ELISHA'S MINISTRY - THE MIRACULOUS FLOATING AXE HEAD 2 Kings 6:1-7
SERIES – MESSAGES ON ELISHA – HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY Number 17
2Kings 6:1 Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. 2Kings 6:2 Please let us go to the Jordan, and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live,” so he said, “Go.”
This story may have happened on Elisha’s return in his circuit, and it happened one day that the sons of the prophets told Elisha that they needed more room. “Too limited for us” is the way the NASB records it, and it means their numbers had grown either through more being added to the number of prophets, or the married ones having children. Anyway, they had need for more room. In verse 1, the expression is “the place before you” and in the NIV it takes a more interpretative view “the place where we meet with you”. This verse gives a more exact picture of Elisha’s relation to these groups of prophets. From the other parts of the history we can gather that he made visits to the several settlements from time to time, and when he arrived, and while he remained, the members were about him as scholars around a teacher. They sat before him as it is said in 2 Kings 4 v 38.
It was the desire of this group of prophets to leave their current position and build and settle near the Jordan, but they asked permission of Elisha to do that, though I do think that was not necessary. Taking a beam, meant to work with timber. Josephus indicates the move would have been about 9 km away from where they were, possibly at Gilgal. They wanted to be near the Jordan. The Jordan Valley area, even today, is rich in trees; and found in the Valley area and on the mountainous slopes, are the Aleppo pine, Mediterranean cypress and Phoenician juniper. The mountainous regions in the northwest are clothed in natural forests of pine, deciduous oak, evergreen oak, pistachio and wild olive. Acacias are very common, and also Tamarix, Artemisia. (Josephus - willows, poplars, and tamarisks).
Matthew Henry made an observation – “There is that pleasantness in the conversation of servants of God, which can make those who listen to them forget the pain and the weariness of labour. Even the sons of the prophets must not be unwilling to labour. Let no man think an honest employment is a burden or a disgrace. Any labour of the head, is as hard, and very often harder, than labour with the hands.”
2Kings 6 v 3 Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants,” and he answered, “I shall go,” 2Kings 6:4 so he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees,
This was a random, personal invitation for Elisha to join with the sons of the prophets in the task ahead of them. Because of the events that were about to unfold, then it was actually the Lord who went before, and all this was of God. The Lord moves through men and their thoughts so that certain aspects are in place for times ahead where He can show the outworking of His will. Thus it was necessary for Elisha to be there, and accordingly, He prompted one of the men to invite Elisha.
We have very little idea of the unfolding of God’s will. It is like a whole map network being worked out, being worked out street by street, intersection by intersection, and we can’t see the completed whole at the time, but we are just small parts in it. When it is all finished, the whole picture is an integrated whole to the glory of God. What I like about verse 4 is that when they arrived at the Jordan, they began the work straight away. They were not time wasters.
There is one more truth that needs to be stated here. It can be said that there is an (academic or intellectual), and a practical side to Christianity. In my experience in Christian circles for 60 years, I have seen both. I think it is sad when they are broken into two categories. I suppose if I can generalise, then I have seen the most practical people in any Christian work or support, to be those you may not class as academics. There are Christian scholars who move on an intellectual plane and don’t seem to relate to the practical needs of fellow Christians. The worst of all are those who think themselves intellectual, and they can argue about anything, and all the rest, but you don’t see them at working bees or in practical service to needy Christians. One of the greatest dangers in Christianity is for a man or a woman to think themselves above others in knowledge and biblical application, but you don’t see them ministering or assisting other Christians in their needs. The moment a person thinks he is clever in his own eyes, then he is of no use to God whatever. Elisha was not one of those. He was willing to join in the work of tree felling and building, because there was a need.
(The East India Company and Governor of Bombay, President of the Royal Geographic Society) “On one occasion the wife of General Sir Henry Bartle Frere drove to a railway station to meet her husband. She told the footman to go and find his master. The servant, who had been engaged in Sir Bartle's absence, asked how he should know the General. "Oh," replied Lady Frere, "look for a tall gentleman helping somebody." The description was sufficient. The servant went, and found the General helping an old lady out of a railway carriage. How well it is for men and women themselves, as well as for the world they bless, when they are known by God to be persons who are always trying to help somebody!
