Elijah has gone in a "flaming chariot" into the heavens and was seen no more. This particular human being, this man "just like us", was extraordinarily spared walking through physical death. And we left Elisha holding Elijah's mantle and commission to the work of God's prophet and spokesperson to Israel. We know God has honored the request for this "double portion" of His spirit to rest on Elisha ... first sign of that? Elisha parted the waters of the Jordan and walked on dry land!
These verses we read today happen most likely soon after because he is still is the region of Jericho. The men who come to him with the problem are from Jericho. The problem? Bad water in the springs of the area were resulting in unfruitfulness. This unfruitfulness seems to be two-fold. The land is unproductive. The interesting piece is that the word for "unfruitful" is the Hebrew word shakol. This word means barren, or childless, or miscarriage. So it seems that the women of Jericho suffered much from inability to carry or take pregnancy to completion. Nothing is thriving in Jericho. These men, maybe the elders or leaders, of the city bring the problem to Elisha.
A new bowl and salt? And God does a miracle through His prophet. I think there is symbolism that we can benefit from. Consider ...
1. A new bowl ... God is going to do a new work. I think the new bowl symbolizes that fact. After all, Jericho was under a curse. Back in the days of Joshua, when the Israelites were victorious over Jericho, he pronounced a curse on that city. (Joshua 6:26) We revisited that a few weeks ago when we were in 1 Kings 16:24. Well ... God is about to do a new thing. That curse is going to be lifted. A new work requires newness. Lessons? Don't be afraid of new things. Jesus said "No one sews a patch of unshrink cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." (Matthew 9: 14 - 17) Each generation brings new things to the table of the practice of religion. YES - hang everything beside the plumb line of scripture. But if a new thing hangs straight ... don't be afraid of newness. Celebrate it!
2. Salt. I would not have chosen salt to put in water to make it better. As He does so often, God uses a method that we would not choose - things that make no sense to us. Salt in Elisha's day was a precious commodity - useful for preservation. But there is more to it than that. In Leviticus 2:13, God says to this fledgling people just out of slavery, "Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings." And God directs Elisha to dump it in the spring! Can you hear Jesus saying centuries later, "You are the salt of the earth"? Our world needs us ... dumped in - all the way - permeating every aspect of this crazy, dark, mixed-up world. Be salt.
And a miracle happened. God purified that water. The writer of 2 Kings said that it was still good when he wrote the book. It is still good in 2010. Elisha's Spring outside Ain es-Sultan (the site of Jericho) is still sweet water. If you travel there ... taste it! You see, when God purifies something ... it is PURE!
Close today by letting 1 John 1:7 settle into your inner self ...
"If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin."
And when God purifies ... it is PURE!
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