean, you kind of see where he falls on the whole idea of 
a bald head, but don't make fun of people with, you know, some 
physical appearance that they can't control. These young men 
knew who it was. They had particular intent. They 
go out of the city and they mock him and they say, go up. Now, 
that go up could indicate one of two things, but the same end 
result. Elijah went up. What's their 
suggestion? Why don't you go up with Elijah 
and get out of Bethel? We don't want you here. We don't 
want Yahweh or his prophet in our city. Again, they learned 
this at their homes, their parents no doubt taught them this, but 
they had embraced it, they had made it theirs, and now they 
are mocking the prophet of the living God. As well it could 
mean go up out of our city, go up to another city. But the end 
result is the same. We don't want you and your kind 
here, Elisha. And then if we look at the text, 
it was 42 of the youths. That indicates that there were 
some youths that weren't mauled. We're not talking about three 
or four kids outside 7-Eleven. We're talking about 42 plus young 
people that go out of the city to mock the prophet of God and 
essentially say, we don't want you or your kind here. In sum, 
Davis says they were responsible young lads expressing abuse, 
contempt, and hostility toward Yahweh's representative, and 
they knew they were doing so. You see, the older commentators 
say they got what was coming to them. Gill says, why is it 
surprising that these sheepbears come out of the woods and maul 
them? They asked for it very specifically 
by mocking the very prophet of God Almighty. The prophet did 
not go through town, but was going up on the road outside 
of town, and these fellows went forth. Theirs was a deliberate 
and malicious intent to malign the prophet of God and the God 
of the prophet. Now notice what Elisha does in 
verse 24. He turned around and looked at 
them and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. So, Elisha didn't control the 
she-bears any more than Elijah controlled the fire that consumed 
the 102 troops dispatched by Ahaziah to seize Elijah, to bring 
him back to Ahaziah, and to execute him for whatever it was Ahaziah 
was going to execute him for. Elijah didn't control the fire. 
He laid it before the living and the true God. Elisha doesn't 
control she-bears. Elisha doesn't, you know, wind 
them up in their backs and send them out to maul these youths 
that were mocking him. No, he simply turns, he looks 
at them, he pronounces a curse on them in the name of the Lord. 
And then verse 24 tells us, and two female bears. Most of the 
commentators suggest, and I think they're right, female bears. Female bears that were robbed 
of their whelps, robbed of their cubs. They're even more vicious. 
They're even more vile. They're even more harsh. And 
they come out of the woods and they maul 42 of the youths." 
Again, I want to return to what Davis says here. We must size 
up these bears correctly. They were covenant bears. The 
covenant curse of Leviticus 26, 22, which reads, I will let loose 
the wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, 
explains the episode. You see, if we've read Leviticus 
or Deuteronomy, we sure ought not to freak out at the end of 
2 Kings 2. God has said, break my covenant, 
curse my name, rebel against me, and this is what you'll reap. It's sinners, like us, that say, 
well, I don't know why God would do such and such. I don't know 
why these she-bears would come out of the woods. Because they're 
mocking the prophet of God, and thus they're mocking the God 
of the prophet. Davis says, covenant infidelity, 
hatred of Yahweh's servant, and perhaps persisting in Bethel's 
perverse worship, has brought the covenant curse. Had Elisha 
been wronged to curse, one would assume Yahweh would not have 
fulfilled the curse. That Yahweh did so validates 
Elisha's curse. Here is not an irritable prophet, 
but a judging God. Same thing we saw with Elijah. 
