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morning everybody welcome to free grace Baptist Church for those that are visiting we give you a special welcome today just a few announcements before we begin this morning's worship we have our hospital ministry this this afternoon at 2:30 at Heritage Village if you'd like to attend that's at 2:30 at Heritage Village also another reminder is that we will be continuing our South Surrey Bible study at 7:30 p.m. this Tuesday at the Pacific in and not only do we have Bible study this Tuesday and so Surry but there's Bible study and Chilliwack this Wednesday at 7:30 as well as pastor Butler continues a great series on 2nd Kings well I'll call the worship this morning then comes from Psalm 104 so if you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 104 I'm gonna read verses 31 through 35 Psalm 104 verses 31 through 35 may the glory of the Lord endure forever may the Lord rejoice in his works he looks on the earth and it trembles he touches the hills and they smoke I will sing to the Lord as long as I live I will sing praise to my god while I have my being may my meditation beasts would be sweet to him I will be glad in the Lord may sinners be consumed from the earth and the wicked be no more bless the Lord O my soul praise the Lord well for our first hymn you can turn with me in your trendy hymnals to him number 60 hymn number 60 if you are able we'll stand and sing together [Music] but we will go to our great God in prayer Oh Lord God of heaven and earth may you be glorified in all the places but you're the one who sits on your throne and you reign forever and this is your house that we get to come into how bless it is that you have called many of us out of darkness into marvelous light to believe on Christ Jesus you've called us out of the world into your house that we might learn more concerning you O God that we might see you we pray O God for those that have come out of the world that do not know Christ O God we pray that they would see you that they would you would give them eyes to eyes to see and ears to hear the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ the glory of who you are we thank you O God that you promised to be with your people in your house and we pray that you would send us your Holy Spirit you would help us strengthen us to be awake and attentive we do pray that you would open the heavens and come down o God may we meditate on you may we meditate on those things that make you huh glad may we meditate on the things that are found in scripture God and we pray that you would be pleased with your people but we thank you that you look upon us through Christ we thank you for him our Savior the one who reigns supreme even now our glorious Lord that mediator between God and man the prophet the priest and the King we pray that you would help us to be awakened attentive O God for we are in your house where your word is preached help us to worship you with reverence and awe help us to sing your praises by your Holy Spirit we pray that you would dwell with your people as you have done in the Lord Jesus Christ as the word became flesh and dwelt among us that we might have communion with the true and the Living God we thank you for these four tastes o God as we long for heaven as we long for a home but we pray night right now that you would help us by your spirit and you would be glorified in all things in the name of Christ amen well our second ham comes from our red Trinity Salter you can turn with me you're a smaller red Trinity Psalter to Psalm number 113 we'll sing it to a familiar tune Psalm 113 will stay sing as you ask them if you're able please stand stand and sing together [Music] well for our consecutive scripture reading through the New Testament you can turn with me in your Bibles to mark chapter 12 mark chapter 12 we're going to read verses 28 through 44 mark chapter 12 beginning at verse 28 then one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together perceiving that he had answered them well asked him which is the first commandment of all and jesus answered him the first of all the commandments is hear o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength this is the first commandment and the second is like it second like it is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no other commandment greater than these and so the scribes said to him well said teacher you have spoken the truth for there is one God and there is no other but he and to love him with all the heart with all the heart with all the understanding with all the soul and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely he said to him you are not far from the kingdom of God but after that no one dared question him then jesus answered and said while he taught in the temple how is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David for David himself said by the Holy Spirit the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool therefore David himself calls him Lord how is he then his son and the common people heard him gladly then he said to them in his teachings beware of the scribes who desire to go around in long robes love greetings in the marketplaces the best seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts who devour widows houses and for a pretence make long prayers these will receive greater condemnation now Jesus sat opposite the Treasury and saw how meant how the people put money into the Treasury and many who are rich put in much then one poor Widow came and threw in two mites which makes up a quadrant so he called his disciples to himself and said to them assuredly I say to you that this poor Widow has put in more than all those who had given to the Treasury for they all put in out of their abundance but she out of her poverty put in all that she had her whole livelihood let us go to our God in prayer O Lord God we thank you that you are the true in the Living God we thank you that you do not change we thank you that we can come and offer our prayers and petitions and our concerns unto you O God so sometimes we feel as if you are not around if you are not here you do not change O God there is change with us but there is no change in you we thank you that you are love o God we thank you that you are just we thank you that you are powerful we thank you that you are all-powerful we thank you that you know all things that you've decreed all things to come to pass for you are the true and the Living God yet O God who is man that you are mindful of him we thank you God that with your people those whom you have called out of Darkness demonstrate great grace your grace abounds all the more o God and that you help us and strengthen us in our times of trial our times of tribulation for the things that we cry out like the psalmist how long O Lord we thank you that you sustain us O God that you call up that you help us in those battles that we can say with the Apostle Paul I I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me