Elisha And The Murderous Bears

In the early years of my pastoral ministry I was called to comfort a young family whose 3-yr. old had fallen into an open cistern and drowned. I was not well prepared for the task. I still remember the tears and anguish of that young couple as they berated themselves for their negligence.

Many questions arise at the death of a child besides guilt. One that keeps coming up is this. Why did God do it? Or why did God allow this to happen? What does the Bible have to say about this? Is God indeed behind the death of some children?

There are numerous stories in the Bible about children dying before their parents. Along with those stories there are many questions about why God permitted or even commanded these deaths. Were I to look at all the stories one by one we'd be at it for the next several months. Instead I'll look at but a few examples that will aid us in interpreting the others and provide some answers to these frightening questions.

For today let's look at Elisha and the murderous bears!

He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!"

And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys   (2 Kings 2:23-25). 

Forty-two small boys torn to shreds by two bear sows! How terribly frightening. How do you explain this? An act of God? Nature gone awry? First some background.

Elisha ('God saves' in Hebr.) was God's chosen successor to the great prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:8-21). After being called to follow Elijah, Elisha went with the prophet to the eastern side of the Jordan river where Elijah was suddenly separated from him by chariots and horses of fire and caught up into heaven in a whirlwind. As he was lifted up, Elijah dropped his mantle, confirming Elisha's call to be his successor. With that cloak Elisha parted the waters of the river and walked back over. The sons of the prophets who saw all this affirmed God's choice, saying, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." Shortly afterwards Elisha miraculously turned the bad water of Jericho into good with a new bowl of salt, further confirming God's choice (2 Kings 2:1-22).

Now to the text.

Elisha was God's chosen prophet. The choice was confirmed by the other prophets and by the miracle of turning bad water into water sweet and useful. Like Moses and Aaron of old, Elisha spoke for the LORD. His words were God's words (Exodus 7:1-2; Deuteronomy 18:18-19). To mock and revile him was to mock and revile the LORD whose representative he was.

Who were these "small boys"? The Hebrew words (qatan na'ar) can refer to small boys, but may even refer to young men of about twenty (Genesis 34:19) or servants (2 Kings 5:20). The NKJV and the NIV call them 'youths', the ASV 'young lads'. They could well have been a gang of teenagers. We all know how they can be when out of control.

What was this about calling him "you bald head"? The prophet Isaiah speaks God's curse upon the haughty daughters of Zion with their outstretched necks, wanton eyes, mincing about, tinkling with their feet. They will loose their fine anklets, headbands, crescents, pendants, bracelets, scarves, headdresses, amulets, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, signet and nose rings, festal robes, mantles, cloaks, handbags, mirrors, linen garments, turbans, veils, perfume, wavy hair and rich robes.  Instead the women will rot, be forced to wear sackcloth, and be branded as slaves with heads shaved bald. This was to be God's curse upon their prideful unbelief, greed and disobedience (Isaiah 3:14-26).

In that sense, these boys were not merely mocking Elisha for having a bald head—we don't even know that he did. They were calling down a curse upon him, asking God to turn him into a slave with a shaved head.

And beyond that they cried, "Go up, go up!" They had heard about this Elijah flying up to heaven. "OK, old baldy, let's see you do it. Up, up and away, like smoke into the air (Genesis 19:28). Fly, baby, fly if you can! You're a prophet after all and prophets are supermen who can fly. Go for it. Up, up and away!"

With their japes they joined the people who had mocked the LORD God during the ministry of Elijah. Perhaps you know the story of how Elijah confronted and destroyed the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-46). Mockery of the LORD and taking His name in vain was widespread in those days, as it is in ours. This story was but another example of it by the youth of Jericho. They were not merely mocking a man. They were making fun of the LORD Himself and they needed to know the consequences of this blasphemy. This was serious business. They and their families must learn that there is no other God and that by such sacrilege they invite His wrath down upon them (Deut. 5:11).

So the wrath came as they had dared God to give them. Elisha turned and cursed them in the name of the LORD and the LORD sent the bear sows out upon them. Surely there were many others gathered at the time, others who fled the frightful beasts, but these 42 lads did die in the malay.

This story, like so many others in the Bible, reminds us sinners that we must all one day stand before the judgment seat of God to give account of our lives, deeds and words. This story, like others, calls us all, little boys and girls, young or old men and women, to turn from our sinful ways, to fall before our God to beg for His mercy and forgiveness. To such there is always good news. We have an Advocate who pleads on our behalf before the throne of God and even now speaks to us forgiveness, life and hope (1 John 2:1-2).