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Numbers 16 Apr. Numbers 17 Apr. Numbers 18 Apr. Numbers , 19 Apr. It is Gehazi who points out to Elisha that she had no son and her husband is elderly. She protests because it seems too amazing to believe.
Question: What similar stories to this one do you recall from the Old and New Testaments concerning barren women? What is different in this story? Include this miracle in your list. Do not list the Virgin Mary who was not barren and whose miracle resulted from her being an unmarried virgin. Answer: There are seven such stories:. There are only 5 annunciation stories in the Bible in which a woman received a direct message of a future birth by an agent of God:.
There are three differences between Elisha's annunciation story and the gift of a child to the other barren women or the other annunciation stories in the Bible:. My head! I must hurry to the man of God and back. Do not draw rein until I give the order. When the man of God saw her in the distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, "Look, here comes our Shunammite! Is your husband well? Your child well? Gehazi stepped forward to push her away, but the man of God said, "Leave her; there is bitterness in her soul and Yahweh has hidden it from me, he has not told me.
Did I not say: Don't deceive me? II, page Like the annunciation story of Isaac, this son born after an annunciation is also threatened with death. Since we are told that the boy became ill after being with his father and the reapers at harvest time, it is possible that sunstroke caused his death.
The mother's anguish is intensified by her child still being alive when he was brought to her and then dying as she desperately tried to save him. After he died, she took him to the only place in her house that she associates with holiness and that is the room and bed of the "man of God. Sabbaths Num and New Moon festivals Num were times when special sacrifices and petitions to God were offered, and, since the people of the Northern Kingdom were discouraged from going to the Jerusalem Temple, they may have brought their special sacrifices and petitions to the prophets at this time.
But she replied, "Never mind. She ignores her husband and immediately sets out to find Elisha, telling her servant to drive the donkey to make it move faster. When Elisha sees her in the distance, Elisah immediately senses that there is a problem, and he sends his servant to inquire what has brought her to find him.
Her reply to Gehazi in the Hebrew text is "It is well. Answer: Probably because she does not want to waste her time explaining to the servant; she knowns only his master can help her.
Carmel 2 Kng Gehazi steps forward to protect his Master from the woman's grasp, but Elisha recognizes that she is deeply distressed and is surprised that God has hidden the cause of her distress from him. That Elisha was not forewarned makes the miracle he will perform even more dramatic. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; if anyone greets you, do not answer him. You are to stretch out my staff over the child. He went back to meet Elisha and told him.
He called her. When she came to him, he said, "Pick up your son. Realizing that time is of the essence, Elisha decides to send his young servant and prophet-in-training to run to the boy and to try to revive the child, using Elisha's staff of authority.
The mother, however, is not satisfied and swears in the name of Yahweh that she will not leave him; she is not putting her trust in a "magic" staff but in the person of Elisha, prophet of God. By her oath she is insisting that Elisha must go with her to her child. Gehazi is not successful in resuscitating the child and meets Elisha and the mother on the road to report on his failure. The boy's mother was correct in her intuition that it is the "man of God" who is needed to raise her son to life.
The delay in time and Ghazi's unsuccessful attempt proves that this is not a question of the child being unconscious or needing resuscitation. The boy is truly dead and his spirit has left his body. Elisha begins with prayer and then his actions demonstrate not an attempt to use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the child but the intention of imparting his own vital life force to the child.
The sneeze is the sign that the breath of life has again come into the boy. Question: What miracle of Elijah does this miracle recall? See 1 Kng compared with 2 Kng , 21 , Answer: It recalls a similar miracle performed by Elijah for his benefactress the widow from Zarephath whose son had died and was restored to life by Elijah in a similar way; both resurrection miracles took place in an Upper Room with each boy laying on the prophet's bed 1 Kng ; 2 Kng Elijah stretched out on top of the boy three times and Elisha seven times.
Three and seven are both symbolic "perfect" numbers in Scripture. Three points to something complete, important, or fulfilling in God's perfect plan while seven is a number of perfection and fulfillment especially associated with the Holy Spirit.
Question: What similar resurrection miracles will be performed by Jesus in the New Testament? Question: What do all these resurrection miracles prefigure? Answer: The resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the brotherhood of prophets were sitting with him, he said to his servant, "Put the large pot on the fire and cook some soup for the brotherhood.
On his return, he cut them up into the pot of soup they did not know what they were. This he threw into the pot, and said, "Pour out, for the company to eat! You will recall in 2 Kings that Elijah and Elisha started out from Gilgal the Gilgal to the north of Bethel and not the Gilgal near Jericho and travelled south to Bethel and then east to the Jordan River near Jericho on the journey to Elijah's assumption into heaven.
