God’s Judgment, Presence, and Unshakable Kingdom | 2Kings 1–2
Well, good morning. It’s good to see all of you here this morning. It’s good to see your smiling faces. There’s no better place to be this morning, let me assure you — except if Jamie’s preaching. Yeah.
An Introduction: A Reluctant Convert
Clive — “Jack,” as his friends called him — Lewis was born in 1898 into an upper-middle-class family in Belfast, Ireland. His childhood was shaped by family and academia. His home was filled with books, and from an early age, writing and reading were central to Clive’s life. But at age nine, tragedy struck: his mother contracted cancer and died. The result was that his family, which had once been close, became divided into grieving sects. His father could not overcome his grief; his father turned to atheism and sent his two sons away to a regimented boarding school, where Clive’s every effort was deemed unsatisfactory.
This resulted in Clive, as a young man, also turning to atheism. He turned to the occult, to sorcery — a belief that there was, indeed, no meaning in life. Clive fell into deep despair, dark depression. He pursued meaning in philosophy and literature, with which he was very talented and gifted. He gained a degree and became a professor at prestigious Oxford University. But the purpose of life continued to elude him.
In 1931, at the age of thirty-two, Clive Staples Lewis came to a turning point. Through the faithful testimony and friendship of a couple of close friends, Clive repented of his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We know him as C.S. Lewis. He became one of the most influential Christian writers in modern history. C.S. Lewis would go on to write such Christian standards as Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Screwtape Letters. He would go on to influence millions of men and women around the world, and his writing and his influence are still affecting us today.
C.S. Lewis repented of his sins in recognition of what they were. He gave his life to the Lord, and — as he referred to himself, a “reluctant Christian” — the Lord was with him from that day on and guided him. And the Lord used C.S. Lewis to build His church and His kingdom.
Where We Are
Here at Piqua Baptist — for those of you who are regulars here; but if you’re a visitor — we preach what’s called expository preaching, which means we take a book of the Bible and go through it verse by verse, a little bit at a time. There are many advantages to this. One of those is that it doesn’t allow us, as pastors, to cherry-pick. It gives us a view of all of Scripture. And there are many other benefits.
Today, where we find ourselves is in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings, chapters 1 and 2. Before we read those, I’d like to give you a little background of where we are. The time is 842 BC. This is 120 years before the Assyrians would conquer the northern kingdom of Israel, and 250 years before the Babylonians would conquer the southern kingdom of Judah. During this time, the Greek poet Homer had just finished penning the Iliad and the Odyssey, which we’re familiar with because of the recent movie. Homer had just recently penned those, and they were poems.
Wicked King Ahab, as we learned last week, had just passed, and his son Ahaziah took his place on the throne. Elijah’s ministry — the prophet to the northern nation of Israel — was nearing its end. History tells us he was in his early fifties. But there was a young man he was mentoring, and his name was Elisha. We’re familiar with him. He was about fifteen years younger than Elijah. Elijah’s protégé, Elisha, who was thirty-five at the time, is set to be the next prominent prophet.
Knowing God
That’s where we are. Our objective this morning is not any different from the objective we have every Sunday morning, or every time we open up the pages of Scripture. And that is — I pray that in these few short moments, God would be so kind as to show us a little more of His character. This is man’s greatest endeavor. It’s man’s greatest need. All other priorities fall under the pursuit of knowing God.
Did you know that God wants to be known? I’ve mentioned this in Sunday school so many times, you guys are probably tired of hearing it, but it bears repeating. If you want to go know our governor — good luck. There’ll be all kinds of red tape, and that’s if you get to see him. If you want to get to know our president, probably not going to happen. Infinitely higher than this is Almighty God, and with all His power and authority and sovereignty and unsearchable characteristics that are good, He stoops and says, “I want to be known by you.”
The greatest proof of this is what you’re holding in your laps. Every verse of Scripture, if it’s cleaned and mined, will show you a little more about the character of God. Exodus 3:14 says, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.'” Now, I know there are some great theological things that can be brought out of that, but I’m a simple guy. And what I hear God saying, when Moses says, “I don’t even know Your name,” is God saying, “I am. Tell them, ‘I am.'” He wants them to know Him.