hunger thirst in abundance being poverty O God the way we say when there is riches may we praise you for your goodness when there's poverty may we always look to you trusting you knowing that we have Christ our King do you think of those who struggle physically Oh God would you help them in this weary land in this land of Exile where our bodies are decaying our bodies are growing old our bodies are growing weary and there are many different physical ailments that we face for those that's suffering in a harder way than others O God for we pray for all who suffer but especially those who suffer in a harder way we pray that you would help them and strengthen them help them to know a sense of your holy spirit with them but they might continue to look to Christ look to you O God for you do not change help us to long for heaven look for that time when we owe our bodies will we'll be reunited our bodies will be glorified in that final day because of Christ our King because of the resurrection of him we pray that this would give us all comfort for those that suffer mentally for those that have many difficult things going on and many things they must juggle help and strengthen them O God many emotional trials and struggles that they face we thank you for your mercy we thank you that you do that help us and strengthen us and that you do love us O God that you do care for us that we can cast these cares upon you knowing that you do care for your people we pray O God that you would also be with those who suffer spiritually O God we know there are many battles that we face we know that there is the world we know that there is the devil but we know that there is that self that rises up within oh god help us and strengthen us by your spirit help us to make use of the means help us not neglect the places that you've set upon set apart as places where we can grow in grace and knowledge we thank you for your house we thank you for your church we pray that your that the yet we would grow as we hear your word preach that we would not neglect these means o God that we would not neglect the prayers O God that we not would not neglect your word but we thank you for these things o God we thank you for your Holy Spirit who who bears witness that we are children of God that we are sons adopted as sons through Jesus Christ we pray that you would conform us more and more unto Christ that we would look to Christ we would know more of the true and the Living God we thank you for all these things O God and we pray that you bless the preacher as he proclaims your word help him to know a sense of your Holy Spirit that your word might go forth we thank you for your word O God that you have given it to us and you revealed it to us O God we pray that you would be glorifying all things we pray these things in the name of Christ amen well our final him before the preaching is in the Trinity hymnal the bigger Trinity hymnal will stand together and sing hymn number 240 that's him number 240 if you were able will stand and sing together [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to 2nd Kings chapter 2 2nd Kings chapter 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 2nd Kings chapter 2 then 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 Elijah from Gilgal then Elijah said to Elisha stay here please for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel but Elijah 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 Elisha 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 Elisha 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 though 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 Elijah 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 peat 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 Elijah crossed over now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him they said the spirit of Elijah rests on Elijah 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 Elijah please notice the situation of this city is pleasant as my Lord sees but the water is bad in 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 Berenice so the water remains healed to this day according to the word of Elijah 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 forty-two 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 in 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 for the demonstration of your amazing grace and your your goodness and your kindness in your loss 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 and 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 should help us as we come to this passage of Scripture she would inform and instruct our minds and hearts she 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 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 2nd Timothy chapter 3 confessed 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 2nd Kings chapter 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 and least within the professing church some teach that what we have here with Elijah is owing more to folklore and stories and 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 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 asks what 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 second king - 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 Elijah 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 first Kings chapter 17 Elijah the Tishbite stands before godless a hat 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 Elijah his successor a prophet who comes after him but let's look first at this translation note the plan of God in verse 1 says it came to pass when Yahweh was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgal so God had purposed to do this and everybody in the chapter knows about this Elijah according to verses 2 4 and 6 understand that this is a lie just a lot as well these sons of the prophets in verses 3 & 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 2 a little I just said to Elijah 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 doesn't want anybody else to be around he's going to go this alone as well to prevent Elijah's grief he knows the strong bond that he maintains with his younger successor and he wants to prevent that for some suggest it was to test Elijah's affection will Elijah nevertheless come with Elijah at this particular time we don't know because the text doesn't tell us we do know however that Elijah 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 and 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 that brother brings to your soul you've you've had those seasons you've had those times may have it in public worship and so Elijah wants to milk this for all it's worth as Gill 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 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 the 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 dill 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 man that are running the nation into the ground and yet the prophetic movement