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2 Kings 2, we'll take a bit of 
a break from our study in Matthew. The Lord willing, we'll return 
to Matthew 27 next Sunday, but this morning we're going to look 
at 2 Kings 2. And 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 Elisha 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 
50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at 
a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. And 
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. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the written word. We do acknowledge that all scripture, 
including Old Testament passages like these, are given by inspiration 
of God. We acknowledge their profitability 
for us and pray that today, by the power of your spirit, We 
would learn of God in this passage, that You would cause us to stand 
in awe, to appreciate Your sovereignty, Your power, Your majesty, Your 
excellence and Your glory. As well, our Father, may You 
cause us to be a humble people under Your mighty hand. And in 
your time, would you lift us up? We ask that you would deal 
mercifully and graciously with any and all who have come here 
this morning that are outside of Christ, those who are dead 
in their trespasses and sins, those who are unbelievers. We 
pray that today would be the day of salvation. We know that 
You are able in Your sovereign power to make men willing, and 
we pray that You would do such things for the demonstration 
of Your amazing grace and Your goodness and Your kindness and 
Your love. We would pray, Father, that sinners would hear the preaching 
of the Word today, not just here, but throughout the earth, that 
Your Word would run swiftly, that it would be glorified, that 
it would not return unto You void, but accomplish the purpose 
for which You sent it. To that end, God, we pray for 
the ministry and the power of your Holy Spirit. We come to 
the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Spirit, and we 
pray that even now we know the presence of the Holy Spirit, 
that you would help us as we come to this passage of Scripture, 
that you would inform and instruct our minds and hearts, that you 
would encourage us, that you would challenge us, that you 
would lay us low as need be. We ask that you would forgive 
us for our sins and our transgressions. Wash us in the blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ and cause us to stand amazed that you are the 
God who indeed forgives, that you are a God who does cleanse, 
a God who does receive unto himself guilty, vile, helpless sinners 
because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished. And 
we come to you now in and through his most blessed name. Amen. 
Well, as we come to this particular passage, I think it is very instructive 
for us, and I think there are three reasons why we ought to 
look at this passage this morning. In the first place, instructional. We ought to know what the scripture 
says. We ought to know what's in the 
Bible. We, along with Paul, in 2 Timothy 3, confess that all 
Scripture is given by inspiration of God. In that context, when 
Paul writes that, he has primarily in his mind the Old Testament 
Scriptures. Well, 2 Kings 2 is part of that 
body of literature. We need to know what's in there. 
Secondly, apologetically. You will probably not doubt that 
a lot of people have problems with this particular chapter. 
They teach, at least within the professing church, some teach 
that what we have here with Elisha is owing more to folklore and 
stories and things that were sort of made up to support the 
prophet and give him more of a popular appeal. Well, that's 
certainly not the way these stories are to be read or understood. But apologetically as well, this 
instance of the two bears troubles a lot of people, certainly outside 
of the church, but then as well within the context of the church. So it's important for us to know 
what the Bible is speaking to here, to understand what's happening. so that we may indeed be able 
to defend God's Word. Now, I know that there are those 
who say God's Word needs no defense, and I agree with that, and I 
certainly affirm that. But there is those occasions, 
or are those occasions, when persons ask questions, and in 
the language of Peter, we need to always be ready to give a 
reason for the hope that is within us. But primarily, I think the 
instruction that this chapter holds out to us is practical. 
And by practical, I don't mean, kids, don't be naughty or bears 
will get you. I mean, I think that's the temptation 
to get to when we come to 2 Kings 2. We put the fear, hopefully, 
of God in the hearts of our children and say, now you be good, don't 
steal cookies, don't do anything nasty, don't say ill things, 
or bears are going to come and get you. When I say practical, 
I mean theological. There's a lot that this chapter 
teaches us about God, and that's how we're going to approach it 
this morning. by way of application, but by 
way of exposition, the chapter breaks down into two main sections. 
First, the translation of Elijah in verses 1 to 12, and then secondly, 
the manifestation of Elisha in verses 13 to 25. Now Elijah was 
a larger-than-life prophet. I mean, he was a man who came 
from God. He just appears in 1 Kings chapter 
17. Elisha, the Tishbi, stands before 
godless Ahab and tells him there's going to be drought in the land. 
Well, here Elijah is taken back up to heaven. in a glorious and 
in a wondrous display of the majesty and sovereignty of God. 
