2 Kings 6
McGeeCHAPTER 6THEME: The floating ax head and danger at DothanIn chapter 6 we will see two more thrilling experiences that Elisha had. Elisha was an outstanding prophet, although he was different from Elijah, Elijah’s ministry was public; Elisha’s ministry was more private (we have just seen how he dealt with Naaman, the captain of the Syrian host). Elijah was spectacularhe brought down fire and rain from heaven. Elisha was a quiet man; he shunned the spotlight. However, both prophets were God’s men at God’s time.
2 Kings 6:1
THE AX HEADOur attention will center now on Elisha. I do not think that any miracle so reveals the character of a person and a prophet as the miracle of the floating ax head. Now this reveals something of the popularity of Elisha. He taught in a theological seminary, the school of the prophets. The school grew, and they needed larger quarters. This was due to the presence and the popularity of Elisha. The strength, I feel, and the value of any school is the character and the ability of those who teach. It is not the methods but the men that are important, especially in a Christian school. Now notice what they did. In order to enlarge the school they said,
2 Kings 6:2
The students built their own school. That would be an unusual thing in our day. Today everything has to be given to the students in order to get them through school and, if it doesn’t suit them, they rebel. But these students went out to work, and Elisha encouraged them in it.
2 Kings 6:3
This is a refreshing and thrilling verse. It is an insight into the winsome character of Elisha. It reveals that he was popular with the students. By the way, do students ordinarily want to take their teacher with them beyond the boundary of the campus? They’d like to leave him there. But these asked Elisha to go with them.
2 Kings 6:4
Now a small tragedy takes place. I say “small” because the ordinary person would call this a trivial incident.
2 Kings 6:5
There is something here that is quite interesting. It reveals that God is concerned about the small events in our lives. You remember that Paul said to the Philippians, “Pray about everything,” and he did not mean to leave anything out. The loss of an ax head may seem insignificant to us, but to this poor student it is not so small. The fact of the matter is, it is pretty big. In our day of gadgets when we can go down to the hardware store and get an ax head of about fifteen different shapes, this does not seem important. But in that day it was of tremendous importance because any kind of iron tool or weapon was scarce. And if you want to know something about that period, notice just one verse from 1 Samuel: “So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found” (1Sa_13:22). Two swords for an entire army!
It lets you know something of the scarcity of weapons and of tools in that day. So you can understand that the loss of an ax head was very important to this young manand, of course, he had borrowed it. Most commentators, I have discovered, romp all over this student. They give him a demerit for carelessness and a demerit for the fact that he borrowed something. Well, if this man were guilty, why did not Elisha, his teacher, rebuke him? Elisha did not. Elisha absolved him from all charges. He was not careless, but actually was very careful. Obviously there was a danger of an ax head coming off, and it happened often enough so that God included it in the Mosaic Law: “And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live” (Deu_19:4-5). God made this law because it evidently was something that occurred quite frequently. Now this man revealed his carefulness by cutting the wood so that there was nobody out in front of him. He was standing so that if the ax head came off it would go into the Jordan River. He was aiming it in a safe direction. The second fault they find with him is that he borrowed it. Well, I think that I am qualified to speak for this fellow here. He was a poor seminary student, and he could not afford an ax in that dayno more than I could have owned a Cadillac when I was in seminary. He just could not have done it. He had to borrow it. I do not think that this poor fellow should be criticized on these two points. In fact, I have a question to ask. Who loaned this student an old ax with a head that would come off? That’s the fellow I would like to talk to. I imagine that fellow is the same one who today gives secondhand clothes and old Christmas cards to missionaries and thinks he is serving the Lord. Now this boy was distressed, and he could not reimburse the owner. He would have to face him without the ax and he didn’t know what to do. Now notice Elisha’s concern. “And the man of God said, Where fell it?” Let’s stop there for just a moment because there have been those who have said, “Why did Elisha ask that question if he was a prophet? He would have known where the ax head fell.” He knew, and he knew something else also. He knew that he needed to test that young man. By the Spirit of God he needed to test him.
