To Be Taken Seriously

I'm sure that most of us here, not necessarily all of us, but most of us here are fairly familiar with the Gospels in the New Testament, those extraordinary documents that recount the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

They are remarkable in a whole lot of ways. We're going to pick up some of the ways in which they're remarkable over the next few minutes and also tomorrow.

But it is always a shame when you become so used to something that you don't notice how remarkable it is.

That's almost unavoidable, but every now and again you just sort of take stock and say this is utterly remarkable.

It's not only that these accounts, we call them the Gospels, of course, it's not only that the Gospels tell a remarkable story, they certainly do that, but as documents they are remarkable, they are unique.

There's nothing like them really in world literature.

I'll expand on that in a little while, I think.

But I wonder what you make as you read the Gospel accounts of the accounts that you find there of the miracles performed by Jesus.

I mean, they're everywhere, aren't they?

Not counting the remarkable events associated with the birth of Jesus, put those to one side for a moment,

and put to one side the events surrounding the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

On one count that I looked up, I didn't do the count, but I found somebody who did.

It's always helpful to find people like that, isn't it?

There are 36 different occasions recorded when Jesus, with a word or with a touch,

or in some other remarkable way, healed people, cast out demons,

controlled the forces of nature, even raised dead people back to life.

And you'll probably be familiar with the words in John's Gospel, where he assures us

that there were many more such episodes which are not written in this book, his book.

He says if they were, the world wouldn't be big enough to fill them all.

Well, perhaps that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but nonetheless, there were so many episodes like that.

And we read the stories, and so we witness them through those who tell us about them.

And the question I want to reflect on for a moment with you is,

what impact should these stories have on us?

As you read of this incident, this incident, this incident in Jesus' life.

At a very basic level, of course, the stories challenge the modern unbeliever

who imagines that science can explain everything.

Tell you what, science is going to have some trouble explaining some of these things

that you read in the Gospels.

You see, the Gospels insist that Jesus Christ cannot be contained in such a narrow view of reality.

The reactions of those who were there show a whole lot more insight than today's sceptics.

They said things like, what sort of man is this?

That even the wind and the sea obey him.

We read that when the crowd saw it, another incident, they were afraid, and they glorified God.

Or they said, never was anything like this seen in Israel.

Another one said, truly you are the Son of God.

And then in another place, they glorified the God of Israel.

Those were some of the reactions that you see as you read these accounts.

We might reasonably add that many of Jesus' miracles displayed his kindness in a most remarkable and powerful way.

His compassion.

The stories are massive displays of his goodness.

You remember how again and again and again those who sought his mercy found it.

Often in the most remarkable ways.

Well, that's a good start, I think.

But the miracles of Jesus are even more important.

Consider these devastating words concerning two of the towns which had witnessed those mighty works of Jesus.

I'm reading from Matthew 11.

You needn't look it up, but just listen.

You'll be familiar with the words, I think.

Woe to you.

Woe to you.

Woe to you.

Jesus is speaking.

Woe to you.

Chorazin.

Woe to you, Bethsaida.

For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

It's another wow moment, isn't it?

Golly.

Tyre and Sidon, they were pagan cities up to the north of Israel.

They were famous.

You read references to them in the Old Testament.

You read great poems about them in the Old Testament, actually.

They were famous for their tyrannical arrogance, their wealth, their cruelty.

They were tough places.

They were pagan places.

And Jesus claimed, again, perhaps with a little bit of hyperbole,

he was given to hyperbole from time to time,

that if those cities had witnessed the mighty works that had taken place in Chorazin and Bethsaida,

both Israelite cities, of course,

then those notorious pagans would have been brought to their knees in repentance.

But that hadn't happened in Chorazin and Bethsaida, so woe to you.

But that raises a question, doesn't it?

What is it about the miracles of Jesus

that ought to have led those who witnessed them to repentance?

Now, wonder, get that, understand that.

Of course, if you saw what Jesus did, the wind and the waves obeyed him,

you just, jaw drops and you say,

who is this man?

