Day 171: Elijah and Elisha

2 Kings 2:1-12 Elijah’s mysterious ascent into Heaven by a “chariot of fire” recalls how Enoch “walked with God” and “was not, for God took him” (Gn 5:24). This ambiguous language is confirmed later in Scripture to indicate that Enoch was taken up by God (cf. Sir 44:16; 49:14; Heb 11:5). Elijah is remembered as the “father of the prophets” and held up in the New Testament as the model of a righteous man whose prayers are made “powerful and effective” (Jas 5:16-18). (CCC 2582)

Ch 2:9 There are many different kinds of charisms within the Church that can be taught and handed on to others, and communities can be formed through the inspiration of a particular charism. When Elisha asked Elijah for a “double share” of Elijah’s spirit, what he sought was the depth of devotion and the fullness of personal charism that had been bestowed upon Elijah by God himself. Later, John the Baptist would be compared to Elijah because he had the spirit and power of this great prophet. (CCC 523, 719, 2684)

Ch 2:12 Tearing one’s own clothing was a gesture of strong emotion, usually mourning or outrage (cf. 2 Sm 1:11).

2 Chronicles 25-26 Amaziah’s backsliding into idolatry and rejection of the prophet’s warnings resulted in his sound defeat and imprisonment after a poorly conceived battle with Israel. His presumptuous attempt at fighting Israel was motivated by his past military victories. 

Psalm 70 This brief psalm, prayed at Mass during Advent, expresses an anxious anticipation for the Lord’s arrival. 

Make haste to help me...do not delay!: These words are most fitting in articulating joyful expectation for the Birth of Christ. (CCC 524, 1095)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• Elisha, insults, and she-bears OH MY!!

• Remember, in the DIVIDED KINGDOM, there are PROPHETS

• Some go to the NORTH

• Some go to the SOUTH

• Let’s go backwards today

• We only have 3 more chapters in 2 Chronicles

• So in 2 Chronicles 25 we have Amaziah reigning over Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM)

• The Southern Kingdom has TWO TRIBES: Judah and Benjamin

• Amaziah did what was RIGHT IN THE EYES OF THE LORD

• BUT…

• NOT WITH A BLAMELESS HEART

• Once again, here is a person who is similar to all of us

• He does RIGHT

• Then he does WRONG

• Amaziah wants to go into battle and WIN

• He has the 300,000 mighty men of valor from Judah

• He hires 100,000 men from Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM) for 100 talents of silver

• A man of God, aka PROPHET who is not named, tells him to use the Israelite soldiers because God was not with them

• God can give Amaziah victory

• So Amaziah has faith and listens

• He even asks what he should do about the fact that he paid the Israelite soldiers

• The prophet tells him to let them keep the money

• God will give Amaziah way more in return

• That happens, but it doesn’t happen

• Amaziah took courage, led the people, struck down the men of Seir and they won

• BUT…

• Amaziah’s heart TURNS AWAY from the Lord

• Amaziah takes the gods of the people HE JUST DEFEATED to become HIS GODS

• THIS IS CRAZY!!

• What’s the story between the verses?

• Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord

• Amaziah listened to the prophet of God

• When GOD gives Amaziah victory, his heart TURNS and he begins worshipping IDOLS

• WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?

• What is it in the human heart that can do that SO QUICKLY?

• Oftentimes, when something gets exposed that quickly, then it wasn’t strong in the first place

• That’s not to say that a person can genuinely be FOR the Lord and then genuinely TURN AGAINST the Lord or vice versa

• But when it happens so QUICKLY like that in OUR LIVES, we need to INSPECT OUR OWN HEARTS

• “Ok, Lord, am I just on the outside faithful to you but deep down inside, I am broken and hollow?”

• Maybe that was Amaziah

• So then Amaziah gets a bit big for his britches (for our international brothers and sisters the idiom “big for britches” means OVERCONFIDENT, like Dallas Cowboy fans are a little too “big for their britches” 😁)

• Amaziah decides to fight against Israel (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• Joash was another king who started out pretty well and ends up not great and was King of Israel (Fr. Mike later contradicts this when he speaks about Joash King of Israel as NEVER BEING A GOOD COOKIE after they battled Judah so I am so incredibly indubitably monumentally confused..I can’t wait until this era is over 🤨)

• Israel defeats Judah in battle

• Amaziah said to Joash, “Come down so that we can see each other face to face.”

• Joash says OK FINE

• Israel thumps Judah

• Israel breaks down the Wall of Jerusalem for 400 cubits

• Israel seize all the treasures of the kings house, gold, silver, and vessels from the Temple, AND takes hostages

• Then The army Israel returns to Samaria

• Amaziah started out pretty decent

• Want to be confused some more??