And so then we see the manifestation of Elisha, his successor, a prophet 
who comes after him. But let's look first at this 
translation. Note the plan of God in verse 
1. It says, it came to pass when Yahweh was about to take up Elijah 
into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from 
Gilgal. So God had purpose to do this, 
and everybody in the chapter knows about this. Elisha, according 
to verses 2, 4, and 6, understand that this is Elijah's lot, as 
well these sons of the prophets in verses 3 and 5. They as well 
know that Elijah is going to be taken up by God into heaven. So it is God's purpose, it is 
God's plan. Now note their journey to the 
Jordan. Elijah wants to be alone, according to verse 2a. Then Elijah 
said to Elisha, stay here please, for the Lord has sent me on to 
Bethel. We don't know why he wanted to 
be alone. There are many reasons that commentators offer, perhaps 
to evidence his humility. He doesn't want anybody else 
to be around. He's going to go this alone. As well, to prevent 
Elisha's grief. He knows the strong bond that 
he maintains with his younger successor, and he wants to prevent 
that grief. Or some suggest it was to test 
Elisha's affection. Will Elisha nevertheless come 
with Elijah at this particular time? We don't know because the 
text doesn't tell us. We do know, however, that Elisha 
is persistent. He wants to remain on with Elijah 
to the very end. It's kind of like a time of fellowship 
with a brother or a sister in Christ, and the hour is getting 
late, but you don't want it to end. You don't want to get gypped 
of any of the good resources that that brother brings to your 
soul. You've had those seasons. You've 
had those times. You may have it in public worship. And so Elisha wants to milk this 
for all it's worth, as Gil says, 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." It's a 
good way to value our Christian friendships. It's a good way 
to value Christian society. It is a good thing to want to 
jealously hold on to that for as long as we can. Now, note 
these sons of the prophets that are indicated here in Bethel. Notice in verse 3, it says, "...the 
sons of the prophets who were at Bethel." They are located 
as well at Jericho. We see these sons of the prophets 
or schools of the prophets. And again, Gil explains, these 
schools were perhaps founded by Elijah as a nursery for religion 
and to check upon the idolatry of the times. Now what's happening 
at least governmentally at the time of Elijah and Elisha is 
a great time of wickedness in Israel. You have the northern 
kingdom of Israel and their leaders have basically plunged them into 
idolatry. You have a whole host of wicked 
men that are running the nation into the ground, and yet the 
prophetic movement continues, and they continue to call the 
government officials to repentance. They continue to give guidance 
from the Lord to the nation. You seek God's great mercy, Though 
the people are running headlong into idolatry, God nevertheless 
provides them prophets and gives them the spoken word of God Almighty. So these sons of the prophets, 
they come along and notice what they say. Verse 3, Do you know 
that the Lord will take away your master from over you today? 
And he said, Yes, I know. Keep silent. This happens a series 
of times. Elisha knows, and everybody's 
reminding him, and Elisha reminds everybody, I know, keep silent 
about it. This is a painful time for Elisha. He doesn't want to see Elijah 
go. He loves this man. He's been 
a servant to this man. In fact, he's identified in the 
next chapter as the one who poured water on the hands of Elijah. You see, Elisha wasn't this man 
who was always chomping at the bit, who needed this prestige. 
He wanted Elijah to go so there would be room for him. No, he 
deferred. He poured hands on the water 
of Elijah. He loved the man. He didn't want 
to hear about the fact that he was going to be translated into 
heaven away from him. That's the gist or the vibe that 
he does here. I know, keep silent about it. And then notice what we have 
in terms of the specific locations involved. They go from Bethel 
to Jericho to Jordan. I'm sorry, Bethel to Jericho 
to Jordan. One commentator says the trip 
from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho on the Jordan retraces the first 
movements Israel made in the promised land. And the parting 
of the Jordan may also remind readers of the crossing of the 
Red Sea. He's going to go on to develop this in a moment, 
but it's not only the crossing of the Red Sea, but there was 
also a similar parting of the River Jordan during Joshua's 
time in Joshua chapters 3 and 4. But Howe says, such a scenario 
calls attention to the similarities of Elisha's succession of Elijah 
and Joshua's succession of Moses. Now, you need to keep this in 
mind, because I'm going to argue today that one of the things 
that we are seeing in this particular chapter, bears and all, is an 
affirmation, a confirmation, an authentication of the fact 
that Elisha is God's man, speaking God's word in the name of God. You see, at this particular time 
it wasn't the case that anyone could blog and get a hearing, 
or anyone could post YouTube videos and get a hearing. If 
some came and proclaimed to speak in the name of Yahweh of Israel, 
they had to be vetted. They had to be affirmed. They 
had to be confirmed. They had to be authenticated. 
And the two miracles that are done in this particular chapter, 
vis-a-vis a healing miracle and then a cursing miracle, connect 
Elisha to Moses. It connects Elisha to the prophetic 
tradition. It connects Elisha in a way wherein 
God is saying that even through the means of these bears, you 
need to listen to my man. You need to give ear to him because 
he is my man. He is the legitimate successor 
of Elijah the prophet. You see, when Elijah goes, the 
nation is now destitute, and so they want the mouth of God. And so these miracles affirm 
that he is, in fact, the mouth of God. So this parting of the 
Jordan here reminisces to Joshua, but as well to the Red Sea. And 
as he says, 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. It's a beautiful 
thing. You've got to read the Bible 
this way. Yes, it's a beautiful narrative in terms of what God 
is doing in the history of Israel, but think backwards and think 
forwards and see how it connects to redemptive history, that which 
has preceded and that which does follow. And then as I said, some 
take this passage and they say, well, it's obviously folklore 
because, you know, these two stories at the end where he heals 
the water and he curses the children. This is just folklore. It's just 
sort of stuck on at the back of this particular chapter. But 
it is intriguing from an apologetic standpoint that the cities that 
Elijah and Elisha go to, Bethel, Jericho, are the same way that 
Elisha goes on his own. If it is some folklore appended, 
which it's not, those details would not be spot on. But then 
notice specifically at verse 7. It says, 50 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. 
Now the mantle was some sort of a prophetic, or rather some 
sort of a garment. It didn't give them magic power. 
It wasn't some sort of an amulet. It wasn't some sort of a holy 
horseshoe or, you know, a four-leaf clover or something like that. 
