Category: Elijah

When Sin is Unbearable - 2 Kings 2

3/6/2018

The end of 2 Kings 2 has one of the most interesting events in Biblical history. It was in the time shortly after Elijah’s departure in a flaming chariot that Elisha the prophet took a journey from Jericho to Bethel. While on the way a fairly large group of young men began mocking him. Elisha looked behind him to see them and cursed them in the name of Jehovah. Considering the wickedness of Israel in that day – and their ungodly king – this kind of roving group of blasphemous young men would not be all the strange to encounter. But what happened next was strange. After Elisha’s curse, two mother bears came out of the woods and ripped up (the word means to tear something in half) 42 of those ungodly young men. When we read this – we are a little shocked at the judgment that comes so quickly and at the violence of the event.

What is going on in this passage? What was it that moved Elisha to curse the young men – and even more – what moved God to have two bears come and tear them up in this way? Well, let’s take a look at that and see why Elisha and God found the sin of these young men so unbearable.

The first sin we see in this passage is that of disrespect. There was disrespect on a number of different levels. We need to remember how ungodly the nation was at this time. Idolatry was running rampant in the country – as was violence toward God’s messengers and message. The people had watched Ahab and Jezebel rule – and it was pretty well known that Jezebel was systematically killing all the prophets of God that she could find. In addition to this the people of Israel were following a false god – and thus respect and honor for the true God was at an all time low. Here, evidently, was the new prophet chosen of God – the very God who had struck their nation with a 3 and a half-year famine! Supposedly he was the heir apparent after Elijah was taken up in a flaming chariot to heaven. These young men began to mock Elisha in a very disgusting way. First of all they referred to his lack of hair by calling him “bald-head.” There are two possibilities for this name. First would be that Elisha was baldheaded by nature. Being called “baldy” is not exactly an honorable way to address the new prophet. The second was that Elisha had shaved his head to mourn his mentor as Job had done when he lost everything. If the second of these is true – it was not only disrespect of Elisha – but also a horrible lack of graciousness to someone who had lost his greatest mentor and friend. I tend to lean toward the second of these because they not only mocked him for his baldness – but also they also said, “Go up you baldhead.” The phrase “go up” was in reference to how Elijah had been taken from him. It was a mocking phrase that meant that they didn’t want Elisha around either. They reacted this way because the last thing they wanted was another prophet of Jehovah coming around and continuing to make trouble like Elijah did. “Yeah baldy – why don’t you go up too with the other guy who was such a bane to our existence.”

The second sin of these young men was that of rejecting the Word of Jehovah that was already coming from Elisha to the nation. They didn’t want it when Elijah was there – and they certainly didn’t want another one of these prophets of Jehovah! These guys made their lives miserable. So there was a rejection of God in all that they were saying – of Elisha and of Elijah.

Elisha simply turned his head to look back – and he cursed them in the name of Jehovah. We come from a time in history when people are squeamish about God judging and cursing people. But such things are a fact of Scripture as God has revealed Himself to us. We live in a time when we think our rights are what are most valuable and important. We have come to think that for someone to judge us is wrong in every case. Reality – at least Biblical reality thinks far different from this. God has made it clear that those who disobey the law are cursed. God had an entire ceremony when two groups of people stood on two opposite mountains. They called out not only the blessings of God upon those who obeyed – but they also called out the curses on those who disobey. God also has the authority to call actions wrong – even using words like abomination when referring to sins we commonly embrace in our day. We need to grasp that to be guilty of sin before a holy God will render us cursed if we have nothing to pay for our sin and speak on our behalf. We can furrow our brow at the thought of God judging and cursing people – but He does not dwell under our judgment – we dwell under His.

