Our scripture this morning comes from the book of second Kings. Second Kings chapter two. Which, if you're using one of the Bibles there in the seats, it's found on page two hundred and sixty second Kings chapter two. You'll notice one of the emphasis here in the psalms has been sort of this mercy and justice, mercy and justice. These two poles are scripture. This morning comes from the book man, mercy and justice. And here in second Kings chapter two, as we read it, we see this trace this path. It's an interesting story. Actually, this path that Elijah takes with Elisha. and they go to different cities in the end are throughout the countryside and will go into more than a sermon. But we notice two cities that are primarily emphasize the city of Jericho, the city of Bethel in this passage, and we see the two poles of God of mercy and of justice come to fruition. If you will, in these two cities, second Kings chapter two, page two hundred and sixty. Please hear with me now and read with me God's word to us. When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, Stay here. The Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? Yes, I know, Elisha replied. But do not speak of it. Then Elijah said to him, Stay here, Elisha. The Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he replied, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went to Jericho. The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? Yes, I know, he replied. But do not speak of it. Then Elijah said to him, Stay here. The Lord has sent me to the Jordan. And he replied, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So the two of them walked on. Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you? Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit, Elisha replied. You have asked a difficult thing, Elijah said. Yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise not. As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them. And Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel. And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah? He asked when he struck the water. It divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. The company of the prophets from Jericho who are watching said the spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha and they went to him to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. Look, they said, we are your we are servants have 50 able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley. No, Elisha replied. Do not send them. But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, send them. And they sent 50 men who searched for three days, but did not find him. When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, didn't I tell you not to go? The men of the city said to Elisha, look, look, our Lord, this town is well situated as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive. Bring me a new bowl, he said, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, This is what the Lord says. I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive. And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. From there, Elisha went up to Bethel as he was walking along the road. Some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. Go up. Go on up, you bald head, they said. Go on up, you bald head. He turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there returned to Samaria." This is God's word to us. If you've never read that passage before, you're probably a little in shock at the fact that two bears came out of the woods and killed forty-two boys. We'll get to that here momentarily, though. If you have been reading the newspaper in 2005 in the year of 2005 and you open up the front page of the newspaper on April 8 you would have read a headlining story of a momentous event an event of a gathering of four Kings from around the world five Queens. over 70 presidents and prime ministers, over 14 leaders from different religious groups, and all of these dignitaries stood alongside four million people. It was said by some, and you would have read this in the headlines of the newspaper, that it was the single largest gathering of Christianity or of Christians in history. And what was interesting, though, you had read this, is that it wasn't the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ that they gathered for. Instead, It was the memorial of a dead man, because on April 8, 2005, the Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II was laid to rest. It's interesting that we as humans always have this tendency to glorify man, perhaps more than we should, or sometimes put man in the place of God, or sometimes Take man and put him on a pedestal as the one who will save us, the one who will redeem us, the one who will take care of us and forget about God. And God, I believe, knows this is the tendency for us to worship the person or the creature rather than the creator, the God who gives power to people and second Kings here. It shows us through prophetic succession that our hope is to be found in the word of God that's given to us. And this word of God is expressed in two ways in blessing and curse. Now, in this, as we just read in Second Kings, you might be thinking we're at the beginning of the book, Second