And the man of God sent to the king of Israel: Elisha did not support the corrupt monarchs of Israel, but he knew that it was even worse for Israel to be conquered and subjugated under Syria. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?” And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” So he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.” And it was told him, saying, “Surely he is in Dothan.”Ī. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel and he consulted with his servants, saying, “My camp will be in such and such a place.” And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.” Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him.
(8-13) The king of Syria plots the capture of Elisha. “Elisha then caused the submerged ax head to surface and instructed the pupil to retrieve the ax thus he would personally participate in the miracle.” (Patterson and Austel) B.
But this miracle worked in a familiar way – God did the part only He could do, but He left to man the part that he could do. Pick it up for yourself: Conceivably, God could have arranged a way for the ax head to appear right in the man’s hand without any effort on his part. The growth of the school of the prophets was most remarkable.” (Morgan)ĭ. “The chief value of the story lies in its revelation of the influence Elisha was exerting in the nation. Was there any connection between the stick and the iron? I can’t see any, and yet God does use means, and he would have us use means.” (Spurgeon) “God can do all things, he can make iron swim – we cannot – and yet you see the prophet did it, and he did it by the use of a stick. There was no trickery in the way that Elisha put the stick in the water it was simply an expression of his faith that God honored. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there and he made the iron float: This was an obvious and unique miracle. “The iron axe-head (Hebrew ‘iron’) had been asked for, that is, begged or prayed for, and not necessarily ‘borrowed.’” (Wiseman)Ĭ. Alas, master! For it was borrowed: The man who lost the ax head was rightly sensitive to the fact that he lost something that belonged to someone else, making the loss more acute. Iron was certainly present at this time in Israel, but it was not common enough to be cheap.ī. The iron ax head fell into the water: This was a significant loss. Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.Ī. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there and he made the iron float. But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.” So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. (4-7) The recovery of the ax head – another miracle of provision. Please consent to go with your servants: Elisha did not initiate or lead this work of building a new center for training the prophets, but it could not happen without his approval and blessing. The old facility for housing the sons of the prophets was not large enough to meet the needs of all those who wanted to be trained in ministry.ī. The place where we dwell with you is too small for us: This indicates that at this time Elisha had a significant impact on the nation. Please, let us go to the Jordan, and let every man take a beam from there, and let us make there a place where we may dwell.” So he answered, “Go.” Then one said, “Please consent to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.”Ī. (1-3) The sons of the prophets need to expand.Īnd the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See now, the place where we dwell with you is too small for us.
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