2Kings 6 v 5 but as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water, and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.” 2Kings 6:6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” and when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float, 2Kings 6:7 and he said, “Take it up for yourself,” so he put out his hand and took it.
Now we come to the reason for the story being recorded. It is the record of the miracle that was performed by Elisha. How many miracles were performed by Elijah that are recorded in the bible? Well, there were (check). How many are recorded for Elisha? (check). Elisha did many more recorded miracles than Elijah (the double portion of Elijah’s spirit), and scholars like to think Elijah is a greater prophet. By the way, who was the greatest prophet in the bible? Just think about it. Don’t call out. I don’t think I should embarrass anyone by asking you to indicate your answer. I wonder if anyone was thinking Moses? Who would be thinking Elijah? Or even Elisha? What about Isaiah? Or maybe, the one who is perhaps my dearest Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah? Okay, well the answer has to be the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is Prophet, Priest and King. He fulfills all the Old Testament offices and positions.
Considering Elijah and Elisha a bit further, we might consider what Paul said to the Hebrews about these prophets in the great chapter on the Hall of Faith. These verses cover it –
Hebrews 11 v 32 “What more shall I say, for time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, Heb 11:33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, OBTAINED PROMISES (Promised son for the Shunamite woman), shut the mouths of lions, Heb 11:34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword (Elijah and Elisha), from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, PUT FOREIGN ARMIES TO FLIGHT. (an act of Elisha) Heb 11:35 WOMEN RECEIVED BACK THEIR DEAD BY RESURRECTION (Elisha and Elijah) and others were tortured (Literally means “were broken on the wheel” such as Eleazer the Scribe, and of the Seven Brothers), not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection, Heb 11:36 AND OTHERS EXPERIENCED MOCKINGS (Elisha) and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. Heb 11:37 They were stoned (Zechariah in Chronicles and by tradition, Jeremiah), they were sawn in two (Isaiah), they were tempted (all of them. Temptation is fierce for God’s faithful ones), they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute (so many), afflicted (so many), ill-treated (probably all) Heb 11:38 (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves (Elijah, Obadiah) and holes in the ground.”
Well in those verses I can’t find too much for Elijah, but it seems there are more references that could be applied to Elisha. Is this strange? No. Remember a very important thing. Right back at the beginning Elisha received a double portion - 2Kings 2 v 9 Now it came about when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you,” and Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
There was one man who was felling a tree that must have been hanging over the water so they were right at the river. When I was a boy we used to have a slow combustion stove, one that also had a tank on the side of it to heat water. I loved going to get wood and used to go up the hill we were on with the man next door, carrying logs back on our shoulders. I used an axe quite frequently. It was always an accomplishment to fit a new handle to an axe head and drive that handle into the head as far as you could. At the head end of the handle there was a cut right up the middle of the wood, and when the handle was fastened as good as you could get it, you’d cut off the overhanging piece of handle flush to the head, then you would hammer in two or three wedges into that cut in the handle that expanded the wood to really lock it in. Well occasionally, that handle could work loose or the wedges fell out. In Elisha’s day they possibly fastened the handle to the head in a different way. In any case, as the man was cutting, horror or horrors, the head came away and fell into the river.
That caused the man to cry out, not for the loss of the axe head, but because the axe was not his. Because of the poverty he endured, he would not be able to procure another one. It is bad enough when something belonging to you is damaged or lost, but when it belongs to someone else, that is different, especially when the person was good enough to lend it to you. I don’t know if that has happened to you but it is not a good feeling. Some people, you know, try to repair the damage, or disguise it, hoping it won’t be noticed and give the item back. That is not too honest. “ALAS!” the man cried out. How was he going to face the owner?
