2 Kings 1-13

1. 2 Kings 1-13 Elisha’s Greatest Miracle

2. Chronology

3. Elisha • “King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover. But an angel of the LORD commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, ‘Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel?’” (2 Kings 1:2-3)

4. Miracles of Elisha • Parts the river Jordan with his coat • Purified the water of a spring with salt • Ditches become filled with water • Called rain down to water the thirsty animals and men • Oil continuously poured from widows jar • Raised to life a boy who died after complaining of a headache • Cures poison in the stew with some flour • Feeds 100 men with 20 loaves of bread • Naaman cured of leprosy • The floating ax head • Syrians struck blind and led to the king of Syria

5. Elisha • “Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, ‘Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!’ So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.” (2 Kings 2:23,24 – NKJV)

6. Miracles and Power

9. What best represents Christ? • She-bears • Parts the river Jordan with his coat • Purified the water of a spring with salt • Called rain down to water the thirsty animals and men • Oil continuously poured from widows jar • Raised to life a boy who died after complaining of a headache • Cures poison in the stew with some flour • Feeds 100 men with 20 loaves of bread • Naaman cured of leprosy • The floating ax head • Syrians struck blind and led to the king of Syria • Elisha’s death

10. “Lord, do you wish us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? But He turned and rebuked and severely censured them. He said, ‘You do not know of what sort of spirit you are…’” (Luke 9:54-55 – Amplified)

11. “Love your enemies,” • “Pray for those who curse you,” • “Turn the other cheek,” • “Carry their pack the extra mile,” • “Don’t seek revenge,” • “Pay evil back with good…”

12. Assyrians, “the Lords of the Massacres” • “One of the ancient monuments discovered in the ruins of ancient Assyria has this inscription by King Asshurizirpal (reign began in 883 BC.) of a conquered city: Their men, young and old, I took as prisoners. Of some I cut off the feet and hands; of others I cut off the noses, ears, and lips; of the young men's ears I made a heap; of the old men's heads I built a minaret. - Hawlinson's "Five Great Monarchies" vol. 2, p85.

13. Love your enemies • “Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, was highly respected and esteemed by the king of Syria…He was a great soldier, but he suffered from a dreaded skin disease. In one of their raids against Israel, the Syrians had carried off a little Israelite girl, who became a servant of Naaman's wife.” (2 Kings 5:1-2)

14. “The king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his officers and chose a place to set up his camp. But Elisha sent word to the king of Israel, warning him not to go near that place, because the Syrians were waiting in ambush there. So the king of Israel warned the people who lived in that place, and they were on guard. This happened several times. The Syrian king became greatly upset over this; he called in his officers and asked them, "Which one of you is on the side of the king of Israel?" One of them answered, "No one is, Your Majesty. The prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own room."

15. "Find out where he is," the king ordered, "and I will capture him." When he was told that Elisha was in Dothan, he sent a large force there with horses and chariots. They reached the town at night and surrounded it. Early the next morning Elisha's servant got up, went out of the house, and saw the Syrian troops with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. He went back to Elisha and exclaimed, "We are doomed, sir! What shall we do?" "Don't be afraid," Elisha answered. "We have more on our side than they have on theirs." Then he prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!"

16. The LORD answered his prayer, and Elisha's servant looked up and saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. When the Syrians attacked, Elisha prayed, "O LORD, strike these men blind!" The LORD answered his prayer and struck them blind. Then Elisha went to them and said, "You are on the wrong road; this is not the town you are looking for. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are after." And he led them to Samaria. As soon as they had entered the city, Elisha prayed, "Open their eyes, LORD, and let them see."

17. The LORD answered his prayer; he restored their sight, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. When the king of Israel saw the Syrians, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, sir? Shall I kill them?" • "No," he answered. "Not even soldiers you had captured in combat would you put to death. Give them something to eat and drink, and let them return to their king." So the king of Israel provided a great feast for them; and after they had eaten and drunk, he sent them back to the king of Syria. From then on the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel.” (2 Kings 6:8-23)

18. “Loving these enemies isn’t going to work.” • “From then on the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel.” (2 Kings 6:23)

19. “One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, "This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!" So Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them---what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbors together and say to them, 'I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!' In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:1-7)

