2 Kings 6 (Part 1) Bible Study (The Axe Head Recovered) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Turn with me to 2nd Kings Chapter 6.

We are beginning a new chapter tonight in the study of this

precious book. And as you're turning to the

second Kings 6, I want to ask you a question that you don't

have to answer. You can answer in your heart.

Which of Elijah's miracles has impacted you the most up to this

point? I want to ask you that

personally. What would your answer be?

Would it be the miraculous provision of that oil for that

widow and her two sons? Would it be the marvellous

resurrection miracle of the Shunamite sun?

Would it be the undeserved guidance that Elijah provided to

the Three Kings when they were preparing to go to war with

Moab? There is no right or wrong

answer. Each miracle is powerful in its

own way. But if you were to ask me what

supernatural story up to this point has moved you, I would

tell you that the one that resonates with me the most is

what we're about to read in the first few verses.

The Second Kings chapter 6. We're going to study 7 verses.

2 Kings 6 · chapter mention

That's how brief this miracle is within the span of seven verses.

And in it you're going to find an interesting insert in this

collection of supernatural interventions from God through

the ministry of this man, Elijah.

So I trust that you're there. Let's begin in verse one down to

verse 7. And if the sound team can help

me with the buzzing, I think there's bees or Wasps behind me.

There it is, verse one. Now the sons of the prophets

said to Elijah, see, the place where we dwell under your charge

is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan and each

of us get there a log and let us make a place for us to dwell

there. Any answered, go.

Then one of them said, Be pleased to go with your

servants. And he answered, I will go.

So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan they cut

down trees. But as one was felling a log,

his axe had fell into the water. And he cried out, Alas, my

master, it was borrowed. And the man of God said, where

did it fall? When he showed him the place, he

cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float,

and he said, Take it up. So he reached out his hand and

took it. Pray with me, Lord, we want to

pray what we sang. Oh Father, use my rants of life

in any way you choose. We surrender ourselves to your

fresh tonight. And Lord, we know that we cannot

ultimately be used unless we know Your word.

And so we pray that you bathe us in the revelations that you

desire to convey through these verses.

Help us hear your voice. See your wisdom, Lord, we just

pray that there would be a great protection from any distraction,

anything that would rob us from the fullness of this Bible

study. Please, Lord, guide us step by

step, verse by verse. We depend on You and we thank

you in advance that we are people who could come freely

with open Bibles, not having to fear to look over our shoulders.

And we can relish and enjoy all that you have for us with any

risk of being persecuted, arrested, harmed, harassed, so

that we thank you for this time may not be wasted because we

know things can change very quickly in the culture with

government. So Lord, help us, help us be

used by you and for your glory. While it is day for night is

coming, when no man can work. We ask these things, trusting

you with a zeal in our hearts, believing that you're going to

fuel that passion more through your word.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen. There are so many things that I

can say from verse one alone, so many observations.

I want us to look at it again Now, the sons of the prophets

said to Elijah, see, the place where we dwell under your charge

is too small for us. So I'm reading this and the

initial thought that comes to my mind, and This is why.

Listen, it's always important to keep in mind the wider context

of whatever book in the Bible you're reading.

We have this tendency of isolating parts of God's Word

when it was designed to be understood and viewed with a

collection of other truths surrounding it.

So let me ask you this to read that the place where the sons of

the prophets dwell, these students, these seminary

enrolled young prophets to see that where they were going to

school, where they were living for the time being was too

small. What does that indicate?

It's very simple. It's not a true question.

Growth now, OK, we say, OK, growth is good.

But it's even better when you understand and you remind

yourself of the spiritual climate of this time.

Was Israel loving the true Lord? No.

There was rampant idolatry, growing apostasy, and all the

while the culture Israel society was increasing in moral

darkness, God was still recruiting servants of God.

He's calling men. He's training men, He's

selecting men more than ever. And right there, I'm encouraged

as I take a peek outside and look at our nation and realize

that it's not the same nation as it once was just a few decades

ago. And instead of being overcome by

a culture that is growing in their indifference towards the

things of God, I realize that God is still recruiting.

He's still doing things in people's lives.

He's still drawing people. He's still gifting them.

He's still anointing them. He's still empowering them.

It's no different than this day. We should trust that He's always

been doing that throughout church history, and he will

continue to do that until the end of the age.

And so we should be encouraged by this, right?

That despite all the craziness, the gates of hell will not

prevail against the church. And God is building His church

and strengthen His church. Yes, governments are collapsing.

