Atheists love to embarrass Christians with a snide reference to the story of Elisha setting two bears upon some helpless children. What nobody, even Christians, seem to get is the “Covenant significance” of all the players in the story, harking back to Moses. The prophets were, after all, God’s “repo men.” [1]

[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]

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or What’s the Problem with Matthew 27:51-53?

Then, behold,
(Day 1 – Imperative / Light)
…..the veil of the temple
…..was torn in two
…..from top to bottom;
…..(Day 2 – Delegation / Waters)
……….and the Land quaked,
……….and the rocks were split,
……….(Day 3 – Law-Promise given)
……………and the graves were opened;
……………(Day 4 – Law-Promise opened)
……….and many bodies of the saints
……….who had fallen asleep were raised;
……….(Day 5 – Swarms / Witnesses)
…..and coming out of the graves
…..after His resurrection,
…..(Day 6 – Mediators)
they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
(Day 7 – Bridal Entry)

I’ve just read a few blog posts and comments concerning this text, and although it seems to us moderns to be

a) off-the-cuff,

b) strange, and to some academics

c), utterly incredible,

this is because the academics I was reading

a) are unfamiliar with literary structure and typology,

b) imagine a some discontinuity between the strange Old Testament prophets and Jesus, and

c) won’t believe the bizarre bits of the Bible unless they find them

i) corroborated elsewhere in the Bible,

ii) corroborated in Josephus, etc., or

iii) can discredit them by classifying them as a genre (such as apocalyptic, which is not a biblical genre) that renders them non-historical and thus non-embarrassing.

This

is

disgusting.

I’m not sure what the problem is with this event. Resurrection is always corporate, always plural. [1] Christ, the first “grain of wheat,” handed the baton on to His disciples and they did the same — as grains of Pentecostal wheat. The Garden “died” for the Land and the Land “died” for the World.

Their deaths resulted in what Revelation calls the “first” resurrection — all the Old Covenant saints entering into their rest, seated on thrones and judging (taking vengeance) on the leaders of Israel. That’s what Revelation’s about.

So the stuff that happens at the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ-as-Israel was a microcosm of the events that would happen to Israel herself over the following generation — “this generation.”

Judas was expelled, so Judah was expelled. The rocks were split and the veil was torn, so the Land was divided by the Gospel and the Temple was destroyed. And the small-scale resurrection in Matthew 27 prefigured the ascension of the “saints under the altar,” who had to wait until the final legal (i.e. “two”) witnesses testified against the Herodian Sodom/Egypt/Jericho/Babylon.

What do the preceding verses say? Which prophet prefigured the Ascension? [2] Which prophet prefigured the Resurrection? Jesus’ murderers, though they misheard Him, and though they themselves were “whited tombs,” knew the Scriptures.

The rest said, (Initiation)
…..“Let Him alone; (Delegation)
……….let us see if Elijah (Ascension)
………..will come to save Him.” (Offering)
……………And Jesus (Purification)
……….cried out again (Deut. Transformation)
…..with a loud voice, (Vindication / Oath)
and yielded up His spirit. (Ingathering)
(Matthew 27:49-50)

Then Elisha died, (De-Creation / Sabbath)
…..and they buried him. (Prostration / Passover)
……….And the [raiding] bands
……….from Moab invaded the land
……….in the spring of the year. (Firstfruits)
……………So it was, as they were burying a man,
……………that suddenly they spied a band [of raiders;]
……………(Testing – Pentecost)
……….and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha;
……….(Trumpets / Prophets)
…..and when the man was let down
…..and touched the bones of Elisha, (Atonement / Coverings)
he revived and stood on his feet. (Tabernacles / Succession)
(2 Kings 13:20-21)

____________________________________
[1] See Greater Eve.
[2] See The Lost Ark.

or Sinai Unspoken

On Mount Carmel, Elijah had built an altar of 12 rough-hewn stones. They substituted for the tribes of Israel. They were built and then consumed. The priests of Baal were slain and “washed” in the brook as atonement. The Land was clean. But we know Jezebel trampled this sacrifice underfoot. [1]

Elijah headed for the wilderness. He was a man with a mission. He went to the same cave in which Moses stood, a cleft in the rock. Once again, the Lord “passed over.” He was making a new Covenant, a new Creation, a new Heavens and a new Land.