If God was displeased with Elijah's prayer, he wouldn't have sent 
the fire. But the fact that God sends the 
fire indicates that what Elijah was praying was absolutely consistent. Now, brethren, we might say, 
well, we can't always interpret things by providence. We can 
when we're dealing with the prophets of God in certain literary contexts 
where it is obvious and evident that they are the prophets of 
God and they speak for Yahweh, such that when they pray an imprecation 
and it comes to pass, we know that God authorizes it, God blesses 
it, and God dealt with those rebel youths that were mocking 
the prophet. Listen to Matthew Henry. He says, 
the prophet must be justified for he did it by divine impulse. He had the curse or had the curse 
come from any bad principle, God would not have said amen 
to it. There's some wretched interpretations 
of our dear brother, Elisha. They say he was vicious. He was 
a murderer. He was wretched and reprehensible. And obviously we can't take this 
as truth because no one would ever engage in this sort of activity. Yeah, no one that was anywhere 
cognizant of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 But the prophet 
of God who's suing the nation of God on behalf of God is certainly 
conscious of that, and he invokes the covenant curses to deal with 
the covenant threat. Matthew Henry goes on to say, 
we may think it would have been better to have called for two 
rods for the correction of these children than two bears for the 
destruction of them. But Elisha knew by the spirit 
the bad character of these children. He knew what a generation of 
vipers those were and what mischievous enemies they would be to God's 
prophets if they should live to be men who began so early 
to be abusive to them. See, brethren, I would suggest 
that the surprise or the dismay, I get it from pagans because 
they hate God and they hate the thought of the judgment of God, 
but from professing Christians, don't tell me you've got a problem 
with 2 Kings 2 and then say, oh, I love the book of Leviticus, 
I love Deuteronomy. You know that chapter about the 
blessings and the cursing. Boy, God really means business. 
Yeah, and that's exactly what's being applied here. That's what 
the text says. I will let loose the wild beasts 
among you, which shall rob you of your children. You break my 
covenant, this is what's going to happen. So we come to 2 Kings 
2 and we're shocked that God actually prosecutes his word, 
that God actually carries out his vengeance and his judgment. 
You know what we ought to take away from this? Fear and trembling. 
And the reality that God has no truck was sin. Whether it's 
sin in the old head, whether it's sin in the young head, we 
need to see how vile and reprehensible sin is. That's another typical 
canned response of sinners. We say, oh, how outlandish that 
Elisha would do such and such. How terrible that God would send 
these sheep bears out to maul these Jews. We never, ever muse 
on the fact that these rebel, incorrigible youth go out of 
their way to aggressively mock the prophet of the living God. 
I mean, isn't that typical? Oh, how dare God bring judgment? 
What about the sin he brought judgment upon? That doesn't bother 
us as much, does it? Brethren, 2 Kings 2, 23 to 24 
is a display of God's power, God's judgment, and God's wrath 
to sinners. Now the significance as mentioned 
before, the prophet Elisha, like Moses before him, has authority 
under God to pronounce both blessing and cursing. So then he went 
from there to Mount Carmel, probably to meditate, to pray, to muse, 
to reflect, to commune with his God, and then where? Samaria. Why? Because it's the political, 
religious capital of the North, and Elisha's got business to 
transact. Elisha's got kings to rebuke. 
Elisha's got the prophetic word to prosecute. Elisha's got to 
have dealings with men in the name of the living God. Well, 
brethren, in conclusion, the power of God is on display here, 
and that power is not restricted to a particular era. The power 
of God displayed at the Exodus, wherein the sea was divided, 
and in Joshua chapters 3 and 4, wherein the sea was divided, 
is the same power on display here in the lives of Elijah and 
Elisha. And I think that this is a very 
appropriate application. Again, I've taken this from Davis. 
The power of God is not restricted to a particular instrument. I put it even more homey, to 
a particular person. You see, when Elijah is translated, 
when John Calvin dies, when C.H. Spurgeon goes the way of all 
flesh, God's kingdom marches on. You see, it's the Word, brethren. It's the Word that has power. Davis says, the prophets likely 
wondered, what will we do now that Elijah is no longer with 
us? And if we think that, we must, like Elisha himself, look 
for the God of Elijah to be with us. He says, our help is in the 
name of the Lord, not in the charisma of his servants. I think 
this is a very appropriate application in light of what is a celebrity 
evangelical culture. I mean, you go to Sermon Audio 
and find the most popular downloaded preacher. I mean, there are celebrity 
preachers. I'm not saying it's wicked to 
download sermons from these guys, but we typically have a way of 
sort of exalting man and just finding our comfort in, I'm of 
Paul, or I'm of Cephas, or I'm of this, or I'm of that. Just 
let's be of Jesus. He goes on to say, God's leaders 
change, God's power persists. Perhaps sometimes God removes 
His most illustrious servants so that we will not make idols 
of them as though they are the only conduits of God's help. 
Perhaps God deliberately displays His might through lesser instruments 
so that we will not be transfixed on the pizzazz of God's servants 
but on the strength of God's arm. Beautiful. It's not just 
about Elijah, it's God. Elisha will do just fine, brethren. He gives an illustration of Calvin. Calvin, before he died, said, 
don't mark my grave. I want to be buried like everybody 
else. No headstone, no nothing. So 
that not long, a week, couple weeks later, somebody was visiting 
the city and said, where's Calvin's grave? They couldn't find it. 