It was rather representative of the fact that God's men wore 
it. And so Elijah wears it, he throws 
it into the river, and it splits, it goes apart. Now, they cross 
over it, and we learn of the ascension of Elijah in verses 
9 to 12. So Elijah says, ask what I may 
do for you before I am taken away from you. And he says, please 
let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. He doesn't 
say this in some proud way. He's not saying, I want to be 
better than you are, Elijah. I want to be more notoriously 
famous than you are. You see, that is not what is 
driving Elisha. He has no doubt witnessed Elijah's 
God-blessed ministry in terms of power and authority and preaching 
and activity, but there's been little effect or little notable 
results. You still have the kings running 
the nation into the ground. You still have the people on 
the streets worshiping these false idols, so he wants a double 
portion of Elijah's spirit, specifically for ministry. John Gill says 
he doesn't ask 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, this is why ministers 
ought to desire gifts and abilities. Not so they can have big churches 
or notoriety or the most hits on YouTube. Who cares about the 
most hits on YouTube? Who cares on whether you get 
five thumbs up on a post? If this is what is defining ministry 
in our day, it is more desperately wicked than we can even begin 
to imagine. You know what ought to define 
the ministry of the gospel today? Is the ministry of the gospel. 
In other words, was the word of God effectively, accurately 
preached? You see, those five thumbs up 
are all the notoriety in the world is nothing compared to 
the approval of God. Isn't this what Paul tells Timothy 
he is to court? Study to show yourself approved 
onto the Facebook community, the YouTube people. I just kind 
of envision a bunch of moles living underground watching YouTube. 
The YouTube, I know we all watch YouTube. Study to show yourself 
approved unto God, a workman who need not be ashamed, rightly 
dividing the word of truth. That's the mark of the prophetic 
ministry in the Old Covenant and the pastoral ministry in 
the New Covenant. And so he wants these gifts not 
for the glory of his name, but rather for the glory of his God. 
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 and 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 that he had. And it was probably a statement 
of true humility. I need a double portion. If I'm 
going to conduct myself in at least a little bit like you, 
I'm going to need double what you had. You see, not only is 
it not vain and ambitious and give me twice, but he's acknowledging, 
Elijah, you're such an eminent man. You're such a godly man. 
You're such a faithful man. You're such a disciplined man. 
You're such a consistent man. For me to fill those shoes, I'm 
going to require double of what God has given to you. No ambition 
here, no vain conceit, no desire for vainglory. Now note the translation 
of Elijah, verse 11. The famous painting of this shows 
Elijah on a chariot being absconded into heaven. That's not what 
happens. The chariot separates Elijah from Elisha. Elijah is 
caught up in this whirlwind and goes to heaven bodily. Gloriously, 
wondrously typical of what our Lord Jesus is going to do when 
He comes in the first advent. But it is a glorious display 
of the power of God. He's taken up into heaven a fitting 
end to a fitting servant of a glorious God. And then note the response 
of Elisha. It's beautiful. Elisha saw it 
and he cried out, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel 
and its horsemen. It's a beautiful way to ascribe 
praise to God for Elijah. What's the strength of an army? 
It's the chariots and the horsemen. Any good that is going on in 
the Northern Kingdom, any power that is going on in the Northern 
Kingdom, it's not owing to Ahab. It's not owing to Ahaziah. It's 
not going to be owing to Jehoram. It is rather owing to the fact 
that there was a godly prophet among us. In other words, what 
drives the kingdom? It's the word. It's not the politics 
of the particular leader. It's not the savvy in terms of 
battle of the particular leader. Whatever prestige we have as 
a northern kingdom, and there was still some to be sure, it 
is owing to the fact that God's prophet was among us and that 
God's prophet spoke the truth to us. As the chariot and its 
horsemen drive the armies in battle, so did Elijah the prophet. What a great, great epitaph at 
his funeral of sorts. Obviously, he didn't die. He 
was translated bodily into heaven. But what a glorious thing that 
caused to reflect on that statement of that bystander at John Knox's 
funeral. He neither feared nor flattered 
any flesh. What a good way to get buried. 
What a good way for Elijah to go back up into it or to go up 
into heaven with this testimony that insofar as the Northern 
Kingdom had any dignity, any power, any ability among the 
nations around them, it was because God's man was in their presence. It's a beautiful ascription of 
his praise to God for this man. Of course, he's sad that Elijah 
has gone. He tears his clothes, but now 
notice, broadly speaking, the manifestation of Elisha in verses 
13 to 25. And there's three things we want 
to observe here. The prophet's mantle, the prophet's blessing, 
and the prophet's curse. First, the prophet's mantle in 
verses 13 and 14 says, 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." You see what Elisha is doing here? He knows that though 
God's man died, or God's man is not present, it's not the 
case that God isn't present. Where is God? Where is the Lord God of Elijah? This is a bit of a representation. 
He now possesses the mantle. He now casts the mantle into 
the same river. And what happens? God divides 
the river. What is God affirming through 
this particular situation? He's affirming that Elisha is 
indeed the right successor of Elijah. It is a dramatic, wonderful, 
powerful display of the transfer of the prophetic ministry from 
Elijah to Elisha. Now, notice the sons of the prophets 
recognize this 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. You see what's happening? Before 
you threaten your kids with bears, brethren, get this passage right. The bears and the water is indication 
that he's God's man. You see this in the ministry 
of the Lord Jesus. When Jesus does his signs and 
wonders, is it to impress the multitudes? Is it to demonstrate 
his uncanny ability over the elements when he says to the 
wind and the waves to be still? Is it to demonstrate that he's 
better than any eye surgeon when he heals those who are blind? 
Is it to demonstrate that he's a master of the culinary arts 
to take a few loaves and a few fish and to feed a great... It 
is to affirm and confirm that he's God's man. When signs and 
wonders come in the Bible, you see, people look at the Bible, 
they say it's all about miracles. Yes, there's a lot of miracles 
in the Bible, but miracles are given at particular seasons. 
And those particular seasons are when God is speaking. So take, for instance, Moses. 
He was a mouthpiece for God. He does signs and wonders. Take 
the prophets. They are mouthpieces for God. 