1 Kings 19 follows the heptamerous Feasts pattern. Jezebel’s threat is the false “word,” a black Sabbath that sets things going. The Passover/Exodus is Elijah’s journey and sleep under the tree. The Firstfruits “ascension” is the command to eat. It is Day 3. In the Tabernacle it corresponds to the Bronze Altar, so the bread has been baked on “coals of fire.” It is the wilderness, so there is water instead of wine. This is also the step where dreams usually occur in pairs (as two witnesses), so the angel comes to Elijah twice with the message.

Pentecost: Elijah’s “Numbers” follows, forty days and nights. The Lord speaks to him in the cave (read, symbolically, grave). Following the pattern of Sinai (and Revelation) the Lord opens the seven seals of the Covenant document. In the Tabernacle, this is the seven lights of the Lampstand. It is a new government: sun, moon and five moving stars (the planets visible to the naked eye). But here, the stars are falling.

Day 1 – Light/Word/Sabbath Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.”

Day 2 – Firmament/Holy Space/Passover: And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind;

Day 3 – Land/Mediatorial Head/Firstfruits: and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;

Day 4 – Lights/Holy Fire/Pentecost: and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire;

The Creation pattern often appears also as “de-Creation.” We see this in the de-construction of the visionary Temple in the early chapters of Ezekiel. Here, the Lord was de-Creating the old Covenant. Day 5 is about resurrection, clouds of smoke, multitudes flying and swimming in the spaces created. It about a triumphant rise from the grave to witness as Trumpets. What do we have instead?

No Day 5 – and after the fire the sound of silence. [3]

What does this mean? Michael Comins writes:

Qol dmamah daqah, the “still, small voice.” To my mind, this translation from the King James Bible is still among the better, English versions. Modern translations, however, render qol as a physical sound rather than a metaphorical voice, such as “a tiny whispering sound,” “the sound of a light whisper”  or the JPS’ profoundly unpoetic “a soft murmuring sound.” Simon and Garfunkel notwithstanding, critical scholarship does not entertain the “sound of silence.”

Nevertheless, I prefer to follow Rashi and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s literal rendering of qol dmamah, “a voice of silence.” Precedent for such a reading can be found in the book of Genesis, where God says to Cain, “the voice of your brother’s blood calls out to me” (Gen. 4:10). Here qol is a silent voice rather than an audible sound. And that, I believe, is precisely what Elijah hears: a voice without sound. [2]

Based on the structure of events, I want to challenge the common interpretation. It was not the voice of the Spirit, speaking to the prophet in some poetic Victorian hush. It was the silence of the grave. The decayed Covenant had been un-spoken. This was un-Sinai. Standing in the gap between the Lord and Ahab, Elijah was both Moses and un-Moses. [3]

Israel’s hypocrisy silenced her witness. Hers were the words of a silent witness, a corpse. The Spirit fire consumed the Adam-flesh/house instead of filling it with Eve-lights. Liturgically, Ahab’s kingdom was already no more.

The larger pattern resumes with an actual voice questioning Elijah. The witness of step 5 is Elijah’s testimony as martyr, wrapped in the robe of office, a new firmament, rising from the cave/grave. The multitudes are those who seek his life. It is an ironic and substitutionary Trumpets. [4]

“So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.”

He pictures Moses returning from Sinai, the High Priest returning from the Most Holy, and of course Christ rising from the grave as the head of a New Covenant, ready to seal, gather and avenge the saints. Atonement. The ascension goat is the 7000 who have not bowed to Baal. [5] The rest would be exiled to Azal.

Booths: God gives Elijah instructions that will bring about the Day of the Lord, speaking these de-Creating words into history as prophet. It would not be rivers of Eden flowing from this mountain but rivers of blood. The judgment proceeds from here in the desolate “Garden”, to the Land and then to the Gentile World. And then this final point, as usual, concerns Covenant succession. The Lord directs Elijah to appoint his successor, Elisha. [6]

God is surprisingly predictable. And predictably surprising.

________________________________________________________________________________
[1] See No More Sacrifice for Sins.
[2] Michael Comins, Elijah and the “Still Small Voice,” A Desert Reading.
[3] According to Jordan, God was disowning the kings and making a kind of interim Covenant with the prophets, which is why we see Elijah parting waters and establishing a school for prophets. The kings were still “covered” but indirectly through the prophets.
[4] Note that in Adam’s testing, this is exactly the point at which he failed to witness to Eve “Deuteronomically,” repeating the Law he had heard “from the mountain.” It is also the point at which Abel’s blood speaks in Genesis 4. In Ezekiel’s big stucture, this is the step where God promises to reassemble both Israel and Judah as one new body from dry bones. See Haman Hamstrung.
[5] See Seven Thousand Who Have Not Bowed to Baal 1, 2 and 3. Note that I have above modified the chart in 1 slightly.
[6] Note that the sword of Jehu corresponds to the sword of the cherubim at the garden gate. In the big picture of the Restoration, the swords wouldn’t be sheathed until they were basically beaten into plowshares in Zechariah. See comments on Zechariah in Fragrance of Christ.