Kings chapter two, but we actually find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the book of Kings. And what is Kings, but a history book? Well, it's a little more than that. It's what we would call theological history, history with a theological purpose. And not only that, but theological history that is authored by the Holy Spirit working with man. And so to understand what's being told to us frequently, especially when we start right in the middle of a book, because here second Kings was divided into two when we move from scrolls to more of a book format, right in the middle of the book of Kings. To understand what's being said to us, sometimes we have to understand the period. If you open up a history book to the middle of the book and you just read the middle portion, whatever you read that caption or that paragraph, you'll miss the whole context that's going on and sometimes lose sight of what's actually taking place. So bear with me as I give you a little bit of a little bit of background as to where we're situated in this history, this theological history. We're in a period that's called the divided kingdom. So Israel had been divided into two kingdoms, if you will, or two different segments. In the north was the tribes of Israel. It was called Israel. And in the south was the tribe of Judah. Now Israel, the northern kingdom, was identified with all evil kings. Every king that ruled the north was an evil king. And we're always told that it was an evil king who doesn't follow the word of the Lord. And that's how they're defined as evil. In the south, we have more of an up and down of kings in Judah. Sometimes we have a good king, sometimes a bad, and then maybe another good one and another good one and maybe another bad one. But it's more of an up and down history where Judah at times follows the word of God. In second Kings chapter two, we find ourselves smack dab in northern Israel, in the north and where there are evil kings always time and again. And in the north, we find ourselves in the midst of the shift of a reign. And it's a very important shift from one king to another king. The previous king of Israel was a man by the name of Ahaziah. And you don't need to remember the name, but do remember that Ahaziah was a Baal worshiper. He worshipped Baal and he replaced the worship of Yahweh, or the worship of God, with the worship of Baal. And Elijah's ministry was used to rebuke Ahaziah and Ahaziah's father, Ahab. We can read about this in 2 Kings chapter 1 and previous to this. Ahaziah then dies, and in chapter 3 verse 1, he is succeeded by his brother, his brother by the name of Jehoram. Both are in the line of Ahab. Now that's very important to note. These are two brothers with the same father, Ahab. And I would argue that Elisha's ministry, the whole ministry of Elisha, is used in contradiction, or it's used to challenge the reign of the line of Ahab. And so here we find Jehoram is the new king that's taking over in northern Israel and Elisha is the new prophet taking over for the godly people in northern Israel. Now, a quick point of confusion, if you go home and read further, there were two Jehoram's. There's one in the north and one in the south. And so what the NIV does here for clarity is name one Joram. It's the same, the same person. Joram is Jehoram in the north. So if you get a little confused and you read that later, we're concerned with the northern Jehoram king who comes, the king who comes later in the next chapter. So Jehoram's taking over. Now, Jehoram, unlike his brother, is not a Baal worshiper, strictly speaking. Jehoram is what we would call a syncretist. Jehoram took the worship of the gods around them, Baal being one of them, and then took the worship of Yahweh and kind of mixed them together and made this kind of mix of worship, this syncretistic worship of the true worship of God and the worship of whatever else he could find around him. It's interesting that we find ourselves here in the world of sheep and of swords and kings and horses. But we're really not all that detached, are we? A place where we find the worship of God mixed in with whatever else we could find and jam in there and create our own kind of quasi-religion of God and money or God and leisure or God and whatever else we want to put in there. And so, in the midst of this world, into this turmoil, we come to this passage in 2 Kings 2, and we see two men walking down a road, meandering through the countryside of the desert of northern Israel. Two men, Elijah and Elisha. Frequently in the history of God's people, God's people have strayed. They have gone away from God. And always God calls them back through the use of his prophets, through the use of his divine word. He calls his people back to the true worship of him. And throughout chapter two, we watch the progression of the word of God as it walks throughout this countryside. And it is a journey. And through this journey, as we will see three things, the power of God, which is transferred and the power of God given in blessing and the power of God used in judgment. Now, if you're following along with one of the outlines there at the beginning here, the point one, you have sort of a structured structure here that goes from A down