Text
Introduction: This story comes out to
the ministry of Elisha, out of a time when God’s people were facing a crisis
and needed the assurance of God’s presence and power.
********
Dickens described the period of the French Revolution as “the best of
times” and “the worst of times.”
What kept Isreal during the ninth century before the birth of Christ from
experiencing the worst of times were the efforts of Elijah, his successor
Elisha, and a number of unnamed individuals who yearned to see the nation
return to faithfulness to God.
Elijah had done much to bring revival to the nation before he was
miraculously taken up to heaven. But the
work was not finished.
The wicked King Ahab was dead but the real power behind the throne, the
person whose very name is a synonym for a wicked and conniving woman, Queen
Jezebel, was still influencing the nation in its rebellion against the God who
had rescued Isreal from slavery in Egypt
It would fall to Elisha to consolidate the gains Elijah made in the war
for truth and decency. Like Samuel, some
two centuries before him, Elisha invested himself in the lives of those who
wanted to learn the law and call others to the live for God.
You see, powerful as Jezebel’s influence was, she had not persuaded
everyone to join her in devotion to Baal, the god she had brought from her
homeland when she married Ahab.
The battle against her and her evangelists for Baalism was long and
hard. Once, during his ministry Elijah
experienced a period of depression and despair in which he complained to God
that he alone had remained faithful to God.
In a dramatic vision God informed Elijah that there were some 7000 people
who had not “bowed their knees to Baal.”
Elisha was among these faithful individuals, so was the band of
individuals who are featured in this story.
For more than two centuries those who commited themselves to the pursuit
of this spiritual revival were known as “sons of the prophets.” They were called “sons” in the sense that
they were attempting to model their lives after the peophets. We might describe them as disciples.
At one time it was popular to describe “the company of the prophets” as a
kind of seminary. In fact, the founders
of both seminaries I attended described the institutions as schools of the
prophets. It’s probably misleading to
think of this a a school in any formal sense.
And it’s not even clear if these sons of the prophets thought of
themselves as prophets in training. But
they were sympathetic to the cause of bringing of the nation back to God and
may have played a role in helping people recall their spiritual heritage and
understand what it meant to live under God’s covenant.
This story gives us the chance to meet one of these young men as he faced
a somewhoat unusual crisis.
It All Begins with a Problem
It all begins with a problem. But
it is a good problem. The number of
those who were willing to align themselves with Elisha, who longed to live for
God in the midst of a spiritually corrupt culture, who wanted to make an impact
for God, was growing. The dormitory was
too small.
The company didn’t always live in a single commune but apparently many did
during this period of Isreal’s history.
The crowding was so severe that a larger dwelling was needed.
In this day before tuition hikes, tax increases, or tax-deductable
donations, there was one solution to their problem: they would have to build the new dormitory
themselves. Fortunately, the region
around the Jordan
So the sons of the prophets approached Elisha with a proposal. They would
go to the Jordan
Although the prophet was willing to let them go on their own, at their
encouragement, he agreed to accompany them.
Beware of Flying Axe Heads
Soon after arriving at the river, the sound of clanging axes and falling
trees filled the air. They probably
hadn’t been working long when the crisis occured.
We’re not told the exact details but while one of the men was working the
head of his axe disloged from its handle and landed in the river. Maybe it happened so quickly he hardly knew
what had happened. Maybe it was one of
those occasions when time seems to slow down.
I can imagine that in the middle of a swing he feels the ax head come
loose. Then, I can imagine him watching
as it arcs through the air toward the river.
Imagine him, as the ax head flies past some of his coworkers, saying to
himself, “No, no, don’t hit anyone.”
Then imagine him saying, “Hit a tree and bounce back.” Then, “Please, land on the river bank.” Then, “Land in the mud not the water.” But, despite his protests, the axe head
disappears into the muddy waters of the Jordan
Addressing Elisha, who had apparently seen the drama, the young man cried
out, “Alas, my lord, it was borrowed!”
Actually, that translation is a little weak. The words he used were actually closer to “It
was begged!” We might say, “You have no
idea what I went through in order to borrow that thing.” Whoever he borrowed it from may have been
reluctant to let it go in the first place, so he dreaded having to tell him
what happened.
I have a few tools but I’m not that attached to them. Ask if you can borrow some of my tools and
I’ll say, “Sure.” Of couse as you look through my toolbox you’ll
be tempted to say, “Is this all you have?”
