Dem Bones

In my morning devotions last week, I came across a section of 2 Kings that I don't remember reading before.  Granted, as I read through the Bible again, the wilderness that begins in Number and continues through Chronicles is difficult for me, but how did I miss this?

Elisha received the mantle of prophecy from Elijah when he, Elijah, was drawn by chariots of fire to be with God in heaven.  In his journeys to this point, he's already done some interesting things including calling bears from the forest to attack a group of precocious youths who had found great humor in Elisha's shiny dome of baldness.

Nearing the end of his life, Elisha is suffering from a sickness which will eventually take his life and Jehoash, the king of Israel at the time who 'did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from (sin)...' (2 Kings 13:11) comes to visit him and weep over him because, it seems, that if Elisha leaves, the nation will be overrun with Arameans.  He fears for his rule, his control and his power over the people - perhaps even losing Elisha's buffering to God's wrath.

So, on his deathbed, Elisha tells Jehoash to strike the ground with some arrows.  Jehoash strikes it three times and Elisha, even in his weakened state, becomes apoplectic with the king's own weakness.  "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it.  But now you will defeat it only three times." (2 Kings 13:19)

I read this passage and I kind of think to myself, "How was Jehoash supposed to know that he was to strike the ground multiple times.  Even the invitation to whack the ground once seems odd, but five or six?  Come on, Elisha."

But Elisha's last words are full of anger and bitterness.  He is frustrated, as I read it, that this king under his watch has continued in sin just like the last kings (except for his grandfather Joash.)  Perhaps Elisha felt that his life's work was a failure, that somehow these thick-headed kings couldn't trust and depend on God like they ought.  Perhaps he was frustrated that even in the midst of being able to see the mighty hand of God over the people, the nation kept turning back to idols because of their power-addicted kings.

The next verse after his anger is released against Jehoash?  Elisha died and was buried.  (2 Kings 13:20)

What a way to die, with bitterness and anger.

But then there is this strange story juxtaposed into the narrative.  It has nothing to do with the line of broken kings, only a convenient way to salvage the character of the Prophet Elijah and his place in the line of prophets of Israel.

Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring.  Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elijah's tomb.  When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.  (2 Kings 13:20b, 21)

If I understand this correctly, some Israelites were going to bury a dead man, I don't know why they didn't have a plot picked out already, and because of the raiders (not of the Lost Ark), they unceremoniously dumped his body in a preoccupied tomb - Elisha's - and when this dead man came into contact with the long-dead prophet's bones, he was given new life!

This makes me ask the question: if Elisha's bones could bring people back to life, why wasn't this tomb the most popular in all of Israel?  Shouldn't there have been a long line of mourners carrying their loved ones preparing to grab a femur and bring joy back to the house?

I don't know the answer to that one, but miraculous things happen when we encounter people who are driven by God in faith.  The bones of the saints seem to radiate life and hope to all the people they encounter.

What are the dark places in your life that seem to a place of death?  Who are the people in your life that seem to be dropping you off in caves of the dead?  Who are the people in your proximity that bring new life to you? 

This week, seek out the people who you appreciate and in connecting with them, thank them for their faithfulness.  Alternatively, think about the people the bring you down and drop you off alone.  How can you either talk to them about this or find ways of allowing them to find paths apart from you.  (Is that a nice way of putting it?)

Have an excellent day of finding dem bones.

In the next couple of days, I want to tell you a story about a faithful prophet from the 21st century who brought life to many people.