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Rudeness Rebuked, August 7
2 Kings 2:23-25
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old
man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:32
.
Elisha was a man of mild and kindly spirit; but that he could also be stern is
shown by his course when, on the way to Bethel, he was mocked by ungodly
youth who had come out of the city. These youth had heard of Elijah’s ascension,
and they made this solemn event the subject of their jeers, saying to Elisha,
“Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.” At the sound of their mocking
words the prophet turned back, and under the inspiration of the Almighty he
pronounced a curse upon them. The awful judgment that followed was of God.
“There came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two” of
them (
2 Kings 2:23, 24
).
Had Elisha allowed the mockery to pass unnoticed, he would have continued
to be ridiculed and reviled by the rabble, and his mission to instruct and save
in a time of grave national peril might have been defeated. This one instance
of terrible severity was sufficient to command respect throughout his life. For
fifty years he went in and out of the gate of Bethel, and to and fro in the land,
from city to city, passing through crowds of idle, rude, dissolute youth; but
none mocked him or made light of his qualifications as the prophet of the Most
High....
Reverence, in which the youth who mocked Elisha were so lacking, is a grace
that should be carefully cherished. Every child should be taught to show true
reverence for God. Never should His name be spoken lightly or thoughtlessly.
Angels, as they speak it, veil their faces. With what reverence should we, who
are fallen and sinful, take it upon our lips!....
Courtesy, also, is one of the graces of the Spirit and should be cultivated by
all. It has power to soften natures which without it would grow hard and rough.
Those who profess to be followers of Christ, and are at the same time rough,
unkind, and uncourteous, have not learned of Jesus. Their sincerity may not be
doubted, their uprightness may not be questioned; but sincerity and uprightness
will not atone for a lack of kindness and courtesy
[226]
9
Ibid., 235, 237
.
234