Strange Deaths

“Strange Deaths”
 Message @ Jericho Ridge–Sunday, July 15, 2018
Text: 2 Kings 9:30-37,  // Series: Stranger Kings 2

Good morning & Welcome to Jericho.  Camp update (64 kids; 9 rededications, 9 salvations, please pray for the 21 kids who said “I’m still not sure”).  Many people from Jericho are serving this summer.  Keep them in your prayers.

Last weekend, we started into our summer teaching series entitled “Stranger Kings 2”. We’ve been going through the Old Testament book by book as we look at the story that God is writing in history & working to figure out how it applies to your life and mine.  We’ve arrived in our journey in the book of 2 Kings (hence the title) and the stories of Elisha the prophet.  The role of the prophet in the Old Testament was to be someone who heard from God and who shared what they were hearing with others.  Often times this came in the form of judgement.  God wanted something corrected that was mis-aligned or out of sorts and so today, we’ll be looking at two stories in that vein.  These two stories involve some context setting so we’re going to have to go back into the story of the prophet before Elisha, the prophet Elijah, in order to see what is going on here.  So stick with me…  There are a lot of unfamiliar names today so we’ll get to playing a board game in a bit so we can keep them all straight in our minds!

The book of 2 Kings opens with dramatic scene in chapter 2.  After taking Elisha off the family farm and mentoring him for several years into the prophetic ministry, Elijah is taken up into heaven in a whirlwind accompanied by a chariot and horse fire, symbolizing the presence and the power of the heavenly hosts, the angelic armies of God.  Elisha has asked for a double portion of power from God and Elijah says “wow, man. That’s a tall order.  If you see me when I go on up, then you know that it has be granted to you”.  And, in fact, Elisha does see Elijah as he is taken from him up into heaven.  His cloak falls, Elisha takes up that mantle – literally and figuratively – and strikes the Jordan river, it parts, and he walks across on dry ground (reminiscent of the people of Israel crossing at Jericho).  And we’re going to see that Elisha has in fact, inherited a double portion of God’s Spirit and power than his predecessor.  Twice the number of miracles are recorded during Elisha’s ministry as Elijah.  And yet they are very different in scope and in nature.  Some of them seem, at first brush, to be downright, well, strange, as the series title suggests. 

So let’s look at our first story.  It happens right after the miracle story that Pastor Mike lead us through last weekend.  The healing of the springs of water at the city of Jericho.  It’s the story of Elisha and the bears.  And it may just be 3 of the strangest verses in the Old Testament.  Turn with me on your device on in your Bibles to 2 Kings 2:23-25 and I’ll read the text for us so you can be bear aware.

“Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!” 24 Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them. 25 From there Elisha went to Mount Carmel and finally returned to Samaria.”

What just happened?!!  A group of youth tease the guy a little bit and BOOM, bears come out of the woods and maul them to death?  That seems like one of those examples that would lead people to say things like “see? God is just angry and mean! He’s just waiting up in heaven for people to do any tiny thing wrong and then BOOM, he’ll smite them with a lightening bolt, or, in this case, bears!”

But we have to push in a bit harder and think carefully about what is going on here in order to see how this aligns with God’s justice and His mercy and the other aspects of God’s character that we know to be true and consistent. 

One of the first things the author of 2 Kings signals to their readers that we don’t always catch is the geographic location of this incident.  It’s at the city of Bethel.  This place is the second most mentioned city in the Old Testament.  And it is significant because Bethel becomes known as the place of staunch opposition to God.  This is the place where one of the kings, Jeroboam, sets up a Golden calf to prevent people from going to Jerusalem to worship the true God.  This is like the heartland, the very centre of opposition to the plans, purposes and worship of Yahweh.  So these young men (likely not kids, they are likely young adults) are named as being from that city.  This happens in that city.  These men have grown up around and with a sense of defiant opposition to God.  It’s not as if they woke up that morning, casually happened upon Elisha, said a few unkind things and BOOM, the bears got them!  We are supposed to read in this story a sense of not just passive of patterned resistance to God and God’s work, but a sense of active opposition. 

• They are not really mocking Elisha, but God by attempting to discredit God’s activity

In fact, some scholars suggest that this band of young men travelled around the countryside actively seeking to discover and discredit prophetic ministry and work wherever it was happening. 

The other thing for us to note here is that that we often read this as a story about they boys making fun of Elisha being follicly challenged or bald.  But the boys are really not making fun of Elisha’s lack of hair, they are making fun and mocking both the prophetic office and in fact, God.  When they say “baldy” they are saying “you have no covering… you have no mantle.  You are not really a prophet.  You are just some old dude with no authority and no wisdom and no power from God”  Even the phrase they use, which is a bit harder to see in the New Living Translation, is an afront to this.  They are saying “go on up” (the NLT says “Go away”) but this phrase is exactly the same phrase as is used of Elijah’s assent into heaven.  So them saying “go on up” is a

• “Go up” is a sarcastic taunt of Elijah’s assent  

Oh sure, that other dude “went away” somewhere.  Yeah right he did!  Why don’t you “go away” somewhere, too, man.  We don’t want any of God-stuff going on here in our city!  Get out of here and take all of your religion and your God talk with you!”  And they continued to persist with this kind of taunting.  So their opposition is a lot more serious than just a gentle tease over someone’s physical condition of being bald.  They are basically saying “you are not even a prophet, are you? And your God isn’t even real!  You are living in a dream world, man!” 