to B. And it's a path. It is the path that we're going to follow. And that point will go through throughout the whole sermon. So you could follow point one from now until the end of the sermon, and then the rest will follow on continuously And here now, in the beginning of chapter one, seeing the power of God transferred, we need to understand how the people saw Elijah. You see, Elijah was the savior, if you will. Elijah was the hero of the godly in northern Israel. And in the midst of turmoil, it really is always our tendency to get heroes, isn't it? Sometimes we always find someone to save us, but always they let us down, don't they? Sometimes it's a jaw-dropping letdown. We elect a president who gives us the promise that he will promote global peace, and then he's thrown out of office because of the scandal. Sometimes it's just mere betrayal, right? If you haven't read recently, a few months ago, Superman renounced his citizenship to the United States and went to the United Nations, betrayed. Most frequently, though, it's just life, isn't it? Life takes the champion of faith long before the time we expect it. The only pastor we think who can really talk to us is taken from us from death or just from life that happens. The people of Israel were in the midst of a political turmoil. They had the Assyrian nations to their side, breathing down the back of Israel, always threatening to conquer them. And then they turned around to their king, who was shoving Baal down their throats or some other syncretistic religion. But the people who remain true to God saw a glimmer of hope in Elijah, the one they called the man of God. They saw something in Elijah that they hadn't seen in a long time. They saw the power of God. Elijah was the one who saved the godly from their enemies. Elijah was the one who went to the starving widow and gave her food and took care of her. It wasn't the king. It was Elijah. Elijah was the one who humiliated the prophets of Baal on the top of a mountain. Elijah was the one who destroyed the enemy's armies. Elijah was, for all intents and purposes, a hero. Frequently, we grasp on to that hero and forget the true power behind him. Children, if you're following along the outlines of children outlines the first point there on point B is that Elijah was for all intents and And so we find Elijah here in Gilgal, with Elisha, and they begin walking down a road. And Elijah urges Elisha to stop, but Elisha doesn't. He pushes on. And this shouldn't surprise us, because Elisha, we were introduced to in 1 Kings chapter 19. Now, in Hebrew narrative, the most important part, the most important thing to read about a character in Hebrew narrative is the very first time you read about him. The author gives us a lot of information about that character. Gives us what he's about, who he is. And the first Kings chapter 19, if you recall the story, Elijah is walking past Elisha and he sees him and he calls out to Elisha and Elisha immediately sacrifices the very livestock that he's using to plow his fields, says goodbye to his family, and then goes and follows Elijah. Elisha is one who goes the whole nine yards, goes the whole distance to follow God. And so we start the journey from Gilgal. And now, if you're reading in this text, we read, they went down to Bethel. Now, that little phrase there, they went down to Bethel. You might have just read it and thought nothing of it. But that little phrase, they went down to Bethel, gives pause, actually, to many translators and many commentators. In fact, in one of the Greek copies we read, they went up to Bethel. They changed that, so they went up to Bethel. Why do you think they would do that? Because, strictly speaking, geographically and topographically speaking, there's no way that they could have gone down to Bethel. Gilgal is neither south nor lower in elevation than Bethel. So why would the author say they went down to Bethel? What's going on here? Well, I think this verse is actually very helpful for two points. First, it keys us in on a literary development that the author is building for us. The author is using two main verbs throughout this chapter, and you may have noticed them as we read them. Going up and going down, going up and going down. Things go up, things come down. And this parallels and goes back and forth throughout the whole chapter. They work interchangeably throughout the story and they develop and build on one another and lead us to the main point, lead us to what God is trying to show us here. But more importantly, or perhaps other significant factor here is the author is using theological language. If you've ever read the New Tower, it read the Old Testament before and read about going to Jerusalem. You read, you always go up to Jerusalem, no matter where you are, whether you're in the Himalayas, no matter where you are, you always go up to Jerusalem because Jerusalem is where the place that was the place where God's spirit sat. That was where the temple of God was and where God was with his people. And so when we go to see God, we always go up to see God. So in Bethel, They, I would argue, they always go down to see Bethel. But why would I say that? Because what was so significant about Bethel? Bethel was the place where that