There was apparently a third community of prophets at Gilgal in addition to Bethel and Jericho and all the communities recognized first Elijah and now Elisha as their superior. The visit of Elisha is the occasion for a communal meal and perhaps a teaching. Despite the famine, Elisha is determined that they should all eat together and tells his servant Gehazi?
One of the community prophets went out to gather herbs for the soup, perhaps a young member of the community who was not familiar with the local poisonous plants. He gathered some fruit from a plant that looked promising, identified by the Septuagint as "bitter apples", also called "apples of Sodom" a vine's fruit that grows in the region with small yellow melon-type fruits that is a strong purgative and has been known to be fatal.
Other members of the community recognize the poisonous addition and call out to Elisha. Nobody answered, and nobody paid attention. But then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed.
So they did it a third time. Answer me so that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again.
But Elijah told him to go back seven times. Not all of the twelve witnessed Christ's transfiguration either. Moreover, is there not a hint here as to why this privilege had been withheld from them, in the statement that "they stood to view afar off"?
Not so Elisha, who followed his master fully. It is only those who "draw near" that enjoy the highest privileges of grace. Finally we may learn from Elisha's reticence that there are some experiences which are too sacred to describe to others. Oh for more of such holy reserve and modesty in this day of curiosity and vulgar intruding into one another's spiritual privacy. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not" 2 Kings Let it not be forgotten that up to this time only one individual from all mankind had gone to Heaven without passing through the portals of death, and it is very doubtful if the contemporaries of Enoch or those who lived later knew of his translation, for the words, "He was not found" Hebrews intimate that search was also made for him.
Elisha's being "ashamed" means that he felt if he were to continue refusing them they would likely think he was being influenced by an undue desire to occupy Elijah's place of honor. Now they must have felt ashamed. This brings us to Elisha's next miracle. First, let us consider the order of it. It was Elisha's second one, and the scriptural significance of that numeral casts light upon this point.
One expresses unity and sovereignty. One stands all alone; but where there are two, another element has come in. So in the first miracle Elisha acted alone. But here in this one Elisha is not alone. A second human element is seen in connection with it—the "men of Jericho. Probably this very fact will prove a serious difficulty to the thoughtful reader. Those who have followed closely the preceding chapters will remember how we pointed out again and again that Elisha is to be regarded as a representative character, as a figure of the servants of Christ.
Some may conclude the type fails us at this point, for it will be said, Surely you do not believe that ministers of the gospel demand something at the hands of sinners in order to be saved!
Our answer will be given under the meaning of this miracle. Let us take note of the place where this occurred: it was at Jericho. This too is very illuminating. Jericho had been the first city of the Canaanites to defy the children of Israel, for it was closed and barred against them Joshua Whereupon it was pronounced "accursed," and orders were given that Israel should not appropriate anything in it unto themselves: "And you, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed, when you take of the accursed thing" Joshua By the power of Jehovah, Jericho was overthrown, following which His people "burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein" Joshua Afterward the fearful denunciation went forth, "Cursed be the man before the LORD, that rises up and builds this city Jericho" Joshua But both of those divine prohibitions were flouted.
The first was by Achan, who "saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold" Joshua , which he coveted and stole, for which he and his family were stoned to death and their bodies destroyed by fire. The second prohibition was broken centuries later, in the reign of the apostate Ahab: "In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho" 1 Kings Thus Jericho was the city of the curse. It was the first place in Canaan where defiance of the Lord and His people was displayed.
It was there that Israel, in the person of Achan, committed their first sin in the land of promise. A fearful curse was pronounced against the man who should have the effrontery to rebuild the city. That there is an unmistakable parallel between these things and what occurred in Eden scarcely needs pointing out. But we must not anticipate.
That which is now before us is the fact that, in defiance of the divine threat, Jericho had recently been rebuilt—probably the attractiveness of its locality was the temptation to which Hiel yielded as the pleasantness of the fruit in Eve's eyes induced her to partake: Genesis , for we are told "And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray you, the situation of this city is pleasant" 2 Kings Herein God had evidenced His displeasure on that accursed rebuilding of Jericho by making its water unwholesome and the ground barren, or as the margin notes, "causing to miscarry.
The Hebrew word which is rendered "the water is naught" "ra" is a much stronger one than the English denotes. In the great majority of cases it is translated "evil" as in Genesis ; Proverbs , and "wicked" no less than thirty-one times. Its first occurrence is in "the tree of knowledge of good and evil" Genesis ! But it signifies not only evil but that which is harmful or injurious to others, being translated "the hurtful sword" Psalm Jericho then was a pleasant location, but there was no good water for its inhabitants or their flocks and herds.
