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Today’s blog comes from the book of 2 Kings 1-17, if you’re interested in looking at the text; I hope you will.

Elijah taken to heaven in a fiery chariot

Elijah had faithfully proclaimed God’s word for years and done all that he could to bring Israel back to the LORD. He was now elderly and the time was near for Elijah to “go home”. His close friend and protege, Elisha, accompanied him across the Jordan River. Knowing the time was near, Elijah asked Elisha what he might do for him. Elisha asked simply for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit as he served the LORD. Elijah answered, (2 Kings 2:10) “…You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” Almost immediately a fiery chariot from heaven swept down and took Elijah “home”. Elisha, in amazement and grief for his departed friend took the outer cloak (mantle) of Elijah which had fallen to the ground and carried with him back to the land of Israel, where Elisha continued the work of his mentor Elijah.

Miracles of Elisha

As Elisha continued the prophetic ministry of Elijah, he also demonstrated that double portion of Elijah’s power in the miraculous signs from God he showed. He raised the dead, caused iron to float, provided for a widow with a “bottomless container of oil”, saving men from poisonous stew, healing lepers, predictive prophecy, and more. The point of these signs was not for making Elisha a celebrity, but to underscore to the people of Israel that the LORD was God, not Baal or any of the other gods of their non-Jewish neighbors.

In an ironic twist, Elisha’s miracles seemed to have impressed Israel’s Gentile neighbors more than it did Israel. In one of the stories about Elisha, a Syrian military commander, by the name of Naaman, came to Elisha looking for a miraculous cure for his leprosy. When the commander came to Elisha’s house, Elisha sent his servant out to meet Naaman and told him to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman was offended; he had expected Elisha to come out and wave his hands over his leprosy, perhaps say some sacred words, or do something else that pagan prophets might do. Moreover, he considered the Jordan River to be greatly inferior to the bigger and clearer rivers of Syria. He was set to storm away, but one of his servants coaxed him to at least try what Elisha had commanded him to do, reasoning, essentially, “What would it hurt?”

So Naaman went to the Jordan River, he dipped himself in it seven times and when he came up the seventh time, the Bible says that his flesh was restored like that of a little child! The healing wasn’t about direct contact with the prophet; it wasn’t about impressive incantations or ceremonies of the prophet; nor it was about the impressiveness of the river in which he was dipped. It was all about obedience to God’s will. The ultimate outcome of this miracle was the conversion of this Gentile, Naaman.

Things go spiritually from bad to worse

Despite Elijah’s and Elisha’s prophetic efforts to call Israel back to God, Israel continued drift farther and farther away. While the worship of the LORD was not outlawed, the God who had rescued Israel from Egypt so long ago was increasingly marginalized and pushed out of the public consciousness by the gods of the powerful nations around them Baal, Ashtaroth, Molech, and more. 2 Kings 17 lists how deeply corrupt the nation became. Finally, the patience of God came to an end. Yes, God’s patience does have an endpoint.

God keeps His promise of punishment

One of the temptations that continues to plague mankind is the beguiling hope that God is all bluster and no action. God’s merciful patience toward sin-prone mankind has often led men to mistakenly conclude that God’s threats of punishment for sin are empty. Some rationalize that God is ALL love and would never really punish us; alternately, we will think we can hide what we’ve done from God (as if He were a man). But the hope that God is all bark and no bite is a vain and foolish wish. And the story of Israel being taken away into Assyrian exile (2 Kings 17:6) is one more proof. God had promised Israel from as far back as Deuteronomy that idolatry, immorality, and disobedience to His law would result in exile from the Promised Land. Moreover, He had sent prophet after prophet to Israel to remind them and call them to repentance—sadly, to no effect.

Wall carvings from the Assyrian throne room depicting Assyrian cruelty

Wall carvings from the Assyrian throne room depicting Assyrian cruelty

And this punishment of exile was no slap on the wrist. The Assyrians were a deliberately brutal bunch. The throne room of the Assyrians featured full wall carvings of Assyrian butchery of their conquests, as intentional intimidation to any visiting emissaries. They were reputed to bring conquered exiles back to Assyria on meat hooks through the cheeks—just as Amos 4:2 prophesied, “The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness, ‘Behold, the days are coming upon you When they will take you away with meat hooks, And the last of you with fish hooks.’”

The southern kingdom of Judah now was the only part of Israel still living in the Promised Land. The northern kingdom of Israel was now scattered across the empire of the cruel Assyrians.

Things to think about…

What if Naaman had refused to obey the command of Elisha to dip seven times in the Jordan River? Sometimes God commands men to do things that don’t make much sense to men. Is it about what “makes sense” of is it about obedience to God?

God’s patience with sin does come to an end eventually. Sometimes God’s nature is popularly limited to the single dimension of “love”, but He is much more complex than this. And part of the nature of God is His justice, which won’t be delayed endlessly.