And it is at this point that Elisha curses them.  Meaning he says to them “you need to stop your persistent systemic and personal opposition to Almighty God or God will deal with you in God’s way and in God’s time!”  And God does.  Two bears come out of the woods and maul 42 of them.  We don’t know if they die but I have never been toe to toe with a bear, let alone 2 bears, and I don’t want to start now!  Kids, lets’ do a quiz: What is a group of bears called? (trouble)

• There is also some literary foreshadowing
  • 42 youth mirror the 42 sons of Ahab who are killed by Jehu in 2 Kings 10:14
  • “Elisha’s actions against the group . . . should be viewed as one component within the larger context of a protracted struggle.”

            - K. Bodner (“Bears of God”)      

This struggle continues to this day.  A struggle between faith and unhealthy skepticism and unjustified criticism.

I suspect that might be why this strange story is in the Bible.  My personal take away: from the incident is that

It is a dangerous thing to put yourself in a place of judgement over the work and ways of Almighty God.

Here’s what I mean.  These young men had set themselves up and judge and jury. They thought they knew everything.  And I sometimes find myself tempted to play that role.  I look at a report of God at work overseas and immediately I become skeptical and think “yeah right.  Those people probably are mixing in their own religious ideas with Christianity.  It’s not a real revival, it’s just hype.” Or I hear about another church growing and people coming to Christ in our area and it can be tempting to say things like “well, they are just growing because they are watering down the gospel! God’s not really at work there!”  or you can look at a miracle where God has brought healing and thing “well, it would have happened anyway with all the advances in medical technology and science anyhow.  There is no way that was God at work answering the prayers of people!”  Or we can look at how much money we have to raise to fund a future facility and say “God isn’t big enough to make something like that happen!”  Friend, when you find yourself tempted to sit in judgement over the ways God works, the people God choses to do God’s work, the places where God is at work, be very, very careful.  Caution: there are bears in that area!  Meaning that you and I need to adopt much more of a posture of humility and awe and wonder instead of a posture of saying to God “go away. We don’t want you here!”  We’ve talked before about the notion that if you persist in that attitude and actions that back it up, eventually, God will give you exactly what you ask for. And you will find yourself in the most dangerous place in the entire universe: a place without God.  So get “bear aware” – check that kind of unhealthy criticism at the door.  The longer I follow Jesus the more I have room for mystery.  The more I have grace for people who are experiencing God differently that I am and the more I am willing to say “if God is in that, then let’s wait and watch for fruit and not rush in to judge” 

So that’s our first story.  The second one is also a crazy story of judgement and justice that also involves animals and also involves some back story.  So let me set the stage for us.  We are going to turn our focus to one of the most wicked, mean and not very nice people in the whole of the Bible.  Her name was Jezebel and she was the queen during the time of Elijah and Elisha.  1 Kings 21:25 says that no one else so completely sold themselves to wickedness and evil as did Jezebel.  No one else killed as many prophets of the living God as Jezebel.  No one else had as negative of an influence on a nation and led more people away from the worship of God than Jezebel did.  Let me give you just one story as an example .  It’s the story of Jezebel and Naboths’ vineyard from I kings 21. 

Naboth had a vineyard. Next to King’s palace.  King wanted to plant an vegetable garden so he asked to buy out Naboth. Problem: vineyard had been in Naboths family for generations – he wants to keep it.  So King sulks (cause that’s what you do when you don’t get your way!).  Jezebel says “oh we’re getting that vineyard!” and she has Naboth murdered!  Simply so that they can have a vegetable garden!  God sends the prophet Elijah to Jezebel with a message: “I have come because you have sold yourself to what is evil in the Lord’s sight. 21 So now the Lord says, ‘I will bring disaster on you and consume you. I will destroy every one of your male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel! 22 I am going to destroy your family as I did the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, for you have made me very angry and have led Israel into sin.’ 23 “And regarding Jezebel, the Lord says, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body at the plot of land in Jezreel.’ 

And now, during the ministry of Elisha, this prophetic word is fulfilled. 

Have you ever played the board game RISK?  It’s about conquest.  The object of the game is to take over territory that the other person owns.  So let’s use this to represent what is going on now politically.  First of all, we want to move team Jezebel (red) to take over team Naboth (green).  This is unjust move (and to be clear, it is one of just many such moves that Jezebel makes.  To the point that in the new Testament, Jezebel becomes an icon or symbol for evil & injustice).

But God is working to fulfill God’s promise that Jezebel will not win the game.  She will not go unpunished.  So Elisha sets in motion a chain of events that will (spoiler alert) result in her death.  On the very plot of land she stole from Naboth.  In 2 Kings 9, Elisha tells a young prophet to go and anoint Jehu to be the new king of Israel.  Jehu will be represented by this team blue.  Now, Jehu is the commander of the army but he is not really in line to be king.  That should fall to Jezebel’s older son. God is brining judgement on them because of their actions.  So the prophet goes, finds Jehu, and issues this word from God: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. 7 You are to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the murder of my prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by Jezebel. 8 The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. 9 I will destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at the plot of land in Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.” 