Wonder, yes.

Amazement, certainly.

But why would the pagans of Tyre and Sidon have repented?

What's the connection between the miracles,

if only you saw them,

if you'd been there,

that you ought to have repented?

Why should the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida have repented?

And the answer is,

quite simple,

that the miracles were signs.

And the importance of a sign is not the sign itself,

but what it signifies,

what it points to.

And the miracles of Jesus were signs pointing to God's kingdom.

God's kingdom where the blind will see,

the deaf will hear,

the lame will leap,

and the dumb will sing for joy.

Jesus, you see,

in those things we call the miracles,

was demonstrating his power and authority

as God's king.

That's what he was doing.

And the signs accompanied his message,

which was,

repent,

for

the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The kingdom of heaven

is the long-promised reality of God's

good and righteous reign

as king

over all things.

And God's good and righteous reign

involves

judgment.

Because evil will be overthrown.

All evil

will be overthrown.

And righteousness and peace

will be established.

And repentance

is the radical change

that is demanded by the coming

of God's king.

God's king is coming,

it means turning away

from all evil.

It means submitting

to God's king.

And because Jesus' miracles

are signs of the kingdom,

they demand repentance,

not just awe and wonder,

but repentance.

Repent

for

the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

Now,

something

similar

happened

much earlier

in the history

of the Israelite people.

You've been,

in many of you,

most of you,

I think,

in your groups

have been reading

through two kings

and you've been reading

the story of Elisha

and you've been seeing

a lot more of the story

of Elisha

than we're going to manage

to see this weekend

because I'm so slow

in the way in which I work

through these stories.

You may have picked that up.

But the miracle stories

in the New Testament gospels

have a kind of background.

If you think of

the gospel stories,

they're kind of,

what's remarkable about them,

when I said

there's nothing like this

in world literature,

if you try and describe

what they're like,

they're little incident

after incident

after incident.

Of course,

there's much more

to the gospels than this.

But you move

from one incident

to another,

don't you?

And each one has its point.

And many of the incidents

are miraculous.

Well,

where do you find

anything like that

in the Old Testament?

And the thing that's closest to it

is the story of Elisha,

which again,

is you have incident

after incident

after incident

and a whole lot of them

are miraculous.

And it seems to me

that this is again

the New Testament writers,

to a certain extent,

I think they've modelled

their accounts

of the life of Jesus

on the Old Testament

story of Elisha.

Again,

another indication

of what we saw earlier on,

there are connections

between the story of Elisha

and the story of Jesus

and we should move

between them both.

Now,

certainly the stories

in the New Testament

gospels

surpass

the accounts

of the prophet Elisha

and his mighty works

in two kings.

you might,

in the New Testament,

find yourself saying

something greater

than Elisha is here.

Well,

certainly that's true

but there is

a striking similarity.

So we're going to go

and pick up Elisha's story

where we left off

last time

in 2 Kings chapter 2

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

and the passage

that was just read to us

a few moments ago.

You remember what happened?

Elisha had crossed

the Jordan River

in a remarkable

kind of reenactment

of Joshua's crossing

the river before

coming back

as he was travelling

from east to west.

I think I've got it

right this time.

Joshua probably did that,

quite possibly did that,

very close

to the spot

where Jesus

would be baptised

by John

some centuries later.

And although

the New Testament gospels

I don't think

at any point

make an explicit

reference to this,

I'm pretty sure

if you'd been there

and you knew

your Old Testament

and as you read

the Gospels

if you know

your Old Testament

when you see

Jesus being baptised

you're reminded

of this moment.

You might be reminded

of some other moments

as well

but you're reminded

of this moment

where Elisha

came into the land.

And Elisha

proceeded to retrace

the steps of the Israelites

in Joshua's day

as they were taking

possession of the land

that God had promised

their forefather Abraham.

So he came to Jericho

in chapter 2 verse 18

and like them

shortly he will move on

to the vicinity

of Bethel.

