Christians? Explain this to me please:?

Question

"From there Elisha went up to Bethel. While he was on his way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him. "Go up baldhead," they shouted, "go up baldhead!" The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two shebears came out of the woods and tore forty two of the children to pieces. (2 Kings 2:23-24 )"

God hates kids now?Now it's obvious god kills them for a stupid reason,right?
I am waiting on your excuses.

Answer 1

See how the little idiots DEFEND IT!

No wonder the Catholics responded so quietly to the accusations against their own Priests.

A Priest or Pastor could rape their children and they wouldn't care, as long as it was someone from their own Denomination.

Trained servility. No wonder the Hebrews didn't question the idea of slaughtering their own children on altars.

Answer 2

Hold on, there partner - slow down.
If you back up in your Bible there, and read of Elisha receiving twice the spirit of Elijah,
you would see that this event follows that almost immediately. Elisha learned a great lesson that day: that he had asked for and received more power of the Holy Spirit than he had understood, and that along with that power comes the greatest of responsibility, he must be pure in thought and deed, and not at any time underestimate the power bestowed on him.
When this happened, Elisha grew up quite a bit, because he realized that a curse holds power, just as does a blessing. The manuscripts note that Elisha was emotionally undone to the point of heartbreak when this act occured.
God didn't kill any children; I believe it said that bears came out of the woods. It was the power of the curse that caused the bears to react, not God.

You insert a comment that you are waiting for excuses. I have no intention of excusing anything that is of God, the Holy Spirit, or of Jesus Christ. I prefer to tell you to continue your path of hatred towards God, than to excuse any Sacred Writings. You will be blotted out, but the Living Word of God will exist forever. So don't be too cute with me, dear. If you want the truth of the event, I have given it to you, from the original manuscripts of the Bible themselves. Its your choice whether to accept it or not. Be advised, however, that God will not be mocked. Instead of acting
like a little snot, it would serve you well to
read that verse again. A person who persistantly mocks and ridicules the Lord, or His Election, leaves themselves wide open to this very same curse. With that thought in mind, you have a nice day.

Answer 3

Except they weren't necessarily children, for they could have easily been the same age as Joseph when he was sold into slavery (see Genesis 42:22, where Reuben reminds his brothers that they should not have sinned against "the child", i.e., Joseph), Mahlon and Chilion (the husbands of Ruth and Orpah; see Ruth 1:5), the "young men" that counseled Rehoboam (1 Kings 2:8, 10, 14, 2 Chronicles 10:8, 10, 14), and Daniel when he begins his apprenticeship in the court of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:5).

Answer 4

There's a lot of misconceptions about what happens here, some through an understandable misconception of the situation or the wording, and some through purposeful twisting of the events here.

First of all, the bears did not 'eat' the people in question (as critics usually say), but 'tore' them. It may sound minor, but eating them is fatal, and tearing them is not necessarily fatal. It's possible that none of them died.

Also, Elisha didn't send the bears out. He merely cursed those telling him to go up. God apparently decided to send the bears out.

Also, those who were mauled weren't children. Though the KJV translates their identities as 'small boys'. The Hebrew phrase here 'neurim qetannim', can refer to men from twelve to thirty years old. The soldiers in 1 Kings 20:14-15 are 'neurim qetannim'. Some people assume that Elisha was much older than them, since they called him 'baldhead', but he was actually in his mid-twenties himself, making him a 'neurim qetannim' as well.

On top of that, these men weren't merely 'teasing' Elisha. We know that there were at least 42 of them, probably several hundred (since it's unlikely that only two wild bears could catch the majority of the people in any group). Several hundred people chanting against a single man is not 'teasing', but a clear threat. And their telling him to 'go up' doesn't mean 'get out of here' as the critics seem to be suggesting, but means to die. They knew he was a prophet of God, and are telling him to die and go up to God. If you had several hundred people telling you to die, would you consider that teasing? No, Elisha was clearly in mortal danger, and God sent the bears out to save him.

Answer 5

Elisha pronounced a curse similar to the covenant curse of Lev. 26:21-22. The result gave warning of the judgment that would come on the entire nation should it persist in disobedience and apostasy (see 2Ch 36:16). Thus Elisha's first acts were indicative of his ministry that would follow: God's covenant blessings would come to those who looked to him, but God's covenant curses would fall on those who turned away from him.

Answer 6

The Bible should not be taken literally, and every single tale in it should not be accorded absolute authority. The Bible is a human work attempting to convey a message for which there are no words. It is not infallible. It contains stories of atrocity. It contains legends, out-of-date laws, invalid arguments and vicious diatribes as well as some stories that simply cannot be true (that of Deborah being high on the list).

I do not excuse or cordone this vicious little folk tale. It is details like this that convinced me to never, ever regard the Bible as infallible.

Answer 7

No. God does not hate kids. He hates injustice, disrespect, and hatred. That's exactly the characteristics these children/young men were displaying. God knew the intentions of these children/young men and was more than likely protecting Elisha.

Answer 8

If you read the rest of the chapter, there were 50 MEN (probably young men, which is why they were called "lads" not "children") who defied Elisha's orders that came from God.
So he cursed them, and the Lord tore many of them apart.

Answer 9

If you will take time to study, you will find it is talking about what we would call young adults not little children. They were mocking a prophet of God, and they knew better.
Today so many mock without knowing what they mock, it's sad.

Answer 10

These times are beyond our understanding the really strict way things were done then doesn't make any sense with the value system we have in place today. I am with you in our time but that isn't saying that ours is better or worse than their times just different, If They were brought into our time what would they think?

Answer 11

First off, in my opinion, the Bible is Farce. It was written by Man, and Man cannot be trusted, therefore, how do we know it's truely the word of God? I would ignore it. I don't read the Bible. I just have a personal relationship with God.