My screwdrivers don’t have matching handles and they aren’t made of fine
German steel—more like fine Chinese steel.
But I know people who have an altogether different attitude toward tools. I once knew a man whose every tool was in
pristine condition and he could tell you where and when he bought every tool in
his shop. I was told he couldn’t always
remember his children’s birthdays but he could tell you when a wrench had come
into his life. If I ever had to borrow a
tool from him I did so with great trepidation.
Maybe, the young son of the prophets had borrowed the axe from a man like that. Or, maybe the young man’s distress had
another souce.
Although this was toward the end of Isreal’s early iron age, such
implements were still rare and expensive.
Chances are he didn’t have the financial recources to pay for another
axe head, even if one could be quickly and easily found. This was a costly loss.
Elisha to the Rescue
Elisha, you’ll remember, hadn’t planned to come on this trip. He could have stayed back at the old
dormitory to reflect and rest. He could
have said, “I need to spend some time in prayer.” But, instead, he agreed to go. Remember, Elisha had chosen to invest himself
in the lives of these men, just as Elijah had invested himself in Elisha’s
life. Now, he knew why he was there. Now, he had an opportunity to teach something
to the watching band of amateur woodcutters who had stopped working to see what
would happen.
I can picture the prophet with his hand on the distressed young man’s
shoulder asking him calmly, “Where did it fall?” After the young man pointed out the place
Elisha cut a small stick off one of the trees.
Then he tossed the stick into the water at the point where the axe head
had disappeared.
Suddenly, as the stick floated on the surface of the water, the iron axe
head bobbed to the surface.
In an almost anti-climactic moment, Elisha said to the son of the
prophets, “You can pick it up now.” The
young man did just that and I’m sure Elisha didn’t have to tell him to make
sure the axe head was properly attached this time.
Before I move on I need to say a couple of things about miracles in
general and this miracle in particular.
Some critics claim they can’t believe the Bible because it is so full of
miracles. The truth is, miracles occur
relativly rarely in Biblical history.
When they do occur they seem to be clustered around significant moments
in the history of Isreal, moments of revelation and challenge. Most of the miracles are clustered around the
work of Moses and Joshua, around the ministries of prophets like Elijah and
Elisha, and particularly around the ministries of Jesus and the apostles. In each of these periods in history God was
trying to capture the attention of his people.
Having said that, I know this miracle may leave some people shaking their
heads. To begin with some people are
concerned about its character. Iron
floating. Really now. I’ve even read a few writers who’ve said
something like this, “I can believe in the resurrection of Jesus but not
this.” Frankly, I find that
incredible. They’re saying they can
believe a man brutally killed by Roman executioners can live again but can’t
believe that the God who made the universe could somehow cause a lump of iron
to float.
Yes, I know it’s difficult to believe but maybe you’re taking the wrong
approach. Usually we think of miracles
as violating the laws of nature. Some
miracles certainly seem to do just that, yet some miracles may simply involve
God invoking laws we haven’t discovered yet.
Did you ever perform this experiment when you were in school?
You take a glass water and place a piece of tissue on top of the water,
then very carefully place a needle on the top of the tissue. If you do it properly, the tissue will sink
and that steel needle will float. Usually, a steel needle would sink but you’ve
brought other forces to bear. Who’s to
say God couldn’t do the same from time to time.
At the same time, some who read this story are puzzled by Elisha throwing
a stick into the water before the axe head reappeared. They’ve suggested the story smacks of magic
which the Bible condemns. Frankly, I don’t know why Elisha chose to
perform this miracle in precisely this way.
One explanation, which may be the best, suggests he was underscoring the
dramatic aspect of the miracle. By tossing
in the stick he was reminding onlookers that while it is the nature of wood to
float, iron must be acted on by some outside power if it is to float.
That’s not a bad explanation, especially if we remember that one of the
goals of Elisha’s ministry seems to have been to convince people that God’s
power was still available on their behalf.
Little Problem or Big? A Matter of
Perspective
This is an unusual story. It
challenges how we think about the way
the world works. We’re tempted to ask
why such a story should be included in the Bible.
Some have said that this story is included to remind us that God cares for
us even when we are troubled by a small problem.
Now, let me make something clear. I
believe God is concerned about those small problems which we face. I also
believe the “size” of a problem is often a matter of perspective. Stand at one vantage point and a problem
seems small, stand at another vantage point and a problem seems much larger.
