The meaning of miracles (2 Kings 6:1-7)

[Seth Doty]

"1 Corinthians 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."

I assume we all agree that the miracles recorded in scripture were always both literal events and symbolic pictures/foreshadowing of things to come.

With that in mind I though it might be enjoyable to discuss some of the OT miracles and what they are picturing. Lets start with this one as I crossed it in my reading the other day:

"2 Kings 6:1-7 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it."


If anyone would like to give their opinion/understanding of what this is symbolizing feel free to start this off. I will post my understanding of what this is teaching/symbolizing after there has been some discussion on the topic and depending on the level of interest/participation on the subject we might look at/discuss other miracles. After all there are plenty to choose from. :icon_mrgreen:

Edited September 11, 2011 by Seth-Doty

[Wilchbla]

Wow. This is a tough one for me. I'm sure it's symbolic of something concerning Israel , her wars with the heathen around her, her failings and her restoration. The context suggests that. It could also have something to do with God restoring strength to a believer who has lost it while working for him. Maybe this is a stretch but iron is symbolic of strength and the man lost what he "borrowed" in order to complete a job.(i.e. a believer losing strength and fainting while working for the Lord). Of course, the "iron" which seemed hopelessly lost was restored to him.

[Seth Doty]

Wow. This is a tough one for me. I'm sure it's symbolic of something concerning Israel , her wars with the heathen around her, her failings and her restoration. The context suggests that. It could also have something to do with God restoring strength to a believer who has lost it while working for him. Maybe this is a stretch but iron is symbolic of strength and the man lost what he "borrowed" in order to complete a job.(i.e. a believer losing strength and fainting while working for the Lord). Of course, the "iron" which seemed hopelessly lost was restored to him.

That is very similar to what I see in it.

[Salyan]

This is interesting. Please do discuss more miracles!

Edited September 12, 2011 by salyan

[Seth Doty]

"2 Kings 6:1-7 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. But as one was felling a beam, the ax head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it."

This is my take on it:

First, I see "the sons of the prophets" as symbolic of believers.
I see Elisha as symbolic of Christ.

In that the sons of the prophets say that the place is "to strait for us" I see a believers recognition of the need for spiritual growth.
I see asking and getting both Elisha's approval and presence as symbolic of starting out in the will of God.
The Jordan... I am not sure of the best way to word it, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with the pure/holy/righteous/undefiled nature of God.
The cut wood is symbolic of spiritual victory against sin/weights and the cutting of it symbolic of the labor that the believer must do to obtain that victory.
The axe head is symbolic of the power of the believer, which is actually the power of God. Thus the "borrowed" aspect.
The loosing of the axe head is symbolic of failure, we sin and we loose the power of God and our means for spiritual growth.
The man crying out to Elisha and showing him the place it was lost is symbolic of asking Christ for help and confessing our sin.
The stick cast upon the waters is symbolic of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent "swimming" of the axe head is symbolic of the Holy Spirits intercession and role in restoring the lost power of God to the believers life while the man putting forth his hand to take up the axe head again at Elisha's command is symbolic of the believers part in the restoration of the power of God to his life.


:twocents:

[John81]

Wow!

[Calvary]

An outline I have on the text goes along with what has been presented. How to get back your spiritual edge, or recovering your spiritual vitality.


(I am putting this into English, as some may know, I am a pastor in Mexico)
Intro: The work was tedious, daily, habitual and had become routine. (compare with the Christian life and the dangers of it becoming habitual and non-dynamic)
Understand the reaction of the worker. 2 reasons. Metal was very precious, and it wasn't his. It was borrowed. (make such comparisons as to the Christian life you see fit)

There are 4 things the text can teach us about how to get back to that "first love", that freshness of spirit as when we were first saved.

1. Admit you lost it.
A. The man could have just used this event as an excuse to do nothing. Discouragement is primary source of loss of spiritual vitality. People stop serving, stop winning souls, stop reading the Bible, stop many things that could help them maintain their fire. (Dan 9 apart from it's prophetic importance is a great chapter on prayer and shows the steps to spiritual decline in the confession of Daniel a. we stopped listening to the prophets, b. we stopped listening to your word, and c. we stopped seeking your face)
B. The man could have pretended that he never lost his ax. He could have continued chopping at the tree with no edge. Many do just that. They try to act as if everything is ok, but there are no results, no fruit for their labor. It's tragic to watch Christians who have lost their spiritual edge to continue on in the programs with no heart for it. Pastors included, as they can easily burn out and toil in the flesh for many years and no one knows the difference. Notice this man admitted his fault to ANOTHER co laborer.

2. Identify the place where you lost it. The man of God asked this brother Where? Vs. 6 the man showed him. There is a huge list one can make to identify the places where we lose our spiritual edge. I have listed a few. a. Busyness, work, too much activity (Isaiah 58:13,14 - get back to church)) b. Disobedience to God's word. c. Self reliance or self dependence. d. Negligent in one's relation with God - i.e no quiet time, no Bible reading, falling off in church attendance.

3. Trust God to restore you. Vs. 6 is strange. What power did the stick hold? Was it the stick that made the ax head float? No. It was simply a visible demonstration of the faith of the man of God. I suppose the prophet could have tossed anything in the water. I trust the Lord will return that which I have lost. Matt. 19:26, nothing is impossible for the Lord. God made precious promises, one is Jeremiah 15:19. The ax was borrowed. All that we have is borrowed for the Lord. He loans us and our stewardship of the gift of eternal life must be cared for...

4. Lift up your hand and take it. Vs. the prophet says, Take it. It was floating, the miracle had been done, now it's up to the man to take hold of the ax. God does His part, have you done yours? There is a great verse in Rev. 2:5 that could be developed as a separate message, but it contains 3 simple steps to help us return to the Lord and find His favor again.
a. Remember. b. Return. c. Repeat the first things. (Psalms 84:2; 51:12)

That is a basic treatment of the text in a spiritual application.

A purely doctrinal app might be that the ax head represents Israel itself. The waters might represent the nations and where Israel had been lost for centuries, until God (the man of God) miraculously causes them to return, and perhaps we can see in the text the restoration of Israel. Just a thought.