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Two Bears and Some Gang Members
2 Kings 2:23-25
1. BACKGROUND:
a. Elijah had been the great prophet to Israel.
1) We remember him from Mt. Carmel.
2) Discouraged, he thought the entire nation
had turned it's back on God. (I Kings 19:13-14).
3) God still had 7,000 faithful Israelites who
refused to bow the knee to Baal (1 Kings
19:18).
b. Elisha was selected to succeed Elijah. Elisha was
called when he was just a teenager, plowing his
fields.
c. About 7 or 8 years later, Elisha followed Elijah to
the eastern banks of the Jordan and was there
when Elijah was taken up to heaven.
1) He returned with Elijah's mantle, parting the
Jordan, and stopped for a short time at
Jericho.
2) This young successor to Elijah then went on
up toward Bethel.
3) READ TEXT
2. Now the question can logically be asked -- what kind
of a place was Bethel?
a. Bethel had been the center of apostasy in Israel
throughout many generations. The degeneration
of Bethel began in the reign of the wicked king
Jeroboam.
b. That king had pulled the 10 northern tribes
away-- he made two golden calves to be worship,
one of which he placed in Dan in the northern
portion of his territory, and the other in Bethel,
at the southernmost point, about twelve miles
north of Jerusalem.
3. Who were the persons involved?
a. Incorrect impression of the incident.
1) A casual reading of the passage has often left
an impression somewhat like this:
An old bald-headed prophet was trudging slowly
up the main street of Bethel when he chanced
upon some innocent little children merrily
playing together. In the midst of their
merriment they spy him and shout, more
playfully than tauntingly, "Go up, you balk head;
go up, you baldy!" Instantly the old prophet
becomes enraged with their childish banter, and
with eyes flashing in anger he whirls around and
curses them in the name of the Lord. Suddenly,
as if in direct according with his curse, two she
bears rush out of the nearby forest and "devout"
forty-two of the little children.
I) But is this picture right?
2) Robert Ingersoll, the renowned agnostic,
said of this story ...
"I find in this Bible that there was an old
gentleman a little short of the article of hair.
And as he was going through the town a
number of little children cried out to him,
"Go up, thou baldhead!" And this man of
God turned and cursed them... And two bears
came out of the woods and tore in pieces
forty-two children! ... Now, just think of an
infinite God [doing this] ... You hate a God
like that. I do; I despise him." [Ingersoll's 44
Lectures (Chicago: J. Regan & Company,
n.d.), p. 244.
3) Even Adam Clark remarked "But then, as
they were little children they could scarcely
be accountable for their conduct; and
consequently, it was cruelty to destroy
them."
b. Let's consider the Age of these boys--
1) It is true that our English translations says
they were "little children" but in a case like
this we need to go back to the Hebrew.
2) The two words translated "little children" are
ketanaim and na'arim (plural of na'ar).
3) Used in reference to Isaac in Gen. 22:12.
(One commentary indicates that Isaac must
have been around twenty.)
4) The word is also used in connection with
Joseph: "Joseph, being seventeen years old,
was feeding the flock with his brethren; and
the lad (na'ar) was with the sons of Bilhah"
(Gen. 37:2).
5) The word is used just a little earlier than the
time of our text when Ahab and Benhadad,
the king of Syria, were on the verge of war, a
company of two hundred and thirty-two
"young men" (na'arim) of the princes of the
provinces" (I Kings 20:14-15) put to rout the
Syrians.
a) So these young men were of age to go
into battle.
6) The word ketanarim (plural of qatan) Used
frequently in the scripture to denote a
younger son.
a) Genesis 27:42, where it is applied to
Jacob at the time when he fled from his
brother Esau--
b) "And Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all
thy children (na'arim)? And he said,
There remaineth yet the youngest
(qatan), and, behold, he keepeth the
sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse:
Send and fetch him; for we will not sit
down till he come hither. And he sent,
and brought him in. Now he was ruddy,
and, withal, of a beautiful countenance,
and goodly to look at (1 Sam. 16:11-12).
c) Here David is referred to as the
"youngest" of Jesse's "children." Yet,
down in verse 18 of the same chapter we
are told that David, even at this time,
was "... a mighty valiant man, and a man
of war, and prudent in matters, and a
comely person."
1) Certainly it can be argued that
David was no mere child, bur rather
a strong young man well along in
his twenties.
