THE WORD OF GOD
ENDURES FOREVER
|
“So Elisha died, and they buried him.
Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet." 2 Kings 13:20-21 |
Message begins at approx. the 28 min mark.
I have to admit that the stories about Elijah and Elisha are some of my favorite stories in the Bible. It’s always a blast reading through this section of the Bible. They are some of Scripture’s most exciting figures and the narratives are action packed with miracles and wonders.
And these are such great stories because sometimes things get a little bizarre.
Case in point is the passage before us this morning. Whenever you read about a resurrection in Scripture, it is always pretty wild. But this one has an added level of eccentricity.
A Smile of Hope
And you have to almost laugh at it. I mean, it is a little gonzo. You can’t help but think, “That’s weird. That’s kinda creepy, but it’s kinda amusing too.” If you have it play out in your head, you can’t help but chuckle. It begins with a somber procession. Some fellow has passed away and now maybe some friends and family are carrying the body away.
Actually, Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, says that it is a band of robbers. His assumption is that these guys were bandits who hijacked the guy and ended up killing him in the midst of mugging him. If that’s true, it probably adds all that much humor to the whole thing. It ends up kind of looking like an episode of Home Alone.
We don’t know that for certain, of course. But what we do know is that, as they are carrying this corpse, they see a cloud of dust off in the distance. One of them yells out, “Moabites! Run for your lives!” And they heave the corpse into one of the nearby caves. They may take cover in there too in order to escape being seen by the marauding band of Moabites.
But you think about how Hollywood would have this play out. The body hits the floor with a thud. Then, in a slow, creepy kind of way it starts to roll down the little slope that goes down into the sepulcher. And then, all of a sudden, the cold, stiff foot of the corpse bumps up against the bones of the prophet Elisha. And he opens his eyes. And he sits up. And he looks around and wonders where in the world he is. One moment he was back there and he wakes up in this tomb. You can imagine how confused he is as he tries to get his bearings on what’s happened.
But the best part is that he hears the guys who were carrying him. They are over at the mouth of the cave watching for the Moabites. And they are whispering to one another. So he walks over and looks out too. And he asks the guy next to him, “Whatch-ya looking at?”
Imagine how that guy reacted! Wouldn’t that about freak you out. You know how creepy it is walking through a grave yard anyway.
I think this is one of those passages that is designed to be bizarre. I think it is supposed to make you chuckle. But at the same time it’s one that is supposed to be an counterargument to you. It’s a little weird, it speaks of new life. It’s a message of hope.
This resurrection, no doubt, circulated around. People probably talked about it with their neighbors and maybe even laughed about it for years to come. “Hey, tell us that story about the time you chucked that body into Elisha’s tomb.”
A Time of Death & Sadness
And this story, then came to be included in the Scriptures. And maybe you can think about who this would have been written to. Most scholars believe that the book of 1-2 Kings was written to the Jews in Babylon. They probably needed a little laugh. And certainly they needed a message of hope. They were probably thinking about death: the death of their nation, the death of God’s promises, the death of God’s covenant.
The question they were probably asking is whether or not God’s Word was truly alive and active. Was there any hope for them?
It’s a lot of the same questions that people often ask today too. We look around and we see the kind of world we live in and we wonder, “Is there any hope?” People are dying in Ukraine - both Russians and Ukrainians.
We’ve heard a little about what is going on in Nigeria and how the Christians are being attacked. There are massacres happening there on a regular basis. Jon Pofi sent me an article this past week about how 80 people were killed by the Boca Haram militants. 80 people were killed, 70 people were abducted, and over 100 houses were burned. And maybe the worst part about it is that nothing is being done about it. The government could care less about this useless killing spree.
The people of Nigeria are probably wondering where God is right now.
Here in our own land, we have a real mess of things too. Our dollars are shrinking; the price of milk is on the rise. The evangelical movement seems to be dwindling. We as Christians are being marginalized more and more. People think we belong in mental institutions because we believe a man is a man is a man.