This was a serious matter, a vital consideration, for the Israelites were an essentially pastoral people. Observe how often we find mention of the "wells" in their early history: Genesis ; ; , 22; ; Numbers , etc. Jericho in spite of all its ideal qualities then lacked the one thing essential. How this reminds us of another and later incident in the career of Elisha: "Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper" 2 Kings In spite of his exalted position, his wealth, his exploits, he lacked the one thing needful—health.
He was a leper and that nullified everything else. And thus it is with every man in his natural sinful condition; however favored by creation and by providence, the springs of his life are defiled. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there" 2 Kings The appropriateness of this particular means for counteracting the effects of the curse is at once apparent.
Salt is the grand purifier and preserver. It is by means of the salty vapors which the rays of the sun distill from the ocean that the atmosphere of our earth is kept healthy for its inhabitants. That is why the sea breezes act as such a tonic to the invalid and the convalescent. Salt prevents putrefaction. Hence, after the backs of prisoners were scourged, salt was rubbed into the wounds; though extremely painful, it prevented blood poisoning.
Salt is the best seasoning; how insipid and unsavory are many foods without a sprinkling of it. Salt is the emblem of divine holiness and grace, and so we read of the "covenant of salt" Numbers ; 2 Chronicles Hence also the exhortation, "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt" Colossians , the savor of true piety. The ministers of Christ are therefore denominated "the salt of the earth" Matthew Obviously the salt itself could not heal those unwholesome waters, any more than the "rods" or twigs of the trees with their "white streaks" that Jacob set before the flocks, were able to cause the cattle to bring forth young ones that were "ringstreaked, speckled and spotted" Gen.
Though the men of Jericho were required to furnish the salt, and though the prophet now cast the same into the springs, yet he made it clear this would avail nothing unless the blessing of Jehovah accompanied the same. His power must operate if anything good was to be accomplished. Thereby the prophet disclaimed any inherent power of his own. Yet he was instrumentally employed of God, for the very next verse says, "So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake"!
How very similar to Paul's experience, which he expressed, "I have planted, Apollos watered [they were the instruments]; but God gave the increase" 1 Colossians The first key to the meaning is found in the order of it. Under that point we intimated that probably some readers would find a difficulty in the men of Jericho being required to furnish the salt and be inclined to object that surely the minister of the gospel for as a figure of such Elisha is to be viewed here does not demand anything at the hand of sinners in order for them to be saved.
But such a difficulty is self-created through entertaining vague and general concepts instead of distinguishing sharply between things that differ.
When we speak of "salvation" we refer to something that is many-sided. If on the one hand we must guard most carefully against the error of man's contributing to his regeneration, on the other we must watch against swinging to the opposite extreme and denying that man is required to concur with God in connection with his reconciliation, preservation, etc.
The typical picture which is here set before us is divinely perfect; yet we need to view it closely if we are to see its details in their proper perspective. The first miracle, the smiting of the Jordan, suggests the ministerial power of the evangelist over spiritual death, in connection with salvation.
But this second miracle foreshadows a later, second experience in the history of those truly converted. This miracle at Jericho speaks of neutralizing the effects of the curse, overcoming the power of innate depravity. And here the minister of the gospel acts not alone, for in this matter there is the conjunction of both the divine and the human elements.
Thus the second key to its meaning lies in the place where it occurred. It is true that the conjunction of the divine and human elements in conversion cannot be so closely defined as to express the same in any theological formula; nevertheless the reality of those two elements can be demonstrated both from Scripture and experience.
We do not like the expression "man's cooperating with God" for that savors too much of a dividing of the honors, but man's "concurring with God" seems to be both permissible and necessary. The third key is contained in the fact that these men of Jericho are represented as taking the initiative, coming unto Elisha, acquainting him with their need, supplicating his assistance! Apparently they knew from his dress that Elisha was a prophet; and as he no doubt still carried Elijah's mantle, they hoped he would use his power on their behalf.
The servant of God ought to be readily identified by his emblematic "garments" or spiritual graces, easily accessible and approachable, one to whom members of a community will gladly turn in their troubles. Elisha did not repulse them by saying this lay outside his line of things, that his concern lay only with the young prophets. Instead he at once intimated his willingness to help. Yet something was required of them compare 2 Kings and for other illustrations of the same principle.
They were told to provide a "new cruse" with salt therein. That was a test as to whether they were willing to follow the prophet's instructions.
