Fifth, the Ethics of the Miracle
The passage before us is one which infidels have been quick to seize upon, and lamentable indeed have been many of the answers
returned to them. But the Word has survived every opposition of its enemies and all the puerile apologies of its weak-kneed friends. Nor are the Scriptures in any danger whatever in this skeptical and blatant age.
Being the Word of God, they contain nothing which His servants have any need to be ashamed of, nothing which requires
any explaining away. It is not our province to sit in judgment upon Holy Writ: our part is to tremble before it (Isa. 66:2) knowing that
one day we shall be judged by it (John 12:48). As Jehovah was ableto look after the sacred ark without the help of any of His creatures
(2 Sam. 6:6-7), so His truth is in need of no carnal assistance from us. It is to be received without question and believed in with all our hearts. It is to be preached and proclaimed in its entirety without hesitation or reservation.
Certain so-called Christian apologists have replied to the taunts of infidels by a process of what is termed "toning down" the
passage, arguing that it was not little children but young men who were cursed by the prophet and torn to pieces by the bears: but such an effeminate explanation is as senseless as it is needless. We quite agree with Thomas Scott when he says,
Some learned men have endeavored to prove that these offenders were not young children but grown-up persons, and no
doubt the word rendered "children" is often used in that sense. The addition, however of the word "little" seems to clearly evince they
were not men, but young boys who had been brought up in idolatry and taught to despise the prophets of the Lord.
Others roundly condemn Elisha, saying he should have meekly endured their taunts in silence and that he sinned grievously
in cursing them. It is sufficient to point out that his Master deemed otherwise. Instead of rebuking His servant, He sent the bears to
fulfill his curse, and there is no appeal against His decision.
Some Bible teachers have asserted mistakenly that this drastic punishment was necessary because the Old Testament period
was governed by the law, but that under New Testament grace, this would not warrant immediate judgment. Let such teachers remember that Ananias and Sapphira fell dead as soon as they sinned against the Holy Spirit (Acts 5).
God is even now giving the most awe-inspiring and widereaching proof of His wrath against those who flout His Law,
visiting the earth with sorer judgments than any He has sent since the days of Noah! The New Testament equally with the Old teaches
"it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them
that trouble you" (2 Thess. 1:6). In the incident before us, God was righteously visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children, as He
was by the death of their children also smiting the parents in their tenderest parts. At almost the end of the Old Testament era we read
that Israel "mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chron. 36:16).
Here at Bethel God was giving a warning, a sample of His coming wrath, unless they reformed their ways and treated His servants better.
Sixth, the Meaning of the Miracle
At first glance it certainly appears that there can be no parallel between the above action of Elisha and that which should
characterize the servants of Christ, and many are likely to conclude that it can only be by a wide stretch of imagination or a flagrant
wresting of this incident that it can be made to yield anything
pertinent for this age. But it must be remembered that we are not looking for a literal counterpart but rather a spiritual application.
Viewing it thus, our type is solemnly accurate. Ministers of the gospel are "unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved,
and in them that perish: To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life" (2 Cor. 2:14-15).
Certainly the evangelist has no warrant to anathamatize any who
oppose him, but he can point out that they are accursed of God who love not Christ and who obey not His law (1 Cor. 16:22; Galatians
3:10).
http://grace-ebooks.com/library/Art...a_ His Life and Miracles - Arthur W. Pink.pdf
: דגר brood) Is 3415 1QHod ii 27f, → nif. 3; —3. to force a breach, open up a country with military force, with acc. 2C 2117, with בְּ 2S 2316 1C 1118; בָּ׳ עָרִים אֵלָיו to acquire by conquering 2C 321 (→ nif. 1); —Ps 1417 rd. וּבָקִעַ, alt. יְבַקַּע. †
