2 Kings 2:19 - Meaning and Application

Elisha had, in this sense, a double share of Elijah’s spirit, because he worked more miracles than Elijah. Some count them as exactly twice as many. Two are recorded in these verses, one a mercy for Jericho and one a judgment on Bethel (Psalm 101:1).

First, there is a blessing on the waters of Jericho, which healed them. Jericho had been built in disobedience to God’s command, against a warning, and at the cost of the builder’s sons’ lives. Yet once it was built, God did not order it destroyed again, nor did he forbid his prophets or people to live there. Even inside those walls, built through sin, we find a place where godliness grows. Fools, as people say, build houses for wise people to live in. In a sense, the sinner’s wealth gave the righteous a home. We even find Christ at Jericho (Luke 19:1).

Elisha came there to strengthen the disciples with a fuller account of Elijah’s taking up into heaven than the men who only watched from far away could give. He stayed there while the fifty men searched for Elijah. The men of Jericho brought their trouble to him, and faithful prophets should be used while we still have them with us. It is wise to make use of them while their light remains among us.

They had not asked Elijah about this, perhaps because he was harder to approach than Elisha. But now, perhaps because of the prophetic school in their city, they had changed. The place was pleasant and had a fine view, but they had bad water and unproductive land. What good was the view if they could not drink healthy water or grow food? Water is a common mercy, and we should value it by thinking what a loss it would be if it were bad or missing. Some think only part of the land around Jericho was barren and had bad water, perhaps the part where the sons of the prophets lived, who are here called the men of the city.

Elisha quickly fixed their problem. Prophets should try to leave every place they visit better than they found it. They should try to soften bitter spirits and make barren souls fruitful by rightly using God’s word. Elisha would heal their water, but they had to bring him salt in a new bowl (2 Kings 2:20). Salt might seem fitting for this work, but what could such a small amount do? And what difference would a new bowl make? Yet this was a way to test their faith and obedience. God’s works of grace are not produced by our own power, but by following his appointed means.

He threw the salt into the spring, and the spring and the land it watered were healed. In the same way, the way to reform people’s lives is to renew their hearts. They must be seasoned with the salt of grace, because from the heart come the issues of life. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. Purify the heart, and the hands will be cleaned too.

Elisha did not claim to do this by his own power. He said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed these waters.” He was only the tool God chose to use to pass along healing power. By showing them this kindness with a “Thus says the Lord,” he would make them more willing later to accept a warning, correction, or command with the same words. If he can help them in God’s name, then in God’s name they should let him teach and lead them. Those words from Elisha, “Thus says the Lord,” would carry great weight with them from then on.

The healing lasted, and not just for the moment, for the waters were healed to that day (2 Kings 2:22). What God does lasts forever (Ecclesiastes 3:14). When he heals a soul by his Spirit, there is no more death or barrenness. The nature of the thing is changed, so what was useless and harmful becomes useful and pleasing.

Second, there is a curse on the children of Bethel, which destroyed them. And it was not a curse without cause. Bethel also had a school of prophets, and Elisha went there next in this first visit. The students there likely welcomed him with respect, but the people of the town insulted him. One of Jeroboam’s calves was at Bethel, and they were proud of it and clung to it, while hating anyone who rebuked them. The law did not allow them to shut down this godly school, but they likely mocked the prophets as they walked through the streets, giving them nicknames to make them look foolish, turn young people against them, and, if they could, drive them out of town.

If this had been the first offense of this kind, it likely would not have been punished so severely. But mocking the Lord’s messengers and mistreating the prophets was one of Israel’s great sins, as we see in (2 Chronicles 36:16). Here we see one example of that sin. The little children of Bethel, boys and girls playing in the streets and likely knowing of his approach, went out to meet him. They did not greet him with praise, as they should have, but with insults. They surrounded him and mocked him, as if he were a fool or someone to make fun of.

Among their taunts, they shouted, “Go up, you bald head, go up, you bald head.” It is a wicked thing to mock people for natural flaws or deformities. That only adds pain to suffering, and if they are the way God made them, the insult reflects on him. Yet this was hardly a real defect, and they would not have used it against him if they had had a better charge to make. Their real aim was to dishonor him as a prophet. The honor God had given him should have covered his bald head and protected him from their ridicule.

By shouting “Go up,” they may have been referring to Elijah’s ascent into heaven. They were saying, “Your master has gone up, why don’t you go up after him? Where is your fiery chariot? When will we be rid of you too?” These children were repeating what they had been taught. They had learned from their idolatrous parents to use foul names and harsh speech, especially against prophets. These young ones were copying the older ones. Perhaps their parents even sent them out and stirred them up, hoping to keep the prophet out of their town. This was also a warning picture of the ruin that would one day come on Israel for abusing God’s prophets.

Elisha heard their insults for a long time with patience. At last, holy zeal for God rose up in him because they kept provoking him. He turned and looked at them, perhaps hoping that a serious, stern look would shame them into leaving. He wanted to see whether any sign of humility or shame appeared in their faces. But they were not ashamed, and they would not blush. So he cursed them in the name of the Lord, calling down and declaring the judgment that followed. He did this, not out of personal anger over the insult to himself, but as the mouth of God’s justice, to punish the dishonor done to God.

His word was carried out at once. Two female bears, perhaps bears that had lost their cubs, came out of a nearby forest and killed forty-two of the children (2 Kings 2:24). In this, the prophet must be defended, because he acted under divine leading. If the curse had come from a sinful spirit, God would not have approved it. We may feel it would have been better to ask for two rods to correct these children than two bears to destroy them. But Elisha knew by the Spirit the evil character of these children. He knew they were a generation of vipers, and that if they lived, they would become dangerous enemies of God’s prophets. They had already begun so early to insult them. He meant, too, to punish the parents and make them fear God’s judgments.

God must also be honored as a righteous God who hates sin and will call people to account for it, even when they are young children. Let this wicked and miserable group make us tremble before God. Let little children fear speaking wicked words, because God notices what they say. Let them not mock anyone for physical or mental defects, but rather show pity. Above all, let them know it is dangerous to jeer at God’s people or ministers, or to mock anyone for doing what is right. And let parents, if they want comfort from their children, train them well and do all they can early on to drive out the foolishness that is bound up in their hearts. As Bishop Hall says, “We look in vain for good from children whose upbringing we have neglected, and we grieve in vain over failures our care might have prevented.”

Elisha then came to Bethel and did not fear revenge from the grieving parents. He knew that God, who had told him to act, would protect him. From there he went to Mount Carmel (2 Kings 2:25), where there was likely a religious house suited to quietness and reflection. From there he returned to Samaria, where, in a public place, this father of the prophets could be of the most use. Bishop Hall remarks here that no one can be a helpful seer who is either always alone or never alone.