2 Kings 6:1

MORE MIRACLES PERFORMED THROUGH ELISHA;

MAKING THE IRON TO FLOAT

"And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell before thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto the Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be pleased, I pray thee, to go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither, and made the iron to swim. And he said, Take it up to thee. So he put out his hand and took it."

Dentan alleged that this event is "the most trivial of the stories told of Elisha."[1] On the other hand, it is actually one of the most important miracles performed by that remarkable prophet. Why? It emphasizes God's concern for the problems pressing upon the hearts of the poor. It was no trivial matter at all that confronted this young man!

He did not have the money to purchase an axe, so he borrowed one. And, if he had not been able to recover it, he would have been unable to replace it. After the brutal custom of the times, he could have been sold into slavery for such a trivial debt. Oh yes! Amos mentioned those who "sold the poor for a pair of shoes" (Amos 2:6). God's honoring the willingness of Elisha to recover that axe-head demonstrates God's care for the concerns of the poor. As Jesus said, "Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven" (Luke 6:20).

The mercy and tenderness of the love of God for his own shines in such a wonder as this. Christians today have the privilege of asking through their prayers for God's help, no matter how "trivial" their requests may seem to others.

The whole situation of this paragraph was that of one of the schools of the prophets, most probably the one at Jericho, having outgrown their cramped quarters, and having no money to buy or build a larger place, they proposed to build them a shelter near the Jordan River, where there was plenty of timber available.

When the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts in 1620, they built such shelters as what the sons of the prophets decided to build for themselves.

Several important deductions from what is written here are justified: (1) Elisha's work had been successful. More and more people were believing in the One God, and the sons of the prophets were increasing in number. (2) Their love for Elisha is evident in their desire that he should accompany them. (3) The sons of the prophets were entitled to be praised for their creative energy and industry.