2 Kings 2:23-25 ESV

23 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!” 24 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. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

23 Mula roo'y pumunta siya sa Bethel; at samantalang siya'y nasa daan, may mga kabataan na dumating mula sa bayan, na sinasabi, “Humayo ka, ikaw na kalbo! Humayo ka, ikaw na kalbo!”24 Nang siya'y lumingon at makita sila, kanyang sinumpa sila sa pangalan ng PANGINOON. May lumabas na dalawang osong babae mula sa gubat at nilapa ang apatnapu't dalawang kabataan sa kanila. 25 Mula roo'y pumunta siya sa Bundok ng Carmel, at pagkatapos ay bumalik siya sa Samaria.

A DIVINE JUDGEMENT

After Elisha healed the waters of Jericho, he met young boys who were mocking and deriding him. It was a clear manifestation of their great disrespect to the man of God. There must be a cause why they have had such behavior. In 1 Kings 12:25-13:34, Bethel is portrayed as the focal city of apostasy. Could it be that they had adopted the culture of the city of treating the prophets badly? Likely, they did.

The behavior of kids are influenced by both nature and nurture. Foolishness are bound their hearts. [Prov 22:15] And in a decadent culture, their foolishness could be enhanced or re-enforced. Children are like mirrors. They reflect their surroundings. That is why, parental discipline is very necessary. As Prov 22:6 says;
“ Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Interestingly, the NIV had quoted them as ‘youths’, which makes sense. That is, they were not innocent looking young boys making fun of a bald man. The problem was in their hearts not in their mouths. This wickedness was not developed overnight. Sarcastically, they were shouting, “Go up, bald headed.” In a way, they were taunting and insulting him to repeat Elijah’s translation. They were mocking more than his physical appearance but his sacred anointing as a prophet.

Elisha ‘s response was even more intriguing. There was no equivocating. He cursed them in the name of the Lord. That is, he invoked God to deal with them as God saw fit. God had moved two she-bears to maul to death 42 youths, which was a horrible scene. The seriousness of this judgment does tell us about the seriousness of their crime. Surely, it was a warning to all who would scorn the prophet of God. This narrative is not an account of God mauling young children for making fun of a skin head man. Rather, it is a record of an insulting demonstration against God’s prophet by blameworthy youths.

Let’s be watchful to our hearts always.[Prov 4:23] Kids should be discipline even in their formative years. They are who they are because of the nurture they get, besides nature. A disrespect to the man of God is a disrespect to God, and could result to a great punishment from Him.


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