Jeremiah 29:13–14. We’re familiar with Jeremiah — the verse right before this, where it says, “I know the plans I have for you.” But the most important verses in here are these, and they speak to God’s desire for us to know Him: “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”
Have you ever noticed that when you’re looking at Scripture, when He says things about Himself, it always starts out with two words? Almost always — not every time, but almost always — it says “He is.” One example is from Psalm 90:2: He is from everlasting to everlasting. If you go on through Scripture, it always starts out with “He is faithful. He is gracious.” You get the sense there that God is subtly saying, “I am, and I am available to you.”
Jesus, of course, is the final proof that the Lord wants His creation to know Him. In Hebrews 1:3, it says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” John 1 — we’re familiar with this — says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And a little bit farther down in that chapter: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” One of the reasons Jesus came was to reveal the Lord to us.
I would offer to you this morning that to know God is to love God. Now, I know what Romans 1 says — I think it’s verse 21 — that they knew God but they didn’t follow Him. If you look at the Greek, that “knew” there in Romans 1 means an acquaintance. It’s shallow. What I’m talking about comes from John 1, where it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” — and that “know,” in the Greek, means to know in depth, to know Him intimately. And of course, that is available to us.
All other priorities fall under knowing God. When we know God, repentance isn’t far behind. When we know God, we have opportunity at salvation. When we know God, sanctification. When we know God, life has meaning. When we know God, we have a hope for heaven. Every time we open Scripture — and this morning — the driving purpose is to see and know God.
It is my prayer this morning that God would be so kind as to use this broken, imperfect vessel to show you three aspects of God that I hope will encourage you and grow your affection for Him. Let’s pray.
Father, I do not have what Your people need. I do not have the words. But Father, You know them, and You know what they need. You know what they are burdened with. You know their hindrances. You know their joys and their sorrows. Speak now to them, O God. I pray, speak to them. Show them who You are in this passage, please, Lord, that their affections for You would grow, and out of an overflow of that affection, they would love their neighbor. I ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.
As you turn to 2 Kings chapter 1 — 2 Kings chapters 1 and 2 will be our passage this morning. We learned last Sunday, Jamie’s main point was this: Our gracious God warns us of sin, so heed these warnings and flee to Christ for mercy. 2 Kings chapter 1 piggybacks right off that. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens — we’re going to read in chapter 1 when God’s warnings are ignored and His plan of salvation is rejected.
Brothers and sisters, it’s going to get dark. We’re going to talk about something that is going to make us all uncomfortable. But hang with me — the joy is coming. The main idea this morning is that through Christ, the judgment for our sins has been paid. Therefore, we are free to enjoy His presence forever.
I. God Is Good, Therefore He Judges Sin (2 Kings 1)
The first point here is: God is good. As we look at 2 Kings chapter 1, what I’d like to bring out of this is: God is good, therefore He judges sin. If you’ll read with me, we’re going to read eighteen verses of 2 Kings chapter 1.
After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus says the Lord, You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.'” So Elijah went.
The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but shall surely die.'” He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, “O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.'” But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!'” But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but shall surely die.'”
So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
So Ahaziah takes over for his father Ahab. And if you were here last week, or the weeks previously when we looked at the end of 1 Kings — Ahab was not a man you would want to emulate. So Ahaziah takes over the throne for his father, and he immediately falls into the same sin. He’s evil. He’s worshiping Baal. I know Jamie said it’s “Bahl,” but I am a hillbilly, as he said — so I say “Bay-al.”
Ahaziah falls through the lattice. In those days, they typically had flat roofs, and there was lattice around the tops of them — sort of a railing around the tops of their dwellings. King Ahaziah falls through, and he’s severely injured, to the point where he’s bedridden. So, being the wicked man that he is, he sends out men to go to Ekron to seek counsel with this false god. Elijah intercepts these men by the guidance of God and pronounces judgment. When they come back and tell Ahaziah, instead of repenting, Ahaziah doubles down, and he sends out the SEALs to arrest Elijah.
And we know what happens there. In eighteen verses — short eighteen verses — we see idolatry, we see pride, we see disobedience and disrespect. King Ahaziah knew what had happened on Mount Carmel — he was twelve years old when that great confrontation on Mount Carmel occurred, where God brought down fire and consumed the altar. Ahaziah was well aware of this. Ahaziah, by my account, was given four chances in this chapter alone to repent. Plus, he fell through the roof, which might have been a sign, maybe. And he’s seen fire come down from heaven — not once, not twice, but three times, if you count what happened on Mount Carmel. And instead of seeking the Lord and repenting, as King Hezekiah would do a century later, he seeks to consult the idol of neighboring Ekron, Baal.