We might look around and wonder if God’s promises are still valid.
This passage was written to give a resounding yes to those questions. It’s not a long passage, but it is supposed to give you at least a small sense of the ultimate plan of God. There’s a hope. There’s a future. There’s something still yet in store for God’s people. There’s a reason to laugh, even in the midst of all that’s going on around us.
There is a reason to laugh because there’s something that still yet defies the sorrows that we experience in this world. Even though the enemy seems to have dominance and death and decay seem to be all around us, there’s still a hope to be found.
That’s because this passage is about life. There’s a resurrection. There’s power over death. And we get a sense that the Word of God abides forever.
His Death is Like Unto His Life
We can begin to understand it a little more when we remember a little bit of Elisha’s story. We might even hearken back to his predecessor, Elijah. Elijah and Elisha were prophets. They ministered in Israel during a time of apostasy. As prophets they were men who spoke the Word of the Lord. They pointed to the living and true God, all during a time when Israel and Judah were turning away from God to Baal and the other gods of the land. So you could say that in the midst of the spiritual death of God’s people, these guys testified to the reality of God’s covenant. They were the ones who pointed to the way of life.
You may remember that Elijah had a unique ending to his life. He was swept up into heaven on a flaming chariot. He was one of two people in history who never actually tasted death. God took him up into heaven. That was quite a testimony. You might say that the last Word Elijah spoke (or the last message that he left) was one of eternal life.
Well you find something similar here with Elisha. Of course, he didn’t get a royal chariot. He wasn’t swept up into heaven in any grand fashion. He died. He was old and he likely died of natural causes. And so the first thing that may enter your mind is, “What’s the deal?” Is that it? Is that all? That’s pretty mundane by comparison. And what kind of message is that?
But then this happens. This dead prophet performs a posthumous miracle. There’s never been anything like that before. I don’t think there’s been anything like it since either. I think that if you take a poll of the prophets, you’ll find that most of them did their miracles while they were still alive.
So this miracle stands out as unique, as well as bizarre. There’s certainly a legacy in that for Elisha. That definitely sends a message about the power of God’s Word. It points to the greater reality of how the word of God stands forever. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God lives well beyond the life span any old prophet of his.
You can think too how this is a perfect conclusion to the life of Elisha. Elisha’s name means “My God is salvation.” And the life of Elisha was a testimony to that saving power of God. Elisha performed many miracles over the span of his life. We don’t have a compilation of any of his sermons, but we do have a full record of the signs and wonders that he performed. And his miracles were a testimony to the life giving power of God.
For instance, Elisha was the guy who caused the oil to multiply in the jars. You may remember that an elderly woman was about to have her last meal. But she met up with Elisha came along and told her to get a bunch of jars and pour the oil in the jars. Then she could sell them and provide for her family. And to her amazement, that oil kept multiplying. She filled every jar in the house. And that was a testimony to how the Lord’s grace never runs out. And his Spirit (symbolized in the oil) gave life to that little family.
Elisha was the one who raised the Shunemite’s son from the dead too. This is the lady who had a bed and breakfast room for Elisha. She provided some hospitably for him. And one day her boy had an aneurysm and died. The woman called for Elisha and he ended up bringing him back to life.
There’s a sense in which all of Elisha's miracles were life giving miracles. Elisha really lived up to his name. My God is salvation. My God is the Giver of Life. He is the one who delivers his people from death and hell.
And really, that’s the real intent of Elisha’s ministry. Baal was supposed to be a god who brings life. He was a fertility God; he was supposed to be the god of who brought about a reviving every spring. After the dead of winter, he was supposed to revive the fields and the crops.
But everywhere you went in the land of Israel, there was death and starvation. Some of you may remember the early 90’s political slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” That was the Lord’s slogan too. Baal just couldn’t cut it. He couldn’t resurrect the economy. But there was this prophet of the Lord out there. Everywhere he went there would be some degree of prosperity and life.
