Good Morning! Bears and Mocking Kids - 2Ki 2:22-25

So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spoke. And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 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 tore forty and two children of them. And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria (2Ki 2:22-25).

Elisha is making the rounds on foot, going from place to place just like Elijah had done. He’s a busy man.

When I read this passage as a young man, perhaps as a teenager, the words “little children” jumped out at me along with the “she bears.” I could only imagine how two she bears could get to 42 “children.” Some of them must have struggled with the bears trying to help their companions only to be drawn into the rage of these bears. That’s only conjecture. I can’t imagine how two bears got 42 of these fellows. It’s for sure they didn’t scatter and run in 42 different directions.

Several years later I learned that these were not little children as we think of it. As with many things in the Bible, there’s more to it than meets the casual eye and this is one of those times. I read several commentaries about the story and there is strong agreement among them that these mockers were not small children as we thing of them. I have chosen the commentary below by J.Vernon McGee to tell the most with the fewest words. I hope you will be blessed by this brief study….and have a good day!(DC).

"Little children" is naar or nahar in Hebrew. It is used of Isaac when he was twenty-eight, of Joseph when he was thirty-nine, also for the Sodomites who attacked the home of Lot. You will find it used in other places in Scripture, and it does not refer to little children as we think of them. For example, 1Ki_12:8 says, "But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him."

This verse is speaking about the time Rehoboam forsook the wisdom of the older men, the wise men, and consulted with the younger men who had grown up with him. The word translated "young men" is the same word translated "little children" in 2Ki_2:23. I am sure no one believes that Rehoboam was consulting with little juniors, or that he went to nursery school and talked things over with the little ones. They were young men.

When Samuel came to anoint as king one of the sons of Jesse, you will remember that his sons were grown. As they passed by Samuel one by one, he said to Jesse, "Are these all thy children?" Well, the word children is the same word used in 2Ki_2:23. It is used to describe Jesse's grown sons. The youngest son, David, was not even there. The hoodlums who were taunting Elisha were young men, not little children. You will find this word used in many places in Scripture, and in every other place it is translated "young men." This was a crowd of young fellows.

They were students of the false prophets. They were a gang that mocked and ridiculed Elisha. They said, "Go up, thou bald head." What did they mean by that? They were telling him to do the same thing Elijah had done. They were saying, "Why don't you take off like Elijah did?" They were ridiculing the truth in Scripture that God will take a people out of this world.

This is the same attitude, Peter says, that will appear on the earth again in the last days. This incident in 2 Kings is given to us to let us know that God intends to judge those who ridicule the second coming of Christ. 2Pe_3:3-4 says, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."

During the last days on earth there will be those who will ridicule believers about the coming of Christ. They will say something like, "Well, what is the matter? You haven't gone up yet. You are still hanging around. I thought you were going to leave us." This is the type of thing scoffers will say to believers. Many are already saying, "Where is the sign of His coming?" For this reason we ought to be careful today in the way that we teach the second coming of Christ. We should not go out on a limb. We should not become fanatics on the subject. We should handle it with care, even in a manner in which the Word of God handles it. So 2 Kings is just a little picture of the judgment that will come upon those who will ridicule Christ's return to earth. It is a fearful judgment (McGee-Abbreviated).

Memory Verse This Week:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Heb 11:6) (Read about Enoch in verse 5.)

Write the verse on a 3x5 card and say the verse five times a day, reference before and after the verse. Write the verse several times a day on a card or paper carried in your pocket for that purpose. Say the verse to a friend or family member once a day. After this week, repeat the verse daily for several weeks until it pours out without effort. It takes about 60 days to thoroughly memorize a verse. It takes a lifetime to obey and practice a verse.

Dan Carr