It’s interesting to note that Ahaziah’s messengers going to Ekron would have to go straight through Jerusalem — that was the main thoroughfare on the way to Ekron. Ahaziah was an obstinate, evil man who refused to repent even when given every opportunity. So the Lord’s judgment fell upon him, and it says he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. The Lord is good, so He judges sin.
The Elephant in the Room
But we would be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to look at the elephant in the room here. What is this about? Why did the Lord strike down 102 innocent men — all they did was call down fire? We’ve read this, and often we wonder what’s going on here. Yes, they were disrespectful to the man of God — but really, fire from heaven? Doesn’t that seem a bit extreme when we read it?
The difficult answer, brothers and sisters, is that there’s no innocent man. Every man who has ever walked this earth is guilty. Not just the New Testament, but the Old Testament backs this up — both declare that there is none righteous. I said this would be uncomfortable, and it is uncomfortable. God would be just. He would be right. He was right in striking down these 102 men. They were guilty before Almighty God, and God would be just and right to strike us down.
It is convicting that our first response when we read this is to think God is unjust in this — instead of thinking, “Is God just in this?” It seems He’s being unjust, and when we think of that, we also think that these men were innocent. This is what Scripture declares concerning God: “I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19). Psalm 9:7–8 says, “The Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.” We also read in Isaiah: “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.”
When we read about God striking men down with fire, the question is not “How is He just in doing this?” The proper question is: Why has He not done this to all? It is difficult for our postmodern ears to hear that God judges sin. It’s not something we’re comfortable with, but it’s something we should be comfortable with. God is righteous. He is holy. Sin is not a slip-up. Sin is not a little mistake, or something to be winked at or downplayed or made excuses for.
Charles Spurgeon said this about sin. He said, “Sin is a deliberate treason against the majesty of Almighty God, an assault upon His crown, an injustice offered to His throne.” Spurgeon goes on to say, “Sin murdered Christ. Sin pierced the heart of incarnate God.” Does that sound small? Does that sound insignificant? Does that sound like something that needs to be swept under the rug? R.C. Sproul said, “The slightest transgression is an act of cosmic treason.” There’s no such thing as a little white lie. There’s no such thing. A little white lie is cosmic treason.
You really want to know how heinous sin is? Read the last few chapters of the Gospels. Read Isaiah 53. Take an afternoon and study the effects of crucifixion. Almighty God, as Creator, has the authority to judge sin. Almighty God, as the eternal King, has the authority to judge sin. And He does. If God does not judge sin, He’s not just. If God does not judge sin, He’s not righteous. If God does not judge sin, He’s not good. If God does not judge sin, He’s not trustworthy. If God does not judge sin, He’s not loving. If God does not judge sin, He’s not God.
With great love comes great anger at injustice. One commentator says this: “Anger is not the opposite of love. Hate is” — and the final form of hate is indifference. God’s wrath is not a cranky explosion, but His settled opposition to the cancer that is eating the insides of the human race that He created and sent His Son to die for. Is it loving for a parent to condone or overlook poor behavior in their children? Is that loving? And if they do that, what are the results? They’re not positive. Just as a good father corrects and administers discipline for wrong actions out of love, so Almighty God judges the sinful actions of men. And no matter how much we might balk, no matter how much we might not like to hear it, no matter how much it makes us uncomfortable — God’s judgment of sin is evidence of His goodness.
The greatest proof of the heinousness and the results of sin is not the death of Ahaziah. It’s the death of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin” — why? — “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Isaiah 53 backs this up. I’ve often said that if you want to look at the Bible in one verse, Isaiah 53:6 might be the place to look. Isaiah writes this, prompted by the Holy Spirit, looking forward to Christ: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” He goes on further, a little bit farther down in chapter 53: “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.” That’s Christ on the cross. It was the will of God to crush His Son. Does that sound like sin is insignificant? Does that sound like something small that we should ignore or justify? He goes on to say, “He has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt…”
The first characteristic of God that we see this morning is that God is good, therefore He judges sin. God is good; therefore, He judges sin.
II. The Lord Is Near to Those Who Love Him (2 Kings 2:1–14)
The second characteristic we see is in the second chapter of 2 Kings. Take a deep breath — the joy is coming, and it’s coming right here in these next two points. 2 Kings 2:1–14 shows us this characteristic: the Lord is near to those who love Him. Let’s look at 2 Kings chapter 2, the first fourteen verses.
Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood some distance away, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.