And in this study

we are really going

to focus on

what happened

in those two cities

in Jericho

and Bethel

where two very remarkable

things happened.

We could call them miracles.

I think that would be

the kind of category

but they were more

than miracles

they were signs.

They were signs

of Elisha's message.

What was Elisha's message?

Well I think it's summed up

in his name

My God saves.

So if you look at your notes

what we're going to see

is Jericho

a troubled city

that sought

and received help.

And then we're going

to move on to Bethel

a rebellious city

that mocked God's prophet

and received its due.

And then very briefly

at the end

we'll move on to

Mount Carmel

and Samaria.

And the question

we're asking

all the way through

is what do we make

of these stories?

Before you can answer

that question

you've got to actually

look at the stories

and hear the stories

well and carefully

and then say

what do we make

of these?

You'll be aware

in the second

of those stories

you listened to

it a moment ago.

I wonder how many

of you are sitting there

saying surely

he's not going to

talk about that one.

It's a pretty horrible

story isn't it

coming up

when we get to Bethel

don't glance ahead

if you weren't listening

before too bad

you don't know

what I'm talking about

you will shortly.

When you're teaching

the Bible

and when you're

reading the Bible

it's really important

that when you see

something

I don't want to deal

with that

when you see that

bit that you don't

want to deal with

it's really important

that you deal with it.

It's very important

that we don't skip

over parts of the Bible

that are a bit

frightening and a bit

scary.

This one's a bit

frightening and a bit

scary.

I was tempted

to skip over it

and then I thought

I better not

because David

will come and

chip me later on

and tell me

I shouldn't have.

So I won't.

First of all

however we come

to Jericho

that's not too bad

that one

we can cope

with the Jericho

story I think.

Jericho

was a city

with quite a story.

Here's a clue

in reading

the Old Testament

there are lots

of little skills

you can develop

and one of the

things that I've

always found

very very helpful

is you can't

do it all the time

because it's too

time consuming

but when you come

across a place name

first of all

I said earlier

look it up

on an atlas

and see where it is.

So you follow

where you're moving

what's close to what

what direction

are people moving

and get an idea

of the geography

of a place

where the place is

but the other thing

is that

not all

but very very

many Bible

places

have a big story

behind them

and there are

associations

with the place

many places

in the Bible

are like

is that noise

annoying people?

Yeah it's annoying people

can you stop it?