That’s quite a reputation. That’s the legacy he left. The Lord is the One who delivers. Life is in the Lord.
The Enduring Word
Now, the only trick is that this prophet dies. That’s kind of a big dent on the legacy, right? And with this prophet dying, the question becomes, “What’s going to happen now? Will everything else die out too?”
And, for all intents and purposes, it looks like it might. Look what’s happening. The Moabites are invading the land. These Moabites had a history of attacks like this. They were kind of like pirates on horseback. They would ride in and strike some unsuspecting village or they would jump some people who were out and about (like this group of guys). They had no other purpose but to plunder and kill.
It’s just like Satan. They came to steal, kill, and destroy. This is how they made their livelihood . It’s likely there was some economic upheaval in their lands too. And so, what do you do? You go shopping where ever there may be some signs of prosperity. Except you don’t pay with money, pay with the end of your sword.
But, of course, this kind of invasion from foreigners pointed to the fact that God’s people had abandoned him. Back in the book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus God promised that, if the people of God obeyed, the Lord would give them protection from their enemies. If their enemies came into the land, they were supposed to flee the other direction. If they were to go into battle, one man would chase a hundred. And a hundred would chase ten thousand. They wouldn’t have to live in fear. God would grant them life by whatever protection or power they needed.
That these Moabites were able to have such dominance and cause these men to fear for their lives was a testimony that the people of God were not living in obedience to the Lord. It was an evidence that they had violated God’s covenant. They were now suffering the consequences of their apostasy. You might say that their cowering in a tomb of death pretty much summarized where they stood with the Lord.
But the Lord made it clear to them at that moment. It offered the hope in the midst of their fear. It was an encouragement that would have wiped away their fears.
When this guy touched the bones of the prophet, God made it clear that He was, and still continues to be, the God of life.
Elisha was a messenger of God’s covenant. And God’s covenant was one of victory. God had promised that he would bring about the defeat of all his enemies, including sin and death. This man who stood upright, was a testimony that everything would one day return to the way it was supposed to be. God would make the world to stand upright once again.
And that’s the story of the whole Bible, isn’t it? The whole world suffers under the misery of sin and death. Once sin entered the world things took a nose dive. Why is it that we face the adversity that we do? Why is it that we find our lives filled with sorrow? Why are we always subject to death? It’s because we all have broken God’s covenant. By our sins we invoke the curses of that covenant, which are various forms of death.
But God has made a promise. God’s, in his Word, has promised everlasting life. And the encouragement of the gospel is that there is a renewal that still is to come. We may see all the signs of death right now. We may live in the midst of its gloomy shadow, where miseries abound. But you can be assured that death does not have the final word.
And, ultimately, this story is prophetic. Elisha may have died and his flesh may have rotted away, but we recognize that his prophetic ministry continued to live on. Even in his death he’s declaring the life giving power of God.
The True Word & Life Giver
And he ultimately prophesies of the greater Elisha, our Lord Jesus.
In Elisha, we see the Easter story being played out. There is one who dies, but he has in himself the power of life. Yes, this prophet spent his life declaring the fact that his God is salvation. And then, even when his bones are calcifying, he declares the great deliverance that God has promised. And in this way he points to the Greater Prophet, who not only spoke the words of life, but was himself the Word of Life. And this prophet not only died, and was buried, but he brings life to all those who would be united to him.
And he does this by virtue of his own resurrection.
And it is in Jesus that we see the fuller story. There's a sense in which Elisha’s story is not yet complete. Elisha may have prophesied about the Life God gives. He may have brought another back from the dead. But Elisha himself is still in his grave. There were several people who walked out of that tomb that day, but Elisha was not one of them. His bones still lie dormant.
But the tomb of our Lord Jesus is empty. And that tomb declares the reality of God’s promise. A promise of future resurrection that Elisha will one day yet experience.