Notice that this young man knew exactly where that ax head went into the water. Don’t tell me he was careless. Elisha is not doing it only for a test but for another reason. The Spirit of God knew that in the twentieth century there would be critics of this miracle, and, as they’ve explained away every other miracle, they would say, “Well, after all, the water was clear, and anybody could see where it was.” The question Elisha asked precludes anyone saying that the water was clear. And if you know anything about the Jordan River, you know it was muddy. I have heard many romantic, wonderful things about that river, but to me it was the most disappointing thing that I saw.
You talk about polluted water! You talk about a muddy little stream! You talk about a dirty thing! That’s the Jordan River. Because it was muddy, Elisha said, “Where did it fall?” The young man knew right where it was, but he could not get it out because he could not see it. The water was not clear.
Now notice what took place.
2 Kings 6:6
This was a miracle, and I do not think that you can explain it away. This is one miraclenot sensational, not as spectacular as going to heaven in a chariot of firethat is great in its simplicity. It is a miracle when iron swims. It is contrary to all known physical laws. I recognize that since the day that the first iron ship was launched, ships of iron and steel now float on the seven seas. And that’s no miracle. But, my friend, it was a miracle for an ax head on the bottom of the Jordan River to float to the top like a cork! I know it is not startling, not sensational; it’s simple. This is Elisha’s method. Elijah would have never done it this way. In fact, I don’t think Elijah would have bothered with a thing like that. He would have said, “Son, forget it.” But not Elisha. An ax head, dormant on the bottom of the muddy Jordan, is raised, resurrected, if you please, restored to the owner, replaced on the handle, and it becomes useful again, utilitarian and functional. That’s really a greater miracle than these others because there is a tremendous spiritual message here for us today. Man today is like that ax head. He has slipped off the handle. He has fallen. He is totally depraved. So Elisha cut down a stick. He cast it into the waters of death. That stick is the Cross of Christ. Our Lord came down to that cross, and He went down into the waters of death for you and me. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1Pe_2:24). Man today can rise from the waters of death and judgment through Christ. He can be placed back on the handle of God’s plan and purpose for him, and he can be geared into God’s program. Paul testifies, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Php_4:13). And further, “…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php_3:13-14). It is no longer necessary for any person to live an aimless and useless life. Having no purpose in life is the thing that is driving literally thousands of people to suicide.
This past week a half dozen college students committed suicide, and the whole explanation was, “It isn’t worth living.” My friend, of course it’s not worth living when you are an old ax head down at the bottom of the muddy Jordan. It is not until Christ lifts you by His cross (His death for you and me) and places us back in His plan and purpose that life becomes worthwhile. A young man (not yet twenty-one years old) said to me, “My life is a failure.” I said to him, “Your life hasn’t even begun, and you are talking about being a failure!” How we need God today! The greatest miracle today, friend, is not to go to the moon. It is not even to go to heaven in a chariot of fire. Rather it is to go to the highest heaven when we are still sinners and have trusted Christ.
That’s the greatest miracle there isto be lifted out of the muck and mire of this world and to be given meaning for our lives and enabled to live for God.
2 Kings 6:7
All you have to do is reach out the hand of faith today and take it, for He died for you. He rose again in order that He might lift you up. All you have to do from your position is to reach out the hand of faith and trust Him.
2 Kings 6:8
DANGER AT DOTHANThe next episode begins with a very familiar ring. It sounds like a page out of the morning newspaper: “Then the king of Syria warred against Israel.” They have been at it for a long time; actually, it was an old conflict even at that time. The present conflict between Israel and the Arab world has a definite Bible background. Now notice the situation. The king of Syria was disturbed because every plan he made and every place he went was discovered by the king of Israel. He came to the conclusion that there was a spy in his camp. He called together his military and attempted to ferret out the traitor. “Which one of you is for the king of Israel?” Honestly there was no oneall of them were loyal to him.
2 Kings 6:12
The prophet Elisha had “bugged” even the bedroom of the king of Syria and knew everything he said. And the way he “bugged” them in that day was that the Lord revealed this to him. So the king of Syria decided to eliminate Elisha. He first sent out those to spy out where he was and they located him in Dothan. Dothan is a place north of Jerusalem about sixty miles. It means “two wells” and was a place where there was good pasture, a place where flocks were brought. At the present time and for several years Dr. Joseph Free, of Wheaton College, has been carrying on an excavation in that place.