quasi temple of Jeroboam sat. That was where Jeroboam set up a temple for the worship of Baal, saying, people of Israel, you don't need to go down to Jerusalem or you don't need to go up to Jerusalem anymore. You don't need to travel there. You can just worship these two golden calves. They brought you out of Egypt. I'm going to set up this temple here in Bethel for you to save you the trip to Jerusalem. So that's where the temple of northern Israel sat. And I would argue then what's happening is the author is telling us while we always go up to Jerusalem, we always go down to Bethel because that is where Baal was exalted over Yahweh. So we should naturally it's natural for the author then to kind of denigrate this place. And after their visit to Bethel, they're confronted by the faithful prophets, and he's reminded, hey, Elisha, your master's leaving, and he's still faithful to follow Elijah. And they travel through Jericho, and again, Elisha's reminded, we see the bad news building. The faithful of God were expecting the removal of Elijah, weren't they? They were expecting their hero to leave them. And perhaps they were calling Elisha to a period of mourning, or perhaps they were warning him We don't exactly know why they were doing this, but we do know that they were worried. Nonetheless, they were worried about Elijah leaving and they were telling Elisha, watch out, Elisha. He's leaving soon. And then they pass through Jericho and they cross the Jordan River and they do so with wide acclaim. They don't build a bridge. They don't get a boat. But Elijah takes out his mantle or his cloak and he hits the waters and the waters are divided into two and they cross through on dry ground. That's interesting, isn't it? Do you remember anybody else who crossed or divided waters and the people crossed through on dry ground? You should. The first one we think of is Moses, isn't it? Moses, who crossed or divided the Red Sea and the people crossed through on dry ground. And where did they find themselves after they crossed the Jordan River? In Moab. Who's buried in Moab? Moses is buried in Moab, isn't he? They find themselves in the place where Moses is buried in Moab after they have crossed the Jordan. The author here is linking in the minds of the readers the concept of Elijah and Moses, the characters of Elijah and Moses. He's linking the two together, getting them to think, getting the people to think of these two in the same line. In the same prophetic line of Moses, Elijah was the prophet in the line of Moses, as was promised in Deuteronomy. A prophet will come after me, and a line of prophets will continue to come after me until the true prophet comes. And Elijah is vindicated, if you are told to be in the true line of Moses. the one on whom the hand of God sits. And so here it is. The time of focus has come. The warnings have come time and again, and they sit in the land of Moab. And Elijah says to Elisha, Is there anything I can do for you before I leave? And Elisha asks for a double portion of the spirit. now read properly. We're not to understand this is extra and extra dose like seconds, if you will, of the spirit. Instead, he's properly properly understood. He's asking to be in the line, the successor of Elijah in that line of the prophets Moses. You remember the first one gets a double portion of the blessing. So he's asking to be in that prophetic line to be a successor Time and again, Elisha was told to stop. Time and again, he was told to turn back by both Elijah and the band of prophets. But he didn't. He kept going and he reaches the place of Moses' burial, asks to be the successor, and receives a prophetic birthright, if you will, because he followed in the footsteps of Elijah. And it's a good thing he didn't turn back, isn't it? Because in verse 10, we read that had he not been there, he wouldn't receive that double blessing, that double portion. But this simple request to receive that double portion becomes reality in verses 11 and 12, doesn't it? Immediately, Elisha is cut off from Elijah, and between them stood a chariot of fire and horses of fire. And then Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind. And as Elijah went up, his cloak came down. And here now, in the face of this reality, Elisha sits. The hero was gone. The one who took care of Israel was now gone. And we read Elisha's true reaction to what happened. He cries out to the Lord and the cry reverberates throughout the barren wilderness of Moab. The chariots of the Lord, he cries. What is he saying? You see, as the people saw it, Elijah was the defense of the godly. He was the face of God's care for the downtrodden in the midst of an oppressive reign, under an oppressive and pagan king and overlord. But he's no longer there. Who is going to take care of the people of God now? Now that the hero is gone, who will take care of them? Fear has set in. Is God's care now gone because the prophet is gone, is left? In this emotional response, Elisha tears his garments, which is an indication of a time of lament and tragedy. But what is the writer communicating to us? Why these parallels to Moses? Why this emotional reaction to Elisha? Think to yourself, time and again, Elisha was told, your master is leaving. Your master