You and I have that promise too. We who trust in God’s promise have the sure promise of the forgiveness of our sins. And in the risen Savior we have that promise made more sure. The Lord is Salvation, providing a life to come for all who are united to him, free from all the trappings of sin.
And these are such great stories because sometimes things get a little bizarre.
Case in point is the passage before us this morning. Whenever you read about a resurrection in Scripture, it is always pretty wild. But this one has an added level of eccentricity.
A Smile of Hope
And you have to almost laugh at it. I mean, it is a little gonzo. You can’t help but think, “That’s weird. That’s kinda creepy, but it’s kinda amusing too.” If you have it play out in your head, you can’t help but chuckle. It begins with a somber procession. Some fellow has passed away and now maybe some friends and family are carrying the body away.
Actually, Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian, says that it is a band of robbers. His assumption is that these guys were bandits who hijacked the guy and ended up killing him in the midst of mugging him. If that’s true, it probably adds all that much humor to the whole thing. It ends up kind of looking like an episode of Home Alone.
We don’t know that for certain, of course. But what we do know is that, as they are carrying this corpse, they see a cloud of dust off in the distance. One of them yells out, “Moabites! Run for your lives!” And they heave the corpse into one of the nearby caves. They may take cover in there too in order to escape being seen by the marauding band of Moabites.
But you think about how Hollywood would have this play out. The body hits the floor with a thud. Then, in a slow, creepy kind of way it starts to roll down the little slope that goes down into the sepulcher. And then, all of a sudden, the cold, stiff foot of the corpse bumps up against the bones of the prophet Elisha. And he opens his eyes. And he sits up. And he looks around and wonders where in the world he is. One moment he was back there and he wakes up in this tomb. You can imagine how confused he is as he tries to get his bearings on what’s happened.
But the best part is that he hears the guys who were carrying him. They are over at the mouth of the cave watching for the Moabites. And they are whispering to one another. So he walks over and looks out too. And he asks the guy next to him, “Whatch-ya looking at?”
Imagine how that guy reacted! Wouldn’t that about freak you out. You know how creepy it is walking through a grave yard anyway.
I think this is one of those passages that is designed to be bizarre. I think it is supposed to make you chuckle. But at the same time it’s one that is supposed to be an counterargument to you. It’s a little weird, it speaks of new life. It’s a message of hope.
This resurrection, no doubt, circulated around. People probably talked about it with their neighbors and maybe even laughed about it for years to come. “Hey, tell us that story about the time you chucked that body into Elisha’s tomb.”
A Time of Death & Sadness
And this story, then came to be included in the Scriptures. And maybe you can think about who this would have been written to. Most scholars believe that the book of 1-2 Kings was written to the Jews in Babylon. They probably needed a little laugh. And certainly they needed a message of hope. They were probably thinking about death: the death of their nation, the death of God’s promises, the death of God’s covenant.
The question they were probably asking is whether or not God’s Word was truly alive and active. Was there any hope for them?
It’s a lot of the same questions that people often ask today too. We look around and we see the kind of world we live in and we wonder, “Is there any hope?” People are dying in Ukraine - both Russians and Ukrainians.
We’ve heard a little about what is going on in Nigeria and how the Christians are being attacked. There are massacres happening there on a regular basis. Jon Pofi sent me an article this past week about how 80 people were killed by the Boca Haram militants. 80 people were killed, 70 people were abducted, and over 100 houses were burned. And maybe the worst part about it is that nothing is being done about it. The government could care less about this useless killing spree.
The people of Nigeria are probably wondering where God is right now.
Here in our own land, we have a real mess of things too. Our dollars are shrinking; the price of milk is on the rise. The evangelical movement seems to be dwindling. We as Christians are being marginalized more and more. People think we belong in mental institutions because we believe a man is a man is a man.
We might look around and wonder if God’s promises are still valid.
