me too
can we figure it out?
here are some clues:
first, it comes after 2 Kings 1. there, 153 men are sent by a wicked king to tell Elijah "come down!" -- 2/3 are killed by fire and the last third are spared when they say to the man of God, we are your servants, have mercy. 3 groups of 50, with their captains.
second, it comes after the rest of 2 Kings 2. it happens at Bethel.
Bethel is the center of Israel's idolatry. of Baal & Molech & Ashereh worship. of a counterfeit altar with counterfeit festivals. of lying prophets. Dan is the tribe through which idolatry entered Israel.
Elijah is going to be taken up, and he tells Elisha he must go through Bethel. a group of prophets from Bethel tell Elisha 'your master is going to be taken up' and Elisha tells them yes, he knows, shut up. the same thing happens again at Jericho.
they come to the Jordan - 'out of Dan' or 'down from Dan' - and the rebuked prophets from Jericho watch from a distance. they cross it. Elijah is taken up; Elisha receives a double portion of his spirit and crosses back over the parted jor-Dan saying 'where is the Lord God of Elijah?' while those prophets watch.
those prophets want to send 50 young men to look for the body of Elijah. Elisha says no. they keep bugging him, and he relents, and ((duh)) they don't find Elijah. Elisha says he told them not to look.
-- they have not done a good thing --
now these people say, we're in a nice place here but it's uninhabitable. its water is death. the land doesn't grow anything. fix it, Elisha.
are they asking a good thing? he fixes it by putting salt from a clean bowl into the water.
we've got to understand all this before we understand what happens next. it is connected.
a group of young men from Bethel come and taunt Elisha. how many? 50 maybe?
they say 'go up!' -- go up where? to the false altar of Bethel?
they say 'bald-head!' -- what does that mean?
50 men come telling Elijah to come down to see a wicked king.
X number of young men tell Elisha to go up -- to do what?
this is the double portion of Elijah's spirit at work, and two bears come out of the woods and maul 42 of them -- not all of them; 42 of them. why 42? why are some spared? how many spared?
can we figure it out or should we just mock God over it?
can we figure it out?
here are some clues:
first, it comes after 2 Kings 1. there, 153 men are sent by a wicked king to tell Elijah "come down!" -- 2/3 are killed by fire and the last third are spared when they say to the man of God, we are your servants, have mercy. 3 groups of 50, with their captains.
second, it comes after the rest of 2 Kings 2. it happens at Bethel.
Bethel is the center of Israel's idolatry. of Baal & Molech & Ashereh worship. of a counterfeit altar with counterfeit festivals. of lying prophets. Dan is the tribe through which idolatry entered Israel.
Elijah is going to be taken up, and he tells Elisha he must go through Bethel. a group of prophets from Bethel tell Elisha 'your master is going to be taken up' and Elisha tells them yes, he knows, shut up. the same thing happens again at Jericho.
they come to the Jordan - 'out of Dan' or 'down from Dan' - and the rebuked prophets from Jericho watch from a distance. they cross it. Elijah is taken up; Elisha receives a double portion of his spirit and crosses back over the parted jor-Dan saying 'where is the Lord God of Elijah?' while those prophets watch.
those prophets want to send 50 young men to look for the body of Elijah. Elisha says no. they keep bugging him, and he relents, and ((duh)) they don't find Elijah. Elisha says he told them not to look.
-- they have not done a good thing --
now these people say, we're in a nice place here but it's uninhabitable. its water is death. the land doesn't grow anything. fix it, Elisha.
are they asking a good thing? he fixes it by putting salt from a clean bowl into the water.
we've got to understand all this before we understand what happens next. it is connected.
a group of young men from Bethel come and taunt Elisha. how many? 50 maybe?
they say 'go up!' -- go up where? to the false altar of Bethel?
they say 'bald-head!' -- what does that mean?
50 men come telling Elijah to come down to see a wicked king.
X number of young men tell Elisha to go up -- to do what?
this is the double portion of Elijah's spirit at work, and two bears come out of the woods and maul 42 of them -- not all of them; 42 of them. why 42? why are some spared? how many spared?
can we figure it out or should we just mock God over it?
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