Yes, society is is derailing, But the church, the true church,

is developing and growing stronger and stronger.

With that I see something else. The passionate dedication and

interest of the sons of the prophets is wonderful, not just

despite the issues going around them culturally, but because of

a certain scandal that happened among the sons of the prophets.

Again, always keep in mind what happened before, what's

happening next, what's going on in the larger context of the

book. Where did we conclude when it

came to Elijah's ministry last last Friday?

What what did we study concerning him and his ministry?

Something happened not with Elijah, but with his assistant.

What was his name? Gehazi.

Yes. And what happened?

He was cursed by God because of his embezzlement.

He lied, he deceived, and he used the ministry for personal

gain and he became a leper. Now, Gehazi was not just

Elijah's personal assistant. We have reason to believe that

he was actually being trained to succeed Elijah, just like Elijah

succeeded Elijah. So he was just any ordinary

servant. He was somebody who was selected

potentially to take this man of God's place one day.

And if that's the case, and you can imagine how his downfall

would have sent a shockwave of discouragement among the sons of

the prophets. But what do we read instead?

We find these students laser focused, committed more than

ever. They didn't lose any steam, They

didn't recant in their convictions or their callings.

They kept their eyes on the Lord and they marched on.

So let these students in verse one inspire you and me.

Because failures that are committed by other people who

claim to serve God, even spiritual leaders, is not a rare

occurrence. And if you haven't experienced

it in your context yet, God forbid, you never have to.

But at the same time, I have to be honest, brace yourself.

Brace yourself. You will be let down by somebody

who bears the name of Christ. You might even be let down by a

major leader or influence. When that does happen, or if it

does happen, what are you going to do?

What are you going to do? Determine today and let this

study inspire you that you will serve the Lord wholeheartedly,

even if others choose not to. I'm going to keep my eyes on

Christ and I'm going to serve Him in whatever way I can, even

if others fall along the wayside.

So Ghazi is removed, right? I mean, we got to remember

there's only a remnant in Israel.

There's only a few thousand among millions, and that the guy

next in line to take the top position among the prophets

blows it. What do you find the sons of the

prophets doing lining up for months and years to counseling

sessions? I'm not against counseling

sessions, but you don't see them doing that.

I know. OK, what do we need to do?

Let's get to work. Man falls, God doesn't fall, God

doesn't fail. So let's see what God wants us

to do. And they are going to do

something. And I want you to be inspired

with that too. I want to bring a different

vantage point though, with with Ghazi's failure brought to our

attention. I mean, that's the last verse of

chapter 5, right? The leprosy of Naben shall cling

to you into your descendants forever.

So he went out from his presence, a leper like snow.

And then the next verse, in chapter 6, verse one, now the

sons of the prophets said to Elijah, and they're talking

about how they outgrew the space.

Is it possible that there's some connection between Gehazi's

disqualification, dismissal and the growth of the sons of the

prophets? It's not explicitly stated, but

it's biblically warranted. We saw some dark streaks in

Ghazi's character early on, did we not?

One of them was when the Shudamite woman came to Elijah

because her son died. She clung to him.

And what did Ghazi do? He shoot.

He tried to shoo her away, and he was rebuked for that red

flag. What was another red flag in

that story? When Elijah told him to go on

ahead, take his staff at the place it on the boy, Did the boy

show any sign of life? Another red flag.

So there were warning signs and then ultimately just manifest in

chapter 5. And I'm thinking, I wonder if

this man carry that kind of an energy, if he unintentionally,

just because of who he was, made a negative impact among the sons

of the prophets. And I wonder if Ghazi was that

kind of guy, like when he was in the meeting and when he was,

when he was sharing his thoughts and something just people kind

of cringed a bit. We can't say for certain.

I also wonder if there was a sense of relief in some way

because Gehazi was removed from the scene.

Again, we can't say for sure. But one thing is for certain, as

a biblical principle, sometimes before a spiritual house can

increase, God has to clean that house.

Hey, there's so many examples of that.

Funny enough, this morning I'm in my Bible.

I told you earlier I was reading the book of Matthew.

I still am reading Matthew and I came to a familiar passage.

I want you to see it with your own eyes.

But this time maybe because I was reading Second Kings the

other day, preparing for tonight.

This was highlighted to me in Matthew 21, verse 12.