This passage was written to give a resounding yes to those questions. It’s not a long passage, but it is supposed to give you at least a small sense of the ultimate plan of God. There’s a hope. There’s a future. There’s something still yet in store for God’s people. There’s a reason to laugh, even in the midst of all that’s going on around us.
There is a reason to laugh because there’s something that still yet defies the sorrows that we experience in this world. Even though the enemy seems to have dominance and death and decay seem to be all around us, there’s still a hope to be found.
That’s because this passage is about life. There’s a resurrection. There’s power over death. And we get a sense that the Word of God abides forever.
His Death is Like Unto His Life
We can begin to understand it a little more when we remember a little bit of Elisha’s story. We might even hearken back to his predecessor, Elijah. Elijah and Elisha were prophets. They ministered in Israel during a time of apostasy. As prophets they were men who spoke the Word of the Lord. They pointed to the living and true God, all during a time when Israel and Judah were turning away from God to Baal and the other gods of the land. So you could say that in the midst of the spiritual death of God’s people, these guys testified to the reality of God’s covenant. They were the ones who pointed to the way of life.
You may remember that Elijah had a unique ending to his life. He was swept up into heaven on a flaming chariot. He was one of two people in history who never actually tasted death. God took him up into heaven. That was quite a testimony. You might say that the last Word Elijah spoke (or the last message that he left) was one of eternal life.
Well you find something similar here with Elisha. Of course, he didn’t get a royal chariot. He wasn’t swept up into heaven in any grand fashion. He died. He was old and he likely died of natural causes. And so the first thing that may enter your mind is, “What’s the deal?” Is that it? Is that all? That’s pretty mundane by comparison. And what kind of message is that?
But then this happens. This dead prophet performs a posthumous miracle. There’s never been anything like that before. I don’t think there’s been anything like it since either. I think that if you take a poll of the prophets, you’ll find that most of them did their miracles while they were still alive.
So this miracle stands out as unique, as well as bizarre. There’s certainly a legacy in that for Elisha. That definitely sends a message about the power of God’s Word. It points to the greater reality of how the word of God stands forever. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God lives well beyond the life span any old prophet of his.
You can think too how this is a perfect conclusion to the life of Elisha. Elisha’s name means “My God is salvation.” And the life of Elisha was a testimony to that saving power of God. Elisha performed many miracles over the span of his life. We don’t have a compilation of any of his sermons, but we do have a full record of the signs and wonders that he performed. And his miracles were a testimony to the life giving power of God.
For instance, Elisha was the guy who caused the oil to multiply in the jars. You may remember that an elderly woman was about to have her last meal. But she met up with Elisha came along and told her to get a bunch of jars and pour the oil in the jars. Then she could sell them and provide for her family. And to her amazement, that oil kept multiplying. She filled every jar in the house. And that was a testimony to how the Lord’s grace never runs out. And his Spirit (symbolized in the oil) gave life to that little family.
Elisha was the one who raised the Shunemite’s son from the dead too. This is the lady who had a bed and breakfast room for Elisha. She provided some hospitably for him. And one day her boy had an aneurysm and died. The woman called for Elisha and he ended up bringing him back to life.
There’s a sense in which all of Elisha's miracles were life giving miracles. Elisha really lived up to his name. My God is salvation. My God is the Giver of Life. He is the one who delivers his people from death and hell.
And really, that’s the real intent of Elisha’s ministry. Baal was supposed to be a god who brings life. He was a fertility God; he was supposed to be the god of who brought about a reviving every spring. After the dead of winter, he was supposed to revive the fields and the crops.
But everywhere you went in the land of Israel, there was death and starvation. Some of you may remember the early 90’s political slogan, “It’s the economy, stupid.” That was the Lord’s slogan too. Baal just couldn’t cut it. He couldn’t resurrect the economy. But there was this prophet of the Lord out there. Everywhere he went there would be some degree of prosperity and life.
That’s quite a reputation. That’s the legacy he left. The Lord is the One who delivers. Life is in the Lord.
