Youths mauled by bears
Elisha Is Jeered
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 24 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 youths. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
Such an odd thing to find in the Bible..I thought this was quite wild when I saw it for the first time! I was just amazed that this happened, but as I thought about why this happened, I realize these things:
1. It is a confirmation of the power of the Holy Spirit on his life. Showing the double portion anointing that Elisha had recieved.
2. It is not God that just did these things, but it is the power of God being used by Elisha that did it. Elisha had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and was an ambassador for God just as Christians are today. Although most Christians either do not use the power wisely with the Love of God being more important or they don't walk in it at all.
He probably had not quite grasped the fullness of it himself yet. I imagine he actually learned quite a bit from this experience and realized more than ever just what he had gotten himself into. He may have even felt horrible about it, realizing that he could have avoided it. Who knows.....
But one thing I know is true...people are always trying to blame God for the evil things man does, or his mistakes. And people do make mistakes, and they can use the power of God for evil or personal gain. It just happens with our sinful nature, it is a big thing people have to overcome and be humble with God's power. We need to be careful not to judge every time someone screws up though, because the measure we use to judge with is the measure we will be judged by.
There is a book by Anne Rice "Christ the Lord" where Jesus in the beginning of the book accidentally kills another child "on the playground". He had no comprehension as a small child that His words were so powerful. He subsequently brought the child back to life, and this is a fictional book, but it does display how powerful words can be.
In our lives, Christian or not, people continually speak self fulfilling prophecies over themselves. This is an example of how powerful our words can be. Another example is when God spoke to create the universe(which has never stopped being created this proven by science).
I believe that just as He spoke the earth into existence, we can as we walk in an intimate relationship with God also speak life, and healing into existence. There is so much available for us to speak into people's lives, and I desire to NOW be walking in the full power available to me! The power is only available in the name of the Lord! Anything else is a cheap imitation, a counterfeit and does not bring true life, nor does it bring a person closer to God in Spirit and in Truth.
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" 24 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 youths. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
Such an odd thing to find in the Bible..I thought this was quite wild when I saw it for the first time! I was just amazed that this happened, but as I thought about why this happened, I realize these things:
1. It is a confirmation of the power of the Holy Spirit on his life. Showing the double portion anointing that Elisha had recieved.
2. It is not God that just did these things, but it is the power of God being used by Elisha that did it. Elisha had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and was an ambassador for God just as Christians are today. Although most Christians either do not use the power wisely with the Love of God being more important or they don't walk in it at all.
He probably had not quite grasped the fullness of it himself yet. I imagine he actually learned quite a bit from this experience and realized more than ever just what he had gotten himself into. He may have even felt horrible about it, realizing that he could have avoided it. Who knows.....
But one thing I know is true...people are always trying to blame God for the evil things man does, or his mistakes. And people do make mistakes, and they can use the power of God for evil or personal gain. It just happens with our sinful nature, it is a big thing people have to overcome and be humble with God's power. We need to be careful not to judge every time someone screws up though, because the measure we use to judge with is the measure we will be judged by.
There is a book by Anne Rice "Christ the Lord" where Jesus in the beginning of the book accidentally kills another child "on the playground". He had no comprehension as a small child that His words were so powerful. He subsequently brought the child back to life, and this is a fictional book, but it does display how powerful words can be.
In our lives, Christian or not, people continually speak self fulfilling prophecies over themselves. This is an example of how powerful our words can be. Another example is when God spoke to create the universe(which has never stopped being created this proven by science).
I believe that just as He spoke the earth into existence, we can as we walk in an intimate relationship with God also speak life, and healing into existence. There is so much available for us to speak into people's lives, and I desire to NOW be walking in the full power available to me! The power is only available in the name of the Lord! Anything else is a cheap imitation, a counterfeit and does not bring true life, nor does it bring a person closer to God in Spirit and in Truth.
posted by Heather Simpson | 12:50 PM
2 Comments:
Aren't you running dangerously close to blaspheming the Holy Spirit, here?
You are attributing an evil act to it (and who wouldn't call the mauling of 42 children pretty evil, regardless of their bad behavior?), which would be a clear violation.
And aren't you basically saying, by your description, that the Holy Spirit is like magical powers--like a magic wand, or something? How does that reconcile with what Jesus says in, for example, John 14:26 - "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."?
Given that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin, I'd be a little worried.
The Anne Rice story sounds like it is derived from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, written around 150 A.D. which was extremely popular in early Christianity and appears in manuscripts in many languages. Here's the relevant passage from that gospel:
"Once again he [Jesus] was going through the village, and a child who was running banged into his shoulder. Jesus was angered and said to him, 'You shall go no further on your way.' And immediately the child fell down dead. Some people saw this happen and said, 'From whence was this child begotten, for his every word is an act accomplished?' The parents of the dead boy went to Joseph and blamed him: 'Because you have such a boy, you cannot live with us in the village; your alternative is to teach him to bless and not to curse, for he is killing our children.'"
This version is from _The Other Bible_ edited by Willis Barnstone, pp. 399-400.
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