is leaving, Elisha. And he says, I know, I know, I get it, I get it. But he finally makes it, asks for the second, the double blessing. And then he's promised it. He's given the promise by Elijah that he'll have that double blessing. He knew it and he affirmed it and he trusted in it. But then in the midst of this reality, when it came and hit, when it became reality, he broke down. He tore his garments. He lamented the loss of a hero. And how often do we do this as well? Knowing that God is in control, knowing that God cares for us, knowing that God works all things out for the good of those who love him. We know all these things. We affirm them. We come to church. We say them each and every day. God cares for us. We know. But then in the midst of reality, when things don't quite go the way we think they ought to go, we cry out. All is lost. Things are going astray from the plan that I thought was supposed to take place. We tear our garments and we lament this great tragedy. But do you see now what we're being told here? The God of Elijah is the same God of Moses, the same God that is now with Elisha. He's present there with his people in 850 B.C., just as he was present with his people in 1400 B.C. He hasn't left them. He hasn't left them in the barren wilderness. He hasn't left them alone. It's the same God who is here in the 21st century. The God of Israel does not change, even though the hero may. The second point you outlined, children, is that the God that was with Elijah is still with his people. And so now in dramatic fashion, he will show us the power of God to redeem his people, which is placed upon Elisha as Elisha literally retraces the steps that he went with Elijah, and he shows this power as it is yielded, if you will, or wielded throughout the countryside. And watch Elijah's expression as he reaches the Jordan. He strikes the water in identical fashion as Elijah, and he cries out, where is the Lord now? And immediately, without any hesitation, the Lord answers, and the waters part. He shows him that he is there. He is right there. He is present with his people. And there wasn't a moment when he left. It wasn't as if Elisha had to go up to heaven and then send a package down. And then finally, there was a little bit of a delay and God made it down immediately. God is with his people. There is no transition of God taking a break off because somebody left. And now at this point, the band of prophets come to him again and they're amazed at his power. And now Elisha goes and travels down to Jericho. At this point now, we've seen the power of God transferred to Elisha, but he doesn't leave the focus on Elisha per se. The author now begins to show us why Elisha can do these acts throughout his life. It is because the power of God has been placed upon Elisha, and he shows us through two separate accounts the purpose of this power, the purpose of blessing and of judgment. And first we see then the power of God and blessing. Elisha travels to Jericho, and if you look at your outline, you'll notice a retracing of the steps. He now goes down to Jericho and we find ourselves right above the Dead Sea, right above the Dead Sea. And we read that there's a slight problem in Jericho, right? They say, hey, this is great property. We got it for a good price, but the water, the water's bad. Now, when you read of Jericho or when I say the word Jericho or you think of Jericho, what do you think of? You probably think of an amazing victory. Joshua comes through and he takes the people of God, and they march instead of attacking the city like any normal army would do. They march around the city, and then they blow trumpets, and then the walls come crashing down. It's an amazing victory. It's a display of God's power. And there is significance to this. The successor of Elijah is Elisha, and like Joshua to Moses, both go to Jericho, and victory in a sense. We often forget, though, what's told to us about Jericho after that great victory in Joshua, chapter six, verse twenty six. We read. Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying cursed before the Lord, be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son, shall he lay its foundations? And at the cost of his youngest son, shall he set up its gates? Pay attention to that. The land was cursed. The land was cursed, and we're told that anybody who comes and rebuilds this city of Jericho will lose his children. The next point in your outline, children, is that Jericho was a cursed city. Jericho was cursed. Now, I think most of the translations, most of your translations here are being a little soft on what's being said, maybe making a little, a little more palatable. The Hebrew verb that's used here, which is shekola, it has three senses to it. Three senses to miscarry, to cause, to have an abortion and to make barren. Miscarry, cause to have an abortion and make barren. It's nothing like the land isn't growing green beans. to miscarry to cause to have an abortion and to make there. And I think the New Jerusalem Bible gets the image correct here when it says the people of the city said to Elisha the city is pleasant to live in as my Lord indeed can see. But the water is foul and the country suffers from miscarriages. The land being barren does