2) [For further study of the occurrences of the
two words together, see 1 Samuel 20:35 and
1 Kings 11:17.]
7) We now conclude that these "little children"
were not primarily little children at all, but
rather boys and young men whose age could
vary anywhere from twelve to thirty.
a) They were in that age group, apparently
old enough to be married, but not yet
married and established with a home of
their own.
b) These persons were old enough to know
what they were doing, and cannot be
excused for their vicious behavior on the
grounds that they were under-aged.
Besides the rude and insolent young men, there is only one
other person involved in our story, the prophet Elisha
himself.
4. How old was the prophet Elisha?
a. A hasty reading out of context one may get the
impression that Elisha was getting along in
years.
b. But actually "Elisha, when the incident occurred,
was certainly not an old man. Very probably he
was not more than twenty-five years of age; for
he lived for nearly sixty years after the date of
this event." [ ]
c. As to the character of Elisha, he seems to have
been very merciful, courteous, and completely
devoted to God and the welfare of his
countrymen.
1) A true gentleman, merciful , courteous. -- 2
Ki. 4:9; 2Ki. 6 -- he is revealed as a man of
gentle and noble character.
5. Why and How Did He Curse in the name of the Lord?
a. Did he lose his temper?
b. Why were the young men saying "baldhead"
1) Perhaps Elisha was prematurely bald -- and
used as a term of scorn.
2) He may have cut his hair in mourning for
Elijah -- With the Jews artificial baldness
was a sign of mourning (Isa 22:12 Jer 7:29
16:6 )
Jere 7:29 "Cut off your hair and throw it
away; take up a lament on the barren
heights, for the LORD has rejected and
abandoned this generation that is under his
wrath."
3) Elisha may not really have been bald at all.
c. "Go up" =
1) Go on your way-- get out of town, or
2) It is most likely an allusion to Elijah's
ascension . "Why don't you ascend also, and
get out of Bethel"
They picked up the sentiment of Bethel and Israel
against Elisha.
The sentiment was that Elisha, this new prophet
leader, would be just as troublesome to their
town and idolatry as Elijah had been.
One writer said on this passage: "It is readily
admitted that teenagers reflect the views held by
their parents. In this case, the parents were
members of a wicked and corrupt society which
was bound to influence their posterity."
d. This doesn't mean he cursed or swore, using the
name of the Lord profanely.
1) The main reason, however, for Elisha's curse
was that he, as a prophet of God, was duty
bound to do so.
2) The citizens of Bethel were walking contrary
to the Law and were under the curse of God:
"If ye walk contrary unto me, and will not
harken unto me, ... I will also send wild
beasts among you, which shall rob you of
your children and destroy your cattle; and
your highways shall be desolate." (Lev.
26:21-22).
3) We might remember the story in I Kings 13,
of the young prophet who came up to Bethel,
and was told by the Lord not to eat or rest
there, but an old prophet persuaded him to
come to his house and eat, this young
prophet was killed by a lion on the way back
home.
4) We might say that Elisha was abiding in the
law when he cursed the youths and was
certainly in the will of God.
e. How did he curse? The Hebrew word has a
twofold meaning. It can mean either to "revile"
or "to pronounce judgment," depending on the
context.
1) Elisha, as a true servant of God certainly did
not revile or abuse the boys, therefore he
simply asks that God deal with them in a way
that will show God's judgment in the
situation.
2) This is, after all, is the Scriptural way, for
God says in Deut. 32:35 "To me belongeth
vengeance and recompense."
3) Elisha did not curse in his own name, but "in
the name of the Lord."
f. It was the Lord's doing when two bears came out
of the woods and mauled the young men, not
Elisha's.
1) It was the Lord's affirmation of Elisha as his
prophet, and God confirms his word spoken
in Leviticus.
6. REVIEW OF THE SCENE
a. Let us first remember that Bethel was the seat of
Baal worship and headquarters of idolatry in
Israel. Bethel in the time of Elisha was truly the
focal point for the calf worship instituted by
Jeroboam.
b. It is quite possible that these "young lads," (old
enough to be married, but not yet married) along
with some counsel and prompting from parents
and the false prophets of Baal, planned to waylay
Elisha and make him look ridiculous and
contemptible, and discourage him and end his
career at the very commencement of his work.