________________________________________________________
[1] See No More Sacrifice for Sins.

Communion in the liturgy corresponds to Atonement. The saints carry the creation before the throne of God as mediators (Tabernacles). Then, after the doxology, we ride out into the world as “chariots” carrying the decree from the emperor (notice this pattern in Revelation 18-19).

So, if we follow the biblical pattern for liturgy, we are re-enacting every week what Christ accomplished in the AD30-70 “wilderness to Canaan” period. This is exactly where Israel failed in the book of Judges. It was a Levitical failure. God raised up judges to preserve His people from total destruction, but it began with the priesthood losing the plot as mediators, a failure of both judgment (manward and worship (Godward).

A pinch of bread and a thimble of cordial while breast-beating in silence is a Levitical failure. Communion is a celebration. The time for breast-beating is the confession at the beginning of the service. You wash before you come to the table.

: ( Confession - Christ crucified – Passover – Red Sea (we are “passed over”) Judgment

: ) Communion - boasting in Christ crucified – Atonement – Jordan (we “pass through”) Worship

At Communion, the “stigmata” of Christ are rewritten in us as living epistles, tablets of flesh, an invitation to Tabernacles. The pattern is renewed in the mediators, and we ride into the world with a renewed Covenant in a new week, as the Word to the world.

Well, that’s the plan. In the west, we seem to be at the mercy of the Philistines. This liturgical pattern often has children at this last step as the horses and chariots. It concerns the next generation. (Elisha’s bears appear at this step to deal with the “children” of Jezebel!) After Communion, we are the renewed children of the Table, offspring of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Here is a comment I posted on another blog. The blog accuses God (and the Bible) of cruelty as a basis to reject the Scriptures:

And he [Elisha] went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. 2 Kings 2:23-24

Hello Steve

Interesting site. Though with all due respect, you unbelievers are like 2D creatures trying to make sense of a 3D object as it passes through your world. The Bible, like Jesus’ parables, was written to be wrestled with. If you believe, the Spirit will guide you to make sense of it. If you don’t, it will confuse you. It is a sword that divides the sheep from the goats.

There is a lot more going in this passage than is immediately apparent. Those who are offended by the events it records seem to ignore the context. This is not a game of totem tennis. It’s part of a cricket test match.

Firstly, it takes place within the Covenant. Israel was a nation of priests mediating before God for the rest of humanity. Depending on their obedience, this would bring great blessings or great curses (read Deut 28 and Lev 26). Judgment begins at the house of God. God’s people are MORE accountable to Him, and when they rebel, their sin is high-handed because they have more to rebel against.

Secondly, after the showdown between Ahab and Jezebel’s Baalism, and Elijah, Ahab still did not repent. Elijah became a new Moses. He did not run away as many suppose, but walked straight to the same mountain, the same cave, where Moses saw the glory of God. Elijah became the Moses of a new interim covenant with a remnant of believers (Paul and Revelation refer to this 7000 remnant as the pattern repeats itself in the first century). That is why, in the passage in question, there are two ‘water crossings’. Covenant makings always follow a seven point pattern, which not only corresponds to the seven days of the Creation week, but also the annual feasts as recorded in Leviticus 23. You also see the ‘head and body’ of the sacrifice ritual from Leviticus 1:

EXODUS FROM THE NORTHERN KINGDOM

Sabbath - God’s word comes as initiator
The prophets are told that Elijah will ascend

Passover - Elisha follows Elijah into the wilderness. Elijah parts the Jordan with his cloak, and the two parts of the “sacrifice” are washed (Leviticus 1)

Firstfruits - Elijah, who is the flaming chariot, ascends to heaven as the head of the “sacrifice”

Pentecost - Elisha receives Elijah’s robe (the skin of the sacrifice given to the priest), and a “double mouthful” of the Spirit

Trumpets - Elisha’s house is established when Elijah cannot be found

Atonement - Elisha tips a bowl of salt water into the bitter spring of Jericho and lifts the curse of barrenness from the Land. False prophet interns (or children) threaten Elisha and are eaten by beasts (bears) as the ‘scapegoat’ sent to destruction

Booths - Elisha returns ‘home’ as a new Joshua (Booths)

So, you can see the entire Exodus, wilderness, Jordan, promised Land pattern here. The pattern is also the deep structure of the entire New Testament, where Jesus as Moses and Elijah ascends to God (as head of the church – the Adam captain) and sends the Spirit upon the church (Elisha – the body – the Eve army). In this case, Jericho was the corrupted religion of Herod’s temple, and Jesus came in judgment in AD70, vindicating His predictions. This explains a lot of the symbols used in Revelation, which predicted these events.