If we have problems

I can shout

but

okay they're working

on it

we'll concentrate here

it's my fault

that might

okay

thank you guys

thank you

let them do their thing

so

I'm saying that

many place names

in the Bible

have associations

that

you need to know

your Bible

really really well

to pick them up

and the

way to get it

for those of us

who are

you know

still working

at knowing the Bible

really really well

is a Bible dictionary

the most valuable

reference book

for reading

and studying the Bible

is a good Bible dictionary

like the new Bible dictionary

I think that's probably

still the best one around

it's been around

for a long long time

and a Bible dictionary

is really a Bible

encyclopedia

they're not really dictionaries

they're encyclopedias

and you can look up

and you

if you looked up

Jericho

there would be

an article

not a very long one

but it would take you

through the whole

Bible history of Jericho

what's happened in Jericho

and so when you come

to Jericho

you say

what's associated

with this town

it's a bit like New York

if you think of New York

all sorts of associations

aren't there

you think of Paris

all sorts of associations

London

associations

Newcastle

well

yeah

associations

cities have a history

and a feel

what do you think of

when you hear of Jericho

what's the thing

that

the biggest thing

that comes to mind

I think you'll all remember this

what is it

the walls of Jericho

that came down

in Joshua's day

that was the very beginning

of the entry

into the land

as they were taking the land

the walls of Jericho

came down

but you mightn't

remember what happened

after the walls of Jericho

came down

very important

that Joshua

said

because this was

the big sign

of God's judgment

on the inhabitants

of the land

they were terrible

and this was the beginning

of the judgment

of the peoples

of the land

the walls of Jericho

fell down

and Joshua said

this is Joshua 6 verse 26

Joshua 6:26

for those who are taking notes

cursed before the Lord

be the man

who rises up

and rebuilds

this city of Jericho

so it was flattened

and

here's the word

cursed before the Lord

be the man

who rises up

and rebuilds

the city of Jericho

and that was remembered

and for centuries

Jericho lay in ruins

and no one dared

to rebuild it

because it was there

and it was meant

to remain

like that

as a sign

of what God did

both to save

his people

and in judgment

on the wickedness

of the people

of the land

you mightn't be

all that surprised

to hear

that it was

in King Ahab's day

that a man

named

Hiel

H-I-E-L

he's not very famous

nor should he be

but he was allowed

by King Ahab

to defy

Joshua's word

and rebuild the city

you'll read about it

in 1 Kings 16

and it was a mark

of King Ahab's

defiant disobedience

and flagrant

unfaithfulness

that he allowed

the city of Jericho

to be rebuilt

and it was

by this man

Hiel

well now

it has been rebuilt

it's been rebuilt

for some time

and Elisha

was staying

in the city

of Jericho

with all of its

associations

the city

that had been

rebuilt

in disobedience

and unfaithfulness

it was

if Joshua's word

is to be believed

and I believe it is

it was a city

under a curse

that was

it was a city

under God's judgment

for the disobedience

and unfaithfulness

that had allowed it

to be rebuilt

what do you think

will happen

when Elisha

my God

saves

spend some time

in Jericho

verse 19

now the men

of the city

said

to Elisha

behold

the situation

of this city

is pleasant

the word is good

as my Lord

sees

but the water

is bad

and the land

is unfruitful

perhaps the men

of the city

had been influenced

by the followers

of Elijah

and Elisha

the sons

of the prophets

remember

there was

this group

in Jericho

that lived there

they were faithful

they were disciples

of Elijah

and Elisha

and they lived

in the city

perhaps they'd

influenced the city

and they had been

the first

of course

to receive

and acknowledge

Elisha

in his new role

and the men

of the city

now approached

Elisha

with respect

and with a problem

Jericho

well the city

looked pleasant

enough

looked nice

looked good

the houses

were fine

the city's

defences

were strong

and so it seemed

but appearances

can be deceptive

the city

had a serious

problem

the water

supply

was poisonous

with tragic

consequences

I think the

translation's

probably not

quite right

there

the language

is a bit

difficult

but the word

unfruitful

probably actually

means causes

miscarriages

so there was

some poison

in the water

something in the

water that was

causing that

kind of tragedy

repeatedly

in the town

Jericho

was suffering

the words

of the men

suggest that

they're aware

of God's

promises

you see back

in Exodus

again for

note takers

Exodus 23

Exodus 23:26

