The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Kings 13:21,
"Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet."
Here is a fascinating and bizarre account if there ever was one. Elisha had died and his body laid in a tomb. When another dead man's body was thrown into the same tomb, due to an emergency, the man came to life when his body touched Elisha's bones!
Beyond the telling of a startling reality of what happened, why is this account here in the Scriptures? What is it the Lord wants to communicate to us through it? What does this passage tell us about the Lord?
Elisha was a prophet of the Lord. He is referred to as "the man of God" many times in 2 Kings. Accounts are provided us that demonstrate he was imbued by God with the miraculous, and demonstrated on a number of occasions his identity with the Lord, a "oneness" that expressed itself in events that transcended the laws of physics the Lord designed his creation to function within. He spoke on the Lord's behalf and foretold many things that came to pass.
As such, we recognize Elisha as a holy man, a man identified with the Lord himself. When it comes to the account of this dead man coming back to life when his dead body touched the late Elisha's bones, some observations can be made.
The first is that God is life. He has life within him and he brings things to life. Out of shear nothing, our Creator God brings forth that which is live, "…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." Romans 4:17.
A second is that God gives life, "…he [God] himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else." Acts 17:25.
A third is the clear allusion to the resurrection that is ours because of our own touch of the Son of God, our embrace of him in faith. When we touch God, when we embrace him in faith, we become eternally alive.
A forth is that clearly, what can appear to be dead can have life once again - another allusion to the resurrection of the dead. What was once dead, what appeared to be dead, is now alive!
God the Father is pleased to have his Son, Jesus Christ give life, "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it." John 5:21.
What comes to your mind when you read this account?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
"Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet."
Here is a fascinating and bizarre account if there ever was one. Elisha had died and his body laid in a tomb. When another dead man's body was thrown into the same tomb, due to an emergency, the man came to life when his body touched Elisha's bones!
Beyond the telling of a startling reality of what happened, why is this account here in the Scriptures? What is it the Lord wants to communicate to us through it? What does this passage tell us about the Lord?
Elisha was a prophet of the Lord. He is referred to as "the man of God" many times in 2 Kings. Accounts are provided us that demonstrate he was imbued by God with the miraculous, and demonstrated on a number of occasions his identity with the Lord, a "oneness" that expressed itself in events that transcended the laws of physics the Lord designed his creation to function within. He spoke on the Lord's behalf and foretold many things that came to pass.
As such, we recognize Elisha as a holy man, a man identified with the Lord himself. When it comes to the account of this dead man coming back to life when his dead body touched the late Elisha's bones, some observations can be made.
The first is that God is life. He has life within him and he brings things to life. Out of shear nothing, our Creator God brings forth that which is live, "…the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not." Romans 4:17.
A second is that God gives life, "…he [God] himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else." Acts 17:25.
A third is the clear allusion to the resurrection that is ours because of our own touch of the Son of God, our embrace of him in faith. When we touch God, when we embrace him in faith, we become eternally alive.
A forth is that clearly, what can appear to be dead can have life once again - another allusion to the resurrection of the dead. What was once dead, what appeared to be dead, is now alive!
God the Father is pleased to have his Son, Jesus Christ give life, "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it." John 5:21.
What comes to your mind when you read this account?
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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