← ArchiveKings and KingdomsKings and Kingdoms – Bald Head Scaly Wag (2 Kings 2:1-6)DateMarch 2, 2025SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamText2 Kings 2:1–6Passages in this sermon2 Kings 23:39Joshua 37:37Joshua 47:44Joshua 67:46Joshua 207:51Luke 228:452 Kings 713:40Genesis 520:26Leviticus 2632:38TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00We'll be right back. We'll be right back.0:30We are thankful that God has brought you to this place.1:00Today, we have parents that have brought their children home recently. Today, we have parents worshiping with us where their child is in the NICU, and they are hoping to bring that child home soon. Today, we have sons and daughters who are caring for aged parents. We have spouses who are caring for those that lay love. Some of you have had the best week ever. Some of you have had the worst week ever, and the world has beaten you up. And in between, aren't you thankful that when we gather the promise of the Lord is no matter what you have experienced,1:30no matter who you are or where you come from, God's presence is here. So as Pastor Tony says, if you're thankful for the presence of God in your life, let's give the Lord a ruckus right now for what he's doing. That's right. Some things are worth causing ruckuses about. Ruck-eye, ruckuses, whatever the plural of ruckus is. Ruckuses, whatever that plural is, that's what we should do.1:59So as we look at the book of 2 Kings, many of you have experienced in your life the loss of a hero of faith. Maybe it's a grandparent that you know prayed for you day by day. Maybe it was a pastor who's no longer here or a mentor. And you know you're missing that absence when something great has happened or something, you need prayer and you say, man, I wish I could call. And then you realize they're not here.2:30The person I need advice from, they're not here today. The person I wish I could celebrate this joy. If you have ever been there in your life, you're not alone. Because today in the book of 2 Kings comes a point in Israel's life, in Elisha's life, where one of the greatest heroes of faith departs. And his absence, Elijah's absence, leaves an eternal void in the life of Elisha.2:57Now, Elijah does not die like you and I die. In fact, he doesn't die at all. And you're going to, as you read this in scripture and you think, wow, how cool. Look at how he died. That's not the point. Or how he didn't die. That's still not the point. The point is, what happens next? What happens when those that you love who have handed you the faith are no longer here?3:28And God looks at you and says, my work still continues. Go and do the same. So let's read the book of 2 Kings chapter 2. Today's message is called, entitled, Bald Head Scallywag. Listen, I didn't write the Bible. I'm just modernizing what God has already written in his words. Bald Head Scallywag. We'll get there at the end.3:582 Kings 2, verse 1. The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal, and Elijah said to Elisha, stay here. The Lord is sending me on to Bethel. But Elisha replied, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel.4:28Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came to Elisha and said, hey, do you know the Lord is going to take your master away from you today? And he said, yes, I know. Be quiet. Elisha said to him, Elisha, stay here. The Lord is sending me to Jericho. But Elisha said, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they went to Jericho.4:57Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came to Elisha and said, do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today? He said, yes, I know. Be quiet. And Elijah said to him, stay here. The Lord is now sending me to the Jordan. But Elisha said, as long as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So the two of them went on.5:25Let's pray. Father, how difficult it is when those that we love, when those we look up to, when those who have given us and handed us the beautiful faith of our fathers, the gospel message, Jesus in our place. When people we love, our heroes of faith depart. Lord, we confess to you today that it leaves a void and an absence that we will forever miss.5:52But Lord, you have not left us alone. And you promise that you will never leave us, that you will never forsake us. So Lord, today, as we open your word, open our hearts, that we might love you more deeply. Turn our affections to you, Father. That we might know you more intimately.6:21That we might serve you with greater fervency. And that we might live for you in all that we think, do, and say. Lord, this is our prayer. In Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. Bald head, scallywack. In chapter 2, verse 2, the first thing we see is that the Lord is sending Elijah to Bethel.6:45And it might not seem like much to you, but the root in this journey invite you to take a walk down memory lane. Because what we have right here in 2 Kings is two prophets starting from Gilgal, venturing to Bethel, and then to Jericho, and then crossing over the Jordan River. That route might sound familiar because 550 years ago, prior to Elijah, Joshua and Moses took the exact same route except in a reverse order.7:11It's as if God was reminding his prophets exactly what I did 550 years ago to the promise and I am still doing today in your life. In Joshua 3, Joshua crosses the Jordan River with the people to the river basin.7:37In Joshua 4, 19, they go to Gilgal. In Joshua chapter 6, they experience God's victory at Jericho. In Joshua 20 and verse 18, they then experience God's mercy at Bethel. But the Lord wants you to live from the past. God is asking Elijah and Elisha, hey, look