Matthew 21:12

This is when Jesus entered into the temple and drove out all who

sold and bought in the temple. I want you to read it, but I

want you to see a sequence of thought perhaps that you haven't

noticed. Matthew 2112 And Jesus entered

the temple of drove out all who sold and bought in the temple,

and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats

of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, It is written,

My house shall be called the House of prayer, but you make it

a den of robbers. Most of us know this by heart.

So he comes in to clean house because they're operating in a

mirror in which it was not designed.

And he reminds the people there, the audience, this house is

called a House of prayer. It's not meant to be a business.

But Matthew gives us something interesting in the following

verse. After he cleans house.

Notice what happens in verse 14. And the blind and the lame came

to him in the temple and he healed them.

An interesting thought to include there.

So here's here's how things flow.

Jesus comes in, he cleans house, God's house.

And after he cleans house, the power of God in the temple

manifested. And people were receiving

healing. People came in after something

was done. After things were removed,

people were able to come in and experience something heavenly.

This is one of many examples that reveal the instances of the

Lord's purging work. And sometimes when the Lord

purges us, what's included in that procedure is that He will

remove certain influences or relationships that will hinder

personal or even collective growth.

That's why you and I have to train ourselves to not be so

overwhelmed if the Lord in His Providence removes people from

our lives or ministry that bring no spiritual benefit to you.

Because in His sovereignty, one of the things that He assures

those who are truly abiding in Him, you know it very well in

John 15 verse 2, any branch in me that does not bear fruit He

John 15:2

removes. But the branch who does bear

fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Pruning is cutting. Cutting is uncomfortable.

It hurts, but it is necessary for growth.

And maybe in a corporate setting, in an individual

setting, for sure the Lord will prune.

He will remove sometimes that looks like distractions in your

life, misplaced priorities. Sometimes it's people that

should not be connected to you or people who should not be in

leadership positions before a house, whether it's a corporate

house or the individual temple. The Holy Spirit can increase God

sometimes has to clean Gehazi's remove that find an interesting

following that that the seminary there in Israel is growing.

It's booming. Let's go to verse two of second

kings. The inspiration of these

students only grows more. Let us go to the Jordan and each

of us get there a log and let us make a place for us to dwell

there. OK, so it's one thing to

recognize a need. It's a whole other thing for you

to offer a solution and to volunteer to be an answer.

So you have these sons of the prophets who say, why don't we

move? Go closer to the Jordan and

build a bigger place. We have real estate there.

Let's take advantage of it. May I suggest to you tonight,

precious people of God, that we must adopt A similar mentality.

It is helpful to highlight problems and bring that

attention to your leaders, but it's much more helpful to not

just come with issues, but to also present prayed up solutions

and even to be willing to be part of an answer.

Voicing problems can help, but doing more than that and coming

alongside to be a part of the answer is how we will thrive.

And there are three important words in this verse that we

can't afford to miss. Read it again.

Let us go to the Jordan and hear the three words.

Each of us, Each of us, not some of us, each of us, we're all

signing up for this. Get there a log and let us make

a place for us to dwell there. The only way that we can see

significant growth, if you're passionate about God's Kingdom

advancing in the city, in the state, the only way that we can

see that progression is with this each of us mentality.

Some of us will not take us very far, but like these sons of the

prophets, when you and I are willing to cut a piece of the

work and carry that load, miracles can happen.

Amazing things can take place, and we've seen that here.

I praise God that Maranatha Bible Church is filled with

people like, I mean, I, I shared it in the announcements last

Friday. I made an announcement.

Can we, can we have people help us downstairs to set up, you

know how long that took us 15 minutes.

You know what would have taken us if we just had people who

were designated for that probably a couple hours.

And then the same thing happened Sunday night when we tore down

so many people stayed back and we were able to get things done

in such a short amount of time. And so now I want you to take

that very recent and simple example, magnified on a larger

scale and on a consistent basis. What can we do as a church if

each of us can identify a load that we're carrying?

I'll tell you what, we can see great leaps and bounds.

We can see massive increase development and effectiveness

and fruitfulness and people being impacted and touched.

I'm not talking about numerical growth necessarily.

I'm talking about impact and it's going to have to take that

kind of dedication. Each of us.

Selfishness will stop the growth of any ministry, even this one,

and we will not see true growth if it's only some of us.

You know, this language of each of us is found all over the New

Testament. Can I show you one place?

Look at Ephesians chapter 4. In that chapter Paul talks about

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

the body briefly, and notice what he says about the body, the

mystical, the spiritual body of Christ in Ephesians 4 and verse

15. Rather speaking the truth and

love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head

into Christ, from whom the whole body joined and held together by

every joint with which is it is equipped.