• Amaziah is the SON of Joash, another King of Judah (SOUTHERN KINGDOM)

• The OTHER Joash is also a king BUT OF ISRAEL (NORTHERN KINGDOM)

• So the Joash of Judah was 7 years old and had Jehoiada as a priest advisor but then Joash turned out to be not a good cookie (like ginger snaps or oatmeal raisin is my guess 🤮)

• Amaziah ended up not being a good cookie either (for our international brothers and sisters to be a “good cookie” means being a clever person who makes good decisions so if you’re NOT a good cookie, you’re probably a Dallas Cowboys fan 🤪)

• Joash King of Israel in the NORTH was NEVER a GOOD COOKIE (SEE???? 🤔 My brain is really hurting now)

• 2 Kings Ch 2 we see a transition from Elijah to Elisha

• Jah to Sha

• Elijah was an INCREDIBLE, GREAT prophet for the Northern Kingdom

• At the end of his life, he has recruited Elisha to be with him

• They travel to Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan

• They will be going further and further to the east

• What does Elijah say?

• “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.”

• Elisha asks for a DOUBLE PORTION of his SPIRIT

• This is the recognition that Elisha realizes that he doesn’t have any of Elijah’s gifts

• Elijah is an incredible prophet

• One of the things you’ll see if you have the Great Adventure Bible is that the ELDEST SON inherited a DOUBLE SHARE of the father’s PROPERTY 

• So Elisha regards himself as the SON

• So he asks for Elijah’s spirit as an inheritance

• Elijah can’t promise that but if Elisha sees him taken up to Heaven, then it will happen

• So what happens next?

• Elijah is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot with fiery horses and his coat falls to the ground

• Elisha picks up the coat and makes his own garments

• Now, Elisha can do EXACTLY what Elijah could do

• He parted the Jordan River 

• For all the incredible things that Elijah did, Elisha can do EVEN GREATER

• Elijah raised someone from the dead

• Elisha will do that and MORE

• Elisha is not as FLASHY as Elijah

• AND YET…

• Elisha has DOUBLE the portion of Elijah

• We will see this

• So we have the prophets of Jericho who tell Elisha they should search for Elijah

• He says they don’t need to but they insisted on searching

• They come back after THREE DAYS and haven’t found nothing

• Elisha said, “Told you so.”

• Elisha performs miracles in this area where there is a lot of salt water

• This is near the Dead Sea where nothing grows

• They are in Jericho where there is undrinkable water

• Elisha performs a miracle and makes the water drinkable

• “Thus says the Lord, I have made this water wholesome…”

• The last miracle here is one that confuses SO MANY PEOPLE

• Oh JOY as if we weren’t already CONFUSED 😉

• Elisha goes from Jericho back to Bethel and gets chased by some “small boys”

• This is NOT A BAD TRANSLATION

• In this case the translation is not as accurate as it could be

• Some SMALL BOYS came out of the city and insulted his bald head

• The actual HEBREW says YOUNG MEN

• So while the translation COULD mean SMALL BOYS

• It could ALSO mean a group of YOUNG MEN aka RUFFIANS

• It’s a POSSIBLE TRANSLATION, it is not the ONLY TRANSLATION

• Remember where Elisha is

• He was in BETHEL

• When the Kingdom first divided, Jeroboam set up places of worship in BETHEL and DAN

• He set up priests from wherever to lead worship INSTEAD OF LEVITES

• So moral of this she-bear story is NOT about RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS

• This is the battle between RIGHT WORSHIP OF GOD and FALSE WORSHIP OF GOD

• A group of YOUNG MEN came out of Bethel where there is FALSE WORSHIP going on

• They could have been false worshippers themselves, or even FALSE PRIESTS

• This is about WORSHIPING GOD the way he ASKS TO BE WORSHIPPED

• In Ex 23 and Joshua 24, we saw God use HORNETS to attack idolaters in Canaan

• So here, God is using two She-bears (probably NOT Yogi and Boo-Boo 🤪)

• So whenever you’re thinking, “What did I just hear”

• Today was NOT a moralistic tale about RESPECTING YOUR ELDERS

• Or NOT pointing out when a person is bald

• STILL...

• RESPECT YOUR ELDERS AND DON’T BE RUDE

• It is a story about IDOLATRY VS TRUE WORSHIP OF GOD

• God is willing to FIGHT FOR HIS PEOPLE to be able to know what TRUE WORSHIP IS and what FALSE WORSHIP IS

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and we thank you. We thank you for the deliverance that you have given us. We thank you for delivering us from the hand of the Evil One. We thank you for all the times that you have helped us through dangers that we didn’t even know about. Thank you, Lord. No matter what our age is on this day, Day 171 of the Bible in a Year, whether we are still in our single digits in our years, or whether we are approaching triple digits in years, God, none of those days were earned by us. None of those days are things we deserve. Even this breath right now, even this heartbeat right now, we don’t deserve. They are just simply your gift. And you have brought us to this day, and you give us this breath, and you continue to allow our hearts to beat in our chests and we thank you. Please receive our thanks today in Jesus’ name. Amen.”