Second Kings records an odd story about a gang of naughty and/or mischievous boys who got a taste of their own medicine. Here’s the story:
“Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, chanting, ‘Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!’ He turned around, looked at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the children” (2 Kings 2:23–24).
Who are these boys? If forty-two were hurt by the bears, there must have been many more in this marauding band of juvenile delinquents.
These boys were from Bethel. Bethel was the location of the pagan temple established by evil King Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:28-30). It was at Bethel that he set up his golden calves that were worshipped by the rebellious northern ten tribes. Most likely, these boys had grown up with a disdain for the prophets of the Living God.
And what were the boy’s chanting? “Go up, baldy! Go up, baldy!”
Elisha (like me) was follicly-challenged… he was bald. These boys were making fun of him.
And they were shouting “Go up! Go up!” Were they suggesting that Elisha needed to do as Elijah had reportedly done? Elijah had been caught up in the whirlwind and ridden off toward Heaven in a dazzling, blazing chariot. Likely, the boys were taunting Elisha and expressing their disbelief in Elijah’s miraculous rapture. They were, in essence saying, “Elijah didn’t ‘go up’ and neither can you!”
So, Elisha snapped his fingers and “two she-bears” (2 Kings 2:24, ESV) charged out of the woods and “mauled” the boys. Scholars suggest that the boys weren’t killed by the bears but carried the scars and scratches for years to come. Harsh? Yes. Too harsh? Probably not. Maybe they learned their lesson.
So, what’s the take-away? What does this story teach us? Don’t mess with bald guys… I don’t think that’s it. Elisha didn’t get his feeling hurt and then take revenge.
This gang of angry boys were disrespecting God … and God will not be mocked!
“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).
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