They promptly heeded. How different from many who disregard the directions of God's servants! This miracle then does not give us a history of the servant of God going to those who are utterly unconcerned, dead in trespasses and sins, but rather that of awakened souls, seeking help, acquainting the minister with their need.
In the first miracle it is God acting in sovereign power, enabling His servant to ministerially triumph over death; here it is His servant addressing human responsibility. In bidding awakened and inquiring sinners to provide a "new cruse and put salt therein," he is saying to them, "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit" Ezekiel and cf.
James These men of Jericho could not have procured the new cruse and the salt unless God had first placed it at their hands, and the sinner cannot bring a responsive and obedient heart to the minister until God has previously quickened him.
That this miracle is, instrumentally, attributed to the "saying of Elisha" the Hebrew term dabar is rendered "word" in 1 Kings , 8 denotes that awakened sinners are delivered from the effects of the curse as they obey the instructions of God's faithful servants. It was no superficial and temporary change that was wrought, but an effectual and permanent one.
Herein we see again the appropriateness of the salt, the emblem of incorruption, used in the covenant to express its perpetuity. Placing in a "new cruse" and then casting into "the springs of water" give figures of the new and honest heart, out of which are "the issues of life" Proverbs The nature of fallen men, even the most attractive specimens, is like unwholesome water and barren soil; it must be renewed by God before any good works can be produced.
Make the tree good and its fruit will be good. The miracle is attributed, instrumentally, not to the faith or the prayer of Elisha though there was both , but to his word. By His response God avouched His prophet and sustained his testimony in Israel.
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them" 2 Kings In seeking to give an exposition of this miracle let us observe its connection. It will be noted that our passage opens with the word "And. It evidently suggests that we should observe the relation between what we find here and that which immediately precedes.
The context records the wonders which God wrought through Elisha at the Jordan and at Jericho. Thus the truth which is here pointed to by the conjunction is plain: when the servant has been used by his Master he must expect to encounter the opposition of the enemy. There is an important if unpalatable truth illustrated here, one which the minister of Christ does well to take to heart if he would be in some measure prepared for and fortified against bitter disappointment.
After a period of blessing and success, he must expect sore trials. After he has witnessed the power of God attending his efforts he may count upon experiencing something of the rage and power of Satan; for nothing infuriates the devil so much as beholding his victims delivered from spiritual death and set free.
Elisha has been favored both at the Jordan and at Jericho, but here at Bethel he hears the hiss of the serpent and the roaring of the lion against him.
Yes, the minister of the gospel is fully aware of this principle and even often reminds his hearers of it. He knows it was the case with his Master; for after the Spirit of God had descended upon Him and the Father had testified to His pleasure in Him, He was at once led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Yet how quickly is this forgotten when he himself is called to pass through this contrasting experience. It is one thing to know this truth theoretically, and it is quite another to have a personal acquaintance with it.
The servant of Christ is informed that the smile of Heaven upon his labors will arouse the enmity of his great adversary, yet how often is he taken quite unaware when the storm of opposition bursts upon him! It ought not to be so, but so often it is. Various indeed are the ups and downs which are encountered by those who labor in the Christian vineyard.
What a striking contrast is here presented to our view! At Jericho Elisha is received with respect, the young prophets render obeisance to him, and the men of the city seek his help. Here at Bethel he is contemptuously ridiculed by the children. At Jericho, the city of the curse, he is an instrument of blessing; at Bethel, which signifies "the house of God" and where blessing might therefore be expected, he solemnly pronounces a curse upon those who mock him. The insulting of God's servant occasioned this miracle.
As Elisha was approaching Bethel, "there came forth little children out of the city and mocked him. From this analogy the conclusion will be drawn: therefore we should not be surprised nor unduly shocked at the present-day delinquency of some of our youth. But such a conclusion is entirely unwarranted. It is true there is "nothing new under the sun" and that fallen human nature has been the same in every age.
But it is not true that the tide of evil has always flowed uniformly and that each generation has witnessed more or less the same appalling conduct which now stigmatizes the young in every part of the world.
No, very far from it. When there was an ungrieved Spirit in the churches, the restraining hand of God was held upon the baser passions of mankind.
That restraint operated largely through parental control—moral training in the home, wholesome instruction and discipline in the school, and adequate punishment of young offenders by the state. But when the Spirit of God is "grieved" and "quenched" by the churches, the restraining hand of the Lord is removed, and there is a fearful moral aftermath in all sections of the community.