Regarding the insult, perhaps this had to do with the ascension of Elijah as the ‘head.’

Regarding the bears, being torn in two by scavenging birds and wild beasts was a curse of the Covenant that is often repeated throughout the Bible, beginning with the raven sent out by Noah, that fed on the floating bodies until the waters went down. Tearing one’s robes symbolised this also. If you remember, Jezebel was eaten by dogs, Saul’s sons were hung high but one of their mothers chased the birds away. Abraham chased the birds away from the divided animals that purified the Land, etc. There are many more examples.

The Lord’s throne is often described as coming from the north (Ezek. 1). In the stars, His throne is polar north, and there are two bears guarding it (I would also mention that the woman and the dragon of Rev 12 are also in the stars, and that the order of the tribes around the Tabernacle followed the 12 constellations, the ones that bowed to Joseph). Elisha is simply extending the dominion of God’s throne over the Covenant breakers. In AD70, 6000 women and children died when cloisters collapsed at the end of the Roman seige. Like the Amorites in Canaan, Jezebel’s time was up. The curses of the Old Covenant fell for the last time.

There is a spiritual war going on. One thing you must understand is that committing one sin brings the death penalty. God is within His rights to destroy us instantly – and He does this a few times in the Bible to remind us. The miracle is that He doesn’t. Our problem is that we use His mercy and patience to compound our sin.

So these children or youths are the “children of Jezebel”, and the point is that the idolatrous/adulterous woman will have no children (read Numbers 5), but the faithful woman will have many. God applied this test to Israel when they worshipped the golden calf. The generations of the wicked will be cut off. Israel’s time had run out, and the attack by the bears simply prefigured God’s use of the Assyrian and later the Babylonian invaders to ‘flood in’ and wipe out the unfaithful ‘sons of God’ (Gen 6) who should have been faithful priests.

I hope that helps. If we use peace-time morality to judge war-time measures (ie. sticking a knife in someone is bad unless you are cutting out cancer) we will misinterpret the Scriptures.

We are free to reject the Scriptures, but I think we ought to do our homework first.

[Previous to this post, there was discussion about the merit for the argument that the 'little children' were actually young men, interns in the worship of Baal. It is possible, but cannot be proven. The argument above makes this irrelevant anyway.]

They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought [Elijah] but did not find him. And they came back to [Elisha] while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” (2 Kings 2:17-18)

It seems the Ark was “taken” like Enoch. If it was carried to Babylon, perhaps it was melted down with other conquered “gods” to contribute to Nebuchadnezzar’s “golden calf.” It fits the pattern if the Ark “died” on the altar of false worship “outside the city.”

As God’s chariot, it ascended to heaven as Elijah (the head), and a double portion of the Spirit was given to Daniel and his friends as Elisha. They did greater works—ruled a greater kingdom—than the “Ark” kings of Israel. They moved the kingdom of God from Land to World, and set the empire bears upon the children of Jezebel.

Then, a generation later, it was the Lampstand, the Spirit-filled body, that conquered Babylon (Daniel 5:5) and returned to the Land. The Ark/throne, the Lion, died as a Lamb and ascended as (Firstfruits) to make Judah’s wolves into shepherds (Pentecost). In this way, by the Word of God, a New Israel was formed and filled. As a flying scroll, the Ark would appear a little while later to Zechariah and a New Jerusalem be established.

And the Word repeated the entire pattern in the first century. After the blood goes up, the Spirit comes down and resurrects the army of God (Trumpets). The ascended Ark then exiles ‘Babylonian’ worship, its evil twin (Zechariah 5, Revelation 18) (Atonement).The saints rule with Christ in a New Jerusalem (Booths).

“…it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you… A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”   (John 16:7, 16)

Artwork: Elijah and Elisha, Michael D. O’Brien, studiobrien.com