They do signs and wonders. Take the Lord Jesus Christ. He 
is a mouthpiece for God. He does signs and wonders. You 
take the apostles, they are mouthpieces for God, they do signs and wonders. The signs and the wonders confirm 
the presence of God's man. They're not the end. It's not 
the case that we say, wow, the signs and the wonders, but rather 
we say God is speaking to us. Does everybody follow? You got 
people hankering after the signs and wonders today, not listening 
to God. You get this with people sometimes, 
the Lord spoke to me. Now there's probably a context 
where we can justify such language, but it needs to be qualified, 
it needs to be distinguished. If somebody says, the Lord spoke 
to me, and they mean he gave me new revelation. The question 
I always wanna ask is, have you read the whole Bible? If they 
say no, that's really problematic, isn't it? Why in the world would 
God tell you something new if you don't know who Amos the sheep 
breeder was? Why in the world would God tell 
you something new if you couldn't explain who Obadiah the prophet 
was? Do you get my point? Everybody 
with me? We're doing a little bit of theology 
in our theological treatment of the word here. The miracles 
in this chapter affirm the presence of God's word. That's the emphasis, 
and the sons of the prophets get that. But they don't know 
how far that even goes. Notice in verse 15, the spirit 
of Elijah rests on Elisha. They came to meet him. They bowed 
to the ground before him. Then they said to him, look now, 
there are 50 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. He knows 
what's happened. I submit that these prophets 
did not see Elijah taken up into the whirlwind. When that chariot 
comes and divides the two men, whatever is happening there in 
terms of visionary experience or the eyesight involved, I don't 
think these prophets knew that. And it wasn't unlike God to spirit 
away Elijah. 1 Kings chapter 18, this was 
Obadiah's concern. Maybe he'll spirit him away and 
I'll be stuck holding the bag before Ahab. So these prophets 
don't know that, but Elisha does know that and Elisha tries to 
discourage it and the prophets weary him. And finally he says, 
okay, go ahead and look for him. No doubt they were looking for 
the body of Elijah to try and bury it and give it that proper 
respect. Davis makes the wise observation 
they should have listened to his wisdom. You're going to go 
out and busy yourself looking for a body that's not there. 
Not only is he the mouthpiece of God, but he's a wise man and 
should pay attention to what he has to say. It'll save you 
bouncing around from hilltop to hilltop trying to find the 
dead body of Elijah that's not here because he was translated 
into heaven. So that's kind of what's going 
on there. Let's go to the prophet's blessing. Verses 19 to 22, 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. This begins sort of an ongoing 
emphasis by God in terms of tending to the needs of his people. You're 
going to say, well, the two bears really doesn't seem to fit that 
flow of thought, but just bear with me for a moment. When we 
get to chapter 4 specifically, we'll see how Elisha embarks 
on a series of miracles from chapter 4, verse 1, all the way 
to chapter 6, verse 23. And we have a really intriguing 
thing there in that first one. It's about a widow who has two 
sons. Her husband dies, he didn't fear 
the Lord, they've got debts, and the creditors are gonna come 
and they're gonna seize my sons. So Elisha gives her endless oil. Well, there is an end when the 
vessels come to an end. She's never named. We wouldn't 
know her if we bumped into her today. This nameless woman who 
had a particular desperate need, God fills. Isn't that like our 
God? The chapter before it, the prophet 
says, I'm not even gonna listen to you, Jehoram, king. I'm not 
even going to acknowledge you, Jehoram, king. I wouldn't do 
anything for your benefit unless it was for Jehoshaphat who's 
standing by your side. But when it comes to this nobody 
that has nothing that's about to lose her two sons, Yahweh 
stoops to bless. We get to the next miracle in 
that particular section and it's a Shunammite woman. And this 
Shunammite woman has been barren, and so what happens? She is now 
given a child. We noticed on Wednesday night 
that this Shunammite woman that was barren fits a biblical motif. You see this all throughout the 
Bible. The woman that was formerly barren that then gives birth 
to someone significant in redemptive history. The interesting thing 
there in 2 Kings 4 is that that Shunammite woman's son doesn't 
have any significance to him whatsoever. He doesn't go on 
to lead armies into battle. He doesn't go on to reign over 
the nation. He doesn't go on to do any grand 
redemptive thing. But it was simply God giving 
kindness to a woman in need. You see, there's people out there, 
and kids, you've got to be aware of this. They'll say, that Old 
Testament, it's filled with some bad and nasty things. You can't 
trust what God says back there because it's judgment, it's wrath, 
it's fury. In fact, your pastor's gonna 
be preaching about these bears that actually maul these pathetic, 
innocent little children. You can't listen to that sort 
of thing. You know how much grace and goodness 
and kindness and mercy is displayed in these narratives? So here 
we have a display of that. Notice the problem. God stooping 
to help the problems of a people. The water is bad and the ground 
barren. Davis says, suffers from miscarriages. Better picks up the sense of 
the verb. Moreover, when Elisha announces 
God'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, 
i.e. livestock and people. It wasn't 
just the change that we went through a few years ago here 
in Chilliwack, where award-winning water became water like everywhere 
else. That's not what's in view here. 
It's not the case that now they went to the faucet, they got 
a cup from the tap, they drank it, and they smelled and tasted 
a bit of ammonia. That's not what's going on here. 