We see a refreshing shift here from 2 Kings 1 to 2 Kings 2. In the last chapter, the idol Baal-zebub was mentioned four times. We see men determined to go their own way. We see men rejecting God. And we see the end as judgment and death. With the turn of the page to the second chapter of 2 Kings, we see something quite contrasting. We see two godly men, Elijah and Elisha. In these few verses, we see “the Lord” mentioned ten times — Yahweh, which means eternal, self-existent. When you see “the Lord” there ten times, that’s what it’s referring to: the eternal, self-existent One. In 2 Kings chapter 1, where we see Baal-zebub — what that name means is “lord of the flies” — the god of Ahab, Jezebel, and Ahaziah. Ahaziah is choosing a lord of the flies over the God who is eternal and self-existent, like Elijah and Elisha.
This section is focusing on the Lord. And our point here is: the Lord is near — consistently near — to those who love Him. From the moment the Lord called Elijah back in 1 Kings, he was strengthened and equipped for every endeavor. He was given the words for every situation. From the moment he was called, he was provided sustenance by the Lord in the midst of drought — by, of all things, birds and widows. Through him, Elijah, the Lord ministered miracles and historic victories. The Lord had given him power over even the weather, and an ability to outrun horses. He had given him a loyal friend in Elisha, who would succeed him and carry on the work of calling God’s people to repentance.
But most importantly, the Lord’s presence never left Elijah. In the most desperate moments — full of fear, hidden in a cave in the wilderness — we remember this: God was present with Elijah. He was near him. He spoke to him. He comforted him. Is there a better gift than this? The presence of the Lord. Is there a better way to navigate life, the hills and valleys of life, and to walk in obedience and fellowship with Almighty God? I say not.
Elijah knew what Joshua had been instructed and had lived out, where the Lord said to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” The answer to doubt and worry and fear is the presence of the Lord, and focusing upon that. For those who know God, for those who love God, for those who serve God, this is an ironclad, unbreakable, life-giving, hope-sustaining, strength-giving, faith-building, love-engendering, courage-invigorating promise — not from man, but from Almighty God. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. Almighty God is promising that. And Scripture is full of men who knew this — Hebrews 11 lists them out.
He will not leave you in sickness. He will not leave you in loss. He will not leave you in mourning, nor in struggle, nor in poverty. He will not leave you in your youth, and He will not leave you in your old age, and He especially will not leave you in death. Is it any wonder that Elisha said, three or four times there, “I will not leave you”? It’s as if God is recording this in 2 Kings chapter 2, saying, “I will not leave you. My presence is assured.”
And as it goes on to say here in 2 Kings 2: “And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, ‘My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw him no more.” The Lord is near to those who love Him.
All men who follow God know this to be true. Abraham knew it while he dwelt in tents. Sarah knew it in her old age. Moses relied upon it as he faced Pharaoh. David trusted in the presence of God in the cave of Adullam. Jeremiah clung to it in the midst of weeping. Paul proclaimed it as he was being poured out as a drink offering. John had the presence of the Lord on the isle of Patmos. Corrie ten Boom was sustained by it through Auschwitz [CORRECTION:Ravensbrück]. Richard Wurmbrand was empowered by it while being tortured in a communist prison. Glenda Moss felt it while she was bedridden. Tina Flora was comforted by it at the loss of her mom. Angie Gay knows it as she struggles with health issues. The Lord is near to those who hear and yield to His call. His presence is constant, and it is life-giving.
The greatest proof of God’s nearness, of course, is Christ. Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 both say this, the Old and the New Testament: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” — which means “God with us.” He’s with you, Matt. He’s with you, Steve. He’s with you, Todd.
In chapter 1, we see a man die — broken, prideful, and alone. In chapter 2, we see a man pass to eternity in the joyful presence of God. What a contrast. Even in death — maybe most importantly, in death — the Lord’s presence was with Elijah, and His presence will be with you. There is no greater gift.
If you’re here this morning and you don’t know this presence of the Lord, and you have heard about God’s judgment of sin — it’s not by accident that you’re here. You’re here by divine appointment. And that appointment is to see your sin for what it is, and to cry out, as all men down through the ages have, to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of your sins; to repent, to not downplay your sins or forget about them or put them in a closet, but to bring them before the Lord and claim Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that you might enjoy the presence of the Lord, not only for this life, but for all eternity.