People ask Jehu “what did that guy want?” Oh you know, crazy prophets! They press him and finally he says “well, if you really want to know, he anointed me as king:”  They are on board with this coup.  So they fall in with him.  Jehu gets in his chariot and starts to make a bee-line for the palace.  He is going to start his take over.  So let’s move his troops into position here.  He’s got more troops now. 

So as he approaches, the two kings of Israel and Judah, who both have just returned from battle together both go out to meet Jehu.  So we’ll move their pieces into position.  Remember, Jehu is a friend.  He has led the army of Israel in various conquests.  So they assume that as he approaches in his chariot, that he is brining news from the battle front.  So they ride out to meet him.  And they meet him, low and behold, right at the lot of land that Naboth owned.  And they say to him “what’s up, Jehu? Do you come in peace?” and Jehu says “how can there be peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of Jezebel are all around us?” It’s about this time that the 2 kings realize that they are in big, big trouble!  Jehu draws his bow and arrow and shoots the Kings dead.(knock 2 pieces over)

Jehu says to his officer “throw him into the plot of land that belonged to Naboth.. Do you remember when you and I were riding along… and the Lord pronounced this message against him?”  And Jehu continues riding to the city.

Let’s pick up the story in 2 kings 9:30-37 (text will be up on the side screens).

Medieval painters loved to do up biblical scenes with drama.  So here’s a Renaissance era painting of Jehu taking the crown from Jezebel.  The dogs are busy licking up her blood.  Gory!  (I was going to bring my dog Poppy to demonstrate how dogs will eat absolutely anything, but decided against it!)

Again, we want to pause here and ask ourselves “why is this strange story in the Bible?  What in the world are we to learn or take away from this?”  I think for me, this builds upon the previous story about God’s judgement being just and fair.  My personal take away from the story is that.  No one can outrun God’s judgement.  You reap what you sow.  Jezebel and the wicked and evil kings under her had set themselves up as ultimate authorities.  They were in charge of all of the economic and political and even the spiritual structures of their day.  They used them all for personal gain (as with the murder of Naboth) and to intentionally and knowingly lead an entire group of people on a pathway away from relationship with the living God.  And it may have seemed like no one had the capacity to resist or stand up to them.  They owned and managed the board game, so to speak.  They thought they controlled all the outcomes.  But that simply is not true.  God rules over the nations and kingdoms and leaders of the world and God will see in an ultimate sense, that justice is done.  You may think that the wicked are getting ahead of the righteous, but in the end, no one can outrun or stand above or sneak out from under the judgement and justice of God.  You will reap what you sow.  Jezebel got away with murder for a looooong time, but ultimately, she paid for her crimes.  You can not outplay or out-maneuver God.  He gets the final move.  He will not be mocked. 

So what does this mean for you and me?  Well, I think two things.  One, when we pray in the Lord’s prayer God, may your kingdom come, may your will be done here on earth as it is perfectly in heaven.  That cry is a cry that justice would be done.  I think this week of a young 12 year old boy with albinism in Malawi, East Africa. His name is Joseph Katchingwe.  It was reported this week that he was missing.  It turned out that his step father had poisoned him and was planning on selling his body parts to clients for use in ritual witchcraft ceremonies.  This should NOT be happening in our world in 2018!  In this instance, the step father confessed and will be tried for his crime, but I think about the numerous people who get away with this and many, many other forms of evil – big and small – in our world.  I for one, want to live in a world where justice is done.  Where things that are evil are dealt with.  And so we cry out to God and often God says to us “I want to empower you to do something about that”  This is why we here at Jericho work with justice focused organizations like Under The Same Sun and we work in Guatemala or people from Jericho go down to the DTES to feed the hungry.  Justice needs to be done.  And when we can’t make that happen, we rest in the knowledge and the provision that ultimately, God is a just judge.  

But in this, I am reminded that I often want justice down to others.  It is easy to look at the sins or crimes of a step father in Malawi while ignoring my own sins.  Each of us has done things that are an affront to God.  And so in crying out for justice, I am also reminded of my own need to cry out mercy.  To come to God with a deep sense of humility – that is why sometimes in worship in song you will sometimes see people at Jericho on their knees or on their faces.  They are saying with a physical posture “God, I am in need of your mercy”  I cry out for it.  I long for it.  I need forgiveness.  I need cleansing and wholeness.  I don’t’ want to go the way of Jezebel.  Create in me a clean heart, God.  If you have never asked for God to do that for you, today is your day.  At camp, we had 9 kids start into a new life with God.  You can do that right now!  I’m going to ask the worship in song team to come forward.  They will lead us in songs of repentance and inviting God to again take God’s rightful place not merely as a warm fuzzy friend, but also as the God of justice who rules and reigns as sovereign over everything.  But who also longs to show you His love and mercy.  Let me lead us in prayer together.