back on what I have done in your life. Because what I have done continues in you.8:07Now, God is saying, Elijah, you're not Joshua, but that's okay. I'm still working. Hey, Elisha, you are not Elijah, but that's okay. I am still working. God's work 550 years ago is still working in the days of Elijah. And church, the work of God in the days of Elijah is still happening today. The Lord is up to something.8:35We are to live from the past. You say, well, how do you know that? Because I believe what Jesus says is true. He took the bread in Luke 22 and he broke it. He said, church, do this in... Some of you are going King James on me. Remembrance. He didn't say do this in memory. Remembrance of me. That's how I learned it. Because God wants us to live from the past.9:04That the promises of God, the memory of the Lord, the promises of Christ should work in us to the uttermost. That we can say, God, what you did yesterday, you are continuing to do today. And no matter what happens tomorrow, God, you are still working. And God, when I feel like I can't go on, I'm going to live from the past because your goodness propels me. It's okay to live from the past.9:32When you share your testimony, that's actually what you are doing. Your testimony is day-by-day accounts of what God has done to this day. And by God's grace, he is not through with us yet. Living from the past. But it's not simply geography that jolts our spiritual memories here. We see that Elijah wants to go at it alone. And either Elijah is hard-headed or Elisha is hard-headed or these crazy prophets that follow him around are hard-headed.10:00Because Elijah says, Elijah says to Elisha, hey, I want to go alone. And Elijah says, I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to forsaken you. And then these prophets come from out of nowhere and they say, hey, Elisha, did you know that your mentor, the one you love so much, is going to die today? And he says, I know, shut your mouth.10:27And so they depart. And Elijah says a second time, I'm about to die. I want to go at it alone. And Elijah says, I will not leave you. And then from Jericho, the prophets, they just appear again and say, hey, did you know today's the day? And Elijah says, I'm going to wring your necks. Be quiet. And it's the reminder, not only does geography jolt our remembrance, it's a reminder that we can't go at life alone. Elisha was reminding Elijah that Yahweh's spirit was still there.10:59At the very end of this episode, this narrative, three times, leave me, no, leave me, no, leave me, no. Then we see in verse 6, so the two of them went on. That is highly biblically charged language. The last time you heard that language, that was the journey in the words used for Abraham and Isaac when they journeyed together to go to Mount Moriah.11:24When Abraham was being obedient to God, he said, I want you to take your child to promise. Go to the mountain and sacrifice him. They journeyed together there. And I would imagine Elijah knew that.11:54And Elisha knew that. They were walking together. This language echoes that biblical reminder. And as you walk through this narrative also, the words in verse 1 were singular words. Elijah said, I want to be left alone. And Elisha said, I will not leave you alone. And the prophet said, hey, he's about to die. Shut your mouth. And then Elijah says, I want to go at it alone.12:22And Elisha says, I will not leave you alone. But at the end, it says, plural, the two of them went on together. God is reminding us that our faith is a shared journey. We need each other. And God's reminder is true that we live from the past because of people in our lives. And maybe you are here today out of obedience.12:52But you are here today because God is using you to stir the remembrances of his promise in someone else's life. What if God is using you as a conduit of grace, a conduit of memory? What if you are Elisha to remind someone, hey, I know you want to be here alone, but you're not alone. Because God will not leave you alone. Because he will not leave you or forsake you. This is the shared journey of Christ.13:21The Christian life is no solitary journey. It's a sacred fellowship. Never walk alone. And so then the two of them began to walk now to the Jordan River. 2 Kings 7 through 9. 50 men this time from the sons of the prophets came and stood observing them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan.13:44Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, struck the water, which parted from the right and the left. Have you heard that before? Yes. Because we live from biblical memory. What God had done, he is continuing to do. The two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.14:13So Elisha answered, please let me inherit two shares of your spirit. So years before, many years before, Moses stretched out his staff and the people walked across on dry ground. Again, a third reminder that God's people are to live from the past. We should have our nose in the Bible and have our eyes on today so that our eyes can see what our nose knows about.14:43We live from the past. We say, God, whoa, I walked across on dry ground. You did that to Moses. And what you did for Moses, you are doing today because we live from sacred memory. When's the last time God did something in your life? If you are only living from the faith of your fathers, maybe you need to give your life to Jesus today.15:13Because faith in Jesus is a living faith. It's a living faith. We live from the past because God is working today in our life. But living from the past doesn't mean that you live in the past. Verse 9. So Elisha answered, please give me two shares of your spirit.15:40Elijah