continues and they continue to call the the government officials to repentance they continue to give guidance from the Lord to the nation you see God's great mercy though the people are running headlong into idolatry nevertheless provides them profits and gives them the 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 Elijah knows and everybody's reminding him and Elijah reminds everybody I know keep silent about it this is a painful time for Elijah 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 Elijah wasn't this man who was always chopping at the dead 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 the gist or the vibe that he does yet 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 gilgul 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 three and four but how says such a scenario calls attention to the similarities of Elijah 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 bearers and all is an affirmation a confirmation an authentication of the fact that Elijah gods 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 visa via healing miracle and then a cursing miracle connect Elijah to Moses it connects Elijah to the prophetic tradition it connects Elijah 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 Elisha 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 he's he says such a scenario calls attention to the similarities of Elijah succession of Elijah and Joshua 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 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 apologetics standpoint that the the cities that Elijah and Elijah go to Bethel Jericho are the same way that Elijah 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 seven says 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 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 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 man wore it and so Elijah wears it he throws it into the river and it splits it goes apart now they cross over it we learn of the 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 noter a notoriously famous than you are you see that is not what is driving Elijah he has no doubt witnessed Elijah as God blessed ministry in terms of power and authority and preaching and activity but there's been little effect or little 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 the most hits on YouTube who cares about the most hits on YouTube who cares on whether you get 5 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 or 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 on to the Facebook community the YouTube people I just kind of envision a bunch of moles living underground watching YouTube but you to I know we all want you to 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 Gill 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 established 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 gonna need double what you have 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 gonna require double of what God has given to you no ambition here no vain conceit no desire for vain glory now note the translation of Elijah verse 11 then it happened as they continued on and talked that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses afire and separated the two of them and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven you know the famous portrait of this of the famous not portrait but painting of this shows a lie jaw on a chariot being absconded into heaven that's not what happens the chariot separates Elijah from Elijah 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 Elijah it's beautiful Elijah saw it he cried out my father my father the chariot of Israel and it's 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 Isaiah it's not going to be owing to joram it is rather owing to the fact 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 particularly dur it's not the savvy in terms of battle of the particularly dur 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 prophets spoke the truth to us as the chariot and it's horsemen drive the armies in battle so did Elijah the Prophet what a great great epitaph it is 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 flattered and a 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 description 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 Elijah in verses 13 to 25 there's three things we want to observe here the prophets mantle the prophets blessing and the prophets curse first the prophets 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 instruct 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 Elijah crossed over you see what Elijah is doing here he knows that though God's man died or gods 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 cast the mantle into the same river and what happens God divides the river what is God affirming through this this particular situation he's affirming that Elijah is indeed the right successor of Elijah it is a dramatic wonderful power powerful display of the transfer of the prophetic ministry from Elijah to Elijah 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 Elijah 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 you know master of the culinary arts to take a few loaves and a few fish and and the FINA 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 dot 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 their mouthpieces for God they do signs and wonders the signs and the wonders confirmed 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 so everybody follow you got people hankering after the signs and wonders today not listening to God you get this with people sometimes so 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 want to ask is have you read the whole Bible as 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 and 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 Elijah they came to meet him they bow to the bow 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 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 or or you know the the eyesight involved I don't think these prophets knew that and it wasn't unlike God to spirit away Elijah first Kings chapter 18 this was obadiah's concerned maybe he'll spirit him away and I'll be stuck holding the bag before a half so these prophets don't know that but Elijah does know that Elijah 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 gonna go out and busy yourself looking at looking for a body that's not there not only is the amount 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 you know 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 prophets blessing verses 19 to 22 then the men of the city said to Elisha pleasent please notice the situation of this city as pleasant as my Lord sees but the water is bad in the ground barren this begins sort of a ongoing emphasis by God in terms of tending to the needs of his people you're gonna say well the two bears really doesn't seem to fit that flow of thought but