1) We read in verse 23 that the young men
"came forth" to meet Elisha. it appears as if
this was a deliberately planned attack
against him.
c. Another indication that this was a premeditated
assault is found in the number of persons "torn"
or "mauled" by the bears.
1) If two angry she-bears attacked a crowd of
young people today so that forty-two of them
were injured and some perhaps killed, how
many would there have been in the crowd at
the beginning?
2) It seems logical to assume that the moment
the bears appeared there would be a
scrambling in all directions.
3) It would be no exaggeration to say that
probably two escaped for every one that was
hurt, which would make the crowd of
renegades who followed Elisha number at
least one-hundred at the beginning.
4) Why were there so many? Because this was a
planned reception for Elisha.
d. We read then that the young ruffians cried, "Go
up, thou bald head," which we should point out to
be blasphemy-- not only against Elisha but
against the Lord Himself.
1) They were saying in effect, "Ascend, you
empty skull, just as it is pretended your
master did! Get out of here-- we have no
need for you! Ascend, you empty skull!!
e. Elisha turned and "cursed them in the name of
the Lord."
1) This was not a lose of temper, but uttered as
Divine judgment upon a disobedient and
rebellious people.
2) The Lord had warned the people in the law
that if they walked contrary to Him that He
would send wild beasts among them and rob
them of their children (Lev. 26:21-22).
3) In what way more clearly could God show the
Truth of His Word than what befell the city.
The very fact it is recorded indicates the
lesson was not lost, if to Bethel, certainly it
was not to the rest of Judah! Who could say,
"Aha, God's warning was true!"
f. We can easily see now that this was not the
revenge of an angry prophet, but rather the
punishment of a righteous Judge.
1) It was a judgment designed to walk the
people up, lest a worse disaster befall them.
2) A loving God, he warns and leads before His
wrath descends.
f. But Bethel and Israel persisted in the flagrant
disobedience; they continued to walk in their own
ways; they worshiped according to the evil
imaginations of their own hearts; they sank
deeper into idolatry and immorality, until the cup
of God's wrath was filled.
1) In the closing chapter of the Second book of
Chronicles there is the pathetic summary of
God's dealings with His chosen but rebellious
people.
2) "The Lord God of their fathers sent to them
by His messengers, rising up early and
sending; because He had compassion on His
people, and on His dwelling places: but they
mocked the messengers of God, and
despised His words, and scoffed at His
prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against His people, till there was no remedy"
(2 Chron. 36:15-16, RSV).
"15 The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent
word to them through his messengers again
and again, because he had pity on his people
and on his dwelling-place. 16 But they
mocked God's messengers, despised his
words and scoffed at his prophets until the
wrath of the LORD was aroused against his
people and there was no remedy." (2 Chron.
36:15-16 NIV)
7. If I were to make my own amplified para-phase of this
passage I would say:
And as Elisha laboriously worked his way up the steep
and rugged road which led to Bethel, the seat of Baal
worship and the headquarters of idolatry, a large mob
of young hooligans, urged on by the townspeople,
waylaid him. And they began to jeer and ridicule him
saying, "Ascend, you empty skull-- just as you say
your master did! Away with you-- you troublemaker!
Ascend, you empty skull, if you can! Ha! Ha!" (verse
23)
And he turned around and looked at the offspring of
apostasy and said, "May the Lord God reward you
according to your deeds-- as Moses has written." And
two vicious she bears rushed out of the nearby forest
and mangled forty-two of the derisive young
renegades, just as the Lord had warned would
happened. (verse 24)
And he continued on his way to Mount Carmel for a
time of spiritual refreshment, after which he went to
his home in Samaria. (verse 25)
LESSONS:
1. Attitudes toward spiritual things are arrived at from
parents.
a. "If this generation is going to the dogs' it is
because of the training we gave them as
puppies.'"
b. We need to bring our children to Bible Class., and
worship, and see that they associate with the
finest young people -- we are shaping their
future.
2. Youth should not despise Sacred things.
a. Knew report of Elijah's ascension
b. Many of today's youth despise the Bible, think it
old fashion, out moded.
3. Don't despise God's instructions for you on how to
live pure lives.
4. Don't despise God's commands how you can find
forgiveness of sins.
a. Hear the word of God --
b. Accept its message for you
c. Give your life to Christ.
5. Candle illustration --
a. Now-- a lot more time for you light to shine for
Christ!!!
960505
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