not simply mean that it's a desert wasteland where tumbleweeds roll through town. Instead, the land being barren probably means that people are dying and most likely children are dying in the city because of something in the water. You see, the reason why the people were dying, the reason why Jericho was an inhospitable land to these people, because it was a city that was established in direct opposition to the Lord's command. The problem all started in the days of the kings. You see, in the days of the kings, the people really didn't give a rip about God's command or what he said. So they did whatever they please, whatever they wanted to do. And it all started in Ahab's day. No surprise here, right? A man by the name of Hyiel decided to rebuild Jericho. He came out and said, I'm going to rebuild Jericho in First Kings, chapter 16. We read about this account in verse 34. And he did so. He rebuilt Jericho and defines to the Lord's command and his faith. He did so at the cost of his firstborn and his youngest. He rebuilt Jericho in defiance to God, and he had two gravestones to mark the achievement. And this story of continuing defiance, still following the reign of the line of Ahab and the Baalism that was brought in. Now, in all likelihood, the people probably didn't know about this command. with the rampant bailism that was going on throughout the land, the suppression of Yahweh by the king. But the curse still remained on the city. And in the midst of this reality, Elisha walks into town and takes a new bowl with salt, releases it upon the waters and says, Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water and from now on, neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it. Look what happens when Elisha comes to town. When Elisha comes to town, a city under curse gains blessing and grace. As one scholar notes, is this incident not a cameo of Yahweh's own character? See how he delights to turn the most curse-ridden, sin-laden, judgment-bearing situations into episodes of his grace in living color. The next point on your outline, children, is that while Jericho was cursed, Elisha brought grace. An unimaginable situation, right? We read this and we say, this can't be. There was a curse on Jericho. Why would Elijah just stroll into town and pour the grace of God upon these people who sat in defiance to God? But we, we as Christians in the New Covenant, we know this is his character, right? We know this is what God does. Or do we? What about that young woman with the history of drug abuse and adulterous relationships who thinks to herself, there's no way God can actually accept me as a child. He'll put up with me. He'll handle me and deal with me for the time. But there's no way he can actually accept me as a child of his, as one of his. Or what about those immoral acts you did years ago, long since repented, but the guilt still follows you each day and whispers in your ear, Sure, sure, God tolerates you, but he doesn't love you like a child, like he used to. You've solely that relationship. You've ruined that a little bit. Or what about the old man who's rejected Christ long ago and comes and thinks God will never take me back? I've already made that mistake and there's no way that he would take me back. You see, sometimes we need this, don't we? Sometimes we need the spirit to grab us by the collar of the shirt and drag us all the way across the Atlantic and put us straight in the middle of Jericho and say to us, this is your God. This is your God who binds up your sins and places himself on a cross for you. This is your God who takes the wrath of God on your behalf. This is your God who redeems you, who accepts the downtrodden, who forgives the sinners and the rebels and calls them children of God. This is your God who showers grace upon those who just simply don't deserve it. But he does so because he loves to pour grace upon those who don't deserve it. He loves to call them into a covenant relationship with him and to call them his children. This is your God who's in the business of pouring out grace. But the story doesn't stop here, does it? We're missing one more step on our path throughout the wilderness, throughout the desert. After bestowing this grace, Elisha continues, and we read that now he went up there from Beth or up from there to Bethel. And now you might be thinking to yourself, didn't I just tell you that we always go down to Bethel? Didn't I just say that? I always go up to Jerusalem, but we always go down to Bethel because that's where the temple of Jeroboam is. We've already established the theological topography, haven't we? Why would we change this? Well, we'll see in a moment that the emphasis that the same hand that delivers blessing upon the godly brings judgment to the ungodly. If you bear with me for just one moment, we now see God's power in judgment. And we find in verses 23 to 25, those infamous verses that we always hear about or sometimes hear about Elisha, the mean old man who woke up on the wrong side of bed, right? Accidentally put decaffeinated coffee in the coffee maker and walks to the countryside and he's approached by these innocent little children who are playing hopscotch and they jest him. And he's just in a bad mood, so he sticks bears on