Can someone help me understand 2 Kings 2:23-24 ?

Question

As Jules in Pulp Fiction says, "You don't think he overreacted?"

Answer 1

The Bible shows just how bad things can get when young people herd together without discipline. God’s faithful prophet Elisha encountered a band of juvenile delinquents as he traveled from Jericho to Bethel. They jeered him, showing great disrespect for him and his prophetic office. “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” they shouted. (2 Kings 2:23) By this, they may have meant for him to get off the earth as they supposed his predecessor Elijah had done. In any case, they did not want God’s representative around.

Elisha endured their jeers and taunts for a limited time. “Finally,” the record says, “he turned behind him and saw them and called down evil upon them in the name of Jehovah. Then two she-bears came out from the woods and went tearing to pieces forty-two children of their number.” How the parents of those children must have wished that they had disciplined them and taught them to respect their elders! (2 Kings 2:24; Leviticus 19:32) But now it was too late! They reaped the harvest of their neglect.

Answer 2

Not all of the kids were killed, god in his tender mercy allowed several to live with only the loss of limbs.

Two girls for example merely had their arms ripped off, but were not killed.

Isn't God merciful.

God told Moses in Exodus to have parents bring in their rebellious gluttonous kids and have them executed.

In this case God executed some of the kids using bears, and others were spared.

In general God didn't like kids, but he was merciful notwithstanding.

Amen?

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Answer 3

i will try first know that beth-el is one of the places in israel that, at that time, worshiped calves so they were into idolatry now also no that go up is a term used back then to insult God's children so what u have is some young calf worshiping people insulting one of God's children by wishing him premature baldness and mocking the belief that Christ would come die and resurrect among other things so he cursed them in the Lord's name in other words he said something like the 1 true God will not tolerate your false ways or something to that effect and well the 2 bears did exactly what bears are capable of doing basically they had a feast

hope that helps if it does would u please tell me so in an email i would like to know that i am truly helping people understand God's word better thank u in advance btw my email is my screen name @yahoo.com

Answer 4

what exactly are you asking about the verses? what happened? why? something else?

Answer 5

The main reason for this mocking of Elisha appears to be that a bald man was wearing Elijah’s official garment. The children recognized Elisha as Jehovah’s representative and simply did not want him around. They told him to “go up,” that is, keep going up to Bethel or be taken up as Elijah had been. The children evidently reflected the antagonistic attitude of their parents. How vital that parents teach their children to respect God’s representatives!

Answer 6

The main reason for this mocking of Elisha appears to be that a bald man was wearing Elijah’s official garment. The children recognized Elisha as Jehovah’s representative and simply did not want him around. They told him to “go up,” that is, keep going up to Bethel or be taken up as Elijah had been. The children evidently reflected the antagonistic attitude of their parents. How vital that parents teach their children to respect God’s representatives!   To teach these boys and their parents respect for the prophet of Jehovah, he turns and calls down evil upon them in Jehovah’s name.  

So they not only were rejecting Jehovah God's prophet they were in turn rejecting God.

Answer 7

In addition to what member, "EP," answer above, see Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on this chapter and the verses (in context):

"Observe the miracle of healing the waters. Prophets should make every place to which they come better for them, endeavouring to sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the word of God, which is like the salt cast into the water by Elisha. It was an apt emblem of the effect produced by the grace of God on the sinful heart of man. Whole families, towns, and cities, sometimes have a new appearance through the preaching of the gospel; wickedness and evil have been changed into fruitfulness in the works of righteousness, which are, through Christ, to the praise and glory of God. Here is a curse on the youths of Bethel, enough to destroy them; it was not a curse causeless, for it was Elisha's character, as God's prophet, that they abused. They bade him "go up," reflecting on the taking up of Elijah into heaven. The prophet acted by Divine impulse. If the Holy Spirit had not directed Elisha's solemn curse, the providence of God would not have followed it with judgment. The Lord must be glorified as a righteous God who hates sin, and will reckon for it. Let young persons be afraid of speaking wicked words, for God notices what they say. Let them not mock at any for defects in mind or body; especially it is at their peril, if they scoff at any for well doing. Let parents that would have comfort in their children, train them up well, and do their utmost betimes to drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their hearts. And what will be the anguish of those parents, at the day of judgment, who witness the everlasting condemnation of their offspring, occasioned by their own bad example, carelessness, or wicked teaching!" http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.ph...

Read 2 Kings 2:19-25

http://www.christnotes.org/bible.php?q=2...

