Unintentionally Humorous Texts: "Uh, Don’t Forget The Teacher!”

Introduction: In Elisha’s day, just after Elijah was taken to Heaven, much of Israel was still deeply committed to Baal-worship, courtesy of Ahab and Jezebel. A large number of Israelites also worshiped the golden calves which Jeroboam I had installed soon after becoming king. In spite of that, there were still a goodly number of the LORD’s followers, including a group of men who became prophets despite the risk.

As well intentioned as these student prophets were, they were still human enough to make a king sized mistake, as we’ll see.

Text: 2 Kings 6:1-4a, KJV: 1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 2 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. 3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 4 So he went with them.

The history

Elisha seemed to be living at Samaria (2 Kings 2:25) but made trips throughout Israel (the ten northern tribes, not Judah). He had come to Gilgal (2 Kings 4:38) and was staying with a group of student prophets. These men rank among the truly unsung heroes of that day, trying to communicate the Word of the LORD among their countrymen who had gone to idol worship.

The good-bad problem is that so many students were there, they needed more space! One of the student representatives, we might say, approached Elisha and said, “We’d like to move closer to the Jordan where we can find timber and live there.” There was still a famine going on, it seems (see 2 Kings 4:38-44) so this seemed like a reasonable request.

Elisha replied, “Go ahead (paraphrased).”

Silence.

Then, one of the students realized they may have forgotten something, or someone!

The humor

In the rush to get Elisha’s approval for the new “dormitory”, they had forgotten to see if Elisha wanted to go along with them! To his credit, one of these students said in so many words, “Uh, guys, don’t you think we should invite Elisha to come along with us?”

Talk about remote learning—it’s been around for thousands of years! Now, the other prophets may have thought that since Elisha was living in Samaria, he may not have had the time to live with these prophets. There was also a school of the prophets in Bethel (2 Kings 2:3) and at Jericho, of all place (2 Kings 2:5) so they may have thought

Elisha would stay there.

But to his credit, this one lone student reminded the others, “Hey, don’t forget the teacher!” and Elisha agreed to go with these men to the new location.

I’m reminded of a poem someone quoted many years ago. All I can remember are the last couple of lines, something like “don’t be so busy doing the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work!” These prophets almost made the same mistake, seeking Elisha’s permission without asking for Elisha’s presence!

There’s a lesson in this text somewhere for all of us, no?

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)