replied, you've asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you, you will have it. If not, you won't. As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind. And as Elisha watched, he kept crying out, my father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel.16:06So Elisha asked for something very peculiar and very unique. He asked for a double portion of a blessing. Now, he's not asking for leftovers, right? This is not someone who went to the buffet and ate and then he comes back again and says, hey, hit me again. Give me a double portion. That's not what he's asking for.16:35This is, again, Old Testament biblical language. It was the right of a son to get a double portion. Think about Jacob and Esau. Remember when Esau came in really hungry one day and he said, hey, Jacob, make me some food. And Jacob said, I'll make you some. But I'm not going to give you like the spiritual gumbo unless you give me your blessing, your double portion. And Esau said, I don't know what you're cooking, but it smells really good.17:04So I'll give it to you. He was, in effect, giving Jacob his double portion, his sonship. And so what Elisha is asking for is, Elijah, I want to be your son. I want to be your heir. Really, he was saying, Elijah, can you honor me in a way that what God is doing through you, he will continue to do through me.17:30Now, isn't that beautiful? Because Elijah doesn't say, I mean, Elisha doesn't say to Elijah, hey, can you do that river parting thing again? Like, can you just sling your cloak around one more time and just slap the water and let's go across the Jordan one more time for good, you know, goodness sake.17:55Hey, can you do that, prophets of Baal? Like, can you call down fire from heaven? Like, just one more time before you leave. Hey, can you call the ravens? The original door dash. Like, I'm hungry. Like, can you order Taco Bell right now from the ravens? He doesn't ask for any of that. Because if he were, he would be living in the past.18:23But living from the past is living, is different than living in the past. Living in the past means that we are living with regret or nostalgia. And when we do that, it blinds us to the transformation and the work that God is doing in our presence today. That's what N.T. Wright says. When you live in the past, you're stuck. Elijah could have said, okay, I'll do the trick one more time.18:53I'll show you the miracle one more time. But he did not want Elisha to be stuck in the past. And some of you are stuck in the past. Meaning, you look back at your life and you say, God will never do what he used to do then. No. The ancient of days is not stuck in the past. The same God who, by word, created the heavens and the earth,19:20it's the same God who raised his son from the dead. And it's the same God who is working today. God does not want you to be stuck in the past. He wants us to live from the past and say, God, I want you to do today what you did yesterday. And I want you to continue to bring revival on our land. Don't live in the good old days. Remember that every day with God is a good day.19:50May we not live in the past. May we live from the past. And Elijah disappears. Verse 12. As Elisha watched, he cries out, Father, Father, chariots and the horsemen of Israel. Verse 11. They continued walking and talking. A chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind.20:19And just like Enoch in Genesis 5, 24, who met God face to face without tasting physical death, Elijah was no more. Now, I'm going to poo-poo on some of your artistic biblical renderings. Elijah did not go to heaven in the chariot.20:46And he did not go to heaven on the backs of the horses. The Bible says actually Elijah was carried to heaven in the whirlwind. And it was the chariots of fire that separated the two men. It's the reminder, I think, for Elisha. Hey, don't dwell on what you see. Live by faith.21:16It's almost as if God separated Elisha from the moment of Elijah's departure because Yahweh wanted Elisha to know you should continue to live by faith. Because I would imagine, like the disciples seeing the ascension, that if Elisha was able to see the chariot, he would look at it. And he would say, wow, there goes Elijah. I guess he's not coming back. I guess the crazy prophets from Jericho were right.21:44But that's not what God does. God creates separation in a way to say, Elisha, now you live by faith. You live by faith in the true and living God. He's really saying to Elisha, don't get caught up in the chariots and don't miss the point. The Lord is with you. And if you think this is odd, remember in verse 1, 2 Kings has told us the time had come for the Lord to take Elijah into heaven.22:10God said that this would happen. And he had prepared Elisha for this to happen. Now, living by faith. Now God says to Elisha, now live. Let's go. What was in Elijah's life is now in your life. And let's look at verse 12 and following.22:39When he could see him no longer, he took hold of his own clothes. He tore them in two. He picked up the mantle. Whose mantle? Elisha's, because Elisha is to live by faith. That had fallen off Elijah, he went back and he stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle Elijah had dropped and he struck the water where the Lord God of Elijah had been.23:03He struck the water himself and it parted to the right and to the left. And Elisha crossed over. Where had he seen that before? Elijah's life. And now Elisha is saying, I can live by faith because I have seen someone do it. But Lord, you're not stuck in the past. You're working in my life today. I feel like he was just slinging it around, like slapping the water.23:33I don't know if that's