350
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
June 1928
the prophets” who (verse 7) had “ stood to view” (mar gin says “ in sight” ) “ afar off.” The language o f verses 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, would suggest that from a distance they saw what transpired, including the parting o f the Jordan on his return; in view o f which they accepted Elisha as the successor to the prophetic office. This story served to point the jests and jeers o f these rollicking, lads, as they shout in derision:— “ Let’s see you go up in like fashion, old man!” “ Come now! Get busy; old bald-head!” “ Ready? Now,— GO ! Go up !”—and the like. Does it not sound natural? Does it not sound true to life? Is it difficult to imagine the scene? T he P rophet ’ s C urse III. — But it is said that the prophet “ turned and cursed them in the name o f Jehovah.” “ This was a most repre hensible thing for a prophet to d o !” The word, however, does not necessarily mean what our word “ curse” does,— i.e., an “ imprecation,” though the event would seem to justify such an interpretation. It is literally .to “ esteem lightly,” to “ disparage,” to “ depreciate.” Then to “ revile,” to “ vilify,” equivalent to our “ to call names.” Shimei thus “ cursed,” “ reviled” David (2 Sam. 16:5-13)— threw stones, called him names,—heaped vile epithets upon him. “ The Prophet,” as he now was, officially, in the name of Jehovah, “ scored them roundly” ; and He whose prophet he was, interposed to justify his resentment o f the insults to— “ a man o f God.” IV . — “And there came forth two she-bears out o f the wood, and tare forty and two o f the lads.” Here again the extreme sense o f “ tare” is imported to justify their “ abhorrence o f such an exhibition o f vindictive cruelty.” The word means to “ rend,” to “ lacerate.” It does not mean to “ tear in pieces,” much less to “ kill.” The dis tinction is made quite clear in 1 Kings 13:24 and 26, though there the word for “ torn” is much stronger. It is significant that (as if in anticipation o f this very objec tion) the Spirit was careful not to use any o f several familiar words which do mean “ to slay,” “ to kill,” “ to tear in pieces.” There is nothing in the record to warrant the popular impression that these forty-two lads were “ torn to pieces,” were “ slain,” Some o f them may have been, but the record does not warrant our saying so. Incidentally I see no reason for drawing upon our imaginations, and sup posing as an explanation o f the attack o f these “ she- bears,” that these same mischievous youths had been teas ing or threatening their cubs. They were the direct agents o f Jehovah’s retributive judgment, even as was the lion that slew “ the man o f God from Judah” for disobedience, as recorded in 1 Kings 13:24, 26. W as P un ishm en t T oo S evere ? V . — But “ the punishment was too severe; entirely out o f proportion to the offense.” Was it ? Consider who and what Elisha was, and the recognition by the schools of the prophets of the exceptional circumstances attending his succession to the prophetic office. To fling gibes at a plain lawyer on the streets o f a New England village is one thing. To show similiar disrespect to the same, man when he has been elevated to the high and honorable position o f President o f the United States, is another, an offense o f which notice is quickly taken. I f one insults or offers indignity to an ambassador o f the United States to a foreign court, the Government loses no time in demanding apology and reparation; or in send ing its warships post-haste to threaten that “ if satisfaction is not forthcoming within 24 hours, their guns will open
fire upon the city,” entailing destruction o f property and o f life. If the United States is so jealous of its dignity, and the protection o f its official representatives, shall the Lord o f heaven and earth do less? N ay ,-^ ‘He suf fered no man to do them wrong. Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (Ps. 105:14, 15). In a sense they were holy (i.e., sacred) personages, even as the vessels of the sanctuary were holy,—^not in themselves intrinsically, but by virtue o f their consecra tion, their being set apart from other men to the special service o f Jehovah. T o offer any indignity to them, there fore, was sacrilege; and sacrilege in this case was lese majeste. These young rowdies must therefore be made an example of, that all might know once for all that Jehovah’s prophets must be treated with respect,—were not to be trifled with. Similar “ exemplary” punishment was meted out to Miriam, the sister o f Moses and A aron -S (Num. 1 2 ); to Jeroboam (1 Kings 1 3 :4 ); to the two captains o f fifties sent by Ahaziah to arrest Elijah (2 Kings 1:9-13). This story is not without its practical lesson for the present day. It is a lesson o f caution against trifling or irreverence in the most sacred things^-with the “ name, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, or works” o f the Ma jesty o f heaven, or “ anything whereby He maketh Himself known.” There is all too much laxity in this matter. This is an age of irreverence. W e should not have to wait long to hear upon our own streets, in public places, close paral lels to the taunts and jeers o f these hoodlums o f Jericho. BE CAREFUL ! (Psa. 2:10-12). The Gold Coast Bible Collectors H AV E you ever received one of those queer letters from South Africa, pleading for a Bible? Many of us have and have complied by sending the Bibles, but we have wondered why we should begin to receive a string o f requests o f the same kind. The Pathfinder has been doing a little investigating and prints the following warn ing: If some native boy in a mission school on the Gold Coast of West Africa writes to you pleading for a Bible it would be well to hesitate before obliging him. It seems that these school boys have developed a craze for Bible collecting, just as some people have a mania for collecting stamps, only the boys have no idea o f pay ing for them. They are just trying to see who can get the most. This curious practice was learned when a man in New York received such a letter begging for a Bible. He for warded the black boy’s request to the American Bible Society, which make a business of filling demands for Bibles all about the world, whether they are to be paid for or not. The Society has an agreement with the British and Foreign Bible Society by which neither will enter the field o f the other. It had learned about the singular col lecting craze from its sister society and so had been filing without reply a constant flow of begging letters from West Africa reaching it directly or otherwise. “ It has become a perfect mania,” wrote the British Society, “ and is bringing some degree of discredit on the schools. The missionaries, therefore, have begged friends on no account to acknowledge the letters. Do not send them Bibles or it will make the boys worse.”
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