This water was lethal. This water killed. This water 
was poisonous. And so know what God does through 
the prophet. The prophet says, bring me a 
new bowl and put salt in it. Again, something completely contrary 
and opposite to the way that we would understand things. You 
don't put salt in water to fix it. You don't put salt in water 
to purify it. You don't put salt in water to 
make it potable. Rather, you try to get out the 
impurities and certainly keep out the salt. But it's the fact 
that God is speaking that heals the water. Notice, he says they 
brought it to him, and then in verse 21, he went out to the 
source of the water, 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. It's the power of the spoken 
word. It's not magic. It wasn't as if this bowl or 
this salt had some sort of magical properties, and once it was cast 
in, it was a hocus-pocus transaction, and everybody drank water until 
they were content. No, it's the power of God. God often uses 
symbols or emblems or tangible things in order to convey and 
to demonstrate His excellence, His glory, and His power. So 
we see the prophet's mantle. It evidences that He is indeed 
the true prophet of God. The sons of the prophets interpret 
it that way. We see this blessing from God, which indicates that 
Elisha is a true prophet. But brethren, anyone who's read 
the Old Testament knows that there are two specific things 
that end the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. They are blessings 
and they are cursings. I know we don't like those ones 
as much, do we? We would like to sanitize the 
Bible. Get rid of nasty things like 
bears running around mauling children. Get rid of these cursings. Can't we just all love? No, we 
can't, and that's why cursings are in the Bible. We don't love 
God as we ought, and we certainly don't love one another as we 
ought, and if we continue impenitent, then God is going to judge us. Oh, I don't like that concept 
of judgment anymore either. They're so antiquated. You gotta 
be progressive. Jump on the love train, is what 
we're told today. Everything's about love, love, 
love, love, love. God is love, they cite that. Yes, he is. But 
all that is in God is God. He's not only love, He is justice, 
He is righteousness, He is holiness. Why do we forget that sort of 
description of who God is? Notice, the prophet not only 
blesses in the name of Yahweh, but he curses. And I don't mean 
he says a bad word. Notice the situation in verse 
23. 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. Now there are 
several things that we ought to investigate before we render 
verdict on this being. A terrible description that we 
should never entertain as reasonable people. In fact, there is one 
commentator who makes this statement. He 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? 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. That fellow's not alone. People 
really struggle. You may struggle with what's 
written here. I'm not going to ask you, okay, every hand raised, 
and everybody tell me who doesn't like this story in their Bible. 
If you were going to undertake a revision, wouldn't you leave 
out the end of 2 Kings 2? You don't need to raise your 
hand. I'm not going to make a public example of you. But before you 
continue with that verdict, consider the facts of the narrative. You 
still may not like it anymore, but hopefully you'll at least 
appreciate what's going on in the first place, the location. 
Then he was going up from there to Bethel. Now, Bethel changed 
dramatically under King Jeroboam. In 1 Kings chapter 12, Jeroboam, 
the son of Nebat, who becomes sort of a benchmark for wickedness 
in the northern kingdom, and at times in the southern kingdom, 
this man institutes calf worship. Cath worship, cat, bull, calves. And he makes two locations and 
one of them is in Bethel. It has become a central place 
where calves are worshipped. Secondly, we need to consider 
the lads in view. Notice, we don't know precisely 
how old they are. One man says that the term is 
used to describe somebody from 12 to 30 in general. Now certainly, we'll all say, 
yeah, they're probably 25. That makes more sense to us. 
Most commentators put them much younger on the scale. They weren't 
two, they weren't three, but they weren't probably 25 either. But notice something unique about 
the language at the end of verse 24, where we see the actual mauling 
statement. It says, and two she bears came 
out of the woods and mauled 42, notice, of the youths. This implies or infers that there 
were more than 42. Of the youths there, 42 of them 
met their end at the hands or paws of these she-bears. What 
does that indicate? It indicates we're dealing with 
a mob. were dealing with a large group 
of enemies against God and against His prophet. But then notice 
their movement, or their intent rather. Look at verse 23. He came up from there to Bethel, 
and as he was going up the road, some youths, notice, came from 
the city. See, the way I envision it is 
that Elisha was not walking down Yale Road and some guys at 7-Eleven 
started to accost him. That's not what's happening. 
Elisha's on the outskirts of the city and these young men 
go to him. There is intent. They have a 
purpose. They have malice of forethought. 
They're not there as guys hanging out at the 7-Eleven saying, look 
at that guy's bald head. No, there is specific intent. And then when we look at what 
they say in particular, we see the offensiveness of it. Not 
the necessary reference to his bald head, though that's not 
nice. You shouldn't mock somebody or 
make fun of somebody that doesn't have a head of hair. That's not 
cool. But when they say, go up, it 
could mean one of two things. They had heard about Elijah who 
had gone up, or it could just be go up out of our city. Thank you very much. We don't 
want the prophet of God anywhere near us. These are not harmless, 
innocent, playful little things, but rather, in the language of 
Davis, who I think is right, they are responsible young lads 
expressing abuse, contempt, and hostility toward Yahweh's representative 
and knew they were doing so. Now, parents, guess where they 
learned this? I had the encouraging thing happen 
this past week. Someone said, our daughter prays 
for you. You know what that tells me? 
Praise God. There's a four-year-old little 
girl who prays for me. But it also tells me that most 
likely their parents or her parents do too. Because she wouldn't 
have just learned that on a whim unless she heard them or they 
had exhorted or encouraged her to pray for your parents. Why 
are these wretched little boys running out of the city to mock 
the prophet of Yahweh? It's because their parents are 
terrible human beings. You want to take a morally practical 
lesson from this message today? Deal with your kids. Do not let them rise up and mock 
the prophet of the living God. Do not let them call somebody 
baldhead, baldhead, get out of our town. We don't want the word 
of God that you've got. These kids had learned this kind 
of religion. These kids had it ingrained in 
them. These kids learned from their 
youth the catechism of wickedness and idolatry. Who made you? The calves that King Jeroboam 
erected in Bethel. What else did these calves make? All things. Why should you glorify 
these castes? Because He made me and He takes 
care of me. Kids, what do we think of Yahweh? 