When the divine law is thrown out by the pulpit, there inevitably follows a breakdown of law and order in the social realm, which is what we are now witnessing all over the so-called civilized world. That was the case to a considerable extent twenty-five years ago; and as the further an object rolls down hill the swifter becomes its momentum, so the moral deterioration of our generation has proceeded apace. As the majority of parents were godless and lawless, it is not to be wondered at that we now behold such reprehensible conduct in their offspring.
Older readers can recall the time when juveniles who were guilty of theft, wanton destruction of property, and cruelty to animals were sternly rebuked and punished for their wrong doing. But a few years later such conduct began to be condoned, and "boys will be boys" was used to gloss over a multitude of sins. So, far from being shocked, many parents were pleased and regarded their erring offspring as smart, precocious, and cute. Educational authorities and psychologists insisted that children must not be suppressed and repressed but "directed.
Today the parent who acts according to Proverbs , , , and will not only be called a brute by his neighbors, but is likely to be summoned before the courts for cruelty; and instead of supporting him the magistrate will probably censure him. The present permissive treatment of children is not normal but abnormal. What is recorded in our passage occurred in the days of Israel's degeneracy! Child delinquency is one of the plain marks of a time of apostasy.
It was so then; it is so now. As with the former miracles, the place where this one happened also throws much light upon that which occasioned it.
Originally Bethel was called "the house of God" Genesis , but now it had become a habitation of the devil, one of the principal seats of Israel's idolatry.
It was here that Jeroboam had set up one of the calves. Afraid that he might not be able to retain his hold upon those who had revolted from Rehoboam, especially if they should go up to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices in the temple, he "made two calves of gold, and said unto them. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And he made an house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people which were not of the sons of Levi.
And Jeroboam ordained a feast for the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made" 1 Kings , Thus it will be seen that, far from Bethel being a place which basked in the sunshine of Jehovah's favor, it was one upon which His frown now rested.
Its inhabitants were no ordinary people, but high rebels against the Lord, openly defying Him to His face, guilty of the most fearful abominations. This it was which constituted the dark background of the scene that is here before us. This accounts for the severity of the judgment which fell upon the youngest of its inhabitants; this explains why these children conducted themselves as they did.
What occurred here was far more than the silly prank of innocent children; it was the manifestation of an inveterate hatred of the true God and His faithful servant. Israel's worship of Baal was far more heinous than the idolatry of the Canaanites, for it had the additional and awful guilt of apostasy.
And apostates are always the fiercest persecutors of those who cleave to the truth, for the very fidelity of the latter is a witness against and a condemnation of those who have forsaken it. The fearful doom which overtook those children must be considered in the light of the enormity of their offense.
Our degenerate generation has witnessed so much condoning of the greatest enormities that it may find it difficult to perceive how this punishment fitted the crime. The character of God has been so misrepresented by the pulpit, His claims so little pressed, the position occupied by His servants so imperfectly apprehended, that there must be a returning to the solemn teaching of Holy Writ if this incident is to be viewed in its proper perspective.
God had said, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" Psalm They are His messengers, His accredited representatives, His appointed ambassadors, and an insult done to them is regarded by God as an insult against Himself. Said Christ to His ministers, "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him that sent me" Matthew ; conversely, he who despises and rejects the one sent forth by Christ, despises and rejects Him.
How little is this realized today! The curse of God now rests on many a place where His ministers were mocked. Hence we may conclude that his remarkable translation had been noised abroad—received with skepticism and ridicule by the inhabitants of Bethel.
In their unbelief they would mock at it. Today apostate leaders of Christendom do not believe that the Lord Jesus actually rose again from the dead and that He ascended to Heaven in a real physical body, and they make fun of the Christian's hope of his Lord's return and of being caught up to meet Him in the air 1 Thessalonians Thus in saying, "Go up, you bald head," the children were, in all probability, scoffing at the tidings of Elijah's translation—scoffs put into their mouths by their elders.
They had heard that Elijah was "gone up to Heaven" and they insultingly bade Elisha follow him, that they might be rid of him also, and they reviled him for the baldness of his head. Thus they united the crimes of abusing him for a supposed bodily infirmity, contemptuous behavior towards a venerable person, and enmity against him as the prophet of God. The sin therefore of these children was very heinous: yet the greater guilt was chargeable on their parents, and their fate was a severe rebuke and awful warning to them.
How true it is that "the curse causeless shall not come" Proverbs Had Elisha sinned in cursing these children, divine providence would have prevented it. This was a fair warning from God of the awful judgment about to come upon Israel for their sins. 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 Isaiah knowing that one day we shall be judged by it John As Jehovah was able to look after the sacred ark without the help of any of His creatures 2 Samuel , 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 wide-reaching 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 Thessalonians
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