20. The lost coin • The prodigal son • The dishonest manager • “When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.” (Luke 16:14) • The rich man and Lazarus • “The rich man answered, ‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’ But Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’” (Luke 16:30-31)

21. “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, "Hurry and do what you must!" None of the others at the table understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas was in charge of the money bag, some of the disciples thought that Jesus had told him to go and buy what they needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.” (John 13:27-29)

23. “Our enemies are those who harbor hostility against us, not those against whom we cherish hostility...As a Christian I am called to treat my enemy as a brother and to meet hostility with love. My behavior is thus determined not by the way others treat me, but by the treatment I receive from Jesus.”  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer

25. “On April 6, 1930, after having marched 241 miles on foot from his village to the sea, Mohandas K. Gandhi arrived at the coastal village of Dandi, India, and gathered salt. It was a simple act, but one which was illegal under British colonial rule of India. Gandhi was openly defying the British Salt Law. Within a month, people all over India were making salt illegally, and more than 100,000 were sent to jail; many fell victim to police violence, but none retaliated or even defended themselves (Herman 99-101).The Salt March of 1930 was a vital step toward India’s independence from Britain. Gandhi, who was known to many as “Mahatma” (Great Soul), had led the masses of India into a programme of massive disobedience to British law; what was most important to Gandhi, however, was that Indians use neither violence nor hatred in their fight for freedom. What was Gandhi’s philosophy? Was he successful?

26. “For Gandhi, ahimsa was the expression of the deepest love for all humans, including one’s opponents; this non-violence therefore included not only a lack of physical harm to them, but also a lack of hatred or ill-will towards them. Gandhi rejected the traditional dichotomy between one’s own side and the “enemy;” he believed in the need to convince opponents of their injustice, not to punish them, and in this way one could win their friendship and one’s own freedom. If need be, one might need to suffer or die in order that they may be converted to love (Shepard 4). Gandhi also firmly believed that if violence was used to achieve any end – even if it was employed in the name of justice – the result would be more violence.

27. But such pragmatism in matters of non-violence was unimportant to Gandhi. Thomas Merton writes: "In Gandhi’s mind, non-violence was not simply a political tactic which was supremely useful and efficacious in liberating his people from foreign rule. [. . .] On the contrary, the spirit of non-violence sprang from an inner realization of spiritual unity in himself" (6).

28. To examine whether Gandhi’s programme of Satyagraha was a success, we must first look at his objectives. I have already mentioned two of his aims -- to earn Indian independence, and to do it non-violently. In these, Gandhi was successful. India became independent in 1947, with scarcely any violence toward the British, and Gandhi’s leadership was crucial. The struggle had been difficult and long, but, in the end, Britain simply lowered its flag over India and left.

29. Sadly, however, Gandhi’s dream was not fulfilled. Gandhi was dismayed by Hinduism’s treatment of the Muslim minority in India, and by the resulting calls for the creation of a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. Widespread distrust and hatred was growing between Hindus and Muslims and, on the eve of India’s independence, riots erupted all over India. The country became a bloodbath, in which it was estimated that a million lives were lost (Wolpert 69). Many believed that Gandhi’s non-violence had failed.

30. But had it? In these “months of chaos and terror,” Gandhi spent his time in the most violent areas: “Each night he preached Peace and Love and prayed,” writes Stanley Wolpert. “Gandhi walked from village to village through the heart of that violent madness…” (69).

32. Do to us what you will and we will still love you...But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process; and our victory will be a double victory.- Martin Luther King, Jr.

33. “This vision of ultimate good being determined by faithfulness and not results is the point where we modern men get off.”

34. The basis for the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount is not what works but rather the way God is. Cheek-turning is not advocated as what works (it usually does not), but advocated because this is the way God is - God is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. • Stanley Hauerwas

36. “The prophet Elisha was sick with a fatal disease, and as he lay dying, King Jehoash of Israel went to visit him. ‘My father, my father!’ he exclaimed as he wept. ‘You have been the mighty defender of Israel!’” (2 Kings 13:14)

37. “Elisha died and was buried. Every year bands of Moabites used to invade the land of Israel. One time during a funeral, one of those bands was seen, and the people threw the corpse into Elisha’s tomb and ran off. As soon as the body came into contact with Elisha’s bones, the man came back to life and stood up.” (2 Kings 13:20-21)