them, right? That's what we're told, isn't it? Well, maybe we're missing The point here, we look at it like that is that really what's being conveyed here. Think about this. Elijah just goes to a curse-ridden city and pours grace upon the city that didn't deserve it. Gives them blessing upon blessing. Are we now to think that he's a stingy old man who holds the grace of God from people? Remind ourselves, what was Bethel? Bethel was the place where Baal was worshipped. It was the place where the temple was placed in opposition to God, to the true worship of God. And for 80 years now, 80 years, count them, the prophet of God has come through Bethel and called the city to repentance. Come back to the true worship of Yahweh. He desires for you to come back. He desires to pour his grace upon you. Come back to him. Eighty years now, the prophets have come and reminded the city of Bethel. And for 80 years, they've turned and they spit on the prophets of God and spit on the very God who gave them the soil on which they farmed and lived. And here, then, along this path, we find Elisha finishing the journey, going up to Bethel to bring judgment upon that temple, to to exalt the true worship of Yahweh, to finish his journey. And he encounters these children on the path. And the language really does require us to see these 10 to 12 year olds, 10 to 12 year old kids. And they saw him and they recognize him. Oh, here it comes year after year. Here comes the prophet of Yahweh to call us to repentance. Go on up, Baldy. Go on up, Baldy. Now, they're doing one of two things or either mocking on mocking him, saying, just keep on going. We don't want anything that you have to offer here. No solicitors or they're telling him. Why don't you just go on up like your master Elijah? You're nothing like Elijah, are you? You can't just go on up like him. One of the two, we're not really told which is kind of what's really going on. But what about that term baldhead? Why would baldhead lead him to curse them in the name of the Lord? Was Elisha just sensitive? Maybe if only just for men had been invented in 850, this whole incident wouldn't happen, right? He was offended by being called bald. Well, I think there's far more going on than this. If we think back and we were reading this, we would think back to chapter one and Elijah is Elijah is represented or as we're told that Elijah is a hairy man. And it's sort of a verse that comes out of nowhere. We just read that Elijah is a hairy man. And then we continue on and we think, oh, great, Elijah had a lot of hair. But then we get to this passage and they're making fun of Elisha because that because he was bald, apparently. And so what I think is going on here is we have this mob of children heckling and yelling at Elisha, telling him, you are nothing like Elijah. You are nothing like him. The power of God does not sit upon you. And the power of God is not here in Bethel. So we'll just keep on doing what we want to keep on doing. We don't want anything that you have to offer. And the next point you outline, children, is that the children of Bethel mocked Elisha. And one more thing to notice here, we read here that the female bears came out and mauled 42 of the boys 42 of the boys. In other words, some of them got away. In other words, there was more than 42 12-year-olds or 10-year-olds heckling Elisha. This is not just a small group of kids with a kickball. This is a small mob of children turning in defiance to the prophet of God, as they've done in 80 years in the past. And why are they doing this? They are purposely exhibiting the contempt for the man of God that Bethel exhibited for God himself. And notice what Elisha does here. He curses them in the name of Yahweh, in the covenant name of the Lord Yahweh. In the name of the Lord, he curses them. He calls covenant curses upon covenant breakers. Elisha was not just a man in a bad mood. Elisha was a man calling the curse of God upon Bethel for breaking the covenant of God. Eighty years had passed and the time had now come, or perhaps it had just started, because now we begin to see the downfall of northern Israel. We begin to go into that time where exile will soon come upon them and they will be scattered and the tribes will never be brought together again. But Patrick, you might be thinking yourself, these are just children. These are 10 year olds. You realize what you're saying here? What in the world do children have anything to do with the covenant? Why would God call curses upon children? Children have nothing to do with the covenant, right? Well, if we think back to Leviticus in chapter 26, the book of the covenant, we read in chapter 26, verse 22, one of the covenant curses upon those who break The covenant of God is, I will let loose the wild beast among you, which shall rob you of your children. You see, the covenant infidelity that was exhibited by Bethel time and time and time again led to this covenant curse. The next point you're outlining, children, is that the bears were part of the curse. It wasn't just an arbitrary act that happened. It was an act that had been promised many years ago and had been reminded to them for 80 years. God will bring curse upon you if you don't turn to him. But if you do, he will lavish