I am told that there is really not much to see there because it never was a very prominent place. But it was the headquarters of Elisha at this particular time. The king of Syria sends in the military, and they entirely surround the place. The servant of Elisha goes out in the morning, I suppose to get water out of one of those wells (which are still there today); he looks around and sees that the city of Dothan is surrounded by the hosts of Syria. You can be sure of one thing, he is alarmed. He comes back and reports to Elisha, and he says to him, “Alas, my master!
What shall we do? The city is surrounded. We might just as well give up. It looks hopeless for us! What can we do under these circumstances?”
2 Kings 6:16
And I want to tell you, that seemed rather unrealistic because here were the hosts of Syria outside, and Elisha was very much alone with his servantand that servant was frightened to death. So Elisha prayed, and his prayer is interesting.
2 Kings 6:17
The question now arises: Is this the stated policy of God in dealing with His own? Well, I have discovered that a great many Christians today have become great escape artists. They are sort of spiritual Houdinis. They can tell you about miraculous instances of God delivering them and leading them. But many other saints have to bow their heads in shame and say, “I’ve had no such experience, and I have had no such leading from God. It must mean that either I am out of touch with Him, or He is not for me at all.” My friend, let’s go back to Dothan. The answer, I believe, is here. Dothan is mentioned only two times in the Bible, and I think for a definite reason. Another man approaches Dothan, a young man. In fact, he is a boy seventeen years of age, and danger and destiny await him there. Actually he is walking like a helpless and unsuspecting animal into a trap, and I feel like warning him, “Don’t go to Dothan!” But that foolish “Houdini” Christian I referred to is apt to say, “You don’t need to worry, preacher. No harm is going to come to him. He’s not going to be hurt at Dothan. He will be home next week because God will deliver him.
After all, there are chariots of fire around Dothan, and he will be delivered.” But is he? Joseph’s brothers conspire against him. They want to murder him and, after they cool off just a little, the wiser of the brothers recommends that he be sold into slavery. My friend, that was worse than death in that day. It was a living hell to be sold into slavery, yet that is what is happening to this boy, seventeen years of ageand he happens to be God’s man! Where are the chariots of fire?
Just because you cannot see the chariots of fire does not mean they are not there. They are there. I see more evidences of the hand of God in the life of Joseph than I see in the life of Elisha who performed miracles, yet God never appeared to Joseph, never performed a miracle for him. But I see that God used this seeming disaster, and Joseph recognized it later on at the end of his life. He could say to his brothers, “…ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good …” (Gen_50:20). And at Dothan the chariots of fire are there, but they are going to be used in a different way.
2 Kings 6:18
SYRIAN SOLDIERS ARE BLINDEDElisha did a very unusual thing. He asked God to smite the hosts of the Syrians with blindness, and God did just that. Then Elisha led them all the way into Samaria and told them that he was leading them where Elisha was! When they got to Samaria, he turned them over to the king of Samaria. The king wanted to slay them, but Elisha said, “Don’t do that. Feed them and send them home.”
2 Kings 6:23
Both the power and graciousness of Israel’s God, as represented by Elisha, must have really shaken the Syrian king. He abandoned his war against Israel. However, at a later date Ben-hadad (this, by the way, is a title rather than a proper name) again besieged Samaria, as we shall see in the next episode.
2 Kings 6:24
BEN-HADAD BESIEGES SAMARIAThe famine was so severe that a donkey’s head (imagine how little meat there would be on that, and it could only be boiled, I guess, and made into soup or stew!) was sold for a ridiculous price. They were really having inflation! The next few verses reveal the horrible fact that they were actually eating their children because of the desperate shortage of food.
2 Kings 6:31
We don’t know why the king considered Elisha as responsible for the horrors of the siege. Probably he thought it was in Elisha’s power to provide food in a miraculous way and was going to execute him because he did not. The episode is continued without a break in the next chapter. This is another thrilling incident in the life of this man Elisha.