When Elisha cursed them in the name of Jehovah, he was simply speaking the same thing Scripture does. God is merciful in not giving us what we truly deserve for sin. But we should remember that this was God’s newly anointed prophet. The rejection of him and of his predecessor was a very stupid and wicked thing to do. God was about to make an example that would ring in the ears of the people and warn them not to mess with Elisha. We need to remember that Elisha did not call for the bears. He simply uttered a curse – it was God’s providence that immediately afterward 2 mama bears came out and torn in half 42 of their number. It was a lesson that would long be remembered. Before we get to huffy about God doing this we might want to revisit the beginning days of the New Testament church. It was in the very early days of the church that a godly man named Barnabas sold his land and gave all the proceeds to the church. In a wicked plan to gain favor and honor – a couple named Ananias and Saphira decided they would do the same, but would keep back money for themselves. Even though they kept money for themselves, they would lie to the church and make it seem like they gave it all to the Lord! There was only one problem – God can see behind closed doors – and into dark hearts. The Holy Spirit, who had been lied to through all this, moved through Peter to confront Ananias about this – and when Peter did this – God struck him dead. Just as the men who took his body to bury it arrived back at where the church was meeting – in came Saphira – who confirmed their godless plan – and God then spoke through Peter as He struck her dead. Yep – that was pretty judgmental of God wasn’t it – except that God was absolutely just and right in doing this. The fledgling work of God was facing a serious threat – just like Elisha did through the mocking of these godless young men. God found both situations unbearable – or at least he found Ananias’ and Saphira’s unbearable. Considering what happened – we might say He found Elisha’s situation very “bear-able.”

God is not mocked. We cannot reject or lie to Him without serious consequences. Just because He shows great mercy so often does not mean that His justice doesn’t exist – or that judgment of the severest kind in not in order for all who disobey Him. We praise Him for showing such incredible mercy every day. But we would be very unwise to think that His mercies mean that judgment is not coming. He is praised throughout the Psalms because He is coming to judge the earth and the peoples with equity and in truth. We would do well to remember that as we read of a group of young men who had to bear the weight of their rebellion and disrespect towards God and those who brought His message to them.

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Overwhelmed and Exhausted, Part 6 - Discipleship or Training Up Your Replacement

1/18/2011

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May God give you the blessing of training up the next generation of servants who will continue to live and preach the truth to His church as well as continue the work of His kingdom. I thought I was finished with the series of articles on being overwhelmed and exhausted. But as I thought about the directives that God gave to Elijah to get him back on the track of serving Him—I was amiss in presenting one last thing about how God deals with our sense of being overwhelmed and exhausted. This last thing has to do with God telling Elijah to find Elisha and anoint him as the one who would be prophet in his place.

Training up our replacement may seem like a task that will add to our being overwhelmed and exhausted, but as I hope you will see, such a task refocuses us on what is important—vitally important to the work of God. In addressing Elijah’s exhaustion and sense of being overwhelmed, God did one of the most wonderful things He could do—He gave Elijah a protégé—a servant—a disciple if you will. Elisha was that disciple.

One of the reasons that we get overwhelmed and exhausted is because we try to do God’s work, our way. We think that we are supposed to foster massive movements and set up awesome “ministries” for God. Yet, when you look at what Jesus Christ did while on the earth (and He said He lived to do the Father’s will), it might amaze you what He devoted Himself to doing. He did spend large amounts of time teaching and ministering to those who came around Him, but not in the way of fostering a huge movement or organization like we do today. He spend the majority of His time ministering to twelve men—seeking to reproduce what He did and was doing through them. If anything, He actually shunned the idea of building a huge organization. In short—He disciple men. This is what God was doing with Elijah as well. He would pour the last months and years of his life into a young man, Elisha, who would continue his prophetic ministry afterward. What is even more wonderful to see is that by the time Elisha moves into the full swing of his ministry for God, he has a group of men with him which we could loosely call, the school of the prophets. Elisha’s legacy would be not just his own ministry as prophet and a replacement—but a wonderful ministry—and multiple prophets who could spread the Word of God far further than he could do alone.

Sometimes we are overwhelmed and exhausted because we see NO END in sight for us to carry the ministry we have—ALONE. Even Jesus did not do that. He gave Himself to raise up 12—and actually by the time they were praying in the upper room prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit—there were 120. That would definitely lessen our load and help preclude further exhaustion and a sense of being overwhelmed. So, as I close this week’s article I only have one question. “Who are you working with to be your replacement in the work of the kingdom?