how it happened. But in my mind, if I could do that, I'd be walking out to Logan Martin right now. Slinging that mantle around. Part. Living by faith. Verse 15. When the sons of the prophets from Jericho who were observing saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. They're saying, wow, Elisha is living by faith.24:03He's not stuck in the past. He's living from the past. He's living by faith in the true God. They came to meet him and bowed down to the ground in front of him. The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Since there are 50 strong men here with your servants. That's a humble brag, by the way. Please let them go and search for your master. Maybe the spirit of the Lord has carried him away and put him on the mountains or into the valleys.24:29And he answered, don't send them. Now, our ladies in the audience are going to remind you of this. If you send 50 men to look for anything, they're going to come back empty handed. And that's exactly what happens, right? However, they urged him to the point of embarrassment. So he said, okay, go in the cabinet and look for it. They sent 50 men who looked for three days, but they could not find them. I guarantee you if they were prophetesses, they would have come back in five minutes.24:59When they returned to Jericho, where he was staying, he said to them, Didn't I tell you not to go? The men of the city said to Elisha, My Lord can see that even though the city's location is good, the water is bad and the land unfruitful. And he replied, bring me a new bowl and put salt in it. After they had brought him one, Elisha went out to the spring.25:26He threw salt in it and said, this is what the Lord says. I have healed this water. No longer will death or unfruitfulness result from it. Therefore, the water still remains healthy today, according to the word that Elisha spoke. Many years prior, Joshua had cursed the land of Jericho. And up until the day of Elisha, no one had lived in the land.25:56It was unfruitful. The water was bitter. The people living in Jericho knew this. They had to depart from the area and get their water. So these prophets come to Elisha and they said, we know you're a person of faith. We see Elijah's double portion spirit upon you. Can you do something? And he says, sure. Bring me a bowl and bring me salt. Now, that should be odd because they're asking for water.26:22And if you put salt in water, salt makes good water bad, not bad water good. But because Elisha is living by faith, he does something and God works a unique miracle in the waters of Jericho. The people who were cursed by God are now favored by God.26:48Salt symbolizes many things in the Bible. First, it symbolizes the covenants. The people of God were to sprinkle salt on their offerings as a reminder that they were people of the covenant. That's why when Jesus says in the Beatitudes, when he says to the disciples, you are the salt of the earth. He's not saying be grumpy, be salty.27:18No, he's saying you are covenant people. Be covenant people. Live like you're covenant people. Live in a way that is holy and righteous. Salt in the Bible times also symbolizes purity. He's saying not only are you to live in a way that you are a signal to the world that you are in covenant relationship, but you live in a way that's pure. But salt used in sacrifice was also a reminder that we are breaking from the past.27:46So when you would go to God and present a guilt offering or a sin offering, not only you were saying, God, forgive me, you sprinkle salt on your offering and you would say to the Lord, God, not only am I asking you forgiveness, I don't want to go back to my old life. Salt is a way to break from the past. And Jericho needed that more than anyone because they were cursed.28:13And so they were asking the Lord, Yahweh, forgive us and we want to be raised in new life. And we get that picture today still, don't we? Water represents for the believer, I was dead in my sins. I am now raised in new life. In Elisha's day, he just had to use salt to make the water good. In our day, God reminds us that the water, of the water that Jesus Christ has made us good28:42and made us righteous. When you live by faith, you proclaim that the Lord is working and still moves. And can you imagine what this is doing to the people of Jericho? They've lived for 550 years thinking we are cursed and neglected people. Remember the walls that were torn down? God will never work in us.29:10And the salt is a reminder that they have been forgiven. And they too can live by faith. Because God has changed them. He has favored those who were once cursed. Through the sprinkling of salt and through the sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb. And after this, we see one more episode. I want to share this from Elisha's life. This is where we get the bald head scallywag. You think I've made this up?29:42I have not made this up. Okay? Verse 23. From there, Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking at the pass, some small boys came out of the city and they jeered at him. Let me pause there. These are not kindergartners. These are most likely young men 12 to 40 years old. So if you're not yet 40, you're still a young boy. You're still young at heart. Okay?30:12Okay? And they started chanting, go up, Baldy. Go up, Baldy. He turned around. He looked at them. And he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And they're probably thinking, that's an odd response. Baldy, what are you going to do now? Okay. Then two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the children.30:37It says, from there, Elijah went on his way to Mount Crom. Like, I didn't make this up for him to