We hate Him. What do we think of His prophets? 
We hate Him. They're not standing around 7-Eleven 
taking a pot shot at a bald man. They are running out of the city, 
going after the prophet of God, and essentially screaming at 
Him to stay off our turf. Brethren, that's the way the 
text ought to be read. I don't think I've abused it. 
You see all that? There's 42 of them. They go out 
of the city. They tell them to go up, get 
out, go away. We don't want you here. Parents, 
you exercise a great deal of influence on your kids. You can 
either rear them to fear God, or at least to know they ought 
to fear God. You can't change their hearts. And to revere God's 
men. Speak ill of the prophet of God 
most high? Teach your kids respect, brethren. Now note the curse. He pronounces 
it in verse 24a. So he turned around, looked at 
them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of Yahweh. And two female bears, or she-bears, 
I like the way the King James renders it better, two she-bears 
came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the youths. This is heavy, isn't it? I don't 
know if you heard it on the news a couple of weeks ago. There 
was a bear in a man's kitchen in Coquitlam going through his 
refrigerator. He said they shot the bear because 
obviously if it knows how to get into a refrigerator, you 
don't want to mess with that bear. Bears are terrible, aren't 
they? Always wondered why we have teddy 
bears. Why have small little tokens 
of things that would rip you apart? I don't understand it. They're so cute and cuddly. No, 
they're not. Do not treat bears the way you 
treat teddy bears. This is terrifying, isn't it? You see, it's just here that 
people are like, I just can't accept this. OK, the kids were 
bad. They should have got a timeout. 
They should have got a bit of a corporal punishment. But come 
on, Yahweh's going overboard with these she-bears. Well, at 
least you're on the right track if you answer Yahweh. It's not 
Elisha. He wasn't a bear trainer. It 
wasn't that he had a leash and they were connected to these 
she-bears in the woods and if they got out of line, he kind 
of gave them a yank. It was God who sent the bears, brethren. 
If you've got problems with these bears, you've got problems with 
God. It's just like in the previous chapter in 2 Kings 1. Ahaziah sends his soldiers to 
get Elijah. He doesn't send his soldiers 
to get Elijah so that they can golf together or so that they 
can eat pizza together. He sends his soldiers to get 
Elijah probably to kill him publicly and make an example of him. And 
Elijah says, if I am the prophet of God, then fire is going to 
come down and consume these men. Well, brethren, Elijah didn't 
make the fire. Elijah didn't manufacture the 
fire. Elijah simply pronounced the 
imprecation, if I am indeed the prophet of God, then fire will 
come down and consume your man. It does that twice. God sent 
the fire. God sent the bears. If it raises up in your heart 
to say this is ungodly, it is unholy, it is unrighteous, it 
is a murderous assault upon innocent little children, your problem 
is with God. I love the way Davis explains 
this. We must size up these bears correctly. They were covenant bears. the covenant curse of Leviticus 
26, 22. Remember, I mentioned that earlier. 
The prophet both blesses and he curses. Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 
28, those are divine instructions for entering the land. You go 
into the land, you do what you're supposed to do, blessings will 
accrue to you. You go into the land, you don't 
do what you're supposed to do, cursings will accrue to you. 
This is the application of one of these curses. It's just here 
that we go, that's just not good, that's not good, that's not wise. 
Why in the world would we have a problem with God fulfilling 
His word? See, we like when God fulfills 
his word and it results in blessing, don't we? We like when God answers 
our prayers in the affirmative. I think we're very much fair 
weather fans. As long as God is performing 
well for us, we're gonna be his worshiper. Soon as trials or 
sorrows or difficulties or hardships come, we're ready to say, forget 
it, I'm gonna go join the Buddhists. Because they're happy. These 
are covenant bears. God had spoken to this very specifically. Leviticus 26, 22, "...I will 
let loose the wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your 
children." God's just fulfilling His Word 
in 2 Kings 2. He says, Davis explains this 
episode, covenant infidelity, hatred of Yahweh's representative, 
and perhaps persisting in Bethel's perverse worship has brought 
the covenant curse. Had Elisha been wronged to curse, 
listen, you have a problem with the passage. And even if you 
don't listen, if he had been wronged to curse, one would assume 
that Yahweh would not have fulfilled the curse. It's the same with 
Elijah and the servants of Ahaziah. If I'm a prophet, then the Lord 
will send fire out. The fact that God sends fire, 
the fact that God sends she-bears, indicates that God is perfectly 
okay with these prophets' imprecations, these prophets' prayers, these 
prophets' curses upon the detractors. He goes on to say that Yahweh 
did so validates Elisha's curse. Here is not an irritable prophet, 
but a judging God. And then Matthew Henry, in much 
the same way, but a bit of an older perspective, says this. 
The prophet must be justified, for he did it by divine impulse. 