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Overwhelmed and Exhausted, Part 5 - Get Up, There's More to be Done

1/13/2011

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God had brought Elijah to Mt. Horeb where He revealed Himself to Elijah. That revelation reminded Elijah that God moved in quiet ways—often behind the scenes of the big and the spectacular. But there was one last thing that the Lord did to help Elijah. We remember that God made Elijah rest and sleep and that He addressed the performance orientation Elijah had. He also helped Elijah see that He was at work whether Elijah saw it or not—and that God’s work did not rest on Elijah alone. The other thing that the Lord did was to get Elijah back into doing God’s will. He also gave Elijah hope that God would finish the work of judgment and revival—even though Elijah would not be there.

After hearing Elijah’s complaints we need to see that God did not directly address Elijah’s gripes. He simply acted as He is—God—and He gave Elijah a will to follow. Yet in giving these assignments God gave Elijah enough information to know that God was going to complete the work He began through Elijah. The instructions were simple—anoint Hazael king over Aram—and Jehu king over Israel. In addition to the anointing of these two kings, he also was to anoint Elisha as prophet in his place. There is something we should learn from these directions.

When we are exhausted and overwhelmed—God wants us to rest—but not forever. Elijah had lost his way because God did not solve things completely—the way Elijah wanted. But after God had addressed Elijah’s spiritual condition, God knew that Elijah needed to get back on track and begin serving the Lord again in the things he did. But as God did this—he unequivocally let Elijah know that He was going to work in perpetuity. Judgment would come on the wicked—that was assured. But, it would come in God’s way, according to God’s timing, and through God’s chosen instruments.

Elijah unfortunately fell into the thought that everything had to be done through him and while he was alive. God’s plans and purposes go far beyond any one man or woman. They have been carried out in the past—and they will be carried on in the future. No one man can claim to have all the truth and also lay claim to all God wants to do. Our job is simply to take the baton from those in the past—and run the race faithfully until we are to hand the baton to the next person. Elijah had struggled with the passing of the baton. We may be overwhelmed and exhausted because we think God’s work in our area—in our state - and even in our nation and world. Our job should be to run faithfully our leg of the race—and pass the baton. God will eventually finish every race in His own way - with His own chosen people. We would have much more peace and rest if we would once again recognize that race.

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Overwhelmed and Exhausted, part 4 - Unmet Expectations

12/13/2010

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       This is part four of a study on what to do if you are overwhelmed and exhausted. This week we need to look at a question that God asked Elijah twice in dealing with his sense of being overwhelmed and exhausted. You might be surprised at what God was trying to do to help Elijah.

             One of the problems that happens when we are overwhelmed and exhausted is that we lose    perspective on life. We become so burdened and weighed down by our present circumstances that we cannot see where we are any longer. God asked Elijah a simple question. His question is one we need to ask when we get this way. “What are you doing here, Elijah,” God posed to his exhausted servant. What is fascinating is that God asked this question twice. Elijah spoke of his great zeal for God—Israel’s great sin and unfaithfulness to God—of Israel’s rejection of every prophet sent to them—and finally of the fact that now they are seeking to kill him too. This was Elijah’s answer to God both times he was asked the same question. Notice anything about these answers? Let me help you if you’ve missed it. Neither of them answered what God was asking. God wasn’t asking Elijah what he had been through recently—but why he was where he was now. Elijah answered both times with the circumstances that were overwhelming him. Let’s look at how this should instruct us.

Elijah was focused on what had happened in the past—not on where it was landing him right now. That is a sign of someone who is overwhelmed. They cannot see past what has happened—to where they are now. Elijah’s   answer is telling though. Where he was had to do with what he thought about God. He was zealous—He addressed Israel’s unfaithfulness—He was persecuted—and He was facing death threats. Notice something about this answer. It was all about what HE had done—and—how God was not coming through like He should be based on what Elijah was doing. One of the reasons we get overwhelmed is because our “expectations” are not being met the way we think they should be. Part of our problem is that we have entered into strong labor—exhausting labor—even labor in obedience to God—but we have entered into it with expectations of what God should do because we are laboring. What happens to us when God does not come through with OUR expected results? Often we get seriously stressed out. Most think that maybe they just need to work harder, which does not help our stress level at all. Each time God does not come through with the expected results we get even more stressed. Finally, we snap and wind up under a tree or on a mountain side having God ask us what we are doing there (well, actually that was Elijah—but we have our places too, don’t we).