Mount Crom. He's just like, okay. I bet you won't do that again. Jerks. And he returned to Samaria. What in the world is happening here? Things have gone off the rails.31:0742 were mauled. It says, some of them. Which means there were more than 42. This was a mob or a riot of people standing in and confronting the word of the Lord. It's a reminder that we are to live in the fear and the admonition of God. They were saying, go up, Baldy. Come on. Now, for those of you who are hair impaired, I'm not making fun of you.31:34But actually, Elisha would have had his head covered. So how did they know that he was bald? This is an intentional taunt and a rejection of the word of God. They knew Elisha. And they were probably saying to him, you're no Elijah. God spoke to Elijah, but he is not speaking to you.32:02We reject your word and we reject God's blessing and we reject the word of the Lord outright. And when the Bible says that Elisha cursed them, he wasn't saying, God, I really wish you would raise up two bears right now. And not he bears, like, he bears fight, but she bears fight to the death.32:26Send the she bears, two of them. No, Elijah was invoking a curse of Leviticus 26, 21. That says, if you act with hostility towards the Lord, and if you are unwilling to obey me, I will multiply your plagues seven times for your sins. I will send wild animals against you.32:54These weren't just any bears. These were covenant bears. These people weren't cursed by Elisha. They were cursed by God because they had rejected his covenant love. And sadly, that happens today in our lives. There are some of you today that know that you're a sinner. And you know God sent his one and only son to die on the cross for your sins.33:24And you know that tomorrow is not guaranteed. And yet you have rejected the word of the Lord. You know what's worse than two bears mauling you to death today? It's spending eternity in hell away from a God who loves you. And so if you read this thinking, how could God do that to someone? There is a worse judgment than this. It is hell.33:54It is separation from God. Do not reject the word of the Lord. Do not reject the gospel. Jesus in your place. And so I read these two episodes, these narratives side by side. Why would God remind us that Jericho was favored again and these young hooligans were cursed? What's the difference? What's the difference between Jericho and these fools?34:20Well, because one community said, Lord, we will obey you. We will submit to you. And the other said, we will scoff at the word of the Lord. Would we run to God today and surrender to him? 2 Corinthians says that the gospel, to some, is the fragrance of life.34:47To Jericho, Elisha, the fragrance of life. That which was bitter is made whole. But to some, Elisha, the fragrance of death. 2 Corinthians says, the fragrance of life to those who believe and to those who do not believe is the aroma of death unto death. Will you hear the word of the Lord today?35:14Will you respond to the gospel? Will you, for the first time, say, I know I'm a sinner. I get that now. And I know that on my own there's no remedy for my sin. God, I need you. I receive conviction. I receive your word. I will repent and turn to you. Is Christ the aroma of life? Or is he the aroma of death?35:46Run to the Lord and find him faithful. I read this also and it's quite shocking for me even. It's humorous in one account, but the other I'm thinking, God, why would you let that happen? And then I realized the reason this is so jarring and shocking to our souls is because we have lost the fear of God. We've lost the fear of the Lord in our lives. There is a holy fear that the church of Christ needs to recover.36:16Because I read this and I think by the grace of God, this should be my life every day. There is no reason that God should not call ravenous bears and rip me limb for limb because of my sin and my depravity. So if you read this and say, God, how dare you? We should read this and say, God, why don't you do this? Would we recover our fear of the Lord and have a reverent awe that when we walk in and we gather, we say, God, we are not worthy to be here.36:44But Christ remedies our sin and you make us worthy. So we don't walk in thinking, God, here's 50 strong men. We will find Elijah. No, we crawl in. We say, God, we don't deserve to be here. But in Christ, we do. You have sprinkled us clean. You have salted us so we can be salt.37:12We are covenant people. We have broken from the past. That which was dead is walking in new life. What would happen if we recovered our fear and awe of the Lord? What would happen, Bethel, if the world looked at this gathering and said, I don't know about you guys. I don't know. We don't get why you live. We don't get why you serve. We don't understand why you give. But you, you fear the Lord.37:42We don't understand it, but we respect it. What would happen if we feared the Lord in a place that we would draw near the God with boldness because we know we've been sprinkled clean? There are Jerichos in our world that need the salt of God. And how will they know unless they see the fear of the Lord upon us?38:11Bears are not the worst thing that can happen to us. Being separated from God for the eternity. That's what I fear. Praise be to the Lord that in Jesus Christ, I don't fear hell. But we draw near with boldness. Father.← Previous in Kings and KingdomsKings and Kingdoms – The Dangerous Dance of Religion (AKA “Religious Stinky-Leg”) – 18:20Next in Kings and Kingdoms →Kings and Kingdoms – When You’re Too Good for God (2 Kings 5:2-3)More sermons on 2 Kings 2Sunday, August 4, 2019August 4, 2019 · Dr Josh BurnhamB2ChurchMore sermons on 2 Kings →