It would not be a problem for some Moslems. They simply say, “It was the will of Allah.” That absolves them from a lot of responsibility. The Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 is believed to be the deadliest tsunami in history, killing more than 230,000 people across 14 countries. The aid response was unprecedented for a natural disaster, with a colossal $6.25bn donated to a central UN relief fund assisting 14 countries. The series of tsunamis on 26 December not only killed more than 230,000 people but left more than 2 million people homeless. Indonesia was hardest hit, followed by Sri Lanka and Thailand. That is why in the Aceh earthquake and tsunami in Moslem Indonesia, the western world donated the most and the rich Islamic oil countries gave next to nothing. You see, it was the will of Allah!
Well one thing I am certain of here, it was God’s will that this axe head fell off, because through it, He was going to show His power, and the glory would be unto Him. This links beautifully with en episode John recorded in his Gospel - John 9 v 1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth, John 9:2 and His disciples asked Him saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” John 9:3 Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. John 9:4 We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day. Night is coming when no man can work. John 9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Indeed, God’s mighty works were displayed, through the axe head and the man born blind, and through Elisha. He worked as long as it was day, meaning, while the opportunity and time were given to him by God, then he was about God’s business. That is what the Lord did, according to John.
I want to come back to this man again. He did not dive into the water to look for it. He did not get a long stick to poke around the bottom. He did not sit down in remorse to try to develop some plan. What did he do? “Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.” When an item is borrowed and damaged, you feel greater responsibility than if it was yours alone. Letting Elisha know was actually letting God know. God knows for He already knew, in any case. He knows the end from the beginning. The tadpole in difficulty, thrashes around in the shallows, while close to it there is a deeper crevice it overlooks. Christians can thrash about in difficulties, in spite of the fact, that close to them is the Rock of Ages. God must be our first resort, not the last. The man who lost the axe head knew that. Elisha was to intervene, and in doing so, he was implementing the will of God.
2Kings 6 v 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” and when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float, 2Kings 6:7 and he said, “Take it up for yourself,” so he put out his hand and took it.
O, yes! Can’t you hear the mockers? Many are the critics who would laugh at this story. These mockers talk about a stretch of the imagination. Yet, at the same time, they tenaciously hold to their delusion that the entire universe was once something the size of a grain of sand, and for some reason it exploded. And how did that grain of sand get there in the first place? Well, “It made itself!” they say. These are the very same ignorant people who would mock Elisha. (Don’t forget about God’s two she-bears!) Believe me, it is God who laughs at them. Listen to these verses from Psalm 2 - Psalm 2 v 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed: Psa 2:3 “Let us tear their fetters apart, and cast away their cords from us!” Psa 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.
The solution was totally unexpected. Elisha was led to use a stick for the recovery. Naaman had to dip in the water to cure his leprosy. Oil was supplied by constant pouring of a tiny amount at first, for the widow. Poisonous stew was converted by adding meal for the sons of the prophets. We could say that the means was not important because God was the Creator, and just His spoken word brought a universe into existence. Elisha wanted to know the precise place where the axe head had fallen. We need to be specific when approaching God or praying. Casting our bread upon the water is . . . . but be specific in need.
The axe head floated, but the man needed to stretch out his arm and hand to bring it into his possession. The Hebrew means Elisha made the axe head float (swim = KJV). I think God often supplies the solution but we have a part too. Stretch out our hand and take up the provision. The man who stood before Jesus with the withered hand would never have had healing, unless he stretched out his hand in response to the Lord’s command. The staff Moses had thrown on the ground became a serpent but he had to stretch out his hand in faith to take the serpent’s tail for it to become a staff again. There are times we need to take the serpent’s tail. It is faith that does that. Faith must rest in God for the solution to happen.
In closing, what can we learn from this story? I would say the following.
1. Any man of God, like Nehemiah, is not above his fellows. We have a spiritual and a practical ministry. Get alongside your fellow believers.
2. Be willing to listen to the problems of others and draw alongside to help the genuine. Try to discern those who would waste your time.
3. Live by faith. Stretch out your hand to take up what God has promised and what God has given. May the Lord bless you all.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