verse 26

God had

promised that

in the promised

land none

shall miscarry

but the land

of which

was supposed

to have flowed

with milk

and honey

now had

water

that caused

miscarriages

at least that

was the situation

in Jericho

perhaps the men

of the city

understood that

their troubles

were related

to the curse

that Joshua

had spoken

centuries earlier

and the humility

and the respect

with which they

brought this

problem to

Elisha

indicates the

very high regard

in which they

must have held

the man of God

on whom the

spirit of Elijah

now rested

what did they

expect him to do

though

well Elisha

responded to them

in verse 20

bring me a new

bowl and put

salt in it

and that's a

rather strange

thing to say

don't you think

you can sort of

imagine the people

saying really

Elisha a bowl

with some salt

look our problem

is a poisonous

water supply

for the whole

city

how do you think

a bowl of salt

is going to help

well importantly

these instructions

came from the

mouth of God's

prophet

and these words

strange as they

sounded

are going to

determine the

future of this

city

the immediate

and unquestioning

obedience of

the people

to the prophets

odd instructions

underlines their

humble trust

with which they

had approached

Elisha

you see verse 20

again so they

brought it to him

they didn't actually

argue

they did as

they were told

and in the city

of Jericho

symbol

if you like

of King Ahab's

disobedience

and unfaithfulness

we're now seeing

something new

humble obedience

to the words

of God's prophet

I read somewhere

I haven't been on

one of those tours

to Israel

some of you may

have

and maybe you can

confirm or deny

this but I

understand that

there is a

spring near

Jericho

to this day

that is believed

to be

many of the

sites

in Israel

that are believed

to be

are probably not

what they're

believed to be

but this one

is believed to be

the source of the

city's water

for centuries

it's known today

as Elisha's

spring

and it may be

the very spot

where we read

in verse 21

Elisha went to

the spring of water

and threw

salt in it

now

Elisha's

action

by itself

a little bit

of salt

thrown into

the gushing

water

wouldn't have

any significant

effect

but the action

was accompanied

by an astonishing

word

Elisha said

verse 21

thus says

the Lord

I have healed

this water

from now on

neither death

nor miscarriage

shall come

from it

this is the

first time

that we hear

from Elisha's

mouth

those magnificent

powerful words

thus says

the Lord

a little bit

more literally

it should be

translated

wherever it

comes up

I think

thus the Lord

has said

see Elisha

like Elijah

before him

and the prophets

that preceded

and the prophets

that will follow

them both

they had the

task of

delivering a

message that

God had

spoken

now Elisha

my God

saves

delivered this

saving word

from God

I have

healed

this water

that's the

kind of thing

that God

does

people seek

mercy

and he

shows mercy

the outcome

will be the

restoration of

the blessing

promised in the

book of Exodus

from now on

neither death

nor miscarriage

shall come

from this

water

now we don't

know how many

of the citizens

of Jericho

heard those

words that

Elisha

uttered

but what

news this

was and I

suspect it

spread very

quickly

indeed

everywhere you

went through

Jericho that

day

have you heard

what Elisha

has said

that God

has said

could it

be true

and verse

22 we read

so the water

has been healed

to this day

according to

the word that

Elisha

spoke

the impact

of the word

of the Lord

spoken by

Elisha on

that day

can still be

seen the

writer assures

his first

readers

he says to

them

if you choose

to visit

Jericho

you'll find

that the

water supply

is still

fresh and

healthy

you can still

taste even

today he says

to his early

readers

even today you

can taste the

effect of

God's saving

mercy on the

city of

Jericho in

the days of

Elisha

it was a

sign

it points to

what God

is like

the kind of

thing that

God does

it was if you

like a sign

of God's

kingdom

well let's

move on

from Jericho

verse 23

he went up

from there

to Bethel

to Bethel

he's still

following in

the steps of

Joshua and

the people as

they came into

the land he

moved from

Jericho to

Bethel

Bethel was

another town

you might

remember from

earlier in the

chapter another

town like

Jericho where

there was a

group of the

sons of the

prophets living

we saw that

back in verse

three of this

chapter

Bethel

now again

Bethel is a

city with quite

a story and

I look up my

Bible dictionary

and I read the

story to see

what sort of

associations would

Bethel have

had what's the

history and a

number of you

will be able to

think of various

things that