Matthew 28:20 says, “And behold, I am with you for a short period of time, for a few years, just when you need me.” Always. “I am.” “Behold, I am with you always.” Stephen, Alyssa — always. Always. The Lord is with you even to the end of the age.
The second characteristic that we see — the beauty of God — is that the Lord is near to those who love Him. We didn’t even scratch the surface of what that means, that He’s near us — the fact that when the Lord is near us, we can be strong, we can overcome sin, we can have hope, all kinds of things with the Lord being near us. Actually, the Lord being in us.
III. God Values and Maintains His Kingdom (2 Kings 2:15–25)
Now we turn to the last section, the last characteristic that we see of God. And that section says that God values and maintains His kingdom. 2 Kings 2:15–25.
Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, Do not go?”
Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
Elijah — yeah. …don’t make fun of your dad’s bald head.
Elijah, the man of God, was gone. The prophets came out to greet Elisha. They even bowed down to him. They acknowledged him. But if you read closely, you see there’s some worry here, some consternation. While still kneeling, what did they say? “We’ve got fifty strong men here — let’s go find Elijah.” And they had seen Elijah taken up in this chariot, and yet they went and looked for him, even when Elisha said, “Don’t go.” For three days they looked for him.
The loss of Elijah was monumental, to be sure. The nation would feel it. The young prophets would feel it. The kingdom of God here on earth would feel it. It was appropriate to feel that loss, to miss the man of God. What would they do without Elijah? But God is faithful to maintain His kingdom.
Verses 19–25 not only spoke to the prophets of that time, in their consternation and concern about what was going to happen without their pastor-prophet — verses 19–25 are God saying, “I’ve got this.” You get the sense that the miracles here, in part, are God’s way of saying, “Calm down. I will build My kingdom. I have not left you alone. I will send, and continue to send.” It was God’s way of reminding the apprehensive prophets, “I’ve got this. I will protect. I will maintain and build My kingdom.” God confirms Elisha. He cleansed the contaminated water supply. He called down the thunder on some unruly teenagers. Elijah was gone, but God would continue to build, protect, and bless His kingdom.
Psalm 145:13 says, “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.” In the last ten years — actually less than that, from 2017 until the present — R.C. Sproul has passed, Billy Graham has passed, Tim Keller has passed, John MacArthur has passed, Voddie Baucham has passed, Kay Arthur has passed, James Dobson has passed. And guess what? John Piper’s 80, D.A. Carson’s 79, Sinclair Ferguson’s 78, Wayne Grudem is 78, and Alistair Begg is 74.
God, in His goodness, has used men and women down through the ages — through the Old Testament, the New Testament, right into today’s time — to do mighty things to build His kingdom. But those men and women have passed. They’ve passed on to their reward. And those men and women will continue to pass. From Luther to Knox, from Knox to Edwards, from Edwards to Wesley, from Wesley to Spurgeon, from Spurgeon to Bonhoeffer, from Bonhoeffer to Piper — God has been faithful in maintaining His kingdom.
The greatest testament, of course, of God caring for and maintaining His kingdom is Christ. In Luke 17:21, Jesus declared, “Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” And in Matthew 16:18, Jesus also says — “I will,” not “I might,” not “I will occasionally” — He says, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The third characteristic is: God values and will maintain His kingdom. We don’t need to worry. I was at a church recently where the pastor there is getting older, but I looked out, and there were probably seven or eight young men in their late twenties. You could see they were pursuing the Lord. They loved the Lord. And you could see that the Lord was going to maintain that church. We have the same thing here, with Jay Herod and Nathan Day. The Lord has placed a calling upon their lives. When Jamie’s gone, this church — God’s going to take care of it. And we see that with Elisha.
Conclusion
2 Kings 1 and 2 show us that God is good; therefore, He judges sin. That He gives His unwavering presence to those who know and love Him. And that He values and will maintain His kingdom. Through Christ, the judgment of our sins has been paid, so we are free to enjoy His presence and kingdom forever.
We pray. Father, You are so good. One of the great things about eternity, Father, is that we will be able to delve into Your character forever and ever. We have not even scratched the surface of the greatness and the goodness of Your character. I pray this morning, Lord, Father, that we would be able to see this — that our love for You would grow, and again, that out of a love for You, out of an overflow of that, we would love our neighbor and seek to draw near You. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
Our benediction this morning comes from Numbers chapter 6. We’re familiar with this benediction, and what a benediction means: it’s a blessing as you go. This is the high priestly blessing, and I pray this over you this morning:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
And I pray that you would go in that peace.