2 Kings

Who says the Bible is boring?  Not me, that’s for sure.  There are so many places in the Bible that I have stumbled across that really surprise me.  One of my favorites is is 2 Kings.  Just from that, some of you may already know what I am referring to..

So lets start off with the verse because that is where all truth stems:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”  He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

2 Kings 2:23-24 (NIV)

So, wow.  There are so many things to look at in this verse.  I think it is really cool first of all that we have the power of Christ with us and with God all things are possible, even bears mauling 42 children who are mocking you.  To me, I also think these verses are a weird but good example of how the Lord may answer our prayers in unexpected ways.  Although I obviously have no idea, I would like to assume that Elisha was not necessarily asking God to maul 42 children that were mocking him using two giant she-bears. [The “she-bear” part is how it is worded in different versions.]  But God was faithful and defended him in His own way.

I also think this verse should remind us of how powerful our God we worship is.  Sometimes I think we forget that our God is not only loving and forgiving, but also is very powerful and should be feared.  There are SOOO many verses that talk about fearing the Lord that I couldn’t decide on just one to share.. so here are just a couple:

- Proverbs 1:7, 19:23, 28:14

- Psalms 33:8-9, 18-19, 111:10, 147:11

- 1 Chron. 16:25-26

- Job 28:28

and there are so many more, but I think it is important to remember that since God is a just and powerful God who can send 2 bears to maul 42 children for calling Elisha “baldy”, how much more do we deserve be punished for our sins.  

To not end on a bad note, however, this is why it is so incredibly important to know that God loves us more than we can even fathom.  For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  He gave His perfect life that we may be saved from death and separation from God which is the ultimate punishment.  So while we still need to be reverent of God’s great power, we can also remember that God wishes to to dwell within us and he has always and will always love us unconditionally.  

Until next time.

Laura