When each part is working properly makes the body grow so

that it builds itself up in life.

Do you see? It's there, right?

When each part is working, not just working, working properly.

It's possible to be working aimlessly.

It's possible to be working and wasting your time.

He's saying when each part is working properly, it makes the

body grow. Can I ask you a simple question

at this Bible study? Whatever church you're a part

of, can you identify a load? That you are carrying or do you

just listen to messages about carrying loads?

I'm not talking about everybody's going to carry the

same load, but if everybody carries a load, then it's going

to be a lot lighter and things can get accomplished much

quicker. So what's the load you're

carrying? What is it that you do?

Not where you go? What do you do in that place

where you go? It could be anything from I pray

for this church. I wish I was physically capable

to do more things, but I can pray.

I have a voice. I I lift up the members of the

district. You're carrying a load.

I greet people here. I'm part of that ministry.

I play an instrument wonderful. I teach the kids.

I clean up. I'm willing to clean up.

Sign me up. Call me whatever you want to

call me. Put any label on me.

I'm willing to clean up if that's carrying load, I'm

carrying load when each part, the sons of the provinces, each

of us, not just some of us, when each of us.

And in this case, they want to build a new campus, they want to

find a new facility. And so they come up to Elijah

and they say let's go build it, which I find absolutely

fascinating concerning how God works.

So what's fascinating about this?

Let me tell you what's so fascinating about it.

Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible, there is no one

else who has more recorded miracles attached to their name

than Elijah. This man performed a lot of

miracles. So with that in mind, here's

what I would think if I was one of the sons of the prophets.

If I was clever, I would have grabbed a couple of other

students like, hey, we've seen Elijah do some amazing things.

We need a new building. Doctor Elijah, we've seen you do

incredible things. It's kind of tight in here.

Can you just, you know, say something, do something, wave

your hand? You know they didn't do that,

nor did Elijah look at them after they suggested this plan

and say, Oh, you of little faith, do you not remember how

God made the manna appear on the dew of the ground?

Do you not believe that He can also provide a dwelling place

for us out of thin air? None of those things were

suggested. You know what this shows me?

Even God's prophets are practical.

You know why I say that to you? Because you have a lot of

Christians who think being spiritual means being as

impractical as possible. You have some good hearted

Christians who want everything to be a miracle.

So they're looking for a spouse and instead of, you know, like

talking to people and getting to know them, they want it to

happen by way of a miracle. You need a new house to live in

and you're expecting it through divine intervention instead of

saving up money and getting an agent and looking at places you

want to be healthier, but you just want to pray about it

instead of going to the doctor and changing your diet.

Are you more spiritual than the sons of the prophets and Elijah?

I'm not saying that God can't work in miraculous ways in these

areas. I've seen it in these areas.

But to be immobile unless he does is plain foolish and it's

actually not spiritual. It's silly.

You know what the spiritual thing is according to the Bible

that you are practical. And as you engage in these hands

on feet on the ground, realistic approaches, you do the next

thing that the sons of the prophets do in verse 3.

So they suggest let's get some tools, we have some land, let's

build a place. But notice again what they do in

verse 3. Let's read it.

Then one of them said, be pleased to go with your

servants. And he answered, I will go.

So why do they want Elijah to come along with them?

It's very simple because they recognize that he had a special

connection with the Lord and they realize at the same time

that they could benefit from his ongoing counsel and guidance,

guidance in the process. So here's what I see from this

that we're going to build a place.

But Elijah, we would love for you to be our source of guidance

every step of the way. Can I tell you what they're

doing? They're including God's man,

ultimately God, in their pursuits.

That's what a truly spiritual person does.

No matter how practical your task or your proposal may be,

you don't fail to invite God in it.

And this miracle is going to show that we should do that

because He cares. Who do I mean by heat?

God cares. God cares about even these

things because He cares about us.

So can I ask you, whatever you do, make it a habit to ask the

Lord to protect you from foolish investments, blind spots in your

decisions to go ahead of you so that you would not waste your

time or deplete yourself of resources.

I pray this all the time. I'm talking about when, when we

have to purchase things for the house or we have to do something

very hands on and, and we have to engage with other people for

that work. I always ask the Lord, Lord,

please, I don't want to make a mistake here.

I want to be a good steward of my resources.

I, I want this to be in any way possible a, a gracious

transition, a gracious process. Lord, just please go before me

in this. Please open my eyes, right?

Please use this for your glory. Somehow.

