See me after class

by Ben

I read 2 Kings 5-8.

There are lots of miracles in this section! People healed of leprosy (while enemies contract it), a fiery army scares off the army of Aram, the mere sound of a non-existent army scares off the Arameans again (feeding the Samarians during a time of famine), and many predictions of the prophet Elisha come true.

All of this section is written without God being the subjective noun. He is mentioned, but never from an active voice. Example: When Elisha is prophesying, he says, "But the Lord has shown me..." No where in this section does the text show God to be active. We don't get anything like in early texts (Joshua), "The Lord spoke to Joshua..." We get our descriptions of God through the human characters as opposed to from the authors. This seems interesting to me. Anytime you have a change in style, I think it is worth noting. We do get explanation from the author regarding the miracles that happen, but these are merely attributing the success of prophecies, not saying anything regarding God carrying them out. This shifts the focus from God to the godly men or men of God, specifically Elisha. Several times within this section, Elisha is referred to as "the man of God."

On my way to work this morning (when I normally listen to Christian radio), I prayed aloud in the car (I haven't prayed aloud in a long time). I realize that I feel compelled to lead a life of service for God, yet I find myself conflicted at what that means. I have never been more fully aware of God's presence, yet there are times when I lapse and completely forget even to think about God. I wish I could be like Elisha is in this section- always viewed as a man of God. I know that it is possible that I am like Elisha (in another way entirely). Elisha may have been viewed as a man of God and struggled like I do (he was human). Yet, we don't get that side of him. David and Solomon seemed like authentic characters to me, at least they were portrayed that way. You see their strengths and their weaknesses. Elisha comes across to me as flat; we don't see all of his depth.

I feel like I'm analyzing a student's writing. For me, these stories of Elisha are nice (and often feel-good), but don't feel authentic to me, because of Elisha's lack of flaws. Why, oh why is it written this way! Part of me thinks of Paul's letters, written certain ways to inspire certain people. Or the gospel of John, written so unapologetically to build up spiritual connections. The writing styles say so much depending on their purpose. I wish I knew more about the purpose of this style of writing as compared with that of just a few books earlier.