6:5-6 - This seems like such a random miracle. Floating ax heads? What is that all about? Well, verse 5 makes it very clear that the ax was borrowed (begging is implied)...the prophet is distraught because he has begged a firend to loan him an ax and the he accidentally threw it int he river. The fact that God miraculously makes the ax head float so that they can retrieve it, shows us how much God cares about integrity even in the little things. God cares that we do what we say we are going to do. God cares that we respect others and follow through on the little things of life.
6:22 - Elisha is following the wisdom of Solomon from Proverbs 25:21-22 in his treatment of the Syrians. The king wants to slaughter them all, but Elisha (who gets the final word because he is the capturing general) orders for the prisoners to be given food and water. The act of mercy brings peace tot he border wars instead of continuing the cycle of violence. Novel idea that loving your enemies thing.
6:28-30 - Talk about tragic and disgusting! Eating their own children! The part that truly diguisted me was that the woman complains to the king, not out of pain from eating her child, but because the other woman won't give up her baby to eat! She shows no remorse for cooking and eating her own child and only cares for her own survival. That is the epitome of what it means to be inhuman. That kind of blindign selfishness is what brings evil t the world on so many differnt levels. How different would the world be if we had the guts to truly put others before ourselves?
7:9 - I found the predicament of the lepers pretty interesting. They were caught between a rock and a hard place. Lepers, as we have already read, were forced to live outside of the general population of Israelite cities. So these men are trapped outside the city, between two armies. In desperation, they decide to try to find mercy from the Syrians, but instead they find an empty campground full of food! They are some of the more honorable men in the story, because they choose to inform the people who have rejected them that the Syrians are gone and food is plentiful. Pretty caring and non-vindictive, huh?
8:11-12 - Why does Elisha just sit there and weep? Why doesn't he just kill the guy who is going to do that to the Israelites? Because he is willing to accept the will of God even when it is hard. He knows that God will use this man to bring judgement upon the rebellious people of Israel, but he also knows that they need to be brought to their knees so that they will turn back to God. As hard as it is, there are times when we have to accpet that God's will is sometimes painful and trust that He is doing what is best for His people.
3 comments:
Chapter 6:
I like the ax floating. Everyone knows that the specific gravity of metal is greater than that of water. Therefore it is impossible for the ax head to float. God always breaks the laws of the universe He set up, such as gravity. And I agree with you comment on integrity.
The woman eating their children is sick. What I'm thinking as I read through these chapters, is what happen to any faithfulness of the people. It seems the only one believing in God is Elisha and a few prophets. Just cause the king is wicked does not mean the people have to abandon God. Crazy.
Ch 7:
And they still remained lepers and were not mentioned again.
Nice to see you Mr. T...hope all was well on the offshore rig. No helicopter crashes I take it?
And yeah - talk about depravity - eating their own children and fighting over whose kid gets eaten next. No remorse...no feeling...these are not the spiritual people of God.
That was me....the comment before, not Mandy.
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