but just just bear with me for a moment when we get to chapter four specifically we'll see how Elijah 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 a widow who has two sons her husband dies he didn't fear the Lord they've got debts and the creditors are going to come in there they're gonna seize my son's soul Aishah gives her endless oil well there is an end when the vessels come to an end she's never named we wouldn't know or if we bumped into her today this nameless woman who had a particular destination - yuju harem King I'm not even going to acknowledge you joram king I wouldn't do anything for your benefit unless it was for Jehoshaphat who's standing by her sorry 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 second Kings four 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 to reign over the nation 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 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 is 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 much grace and goodness and kindness and and and and mercy is displayed in these 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 in the ground Baron Davis says suffers from miscarriages betters better picks up the sense of the verb moreover when Elijah announces God's healing of the waters he assures towns folk 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 and livestock and humans hence when verse 19 says the land miscarries I take land as a cipher for its occupants I eat livestock and people it wasn't just the change that we went through a few years ago here in Chilliwack where you know 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 you know ammonia that's not what's going on here this water was we thought 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 and water to fix it you don't put salt and water to pure by 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 Berenice it's the power of the spoken word it's not magic 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 till 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 is glory and his power so we see the prophets 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 Elijah is a true prophet the 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 cursing 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 curses 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 we certainly don't love one another as we ought if we continue in penitent then God is going to judge us I don't like that concept of judgment anymore either they're so antiquated you got to be progressive jump on the Love Train is what we're told today everything's about LA blah blah blah blah God is loved they cite that yes he is but all that is in God is God he's not only lobby is justice he is righteousness he is holiness why don't we forget that sort of description of who God is notice the profit 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 that we should never entertain as as reasonable people in fact there is one commentator who makes this statement he says this murderous response to the boys mockery is morally scandalous is it meant to suggest that Elijah 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 forests became idiomatic in Hebrew for a cock-and-bull story they're not let that fellow's not alone people really struggle you may struggle with what's written here I'm not gonna 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 wouldn't you leave out the end of second Kings to you you don't need to raise your hand I'm not going to make a public example of you but but before you continue with that verdict consider the facts of the narrative you still may not like it any more 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 first Kings chapter 12 Jeroboam the son of Nebat who become sort of a benchmark for wickedness in the northern kingdom in it and at times in the southern kingdom this man Institute's calf worship calf worship capped bull calves and he makes two locations and one of them is in Bethel it has become a central place where calves are worship 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 twelve to thirty in general now certainly we'll all say yeah they were probably 25 that makes more sense to us most commentators put them much younger on the scale they weren't too 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 an 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 we're 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 News notice came from the city see the way I envisioned it is that Elijah was not walking down Yale Road and some guys at 7-eleven started to a costume that's not what's happening Elijah is 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 guys 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 happened 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 bald head bald head get out of our town we don't want the Word of God that you've got parents these kids had learned this kind of religion these pair of these kids had had it ingrained in them these kids learn from their youth the catechism of wickedness and ideology who made you the calves that King Jeroboam erected in Bethel what else did the these calves make all things why should you glorify these calves 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 scanning around 7-eleven taking a potshot 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 like 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 man speak ill of the prophet of God Most High teacher kids respect brethren now note the curse he pronounces it in verse 24 a 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 she you don't want to mess with that bear bears terrible aren't they I've always wondered why we have teddy bears I have small little tokens of things that would rip you apart I can'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 wearing I can't accept this okay the kids were bad they should have got a timeout they should have got a bit of a corporal punishment but but but but come on you always going overboard with these she-bears well at least you're on the right track if you answer Yahweh it's not a lie Shaw he wasn't a you know a bear trainer well isn'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 him a Yank and oh it was God who sent the Bears brethren you got problems with these bears you've got problems with God it's just like in the previous chapter in 2nd Kings chapter 1 hey Isaiah 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 you know 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 implication 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 if 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 Alessa that's just not good that's not good that's not wise I why in the world would we have a problem with God fulfilling his work see we like when God fulfills his word and it revolt results in blessing don't wait we like when God answers our prayers in the affirmative I think we're very much Fairweather 