Second Kings 2:19

The Bible says in Second Kings 2:19-25, “And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.[20] And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.[21] And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.[22] So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.[23] And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.[24] And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.[25] And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.” It is interesting that Elisha threw salt into the well to heal the water. Of course, salt would normally ruin fresh water. Perhaps this was done to make sure there was no doubt that this was a miracle that God had done through Elisha. God is also showing everyone that Elisha was God’s replacement for Elijah. God wants His work to continue, and He will always raise up just the right person to take the place of the last servant of God. Everyone is temporary and must eventually be replaced.

In the incident of the children that were injured by the bears after the children mocked Elisha, we are not told how badly they were injured. It seems that the purpose of the passage is that God wants His prophets to be treated with respect. It is very important that children learn to respect their elders. They are headed in a terrible direction in life if they do not. Of course, this is the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is very harsh: more harsh than things taught in the New Testament. But there are still spiritual lessons to be learned.

The Bible says in Second Kings 3:1-12, “Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.[2] And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.[3] Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.[4] And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.[5] But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.[6] And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.[7] And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.[8] And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.[9] So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.[10] And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab![11] But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may inquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.[12] And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.” We can see that Jehoshaphat was a true believer and had some good instincts spiritually speaking. There was no way that Jehoshaphat was going to take the advice of an ungodly king who was not a true believer. Jehoshaphat wanted to hear from the prophet of God because Jehoshaphat wanted to hear God’s Word and wanted to know God’s will. That is critically important in life: what is God’s will? What does God want? Find that and do it. Many times God just wants you to stay right where you are, but improve your life with His help.

The Bible says in Second Kings 3:13-15, “And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.[14] And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee.[15] But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.” Verse fourteen presents an important truth. A person must be rightly related to the Lord in order to seek the Lord’s help. You do not want to have unconfessed sin in your life. Sin separates a person from God. Repentance and confession to Christ restores the relationship. The first time you make such a confession of sins, your soul is saved. After being converted to Christ, we make a daily confession in order to stay in fellowship with Him. Do not let your prayers be hindered. It says to Christians in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Notice in verse fifteen the importance of music in the Christian life. God often uses music to speak to us. David learned that truth very well. All of the Psalms were originally written to be sung with music.

The Bible says in Second Kings 3:16-27, “And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.[17] For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.[18] And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.[19] And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.[20] And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.[21] And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.[22] And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:[23] And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.[24] And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.[25] And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.[26] And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.[27] Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.” When the prophet stated the miracle that he was going to do, he stated in verse eighteen, “And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD.” That is true of any miracle. God can do anything, and so miracles are not really miracles to Him. They are just God doing what God does. Go ahead and ask God for miracles. He can do them easily. That is one reason that Jesus said in Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Jesus said in John 15:16, “…and whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” Jesus said in Luke 17:6, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you.”

An example of how evil, how crazy, and how foolish the heathen peoples were who lived in and around the land of Canaan, the king of Moab took his oldest son and burned him alive in some kind of bizarre attempt to gain the favor of his false gods. No wonder God decided to take that land and give it to Israel.

The Bible says in Second Kings 4:1-7, “Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.[2] And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.[3] Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.[4] And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.[5] So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.[6] And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.[7] Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.” The lesson of this incident is that God understands that we have material needs, and He will provide one way or another. In the case of this woman, it took a miracle, but God is even willing to do that if we need it. God has all kinds of ways to provide our needs. Sometimes He gives us a job, and sometimes He gives us training and education so that we can get a job. Jesus gave a very important teaching about how to make sure our needs are met. He said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” In other words, put God first along with doing what is right, and the Lord will make sure that your material needs are met. Do not worry. God understands the life that He gave us. He knows that we have material needs and He promises to supply our needs if we put Jesus first.

The Bible says in Second Kings 4:8-17, “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.[9] And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.[10] Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.[11] And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.[12] And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him.[13] And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.[14] And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old.[15] And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.[16] And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.[17] And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.” The Shunnamite woman was generous and hospitable, and her heart went out to the prophet of God. The fact that she was rewarded so greatly with a miracle to give her a son shows us what God thought of her and of what she had done for the prophet. As Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given unto you.” Of course, this passage also reminds us that having a child was a gift from God. All children are gifts from God. The miracle was the fact that she conceived. Every conception in a way is a miracle from God. Life starts with conception.

___________________________________________________