I mean, talk about a humble servant. I mean, John Calvin said, I don't 
want you to mark my grave. I don't want anybody to exalt 
John Calvin. I mean, if Calvin knew there 
were Calvinists, he would probably with Luther. Why would anybody 
want to call themselves Lutheran? You know, I think that was the 
context in which Luther said, I'm just a stinking bag of maggots. Why would anybody want to take 
my name? You see, brethren, it's us to gravitate toward men. We need to gravitate toward God. Praise God that He uses men. Praise God for these preachers 
that the Lord uses to bring the word out. They've got beautiful 
feet, and we ought to appreciate them for that, and appreciate 
God using them. But boy, if a servant of Christ 
dies, I've got a lot of heroes of the Christian faith, and after 
each one of them is gone, the kingdom still marched on. Paul 
died and the kingdom still marched on. I mean, if the kingdom would 
ever stop after the death of a particular servant, it would 
have had to have been Paul. I mean, he was the chief servant, 
obviously next to Jesus, in terms of Christianity. Do you have 
the death of, you know, those church fathers that fought and 
contended for the doctrine of the Trinity and the solid Christology, 
Athanasius, Contramundum, Athanasius against the world? He died. What 
happened? Kingdom kept marching on. Spurgeon's 
dead, Calvin's dead, Luther's dead. We're all going to be dead. 
Guess what's going to happen? The kingdom of God's going to 
march on because it's about the word. It's a beautiful thing. 
It's a wonderful thing. I remember hearing Al Martin 
say, no minister of the gospel should ever take themselves too 
seriously. You drop dead in your sleep tonight, 
the kingdom is going to march on tomorrow without you. Don't 
take yourself so seriously. And then as well, finally, we 
already looked at the grace of God. I just want to end with 
this quote by Matthew Henry on the judgment of God. Let me just 
read you a couple sample specimens of how unbelieving men or liberal 
theologians or commentators deal with the the She-Bear incident. One man says, this murderous 
response to the boy's mockery is morally scandalous. Is it 
meant to suggest that Elisha does not make responsible use 
of his prophetic powers? That after turning death to life 
at the spring, he now spreads death? Boy, that sounds dramatic, 
doesn't it? No, it sounds more consistent 
to say he's prosecuting the covenant blessings and covenant cursings. 
He goes on to say, the early rabbis were so outraged by this 
story, as if I could care less what an early rabbi said. The early rabbis were so outraged 
by this story that they felt constrained to assert it never 
really happened. Their formulation, neither bears 
nor forest, became idiomatic in Hebrew for a cock and bull 
story. Another man says, verses 23 to 25 is in every respect 
a puerile tale and that there is no serious point in this incident. 
The supposition that Elisha invoked the name of Yahweh to curse the 
boys with such terrible consequences is derogatory to the great public 
figure and borders on blasphemy. You see, that's the kind of antipathy 
there is to the biblical narrative when we don't like it. See, when 
it's a passage that deals with blessing, nobody says, well, 
it's suspect that it's even true. But it's when it's cursing or 
when it's judgment, oh, no, can't be the Word of God. I like Matthew, 
Henry, and we'll end here. God must be glorified as a righteous 
God that hates sin and will reckon for it even in children. Let 
the hideous shrieks and groans of this wicked, wretched brood 
make our flesh tremble for fear of God." Maybe that's the lesson 
we're supposed to take from 2 Kings 2, 23 and 24. Because a great 
big dose of the fear of God would do us all a whole world of good. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for its clarity, 
and I thank you, God, for the Holy Spirit that has given this 
Word to us, and for the prophets that have gone in olden times. We thank you for the apostles. 
We thank you for various figures in church history. We thank you 
for the men that you have used to bring the gospel of free grace. God, we thank you most of all 
for the gospel of free grace. We thank you for that Word that 
endures, that Word that can't be snuffed out, that word that 
is indeed the word of the living and true God. Help us to be submissive 
to it. Help us to appreciate in this 
passage your power, your grace, your wisdom, and as well your 
justice and your judgment. Go with us now, we pray, and 
bring us together on the Sabbath that we may worship you in spirit 
and in truth. And we pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.