his grace upon you and he will call you his children. So what's the purpose of this account of the bears? Well, we only see this purpose as we view the passage as a whole. The two passages, the two accounts of Jericho and Bethel show together that the word of God has the ability to bless or to curse. The word of God either delivers and heals or it condemns and it destroys. There is no middle ground in between blessing and curse. In the first episode, Elisha comes to town and God pours grace that was undeserved to the people upon them. And in the second episode, we find the true result of covenant unfaithfulness. They deserve the curse of God because they have always and every day turned their back upon him and never responded to that call to repentance. What a stunning message this is. What a stunning message that runs in direct contrast and opposition to our Western view of God, who simply loves everyone, punishes no one, is just the good man upstairs. Perhaps we need to recover the sense of godly fear, a recognition of divine punishment. You see, the story of Second Kings 2 is a story of prophetic line and the ultimate purpose of that line. And Elijah and Elisha show us together two prophets in the line of Moses, Two prophets in a line that is continuing a line that is still waiting for that final greater profit that is to come. Elisha shows us a God of blessing and judgment, and it showed in the tale of two cities, the tale of Jericho and the tale of Bethel. And yet there is one who has come, one who has come to proclaim judgment and blessing on a much greater level. The Lord Jesus Christ, who came to the earth, became a man and suffered on the cross, taking upon Himself the judgment of God, the judgment of Bethel, the covenant curses He took upon Himself, and yet died and did not remain in the grave, but God raised Him from the dead, as Paul reminds us in Romans 4.25, for our justification. You see, in other words, The blessing that is offered to us is seen now in that final response to Christ. The call is issued. Will you respond in repentance like the land of Jericho, or will you continue to turn your back and say, go on up, bald head? We don't want what you have here. We're happy. We're satisfied. Consider the words in Luke chapter six, everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a curtain, when a flood came, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. And when the stream broke against it immediately, it fell. And the rune of that house was great. And so the question I leave you with today really is twofold. You who are in Christ, do you live your life in recognition of the power of the word of God and the blessing that comes through that word each and every day through Jesus Christ? Do you live your life in recognition that God speaks to you today through his word, just as he did through his prophets? And he calls you each and every day still to a life of repentance, to bow the knee to him and to live following him. Do you realize His grace to you. Do you realize what it was to receive that grace? Think back to Jericho, a land whose children were dying. If your children were dying, and then all of a sudden someone comes and heals that. What grace is that? And now think of the grace that has been placed upon you to a much greater level. And live in life of that. And revel in it every day. Or for you outside His covenant. Do you continue to ridicule the word for your actions? Do you continue to live as if it simply doesn't matter? I've got more time. I could keep going. We've gone 80 years already. I can keep going a little bit longer. Those promised covenant curses haven't come yet. Awaiting the greater judgment to come. For friends, there is still hope. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning and we thank you for your grace that you have poured upon us. We thank you, Lord, that you have blessed us so abundantly. We thank you for your word and you speak to us every day. And we pray that we will be more diligent to read your word. We pray that we will be more diligent to follow you, to love you and to recognize the grace that you've given to us and to live in light of this grace. We pray, Lord, that you will bring comfort to the downtrodden. that you will comfort those who hurt. We think of the friend of Tara who lost her children, and we know how bad that would hurt, Lord, and we thank you for your blessing and your comfort in the midst of those difficult situations that we have because of you. But we still know that they hurt, and we pray that you will bring comfort to those in that situation or other ones like it. We pray, Lord, that our week will be blessed by you. That we will live lives in reflection of you, that as people see us, they will see an ambassador of Christ, as you said. But they will also see someone who lives in light of the grace that you've given to us. We pray that you will bless us this week. We pray that you will feed us continuously from your word. Help us to remember the words that you speak to us today. Help us to share those with other people. We pray that you will give us rest this day and that you will build our faith. where it is lacking. We pray these things in the name of Christ Jesus, our only King in heaven. Amen.