The Floating Axe Head (2 Kings 6:1-7)
The Floating Axe Head
2 Kings 6:1-7
We have been systematically working through the miracles of Elisha,
And we have continually seen that
GOD IS GOING OVER AND ABOVE TO INTERVENE
IN THE LIVES OF THOSE WHO SEEK HIM.
• Poor Widow
• Prominent Woman
• Prophetic Witnesses
• The Foreigner Naaman (Leprosy)
Those that were willing to seek out God and to trust Him
Were never disappointed.
This morning we see that God doesn’t mind doing it over and over again.
For this morning God revisits a group
That He has already worked for twice.
The sons of the prophets
And again we see the extreme benefit of
Not only having God ON your side,
But also the benefit of having God AT your side.
IT IS THE BEAUTY OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
But last week was a different lesson:
LAST WEEK WE SAW THE DANGERS OF GREED,
As Gehazi was actually inflicted with the leprosy of Naaman.
Gehazi sought this world, and when he received it,
He was certainly disappointed,
And so we saw the extreme importance of contentment in this life.
When you contrast then Gehazi (a man cursed by God)
With the others who were all blessed by God,
A NATURAL TEACHING POINT EMERGES.
THAT OUR MINDS SHOULD BE SO SET ON ETERNITY,
THAT OUR DESIRE IS NOT THIS WORLD, BUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
HOW DO WE DO THAT?
Consider what Jesus said:
Luke 12:33-34 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Wouldn’t it be great if we all eagerly longed for the return of Jesus?
Wouldn’t it be great if we were ready to kiss this world good-bye?
I know at times we are ready (suffering, pain, sorrow)
But by in large, most of us are so comfortable here
That we can go several days without ever really longing for Jesus.
Jesus gave us the solution to that problem.
Store up more treasure in heaven, than heaven on earth.
Picture a man owning two houses.
• One is full of his treasures and enjoyments…
• One is an efficiency apartment…
WHICH DO YOU THINK HE DESIRES TO BE AT MOST OF THE TIME?
That is precisely how we tune our hearts toward heaven.
We make sure that our nicest house is there, not here.
We make sure that more treasure is deposited there than here.
It naturally causes our heart
To shift away from this place and toward that one.
That is what Jesus meant when He said:
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When you make investments for eternity, then eternity is what you seek.
That was what Gehazi failed to see, while the others all understood it.
So we are learning that as Christians
We must shift our perspective to realize
That our greatest treasure is not this world, but the presence of God.
This morning we see those who had this very perspective.
They are the opposite of Gehazi.
They didn’t desire gold, they desired the presence of God.
While Gehazi’s desire for the world led him to judgment,
These prophets desire for God brings about deliverance.
Let us quickly look at this illustrative story this morning.
3 things
#1 THEIR DILEMMA
2 Kings 6:1
You see their dilemma,
There is not enough room for them where they are dwelling.
This is not just some discontented attitude
In which they are tired of their surroundings and want newer ones.
What we have occurring here is a wonderful thing.
• The nation is in extreme moral decay…
• The nation is rapidly headed towards Baal worship…
• The word of God is not particularly popular…
Yet more and more young men are answering the call of God
To preach the word to a lost and dying world.
It reminded me of Paul’s admonition to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:1-5 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
These young prophets were the real deal.
In a world that was hostile to their message,
So many have answered the call,
That the school where they dwelt was too small to hold them all.
It is a simple dilemma that must be addressed.
#2 THEIR DECISION
2 Kings 6:2-4
Now you see their plan of action.
• They don’t expect a grant from the government…
• They aren’t looking for a “bailout”…
They have a plan to go and physically chop down trees, hew timbers,
And construct a new facility.
They are humble men willing to work, not supposing
That their calling earned for them a life without labor.
And they first run this plan past Elisha,
And he consents that it is a good idea.
BUT THEY DIDN’T JUST WANT HIS APPROVAL
(VERSES 3-4) “Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.” So he went with them; and when they came to the Jordan they cut down trees.”
They were not just interested in Elisha’s approval,
What they really wanted was Elisha’s presence.
And there again a continual theme has emerged.
Earlier we found them starving yet sitting at Elisha’s feet,
Now we find them working, yet still wanting Elisha there.
Elisha is not God, but Elisha is symbolic of God’s presence.
He was their teacher…
He introduced God to them…
Furthermore, God worked through him in a mighty way…
And these men had learned his value.
When most would have recruited lumberjacks and construction workers these men recruited a prophet of God.
And so please note that their desire was for God’s presence.
They wanted God involved in everything they did.
And you will see that it paid off.
#3 THEIR DELIVERANCE
2 Kings 6:5-7
As one man is chopping down a beam, he loses his axe head.
Now you and I know why.
These men aren’t loggers, they are preachers.
Ever seen a preacher chop wood?
Ordinarily it would have just been the cause of some embarrassment.