Invite the Lord in those things, not just for crises, not just

for problems, not just for evangelism and everything.

Even when you're building an extension to your school, invite

them. And this is what's so wonderful.

These were Bible college students, and I wonder if these

students of God's Word had a particular verse in mind before

they invited Elijah. Psalm 27, verse one.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor build it

in vain. I just like to have my

sanctified imagination think that that was one of the verses

that came to their minds. And they said we can't look, we

have every, we have our, we have our land, we have the wood, we

have the exact location. We have some tools.

We got enough men, but we need God's blessing.

We need God's blessing on this Elijah, please come with us.

And we're we're going to find out by the end of the story that

it was a good thing that they did bring Elijah with them.

So far this body of believers are doing everything just right.

But something happens. Verse 4.

So he went with them. And when they came to the

Jordan, they cut down the trees. But as one was felling a log,

his axe had fell into the water. And he cried out.

Alas, my master, it was borrowed.

There's one detail about this incident that you and I have to

meditate on. It's a very simple thing.

This axe head was borrowed. He didn't buy it.

It was lended to him. And that really just reinforces

the point that I just made earlier, that God didn't make a

building magically appear, nor did He provide the tools to

build it in a supernatural way. You have to understand that

servants of God are not exempt from the natural courses of

life's challenges and actions. So the son of one of the

prophets had to go to a relative or one of his neighbors, knock

on the door and convince that person we're building a new

school. Can I borrow one of your axes?

Right. The Christian life is very

practical. So he does this, and I think

this is also a reflection of the the destitute condition of the

sons of the prophets. They didn't even have enough

tools. They didn't even have enough of

the necessary instruments to make this thing happen.

They have to go around and ask. And this is actually more of an

encouraging thought than anything else.

Why? Because this was a season of

need. They weren't getting a lot of

funding from fellow Israelites for their school.

They barely had a meal to eat just a few chapters ago or

verses ago. And here we see that they also

didn't have enough resources. And yet in this season of need,

they still had God with them. Why?

Because yes, this is a borrowed axe and he got a little bit too

excited. The axe had flies through the

air, plunges into the water, and God is right there.

And for some strange reason, it's then where he performs the

miracle for this Acts had to be restored.

So some might say, where was God for this body of students to get

the resources? I'm saying don't look at it that

way. Look at it in this way that God

in his wisdom knows what to give us, what not to give us.

But He's there every step of the way.

He's there when you have plenty. He's there when you're

borrowing, he's there when you're working a wonderful job.

He's there when you have no job. He's there when you're healthy,

he's there when you're sick. He's always there.

And that's what this story shows us.

But what's so interesting here is that this happened after

everything that you can imagine can go right, went right, every

kind of attitude, act of faith, practical humility.

Why did this happen? Why did this inconvenience take

place? Why couldn't it have just been a

smooth process? You stayed in the will of God

despite the scandal, despite the growing coldness spiritually in

the land. Instead of being lazy, you're

active. And you said each one of us are

going to participate. You invited the man of God who

represented God into your like you did.

You checked off every box. And here's one of them who's

going to work and he loses something that he borrowed.

And he's saying, I get it. Like, I get that losing

something can be an inconvenience and can be

annoying, but what's the big deal about a piece of a tool

breaking? Well, it's a big deal to him.

Notice the language again at verse 5.

But as one was filling a log, his axe had fell into the water

and he cried out. He didn't just drag his feet to

Elijah to say like something happened, we got to find out the

solution. He was desperate, he cried out.

What's the reason for the fear? Well, I think there's different

things that we can consider. One thing to consider is that

this man now was no longer able to participate in the building

process. So that made an impact on this

whole project to begin with and it annoyed him that he could not

serve in this capacity. I wonder if we've come to the

place in our service to the Lord that if we're ever hindered from

doing it, it would bother us. It bother this man.

My wife and I were talking on our way here about the COVID

years. I can't believe that even

happened. It's like a dream.

Like how did that happen? Cuz we're driving and things

were busy and we're talking about the meeting tonight.

In past meetings, and I did not enjoy talking into a camera with

no other faces in the place. I really didn't thank God that

we didn't take too long to open back up again.

But I was reflecting on that and I remember we were talking about

the days when people were again coming back together and we were

able to sing in each other's presence and hear a word from

the pulpit and fellowship again. And I made the comment, I hope

nobody takes what we have for granted ever, because we learned

how quickly that can be taken from us.

This man was bothered that he could not help out, I'm sure.

