The life of the prophet Elisha seems like a series of puzzles. When we read some of the incidents, the best response we can come up with is, “Huh?”  Miracles are, by definition, outside of normal experience, and we get that. But in Elisha’s life some of them are really peculiar, seem like just magic with no particular purpose—like the floating iron axe head. Some incidents read like secular legends. The skeptics have a field day, and even we scratch our heads.

A closer look at a few of the incidents might help.

In 2 Kings 4, with a famine going on (v 38), we read in verses 42-44: 

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.”  But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’”  So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

This very clearly pre-figures the Lord Jesus feeding the 5,000. Andrew brings forward the boy who offered to share his rations, but expresses the same doubts as Elisha’s servant. The command is the same, the results are the same. What are both Elisha and Jesus doing?  We can hear them asking us, can’t we?  “Can’t you figure it out? It is the Lord God who supplies you. Don’t you even remember that the whole multitude was fed in the wilderness?”

In chapter 5 we read of the little girl who confidently declares Elisha could heal Naaman. Based on what?  There had never been a miraculous healing like she was so sure of. But based on this little girl’s idea, the king of Syria sends Naaman to the king of Israel with the command to heal him. Joram’s response in verses 7-8:

And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.” But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Very clearly Elisha is saying, “Can’t you figure it out?  There is no limit on what the Lord God can do, whether or not it’s ever happened before!” 

In chapter 6 The Syrian army surrounds the city where Elisha is staying, with the intent of getting rid of Elisha, who has been prophetically telling the king of Israel what the Syrian plans are. Verses 15-17:

When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”  He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

There is no record Elisha himself saw the protective army of angels. He didn’t need to!  Once again there is a pre-figuring of Jesus, who knew full well that he had 12 legions of angels at his command. Both Elisha and Jesus tell their followers, “Can’t you figure it out?  The Lord God has more power than any army or mob arrayed against His servant!”

At the end of chapter 6 Joram intends to murder Elisha, because the Lord has sent the Syrian army to besiege Samaria and there is a horrible famine. Elisha’s response is in 7:1-2:

But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.” 

That night the Lord put a terror into the Syrian army and they ran, and the next day Samaria was filled with food plundered from the abandoned Syrian camp. Again, Elisha’s response is, “Can’t you figure it out?  You acknowledge that the trouble came from the Lord God – doesn’t that surely mean He can also remove it?  Maybe you ought to think about repenting!”

Outside of the actual record of Elisha’s life, there’s only one mention of him. It’s from the mouth of Jesus, in his hometown synagogue (Luke 4:24-28):

And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”  When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 

And they tried to murder him. Jesus here identifies himself with Elisha (and also Elijah).  And just as Elisha had done, Jesus asks, “Can’t you figure it out?  The Lord God doesn’t put on a performance for your amusement.  What He does transcends your pre-conceived notions. And because I’m trying to teach you that you need to broaden your view, you want to kill me?  Really?”

I’ve come to believe that the life of Elisha is presented to us the way it is, to repeatedly pose the question:  “Can’t you figure it out?”  I confess that I have to answer, “Not yet,” regarding some of the incidents. But these I’ve mentioned seem clear, which leads me to conclude the others need further thought—not rejection as if they are some sort of fairy tales.

The final incident in Elisha’s life actually happens after his life is over.  Fearing a marauding band that shows up during a funeral, a man’s family and friends hastily throw the man’s body into Elisha’s grave—and the man is resurrected!  Surely we can figure this out!  If Elisha is a foreshadowing of Jesus (and he said so himself), then what we’re seeing is that being buried with Jesus leads to rising again to a whole new life.  Type and shadow, not fairy tale and legend.

There are some peculiar things in Elisha’s life.  But really, can’t I figure it out?  Aren’t they like that for the very purpose of making me wonder about them, ask about them, dig into them?  So far, I think I can make out foreshadowing of the miraculous feeding, the miraculous healing, the assurance of the presence of the angels, the coming out of the grave, of the Lord Jesus.  Can’t I figure out, then, that the rest of it must also be there to teach me something about Jesus?

Love, still puzzling about the axe head, Paul

If you have any feedback, please contact me at: paul.zilmer@gmail.com