Is this the good news i've heard talked about?

Question

II Kings 2:23-24 Good News Bible
Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way some boys came out of a town and made fun of him. "Get out of here, baldy!" they shouted. Elisha turned round, glared at them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys to pieces.


that's just one example of an evil god who works for a man of faith like a Jinni in a bottle... why doesn't he do that anymore?

anyway, if the entire bible is one and not contradictory, is this the good news?

YOU'RE right BOB, the boys got what they deserved, death. thou shalt not poke fun at the hairline of a prophet, so sayeth the lord. what?

RANDY and REVEREND, then you both readily admit that the bible is cultural and unintelligible to modern man. how do you KNOW then that any of it is true??? if "go up bald head" can mean "curse you to death" then how can "saved" mean "heaven?"

Answer 1

Wow what a mean bastard......... I wish I had a servant like god to do as I command. that would be sweet.

Answer 2

No, this is not the Good news, see you must understand that the Lord Christ is a living and active god for example; have you ever heard of that phrase, whatever goes around comes around? Well look at the story for instance, children teasing a man trying to do Gods will. Then look at what Elisha did, he cursed these children in the name of Jesus. When a righteous man does such a things in a righteous way, the lord sees what just happens and pours his wrath in that case the childrens wrath came when the she-bears tore them apart also, because the bible states, in Matthew 7:2, "2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you". So whatever someone does to another person it comes back around you jsut will not know in which way. The children probably tore Elisha's heart, so the lord tore them apart. the bible is not contradictory, the happens in the bible so that you may understand the works of God. God is a living spirit and through his living and active spirit he moves. You must see how the Lord God works in your life today. Read the story and see how he works in your life. If you still don't understand ask god through prayer that he may give you complete understanding.

Love Always,

God bless you

Answer 3

No. The good news referred to people who lived 2000 years ago who were mostly illiterate. Jesus came along and told them of the kingdom of heaven and the heavenly father who loves all his children. Then when Jesus was betrayed more than once still found strenght to forgive all. He performed what to people at the time seemed miracles, he appeared to his disciples 3 days after he died. His message gave people hope of deliverance, if not in this life then surely in the next. Just think people at that time were not sophisticated
like you are now. However it was thanks to Jesus that humanity has progressed from semi barbaric to civilised.
I wonder what american women would say if the practice of stoning adulterers were still a common practice like in those days.

Answer 4

They were not just poking fun of his hairline, they were telling him to die ("get thee on up" means go to Heaven and leave us on Earth alone, according to scholars).

If 44 teenagers were killed by the bears, then the gang was certainly larger than that, since I assume that some got away. I assume that probably about a hundred young men were threatening the life of an old man, and God intervened to save his life.

So, if God let the gang of teenagers kill Elisha instead of sending two bears to save him, would you not be sitting her declaring that God was unfair because he let an old man get beat up by a gang of young men? (I can hear it now -- "Where was God when Elisha was being attacked? Is not God weak, or uncaring, or both?"). Septics can never be satisfied. You will always find an excuse to nit-pick.

You could have at least asked an original question, instead of cutting and pasting a really old one from another website.

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...The Hebrew word rendered “children” derives from na’ar—used 235 times in the Old Testament. Na’ar is a very broad root word, and can have reference to anyone from a newborn child to an adult. Further, the Hebrew word rendered “little” comes from qatan, and generally means young or small. In commenting on this term in 2 Kings 2:23, the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament remarked:

"Elisha being taunted (cf. qalas, qarah) by young lads (perhaps teen-age ruffians) (II Kgs 2:23) who as members of covenant families ought to have been taught God’s law whereby cursing his servant was tantamount to cursing him and rightly punishable by death (qalal) (Harris, et al., 1980, 2:795)."

Obviously, therefore, the immediate context in which na’ar is used will determine the maturity of the subject so designated. ...

...the expression, “Go up...Go up,” is held by many scholars to reflect the wish of these young men that the prophet go ahead and ascend (as did Elijah—2 Kings 2:11), i.e., leave the Earth, that they might be rid of him! Also, the taunt, “thou bald head,” was likely a reproach. Old Testament scholar John Whitcomb has suggsted that this was an expression “of extreme contempt. They were pronouncing a divine curse upon him, for which baldness was often the outward sign (cf. Isaiah 3:17a,24)” (1971, p. 68)....

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Cultural, perhaps, but not incomprehensible. I got my interpretation mainly by looking at the context of the book in which the story occurs, and putting myself in Elisha's shoes. How would I react if I was surrounded by a gang of at least 44 young men shouting insults? Scared, and threatened, perhaps?

Besides, any cultural commentary needed to understand the Bible can usually be found for free on the Internet. It took me about 30 seconds with goggle to find an answer to your question, so (forgive me), but I got the impression that you didn't try. People have been asking the same questions about the same passages in the English translation of the Bible for about 500 years, and there are standard answers available.


You can also find cheap commentaries in the bookstore or library (like "Eerdmans Handbook to the Bible") or in the footnotes of any study Bible.

Answer 5

Randy beat me to the answer. Good job!

The "good news" in these verses is that God will protect those He has called. To the asker, I wonder if you would feel differently about these verses if a gang of "boys" surrounded you in a dark alley, making threatening remarks towards you? Would you consider them to just be innocent boys, or would you consider them a threat to your safety?

Answer 6

The good news is, everybody goes to Heaven, cause God is the ultimate healer, this is the GOSPEL that is hidden.

Answer 7

no. the good news (or Gospel) are the first four books of the NT. and God struck them because they were making fun of his prophet, so I don't see why you think God is evil. don't you think we should get what we deserve?

But that is the beaty of it. Jesus came so we won't get what we deserve. he died so we may live eternally. THAT is the good news.

Answer 8

Don't know, but heck...it lost me on the 42 boys thing (and this is "some" boys?)...wow...talk about a play date...

Answer 9

I agree with Bob