But more than that, it was borrowed, meaning that he went

to somebody, we're not told who he went to to ask for it.

But the sons of the province, we're not popular to begin with.

They were maligned. It wasn't too long before this

where they were actually being chased and they had to hide in

caves because a certain queen was in charge and she persecuted

them heavily. So now you have this man who is

walking on thin ice as a student of one of Elijah's schools, and

he asks for an accent. He says, I, I'll give it back.

You have my word. And it's gone in the murky

waters. And he doesn't know how he's

going to retrieve it. Great.

Now this guy who I gave my word to is going to think maybe this

is going to now be another stain on the reputation of the sons of

the prophets might say that's speculation.

This is definitely not speculation.

Do you know that there is a law in the Old Testament that

actually tells you what you have to do if you borrow something

and something goes wrong with it?

Go to Exodus. Look at chapter 22, Exodus 22,

Exodus 22:14

verse 14. If a man borrows anything of his

neighbor and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with

it, he shall make full restitution.

So the context here is actually speaking about if you're

borrowing an animal, an ox or any kind of beast for

agricultural work, if you rent anything.

But here it's expanded. If you borrow anything and it's

injured or dies, and you can include if it's lost, it's a

simple law. You got to pay back full

restitution. Now, did the sons of the

prophets have a helpful financial situation going on?

No. The very fact that he had to

borrow the tool indicates that. So he had to borrow it because

he didn't want to pay for anything and now he has to pay

for it, right? That might not be an issue for

you because you have some cushion in your bank account.

It would be if you have barely anything in that bank account.

So the student who's already trying, just living by faith day

by day, now adds more debt to his student.

Debt, so to speak. This bothers him, may not bother

you, but in his situation, it is.

It's annoying, it's frustrating. And here's the thing that I want

to bring to your attention. Problems can still ensue even

though you do everything right. So you might be thinking, then

what's the point of doing it right?

And I'm here to tell you that the primary goal of that is to

please your Lord. It's not for certain outcomes,

it's ultimately to please the Master.

But more than that, we can be confident that any obstacle or

challenge that pops up in our pursuit of righteousness is not

in vain. There are countless holy reasons

why the Lord would allow detours as you walk the path of obeying

Him wholeheartedly in every way possible.

Being a man or woman of integrity holy.

There are many reasons and you should never forget the

possibilities of what I like to call sanctifying pit stops.

Surprising sanctifying pit stops where there's some kind of a

delay or some kind of roadblock and you have to stay somewhere.

Why why I'm I'm I'm examining myself.

I can't consciously recognize any sin I'm I'm living right.

And so why this why why this issue?

Why now why this much why would these people again, there are

many reasons. One of them is potentially just

to purify you further and it requires that.

So you're asking God to be more like Christ and that includes

patience. So here's a situation that

requires more patience. It's like that joke of that

person who says, and praise Lord, give me more patience and

give it to me. Now, not everything is sprinkled

on you supernaturally. Sometimes it takes real

situations where one you're exposed to the lack of fruit in

a certain area and then you now turn to God and ask him to to

deal with it. And sometimes there are times

where the Lord allows these things so that he can position

you in a way where you will witness something of his glory

and splendor. And it requires that kind of

place or problem to behold it, as we're about to see here.

So this young son. Comes to the master.

I, I borrowed this. This is not the best time to I

don't know what to do here. And the Lord is ready to

position this man in a way to see something of God's character

and kindness in his own life. But before we look at that, let

me offer a helpful observation. Do you know it was not uncommon

for axe heads to fly in this culture?

Oh, look at all the heads that went up.

You see that it wasn't uncommon saying what are you talking

about? I want to point you to another

law. And in this law it it deals with

what one is to do if they commit involuntary manslaughter.

So let me turn you there to Deuteronomy 19.

Look at verse four with me. Deuteronomy 19 verse 4.

Deuteronomy 19:4

This is a law that describes the regulations of what we know to

be the cities of refuge. You remember that?

I hope you remember the cities of refuge.

Wonderful picture of Christ. But let's look at one law. 1

instruction pertaining it. Deuteronomy 19, verse 4.

Deuteronomy 19:4

This is the provision of them for the manslayer, who by

fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor

unintentionally without having hated him in the past.

As when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut

wood and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head

slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he

dies, he may flee to one of these cities and live.

Why don't you find that interesting, that out of all the

hypothetical situations that you can give of somebody dying

accidentally, you give the axe head flying off of a stick and

it's smashing somebody's skull. Evidently it was common.