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 cuz 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 2nd Kings - 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 Elijah been wrong to curse listen if you have a problem with the passage and even if you don't listen if he had been wrong to curse one would assume that Yahweh would not have fulfilled the curse it's the same with Elijah and the servants of a Hazara 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 indicate 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 Elijah's curse here is not an irritable prophet but a judging God and then matthew henry and much the same way bit 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 we can't read Providence that way you can when it's the prophet of God it's a very mouthpiece of God you must read Providence that way if he's just me or 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 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 the god God does this well then that must mean he's favorable toward it not always not necessarily but when it's the prophet Elijah 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 Elijah 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 commentator 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-bear 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 were 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 mantel blessing cursing is to indicate that like moses before him elijah 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 elijah 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 gonna 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 just have a friend who 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 need 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 as 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 we seek to see men save that men go unsaved they go unrepentant they go unbelief and so we get down and we get discouraged and we get you know melancholy 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 three and four is the same God of second Kings chapter two 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 on a family I'm not gonna 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're accurately and faithfully executing 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 but we do that though we put man up on a pedestal because you could see it then a man like a light just gone what are we gonna do imagine the faithful in the Northern Kingdom the faithful in the Northern Kingdom and the absence of Elijah probably felt like they were just lost and destitute well what's going to happen the power of God has 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 Elijah 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 though they are the only conduits of God's health perhaps God deliberately displays his mind through lesser instruments so that we will not be transfixed on the pizzaz 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 is gonna march on best council any preacher can ever receive is don't take yourself too serious wait 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 as men not his servants good as they may have been and in the world is probably a much worse place when you know Calvin dies or 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 Elijah 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 it was pronounced with a curse was pronounced by Joshua in Joshua chapter 6 Joshua's six charged them at that time saying curse should 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 first King 16 evidences that this indeed came to pass in his days tile of bethel built Jericho he laid its foundation with a Byram his firstborn son and with his youngest son Sega he set up its gates according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken through Joshua the son of nun so 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 Elijah and in his provision of blessing wherein a curse previously rested you get this throughout the you know modern church all you hear about these trans generational curses basically you hear that you know if you were born into this sort of family too bad for you that's tough you you know there's these trans generational curses and your parents were terrible human beings so you've just this is your locks you're gonna be ruined it's interesting how some of the Kings were wicked but they had good godly sons I never understood that transient and I'm not saying God doesn't work transgenerational II but the teaching almost is there that yeah it's just tough luck for you terrible parents you got this you know rough a row to hoe Jericho was cursed and now they get Sweetwater Jericho was cursed and now they get blessing Jericho was cursed and eventually Jesus is gonna pass through there and he's gonna stand at the at the at the tree where where Zacchaeus is it he's gonna invite him down so he could eat at his house you see God 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 you're 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 was to Singapore and he graffiti 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 gonna cane him you know what rational people would freak out about I can't believe he'd rafidhi how do you interpret things I can't believe these she bears with 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 judgement of God or the sin that God judges I think that's a legit question you see it with reference to the death penalty all the death penalty is barbaric it's not terrible but that that man brutally raped and murdered five 10 15 women see in this world the death penalty is not the problem it's those kinds of people now let me 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 gonna do this very thing if you're an unbeliever you to say on the day of judgment well well I don't think this is fair that you cast me up 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 treaty 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 is anybody else not see how faulty this logic is it's God's problem that these sheep 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 while beasts among you which shall rob you of your children destroy your livestock and make you few a 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 and 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 2nd kings to not forgetting however that he sends sweet water to the Jericho i'ts 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 and their mockery of God's prophets and they bow before the Lord Jesus Christ those who confess him as Lord those who believe we'll 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 spirit 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 with me in mercy with sinners so don't go here 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 on this 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 bakit 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 and 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 you