But remember these men are poor.
They didn’t have enough to buy food, let alone axes.
And so this axe was borrowed, and now that he lost the head,
He also did not have the means of repayment.
To us it may not seem like a major dilemma,
But to the man who did it, it was.
Let us there learn that God is interested in our lives
Not just with our major catastrophes.
Billy Graham’s prayer – “And let me find my hat.”
Our God is not just concerned about our major problems,
But all of our minor ones as well.
Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Paul doesn’t tell us to take care of our minor problems
But only to bring the major ones to God.
Paul said not to let anything cause us anxiety,
But to bring all of our requests to God.
1 Peter 5:6-7 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
He doesn’t tell us to cast some of our anxiety on God,
But to cast it all there.
It is the relationship of a child to a parent.
And kids understand this well.
Kids will drive you crazy presenting requests to you.
• They have learned that there is no need to look for shoes if mom is around, just ask here…
• They have learned that there is no need to get up and get a drink if mom is around, just ask here…
So it is with these prophets.
They made sure Elisha was near in case such an incident occurred.
And so they take the problem directly to him.
And you already know his solution.
(6) “he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float.”
A MIRACLE, BY DEFINITION,
Is something that transcends the laws of nature.
Many today claim miracles of things that are not miraculous.
They are the providence of God, but they are not miracles.
But Elisha worked miracles
And in many ways this is Elisha’s most undeniable miracle.
There are many skeptics in the world that love to explain away miracles.
William Barclay (renowned Scottish theologian) considered by many to be an expert on the New Testament.
He will drive you crazy explaining away the miracles in the Bible.
The gate that opened for Peter – “No need to see a miracle here.”
Jesus feeding the 5,000 – “Probably just inspired generosity in the crowd”
Jesus walking on water – “Probably close to shore so that it appeared to be so.”
But certainly it had also happened to Elisha.
“The widow probably just had more oil than she realized…”
“The prominent woman just finally got pregnant…”
“Her son probably wasn’t really dead, but only sick…”
“The stew wasn’t dangerous, it just tasted that way…”
And you can hear skeptics argue away his miracles.
Perhaps that is why this one is included.
There is no way to explain
How an axe head comes to float on the top of the water.
But the point of the story is this.
THEY WANTED ELISHA NEAR,
AND HIS PRESENCE PAID OFF.
Contrast them to Gehazi.
Gehazi wanted the world and he found ruin.
The sons of the prophets wanted God and they found deliverance.
We learn a valuable lesson from this.
And one that people have learned throughout the ages.
TURN TO: PSALMS 73
Don’t you love his concluding statement.
“The nearness of God is my good.”
Asaph learned true contentment.
I am fine with what I have as long as I have God.
TURN TO: EXODUS 33:1-17
Notice the people realizing that God
Was more important than the things of this world.
THE POINT IS THAT WHEN GOD IS AROUND,
PROBLEMS ARE NOT TOO BIG
AND SOLUTIONS ARE NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 11
This is a marvelous chapter
To teach us the value of having a desire for God and a trust in Him.
I want you to especially key on the term “not seen”.
It is a key word in this chapter.
We first see it used in the preachers definition of faith.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
In other words, true faith does not rest on measurable evidence.
Christians have no proof, they only have a promise.
By faith we believe what we do not see.
Now to many this would seem like a foolish thing.
• Why in the world would you believe something when you cannot see it?
• Why would you look at an impossible situation as though there is a solution?
Because our God is in the business
Of bringing what is seen out of what is unseen.
Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
If you need proof that God can change a situation, look at creation.
There was nothing and God made something come.
He has the power to speak into a situation
And bring forth what is seen out of what is unseen.
That is the basis for our faith.
And it is that faith that the ancients were commended for.
VERSE 7
• Noah had never seen rain…
• Noah had never seen a global killer…
But he knew God had the ability to bring forth what is seen out of what is unseen, and so he trusted God and it paid off.
VERSE 24-27
• Moses could see Pharaoh, he could not see God…
Yet Moses chose to fear God more,
Because He knew the unseen God had more power
Than the Pharaoh before his eyes.
And this is the point to all these saints.
When given the opportunity to choose
What they could see or to trust what they could not,
They chose to trust what they could not see.
They forsook what was seen and INVESTED in what was not seen, and they all reaped enormous benefits for it.
VERSES 13-16
And we learn from them, just as we learn from Asaph and Gehazi and the sons of the prophets.
Do not set your eye upon attaining this world,
There is only ruin and misery there.
Instead realize that “the nearness of God is my good”
And set your eye on Him.
Surrender what is seen for the sake of attaining what is “not seen”
And find the blessing of having God in the middle of your dilemma.
And so it is a simple decision.
Which is more valuable, the riches of the world, or the presence of God?
Which house are you investing in?
Psalms 73:25-28 “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.”