Had the curse come from any bad principle, God would not have 
said amen to it. You get that, right? Some would 
say, well, you can't read providence that way. You can when it's the 
prophet of God. When it's the very mouthpiece 
of God, you must read providence that way. If it's just me or 
it's just you and something happens, we can't necessarily conclude 
with absolute certainty that that was from the Lord. That's 
like reading tea leaves at the local Chinese restaurant. It's 
like living your life in light of a fortune cookie. And sometimes 
Christians fall prey to this. Well, if God does this, well, 
then that must mean He's favorable toward it. Not always, not necessarily, 
but when it's the prophet Elisha and the prophet Elijah, yeah, 
when God answers their prayer by fire and bear Yes, it was 
in fact His will. So back to Matthew Henry. He 
says, 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. Wow, that's the proper perspective 
on the passage. See, the older commentators said, 
that's absolutely legit. They don't lose sleep saying, 
well, how are we going to harmonize this with the love and the mercy 
and the goodness of God? Of course, these kids should have got eaten 
by she-bears. They cursed God and his prophet. The surprising thing to the older 
commentators would have been if there were no she-bears. Have 
we become more enlightened? Are we more biblical? I'd suggest we're less, far less 
than what's represented in the likes of Matthew Henry and John 
Gill and thankfully Dale Ralph Davis. So the significance of 
this section, mantle, blessing, cursing, is to indicate that 
like Moses before him, Elisha has authority under God to pronounce 
both blessing and cursing. He is the legitimate, authorized, 
approved, sanctioned successor of the prophet Elijah. God's 
Word continues, unabated, going forth. Doesn't mean it's always 
going to be received, even though Elisha speaks it, but God's Word 
is alive in Israel. Well, as I said, there are several 
lessons, not several in the sense that you're going to be here 
another hour, but several in the sense that we need to run 
through a couple of things quickly before we close. First, we ought 
to appreciate the power of God. Not just in the she-bears, but 
that's a powerful display, isn't it? I used to have a friend, 
he and I still have the friend, but we used to say, if you ever 
meet a bear on the road or a lion, you know, start reflecting on 
what you need to repent of. because God uses those as means 
or vehicles of judgment in various situations and circumstances. 
So if you meet a bear, you meet a lion, it's time to repent of 
whatever it is you've been doing wrong. But the power of God is 
seen in this particular passage in the sense that it is not confined 
to a particular era. It is not confined to a particular 
era. And that's a reminder that you 
and I need. We look around us today and we 
see what at least at times appears to be a lack of the power of 
God. We preach, we pray, we seek to 
see men saved. Men go unsaved, they go unrepentant, 
they go unbelieving. And so we get down, or we get 
discouraged, or we get, you know, melancholy. And we think, where 
is the power of God? This passage displays it's not 
confined to an era. The God who split the Red Sea, 
the God who split the Jordan in Joshua chapters 3 and 4 is 
the same God of 2 Kings chapter 2. Though years and years have 
passed, years and years have transpired, that same God is 
over all. As well, we see that the power 
of God is not confined to one particular man. And I think that 
speaks multitudes to our generation. In a day and age where celebrity 
preachers are all the rage, you probably have them on your iPod, 
your top five preachers that you love to listen to. I'm not 
condemning that. I'm not going to anathematize 
you. I'm not going to say you're a terrible specimen of a human 
being. By all means, listen to that rather than Metallica when 
you're going about your day in and day out. But brethren, we 
put men on a pedestal. We exalt men. Oh, did you hear 
what so-and-so said? Now we got to do everything they 
say. If they are accurately and faithfully 
exegeting the Word of God and it's legitimate, then yeah, do 
what they say. But just because so-and-so says 
something doesn't necessarily mean you got to change everything. 
We do that, though. We put men up on a pedestal. 
You could see it then. A man like Elijah is gone. What 
are we going to do? Imagine the faithful in the northern 
kingdom. The faithful in the northern 
kingdom, in the absence of Elijah, probably felt like they were 
just lost and destitute. What's going to happen? The power 
of God has gone with Elijah in this whirlwind back into heaven. 
Davis makes this observation. 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, verse 14, look 
for the God of Elijah to be with us. Our help is in the name of 
the Lord, not in the charisma of his servants. God's leaders 
change. God's power persists. Perhaps 
sometimes God removes His 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. That's a passage that we should 
all amen. You take your five tops, you 
take Jim Butler, we drop dead, guess what's gonna happen tomorrow? 
The kingdom of God's gonna march on. Best counsel any preacher 
can ever receive is don't take yourself too seriously. It's good, don't ever do it. You choke on broccoli tonight, 
the sun's gonna rise tomorrow morning, the people of God are 
gonna grieve, but you know what? God of the people will give them 
a mouthpiece, and God will demonstrate that it's God, not his men, not 
his servants, good as they may have been. I mean, the world 
is probably a much worse place when, you know, a Calvin dies 
or a Spurgeon dies, but the kingdom has marched on. The power of God. Secondly, the 
grace of God. You see it conspicuously in two 
ways. You see it, first of all, in 
the provision of Elisha. If you'd been with us on our 
Wednesday nights, you'd know a little bit more about the contours 
of the Northern Kingdom at this particular time. I gave you a 
bit of a piece of that. I gave you a snippet of that. But if you understood just how 
bad they were, you might conclude, why would God give them another 
prophet to speak in his name? Because God's gracious. He's 
good, he's kind, he's merciful. But the other way or means by 
which we see the grace of God is in the healing of the waters 
at Jericho. Remember, Jericho is a significant 
spot in biblical history. A curse was pronounced by Joshua 
in Joshua chapter 6. Joshua 6 charged them at that 
time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up 
and builds this city, Jericho. He shall lay its foundation with 
his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates. 1 
Kings 16 evidences that this indeed came to pass. In his days, 
Hyle of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram, 
his firstborn son, and with his youngest son, Segah. He set up 
its gates according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken 
through Joshua, the son of Nun. So follow with me for just a 
moment. A place that was previously cursed, 
that is no doubt reaping that curse in this death water that 
they are consuming, is now blessed and healed by God. The amazing 
grace is seen in his provision of Elisha and in his provision 
of blessing, wherein a curse previously rested. You get this 
throughout the modern church. You hear about these transgenerational 
curses. Basically, you hear that if you 
were born into this sort of family, too bad for you, that's tough. 