Whereas why would you give this kind of an insight, an

instruction? Just like it's common in our day

to see cars crashing into each other.

So to us, it's like, that's weird.

To them, it's like, yeah, it's like what you see in

intersections or what you see on the news sometimes on highways.

But that's not the reason why I bring this to your attention.

The reason why I want to bring it to your mind is because of

the provision that was made for this accident.

What was the provision that if this happened, you're in a force

with a friend or a Co worker and the axe that flies off you can

run. God has provided a place for you

to flee where you can be protected, where you can know a

level of deliverance and safety. Now, this young man in Second

King 6, he could have been thankful that the axe had didn't

hit somebody in the face, right? It just fell into water.

But I bring this to make this parallel that in the same way

that in Deuteronomy 19 we're told that there is a provision

for the one who did something accidental, but it was tragic,

life altering, there is also provision for that young man.

In his case, he didn't have a place to run to.

He had a person that was accessible, namely Elijah, who

represented, represented God in the same way those cities of

refuge represented something of God's heart.

And so making this parallel, here's the principle that in any

moments where something stuns us, surprise us and

inconvenience, it could be as severe as what we read in

Deuteronomy 19, where the trajectory of your life will

never be the same. Or it can be a moment of

inconvenience that is burdensome to you, keeps you up at night.

You know, it can be solved in different ways, but it's just,

it's just pricking your heart. God is accessible and the Lord

actually bids you to come to Him.

He bids you to come to Him when the accent hits somebody and

kills them. He bids you to come to Him.

When you borrowed something and you don't know how you're going

to pay it back. Are you beginning to see why

this miracle resonates with me so much?

Hope it warms your heart as well.

It's only going to get warmer, I'm sure.

And here's what's so interesting.

Let's come back to 2nd King 6. Where did this axe head fall

water? Is there any clues in our story

that tells us which body of water it plunged into?

Very good. You're reading carefully.

We read there in verse four that as they came to the Jordan, they

cut down trees. So it's very likely, most likely

that this fell into the Jordan River.

Is there any miracle that we recently studied that dealt with

the Jordan River? Very good name in the leper.

In his case, it wasn't an accent that was recovered.

It was his skin, it was his health, it was his body.

Now we we understand that kind of miracle being included in

Holy Scripture. A man, a gentile, a general of

the army healed of leprosy. That's got to go somewhere in

axe head coming back to the service for a student.

Is that is that worth putting in the Bible or is that a little

trivial. Don't say it's trivial, because

when you consider again the wider authorship going on here,

then you realize something wonderful.

God cares about the big and the small.

He cares about your unintended debt as much as he does about

disease. He is compassionate toward a

general of an entire nation's army, and he is just as

compassionate towards a student who's studying the Bible and is

struggling to know how he's going to be able to have a

future. That's what this miracle is

showing that at the Jordan River, 2 miraculous things took

place. Same message, but different

messes. God's heart is for all, for the

major issues, for the minor inconveniences.

Why is that important? Because the New Testament

instructs you and I first Peter 57 cast all your anxieties, not

some of them all your anxieties. Whatever makes you anxious, you

know to name in I'm sure the story of the axe head while he

was suffering leprosy didn't really connect with I I have a

bigger problem here going on and it could even be that this

student with the axe head being loosened and launched into the

water. He couldn't think about anything

else except how am I going to solve this?

Whatever makes you anxious. You're commanded by loving God

to come to him at the cast at his feet.

Cast all your anxieties on him. Why?

Because he cares for you for all the anxieties and you know it

hit me today even meditating on that verse.

This is not just something that should make you feel a little

giddy. It's a command, so it's a

comforting command, but it's a command nonetheless.

Cast all your anxieties on him. Do you know what What's told

right after that? Do you know the next thought in

Peter's writing? He says cast all your anxieties

because he cares for you and notice what he says in first.

Peter 5/8 Be sober minded, be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring

lion seeking someone to devour. Some would say that Peter's

starting a new thought here. I'm saying it's somewhat

connected to the previous point. There's something connected

between our obedience to casting all our anxieties on Him.

And if we fail to do that, Satan is right there ready to do

something to your faith. Anxiety makes you vulnerable.

Anxiety makes you weak. Anxiety makes you dizzy.

And Satan can smell it. He loves to mess with those who

struggle with it. It's amazing how anxiety doesn't

take much for it to create a recipe of of greater disasters

in our thinking, in our faith and our commitments and our

relationships. I know for certain this is not

accidental, that there is a charge to release that before

Satan takes advantage of it. So learn to take all your no

matter what it is, train yourself and accordance to God's

Word to come to Him. And if that observation doesn't

move you, perhaps the next one will.