happened in

Bethel the

thing that I

think is most

relevant and a

lot of them

might be the

most relevant I

think is is

relatively recently

about 70 years

earlier King

Jeroboam now

King Jeroboam

was the first of

the kings of the

breakaway northern

kingdom of Israel

we were talking

about last night

King Jeroboam

set up his

idols in

Bethel also

in Dan but

in Bethel

they were

alternatives to

the house of

the Lord down

in Jerusalem

he set them

up King

Jeroboam

this sort of

idolatrous

alternative worship

system it's in

1 Kings chapter

1 Kings 12 · chapter mention

12 if you want

to read about

that and

Bethel in a

very strange

chapter in 1

1 Kings 13 · chapter mention

Kings chapter

13 Bethel had

been visited

by a prophet

don't know his

name he's called

a man of God

from Judah who

pronounced God's

judgment on the

altar that

Jeroboam had

erected there

however Jeroboam

heard the word of

that prophet but

he didn't repent

didn't change and

over the years

that followed the

many years that

followed the

king after king

after king persisted

in this idolatry in

Israel that was

trying to hold the

people from going

back to Jerusalem

and in Elisha's

day Bethel was

still a centre of

idolatrous worship

a disturbing

reminder of you

know that phrase

you come across as

you're reading

through this history

the sins of

Jeroboam with

which he sinned

and made Israel

to sin that's

referring to the

idolatry that

Jeroboam set up

and king after

king after king

just kept up with

that policy being

idolatrous stopping

the people from

going to Jerusalem

stopping the

people from

hearing the

promises of God

that they would

hear if they

went to Jerusalem

and as we watch

Elisha approaching

Bethel we're

reminded of this

terrible refrain that

runs through the

book of kings

every single king

in the northern

kingdom persisted in

that policy of

Jeroboam's of

keeping the people

away from

Jerusalem and

Bethel was a

key to that

policy now

interestingly for

the present

story I'll just

throw you into

all these sort of

details you can be

interested in them

or not be

interested in them

do what you like

with them but

Bethel was the

home of a man

named Hiel

what did Hiel do

he rebuilt Jericho

this was his home

that's where he

learnt the kind

of attitude that

would go about

rebuilding Jericho

when you knew what

Joshua had said

about Jericho

no doubt Bethel

was the kind of

town that taught

you to defy

the word of

the Lord

well that was

Bethel

now apparently

it seems from

the way in which

this story is going

to unfold that

the sons of the

prophets in

Bethel had

rather less

influence there

than they had

had in Jericho

and as Elisha

was on his way

up to the town

verse 23 we

read that some

my ESV says

some small boys

I usually like

the ESV

here I don't

I don't think

they were small

boys I think

they were young

lads I think

the NIV has

youths and I

think that's a

more accurate

rendering here

these young

lads came out

of the city

and jeered at

him saying

go up you

bald head

go up you

bald head

or something like

that I don't

know the tone

once again

they came out

of the city

to mock

and to jeer

at the prophet

how different

to Jericho

yeah

now who were

they as I say

they're probably

not small boys

but young lads

possibly in their

late teens

the vocabulary

would fit

young people

in their

even early

twenties

we will see

shortly that

there was quite

a crowd of

them this

wasn't two or

three kids

this was

over fifty

perhaps a hundred

or more of them

a mob of

hoodlums really

coming out

to jeer

and to mock

at God's

prophet

and in their

complete

complete

lack of

respect

they make

a stark

contrast

to the men

of Jericho

just a little

bit earlier

try and picture

the scene

they're on the

high ground

and these

louts

big mob

of them

hurling

their

scornful

mockery

down at

Elisha

as he was

making his

way up

towards the

city

it's a

rather nasty

turn of

events

because

since the

beginning

of this

chapter

when Elisha

left

Gilgal

with Elijah

do you

remember

on that

momentous

trek

that began

at the

beginning

of the

chapter

Elisha

has really

encountered

nothing but

supportive

and encouraging

responses

the sons

of the

prophets

are like

that

when he

comes back

even though

they want

to send

out a

search

party

there's

no real

friction

there

they respect

him and so

on

but here

he comes

to Bethel

and the

contempt

shown by

these young

thugs

probably

reflects

the attitude

towards a

prophet of

the lord

that they

had learnt

in their

town

certainly

they embodied

behaviour

that would

actually

characterise

the people

of Israel

over many

years

again if

you're

interested in

doing some

homework and

following up