That’s true of this story. Stand at
one vantage point and it’s the story of a lost axe head, stand at another
vantage point and you may see things a little differently.
Sometimes
what initially appears to be a minor matter turns out to be a bigger deal than
we imagined.
And, of
course, there are no “big” problems for God.
Losing that
ax head could have cast doubt on the young man’s integrity. He had promised to take good care of it, to
return it safely. If he reported it lost
it would seem his word was worth nothing.
Never mind that the argument could be made that its owner should have
kept it in better repair, that he should have checked the handle before he
loaned it out, in the minds of those hearing the story this young man’s
integrity would have been compromised.
His influence as a leader would have inevitably been threatened.
Sometimes
we discover our reputations are at risk through no fault of our own. Our power to be a positive influence is
compromised even though we haven’t done anything to cause the problem. We need God’s help to deal with the
situation.
Losing that
ax head could have limited his freedom to align his life with God’s will. He couldn’t simply run down to the nearest
True Value to pick up a new ax. Chances
are he would have had to stop following Elisha and begin to work to repay the
owner of that ax head. He had made
himself available to God to learn his law and teach others about his will and
his mighty works, but that was threatened by a simple accident.
Seeking to
align your life to God’s will is not without challenges but through it all I
believe God will make a way. Years ago I
read the story of a struggling seminary student. Like many of his fellow-students he had a
part time job but he was laid-off. What
might have seemed like a small amount of debt to us was threatening his ability
to stay where God wanted him to be.
He prayed
about the matter and trusted God to do something to help him and his
family. One day while browsing through a
used book store, not planning on buying anything, he saw a box of old books
marked a dollar each. One of them was a
ragged old commentary. Given his financial
situation he would normally have passed it by but somehow he felt he should buy
it.
He took it
home and began to examine it more closely.
He discovered the book was nearly two-hundred years old but there still
seemed to be nothing special about it.
In fact, it was filled with the scribbled notes of a previous
owner. He began to look for the owners
name and found it on one of the front pages.
At first he thought it was a mistake, and then he showed the book to one
of his professors. The professor
contacted a specialist who examined the book.
The
specialist confirmed that the worn old book had belonged to John Wesley and
that the notes were his. The commentary
sold at auction for $75,000 and the young seminarian’s money worries were over.
Losing that axe head could have threatened his peace of mind. We can already see that beginning
to happen. We can hear the distress in
his voice as he cried out to Elisha. If
the axe head had not been recovered we can only imagine what would have happened
to this young man.
In a similar situation you can imagine yourself saying, “I’m not even
competent enough to take care of an axe head, how can I do the work God wants
me to do?” That kind of anxiety can
permeate our lives. The little problem
becomes the defining problem of our personalities.
Elisha’s act was an act of compassion to remind the youmg man that God
cares.
When Paul wrote to the Philippians he urged them to pray. He said, “Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) The
language Paul uses suggests that our prayers may be very specific. We may mention every little thing whch
troubles us because if it troubles us, it is no longer behaving like a little
thing.
CONCLUSION
What kept this period of Isreal’s history from being the worst of
times? The presence and power of God displayed
in the lives of those who yearned to be faithful to him.
God still wants to display his presence and power in the lives of those
who desire to be faithful to him.
Chances are you will one day deal with a little problem which threatens to
become a big problem.
There is a lesson we shouldn’t miss here.
Do you remember what Elisha did after Elijah passed the prophetic mantle to
him? He went back to the Jordan where the
sons of the prophets were waiting for him. He struck the the waters with the cloak and the
water parted so he could walk across.
The man who lost the axe head may have seen that miracle or heard others speak
of it. When Elisha asked him were the axe
head had entered the water, he may have thought something like this, “Elisha is
going to part the waters and I can walk out on dry ground to find the axe head.”
Instead, the axe head floated. Who would have imagined that!
Chances are you will never see iron float.
But you may very well see God deal with your problem in a way you never
expected.
Almighty God,
one day we may face a problem,
that will cause us to cry out,
“Alas, Lord….”
When that takes place
give us the wisdom to trust you
to act in ways which we
may never have expected
and trust you to get us back to whatever work
we need to do for you, for our families, for others--
confident of your power and care.
We ask this in Jesus’ Name.
Amen