Here is God’s wisdom for us. We are servants—and we serve as our Lord has commanded. We serve in faith desiring good results. We labor in the strength He provides—hoping for an outcome. But we labor leaving the results up to Him—even if they are not what we want—or they don’t come as soon as we think they should. If we do not take this view . . . we will end up with unmet expectations that stress us out. But our stress is not due to what God has     commanded. It is due to our unmet expectations. Lay down the expectations and serve Him without them—and you will be amazed at how your stress level—your exhaustion and overwhelmed level will drop.

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Overwhelmed and Exhausted, part 3 - Who are you trying to please?

12/11/2010

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   This is part three of a study on what to do if you are overwhelmed and exhausted.  If you thought from last week’s article that God’s Word was going to let you quit for good, you are unfortunately mistaken.  This week we will look at what God did next to help alleviate Elijah’s sense of being overwhelmed and exhausted.

              Something that often is overlooked in this passage is the fact that God pretty much encouraged Elijah to lay down and rest—sleep if you will.  He did this twice—taking time to feed Elijah each time when he awakened.  Now there is a view out there that says when we are serving the Lord, we should work to the point of utter exhaustion.  Unfortunately, there are many who have taken that advice—and have worked themselves to that point of being exhausted.  Such a view is contrary to God’s Word.  Let’s take a look at what might have caused Elijah’s exhaustion (and possibly yours too).

            Elijah said in his first statement to God, “I am no better than my fathers.”  This statement revealed a little of    Elijah’s mistaken reasoning that led to his exhaustion.  It had to do with the expectations that Elijah was carrying.  He was to be “better” than his fathers.  Now granted, his fathers were the people of that generation whose actions and choices had led to a gutter-level low point in Israel’s spiritual history.  But whether our fathers are awesome or awful spiritually the same Biblical principle holds on this issue.  We are not to examine ourselves with ourselves.  The standard to which Elijah was to adhere was God’s—not one that was compared to the failings or the excelling of his   fathers.  This can be a burden that is unbearably heavy.  For Elijah this burden was most likely one where he could not make even one mistake.  He had to be absolutely faultless and perfect to best his fathers.  What is amazing is that until Jezebel threatened him—he was doing awesome.  But HAVING to do awesome every moment of your life, winds up not being so awesome.  Mess up once—and your house of cards comes tumbling down.  You tried so hard to keep them up, and now they’ve fallen.  You might say, Elijah?  Building a house of cards?  Look at where he wound up after all his efforts.  He is under a tree wanting to die.  The problem with doing “better than your fathers” is that when you do—you become proud.  But that pride goes before a fall, because one slip—and suddenly you are “no better than your fathers.”

            Here is a little secret for you.  God expects you to do what He says, in the strength He provides, and according to the Word He uses to instruct you.  There is no hidden agenda of you being better than anybody else.  There are no charts where you are trying to be number one by out-doing, out-serving, out-sharing, out-witnessing, out-loving—or for that matter out-anything-elseing any other person who knows the Lord.  God simply wants you to know Him, love Him, and serve Him as He directs you.  He knows your frame—and He knows that you are human (which means you are prone to goofing up in life).  You might find that once you’ve taken the ‘got-to-out-do’ everyone else monkey off your back that you begin to learn to serve God in peace—rather than serve Him in one-upping your fathers constantly.  Who knows, you might find that loving God this way becomes much less overwhelming and exhausting?

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Articles

When Sin is Unbearable - 2 Kings 2

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, Part 6 - Discipleship or Training Up Your Replacement

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, Part 5 - Get Up, There's More to be Done

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, part 4 - Unmet Expectations

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, part 3 - Who are you trying to please?

Biblical Articles

Categories

​Articles

When Sin is Unbearable - 2 Kings 2

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, Part 6 - Discipleship or Training Up Your Replacement

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, Part 5 - Get Up, There's More to be Done

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, part 4 - Unmet Expectations

Overwhelmed and Exhausted, part 3 - Who are you trying to please?

Biblical Articles

Categories

Articles