Because here's what I thought looked at looking at this as a

final meditation. If the Lord showed concern for a

lost axe head in order to relieve one of His servants,

what does he feel about those who are lost in their sins?

God's willing to look down from heaven if I can use that imagery

and send forth the necessary power to raise this axe head to

the surface and make it reachable for this man so he can

attach it again, not have to worry about his neighbor.

What's God's heart for those who are suffering a greater loss,

one that will lead to an eternal separation?

It's very, very dangerous to read too much into things.

But sometimes there are vignettes of the gospel in the

Old Testament that we must acknowledge.

And I think we have one here saying how the reason why I

believe that there is some gospel theme that we can pluck

from these verses is because of the way that the miracle was

performed. Look back again here at verse 6.

Then the man of God said, where did it fall in second Kings 6

When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick.

Why? He cut off a stick and threw it

in there and made the iron float and he said take it up.

So he reached out his hand and took it without any explanation

given. Elisha goes to some kind of a

tree or some kind of a plant of some sort, and he takes a piece

of that stick, cuts it off, throws it into the water, and

that was the causation for this iron to float.

He could have performed that miracle a million different

ways, but it was in this way. So here's the procedure.

Something was given so that something can be retrieved, and

not just anything was given. For something to be cut off, for

a branch to be cut off from a living tree or a living plant

means that it's cut off from life and it's thrown in there.

So this thing that was caught from life was thrown into this

body of water and it rescued something else.

This language sound familiar to you?

Much more significant in the gospel where Christ our Lord is

cut off from life so that you can live.

Christ dives into what buried us so that we can be raised from it

and rise above it. Christ rescues us by separating

himself and reaching to us when we were beyond human help.

If it was reachable, they could have reached for it.

They could have fished for it. Evidently it was deep enough and

it was murky enough where it required some kind of divine

intervention. And with your salvation, no

human hands, no human effort, no human rescue endeavour can make

your rescue possible. But it's even more than that.

What I love about this is yes, this stick that's cut off and

thrown in, surrendered, given so that something else can be

retrieved and rescued. Iron doesn't float.

Not a deep Bible study, it doesn't.

But because of this miracle, through this transaction, this

object was able to perform contrary to its nature.

And through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus

Christ, not only are we miraculously justified, but we

are supernaturally being sanctified.

And now because of that, cutting off, surrendering, we're not

just rescued in that also we are living in the Spirit.

And now we're able to overcome what once overcame us, and now

we're able to go from glory to glory and to be conformed to the

image of the One who rescued us. And we're being sanctified and

changed and transformed, and our desires are altered and our

thinking is changed, and our behaviors are being melted into

the image of Him who loved us. So even in this, you get a

little snapshot of the underlying themes of the gospel.

Something was cut off to rescue something else.

And more than just rescuing it, it was able to perform in a way

that didn't make sense, Such as the Christian life that when a

person is truly born again, the way they walk after that can

only be explained because of a miracle.

And that's what Christ does for you and me.

I'm ending the Bible study right there.

I can't add anything more than that.

Let's thank God for the study of how even in this miracle of an

acts that being restored, we can reflect on our own restoration.

If the praise team can actually join me so we can go straight

into worship. I, I want you to take the time,

which is a habit of ours at this Bible study to think about what

you heard in these 7 verses and whatever touched you, whatever

point, maybe more than one that ministered to you, bring it to

the Lord. Now talk to him about it.

I don't want to rush this time. I'm going to join you as well

before we sing. Lord, your word is amazing.

We're moved by it. Oh, the force behind these

truths. We feel it in our souls.

And Lord, if anybody here is indifferent or they, they didn't

sense your power behind these things, we just pray that in

these final moments, you wouldn't let us leave unchanged.

Lord, deep in these truths in our hearts, embed them.

Mark us for life to never forget these wonderful promises and

principles. I thank you for allowing us to

see Christ in it. Though we we want to worship you

because this book is supernatural.

You're the author of it. We confess that gladly,

unashamedly, and we pray, Lord, that you would work in our lives

so that this word would be reflected in our lives.

We want to be transformed by you, Lord.

That's our ultimate goal of these studies, to be transformed

by it. And we thank you that you're

doing it and you'll continue to do it.

We give you all the honor and all the praise in Jesus name,

Amen. Let's stand, let's give him

thanks as we close this time together.