Chapter 25 The Jeering Youths
This is a pretty serious story and yet it makes me laugh in
that way that happens when you’re watching a movie and the bad guys get what’s
coming to them in a quirk of fate – satisfying – ha! What do you think? Here’s
the nutshell of the story:
The prophet Elisha went up to Bethel and as he was walking
along the road some teen boys, ruffians, came out of the town and jeered at
him. It must have been frightening since there were over forty of these young
boys. Town toughies. I’m picturing long hair, dirty robes, and the beginnings
of scraggly beards.
They jeered at Elisha. What do you think they said? Well, I’ll
tell you what they said because the Bible records their words. I’ll loosely
translate: “Get outta here, baldy! Get outta here, baldy!”
I laugh because there were dozens of kids and that was the
best they could come up with. My, my, my, but Elisha must have felt threatened because look
what he did. He turned around, locked eyes on them, and called down a curse on
them in the name of the Lord. Whoa! Things got serious in a hurry. The next
thing we read is that two bears came out of the woods then and mauled forty-two
of them. Wait – what? They couldn't run away in their sandals? Just two bears
took revenge on all those teens? Yup. That’s what a curse can do.
Lessons for teens: Don’t jeer at your elders and stay out of
gangs.
Next Saturday Mary, mother of Jesus
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