Chapter 19—A Prophet of Peace
This chapter is based on
2 Kings 4
.
The work of Elisha as a prophet was in some respects very dif-
ferent from that of Elijah. To Elijah had been committed messages
of condemnation and judgment; his was the voice of fearless reproof,
calling king and people to turn from their evil ways. Elisha’s was
a more peaceful mission; his it was to build up and strengthen the
work that Elijah had begun; to teach the people the way of the Lord.
Inspiration pictures him as coming into personal touch with the people,
surrounded by the sons of the prophets, bringing by his miracles and
his ministry healing and rejoicing.
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
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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.
Even kindness should have its limits. Authority must be maintained
by a firm severity, or it will be received by many with mockery and
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