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God is a loving and merciful Father but at times He has had to be harsh to teach his people in order to "save" them.  So many today only think of God as being what they know of Jesus who came in humility and as a suffering servant.  That is the character and nature of Jesus, the Son of God.  But God IS God and He has His own nature and character (and so does the Holy Spirit).  Because we are now in a time of mercy (since the Resurrection), God withholds His wrath but that time is coming when Jesus will return as the Lion of Judah and many will see Him expressing the wrath of God just as it was before Jesus walked the earth with men and before He gave His life for us.

God has not changed; however, mankind (many believers and possibly some who are not sure--agnostics) have a different concept of God's nature and character.  Some believe that they can be faithless and half-believing ("the good and/or agreeable verses of the Bible"), mock and make fun of and still think that God loves us SO much that all will be saved and live happily ever after in Heaven.

_______

"That's all I've got to say about that." [Forest Gump]

x

Answer 8

    It is a reminder to all that true prophets of God, which walk the earth, yet the world knows not who they are, that if they bless you you shall be blessed by the Lord, but, if they curse you, then you shall be cursed by the Lord.

     One has to remember that the worldly type person is not a true God lover, for they love the world over God, and it goes to show that parents are their children's best teachers, but, today's parents are more lost than their children.

     There are true Prophets of God on earth today, but the world knows not who they are, for they are those taught by God and not man.  Their times has not come yet, but it will soon be here, and they shall work the miracles of God, healing, and parting of waters all such miracles as witnessed in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.  Things never seen by modern man shall be acomplished by God through his prophets which shall rise upon the fall of all world governments, which is before the second coming of Christ, in the near future.

      

Answer 9

God sent 2 bears to rip up 42 little children for making fun of Elisha's head?

Answer 10

god sent two bears to rip up 42  children for making fun of elishas bald head....

lol...not such a loving god is it?

Answer 11

Sure...it says that God is evil enough to send bears to kill children for calling a guy bald.

Answer 12

The youth were disrespectful to the one God sent to bring His Word to the people.

There were prohibitions against such disrespect both of His prophets and older people. Elijah was both.

Answer 13

If it is true...this might be the explanation. We go through expereinces of karmic return fro things we have done in past lives. Here is a story of one such experience administered by a master, Babaji.

"Two amazing incidents of Babaji's life are known to me," Kebalananda went on. "His disciples were sitting one night around a huge fire which was blazing for a sacred Vedic ceremony. The master suddenly seized a burning log and lightly struck the bare shoulder of a chela who was close to the fire.

"'Sir, how cruel!' Lahiri Mahasaya, who was present, made this remonstrance.

"'Would you rather have seen him burned to ashes before your eyes, according to the decree of his past karma?'

"With these words Babaji placed his healing hand on the chela's disfigured shoulder. 'I have freed you tonight from painful death. The karmic law has been satisfied through your slight suffering by fire.'  

Answer 14

Those were not "little" children in the Elisha account, and he did not call them out of he woods, God did.

The original, word is µynfq µyr[n nearim ketannim, may mean young men, for fq katon signifies to be young, in opposition to old, and is so translated in various places in our Bible; and r[n naar signifies, not only a child, but ***********a young man*******, a servant, or even a soldier, or one fit to go out to battle; and is so translated in a multitude of places in our common English version. I shall mention but a few, because they are sufficiently decisive: Isaac was called r[n naar when twenty-eight years old, Gen. xxi. 5-12; and Joseph was so called when he was thirty-nine, Gen. xli. 12. Add to these 1 Kings xx. 14: "And Ahab said, By whom [shall the Assyrians be delivered into my hand?] And he said, Thus saith the Lord, by the YOUNG MEN, yr[nb benaarey, of the princes of the provinces." That these were soldiers, probably militia, or a selection from the militia, which served as a bodyguard to Ahab, the event sufficiently declares; and the persons that mocked Elisha were perfectly accountable for their conduct.

What they said was

Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.] jrq hl[ jrq hl[ aleh kereach, aleh kereach. Ascend, thou empty skull, to heaven, as it is pretended thy master did!

They made fun of the prophet (a representation of God on the earth) saying that he was bald, senseless, and had made up the story of his master (the prophet he succeeded) ascending. Making fun of the prophet was the same as making fun of God himself.

They were blaspheming God and making fun of his power. They were young men above the age of accountability and were judged for their blasphemy

Answer 15

another wonderful example of how barbaric the old testament is..

2:23  And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

So, in these verses, instead of teaching these kids respect with say a scary miracle, God gets some bears to eat them all..