There's these transgenerational curses, and your parents were 
terrible human beings, so this is your lot. You're going to 
be ruined. It's interesting how some of 
the kings were wicked, but they had good godly sons. I never 
understood that. And I'm not saying God doesn't 
work transgenerationally, but the teaching almost is there 
that, yeah, it's just tough luck for you. Terrible parents, you 
got this, you know, rough road to hoe. Jericho was cursed, and 
now they get sweet water. Jericho was cursed and now they 
get blessing. Jericho was cursed and eventually 
Jesus is going to pass through there and he's going to stand 
at the tree where Zacchaeus is and he's going to invite him 
down so that he can eat at his house. You see, God's grace is 
about dealing with those sorts of curses. Thirdly, we ought 
to appreciate the judgment of God. though she bears ought to 
teach you a lesson about the judgment of God." Again, not 
a happy topic, not something that we want to think about before 
we have our Sunday lunch, but the judgment of God typically 
offends us more than the sin that God judges. In other words, 
we look at a passage like this, we say, that's terrible that 
these bears ate these children. I remember, and some of you probably 
do, when Bill Clinton was the president, this is just the time 
frame in the United States, there was a kid that went with his 
father, I think it was to Singapore, and he graffitied. Well, the 
law in Singapore says that if you graffiti, you get caned. 
Guess what everybody freaked out about? I can't believe they're 
going to cane him. You know what rational people would freak out 
about? I can't believe he'd graffiti. How do you interpret things? 
I can't believe these she bears would maul these little children. 
I can't believe that these wretched specimens of human beings would 
go out of the city in search of the prophet of God and cast 
aspersions on him. Do you get more offended at the 
judgment of God or the sin that God judges? I think that's a 
legit question. You see, with reference to the 
death penalty, oh, the death penalty's barbaric! It's terrible! It's not terrible, but that that 
man brutally raped and murdered 5, 10, 15 women? See, in this world, the death 
penalty is not the problem. It's those kinds of people. Now that may offend you, it may 
make you angry, it may make you go from here today saying, Butler 
crossed a line, he left the reservation. But is it the case that the judgment 
of God offends you more than the sin that God judges? See, 
you're going to do this very thing if you're an unbeliever. 
You're going to say on the day of judgment, well, I don't think 
this is fair that you cast me off. What do you mean it's not 
fair? You sat in church every Sunday morning. You came at times 
on Sunday night. You heard the gospel preached. 
You heard it from parents. You heard it in treating. You 
heard it through prayer. You heard the gospel. And now 
God is going to visit you with the judgment associated with 
rejecting the gospel, and it's God's problem? Does anybody else 
not see how faulty this logic is? It's God's problem that these 
she-bears went in and ripped up these 42 of the youths? It 
was the 42 of the youths! That's who the problem was. As well, the judgment of God 
is consistent with the word of God. Leviticus 26, 22. I will 
also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, 
destroy your livestock, and make you few in number, and your highways 
shall be desolate. And the last thing that we need 
to learn, theologically, is the fear of God. That's not so much 
theology proper, but our response to it. Our response to who this 
God is. We ought to fear him. We ought 
to stand and tremble. When we see a she-bear off its 
leash chasing us down, we ought to have thoughts of God. I think 
Matthew Henry is beautiful here. We'll close, just a moment. He 
says, God must be glorified as a righteous God that hates sin 
and will reckon for it even in little children. See, before 
you say, wow, it's just so mean, these little, it shows you what 
God thinks of sin, doesn't it? You think of sin lightly, you're 
not thinking like God. Henry goes on to say, let the 
hideous shrieks and groans of this wicked, wretched brood make 
our flesh tremble for fear of God. That's the more appropriate 
way to approach 2 Kings 2. Not forgetting, however, that 
he sends sweet water to the Jerichoites who had previously been under 
a curse. That sweet water of the gospel 
is offered to sinners today. All those who believe on Jesus, 
all those who look to Him will live. All those who stop or cease 
or desist, rather, in their mockery of God, in their mockery of God's 
prophets, and they bow before the Lord Jesus Christ, those 
who confess Him as Lord, those who believe in Him will know 
the blessing. They'll know the grace. They'll 
know with John Newton, I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great 
savior. This God who sent the she bears 
also sent his son. And he who did not spare his 
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also 
with him freely give us all things? To the believer, life, peace, 
blessing, health, the Holy Spirit, but to unbelievers, eternal life. Salvation by grace. The God of 
the she-bears is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who sent him to deal with sinners, to deal in mercy with sinners. So don't go from here today saying, 
well, that's just a vicious, terrible tale of she-bears in 
the woods. No, it's a tale of God's mercy, 
grace, kindness, with the right backdrop of his justice, of his 
judgment, of his holiness, of his wrath. So flee. Look. and live. Well, let us pray. 
Our Father, we thank you for your Word, and we thank you for 
all of Scripture, and I pray, God, that we would learn the 
lessons concerning God in this passage and throughout these 
former prophets, throughout the latter prophets, and in our New 
Testaments. Certainly, it is hypocritical 
to balk at some of the things we read in the Old Testament 
and then have some thought that there's a different God in the 
New Testament. May it be the case that we would 
be faithful consistent in understanding scripture, presents to us one 
glorious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We pray that you 
would go with us now, bless the hospital ministry, give us large 
hearts and compassion and love and kindness to minister the 
truth to the people in need there. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation and then be dismissed.