some references

jot down

this

2 Chronicles

36 16

when much

later the

writer will

reflect on

the history

of Israel

and say

but they

kept

mocking the

messengers

of God

despising

his words

and scoffing

at his

prophets

until the

wrath of

the lord

rose against

his people

until there

was no

remedy

it's one of

the reasons

that I'm so

fearful for

our society

today

I mean

that's not a

bad description

is it

of Australia

today

I know

you've got to

translate it a

little bit

but listen

listen to this

and see whether

this fits

the Australia

you know

but they

kept mocking

the messengers

of God

despising

his words

and scoffing

at his

prophets

until the

wrath of

the lord

arose against

his people

until there

was no

remedy

and if

that's the

state

of our

nation

tremble

tremble

well that's

what was

happening

as

Elijah

approached

Bethel

you've got

this mob

of louts

coming out

expressing

that attitude

that probably

reflected the

attitudes

and the

approaches

of the

people

of their

town

you notice

the insult

they chose

I don't know

exactly what

they were

getting at

you're bald

head

I don't know

what that

meant

I mean I

know what

it meant

but

Elisha at

this stage

was a

relatively

young man

it's probably

unlikely that

he was sort

of naturally

bald

although some

young people

I've noticed

do get

bald rather

early

but more

probably I

think the

hooligans

were laughing

at Elisha

the word

had probably

got round

that Elisha

was Elijah's

successor

and they were

sort of mocking

him

you really

think you

were Elijah's

successor

because Elijah

was famously

very hairy

he had a

hairy cloak

and he himself

was a hairy

man it seems

did this

relatively bald

prophet really

think he could

do Elijah's

job

I wonder

whether there's

something of

that going

on

it doesn't

really matter

precisely

what was

going on

but also

baldness

or the

accusation

of baldness

could even

be associated

with the

way in which

people used

to shave

out of

sorrow

or mourning

or shame

so go up

you bald

head

whatever the

exact reasons

for it

or the exact

connotations

of it

they're saying

something like

you miserable

shameful

man

you

you

you

you

you

yeah

you can

think of

your own

insults

to paraphrase

what they

were saying

probably a good

idea not to

but you know

what I mean

how different

how different

was Elisha's

intimidating

reception

as he

approached

Bethel

from the

earlier

respect

he received

from the

men of

Jericho

I'll tell you

something

his response

was different

too

verse 24

he turned

around

and when

he saw

them

he cursed

them in

the name

of the

Lord

you

don't want

to read

too much

between the

lines of

the Bible

it's more

important to

read the

lines than

read between

the lines

you understand

that people

get into

lots of

trouble

reading

between

the lines

let me

have a

go

these

rowdy

hoodlums

I

sort of

picture them

as

Elisha

turned

round

and looked

them in

the eye

I think

there's a

sort of

falling

silent

don't you

think

bullies

are like

that

then I

see them

trembling

a little

as he

fixes

his gaze

on them

I mean

Elisha's

not intimidated

not one

bit

he fixes

his gaze

on them

and when

he spoke

I reckon

the swagger

stopped

he cursed

them

in the

name of

the Lord

you remember

what happened

in Jericho

the prophet

proclaimed a

saving word

a word of

healing

and here we

have the

opposite

he added

a curse

a word

of judgment

both of the

messages

carried the

authority of

the Lord

thus says

the Lord

he said

in Jericho

and now he

cursed them

in the name

of the Lord

this is the

God who

both

wounds

and

heals

he blesses

and curses

he saves

and he

judges

and with

some

horror

I read

verse 24

and two

she bears

came out

of the

woods

and tore

42

of the

youngsters

it's

not clear

that they

died

perhaps some

of them

did

perhaps even

most of

them

don't know

the

awful

ramifications

of the

disaster

are

underlined

a little

bit

because

the

word

in the

ESV

boys

here

I just

said

youngsters

it's a

word

that sort

of helps

us see

them as

their

mother's

sons

I won't

go into

the

behind the

word

but it's

a word

that sort

of reminds

you of

their birth

these

lads

and judgment

fell that

day

not only

of course

on the

lads

but

on their

homes

the homes

in which

they'd been

raised

the homes

in which

they'd been

taught

to have

the attitude

they expressed

that day

it was a

dreadful

day in

Bethel

tears

were shed

in Bethel

that day

isn't it

odd that

the exact

number

who were

mauled

by the

bear

is remembered

it suggests

that this

incident was

very carefully

remembered in

Bethel

they did not

forget that

day

when 42