The Enduring Word
Now, the only trick is that this prophet dies. That’s kind of a big dent on the legacy, right? And with this prophet dying, the question becomes, “What’s going to happen now? Will everything else die out too?”
And, for all intents and purposes, it looks like it might. Look what’s happening. The Moabites are invading the land. These Moabites had a history of attacks like this. They were kind of like pirates on horseback. They would ride in and strike some unsuspecting village or they would jump some people who were out and about (like this group of guys). They had no other purpose but to plunder and kill.
It’s just like Satan. They came to steal, kill, and destroy. This is how they made their livelihood . It’s likely there was some economic upheaval in their lands too. And so, what do you do? You go shopping where ever there may be some signs of prosperity. Except you don’t pay with money, pay with the end of your sword.
But, of course, this kind of invasion from foreigners pointed to the fact that God’s people had abandoned him. Back in the book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus God promised that, if the people of God obeyed, the Lord would give them protection from their enemies. If their enemies came into the land, they were supposed to flee the other direction. If they were to go into battle, one man would chase a hundred. And a hundred would chase ten thousand. They wouldn’t have to live in fear. God would grant them life by whatever protection or power they needed.
That these Moabites were able to have such dominance and cause these men to fear for their lives was a testimony that the people of God were not living in obedience to the Lord. It was an evidence that they had violated God’s covenant. They were now suffering the consequences of their apostasy. You might say that their cowering in a tomb of death pretty much summarized where they stood with the Lord.
But the Lord made it clear to them at that moment. It offered the hope in the midst of their fear. It was an encouragement that would have wiped away their fears.
When this guy touched the bones of the prophet, God made it clear that He was, and still continues to be, the God of life.
Elisha was a messenger of God’s covenant. And God’s covenant was one of victory. God had promised that he would bring about the defeat of all his enemies, including sin and death. This man who stood upright, was a testimony that everything would one day return to the way it was supposed to be. God would make the world to stand upright once again.
And that’s the story of the whole Bible, isn’t it? The whole world suffers under the misery of sin and death. Once sin entered the world things took a nose dive. Why is it that we face the adversity that we do? Why is it that we find our lives filled with sorrow? Why are we always subject to death? It’s because we all have broken God’s covenant. By our sins we invoke the curses of that covenant, which are various forms of death.
But God has made a promise. God’s, in his Word, has promised everlasting life. And the encouragement of the gospel is that there is a renewal that still is to come. We may see all the signs of death right now. We may live in the midst of its gloomy shadow, where miseries abound. But you can be assured that death does not have the final word.
And, ultimately, this story is prophetic. Elisha may have died and his flesh may have rotted away, but we recognize that his prophetic ministry continued to live on. Even in his death he’s declaring the life giving power of God.
The True Word & Life Giver
And he ultimately prophesies of the greater Elisha, our Lord Jesus.
In Elisha, we see the Easter story being played out. There is one who dies, but he has in himself the power of life. Yes, this prophet spent his life declaring the fact that his God is salvation. And then, even when his bones are calcifying, he declares the great deliverance that God has promised. And in this way he points to the Greater Prophet, who not only spoke the words of life, but was himself the Word of Life. And this prophet not only died, and was buried, but he brings life to all those who would be united to him.
And he does this by virtue of his own resurrection.
And it is in Jesus that we see the fuller story. There's a sense in which Elisha’s story is not yet complete. Elisha may have prophesied about the Life God gives. He may have brought another back from the dead. But Elisha himself is still in his grave. There were several people who walked out of that tomb that day, but Elisha was not one of them. His bones still lie dormant.
But the tomb of our Lord Jesus is empty. And that tomb declares the reality of God’s promise. A promise of future resurrection that Elisha will one day yet experience.
You and I have that promise too. We who trust in God’s promise have the sure promise of the forgiveness of our sins. And in the risen Savior we have that promise made more sure. The Lord is Salvation, providing a life to come for all who are united to him, free from all the trappings of sin.