Elisha's Ministry - The Miraculous Floating Axe Head 2 Kings 6:1-7 Series

Indeed, God’s mighty works were displayed, through the axe head and the man born blind, and through Elisha. He worked as long as it was day, meaning, while the opportunity and time were given to him by God, then he was about God’s business. That is what the Lord did, according to John.

I want to come back to this man again. He did not dive into the water to look for it. He did not get a long stick to poke around the bottom. He did not sit down in remorse to try to develop some plan. What did he do? “Alas, my master, for it was borrowed.” When an item is borrowed and damaged, you feel greater responsibility than if it was yours alone. Letting Elisha know was actually letting God know. God knows for He already knew, in any case. He knows the end from the beginning. The tadpole in difficulty, thrashes around in the shallows, while close to it there is a deeper crevice it overlooks. Christians can thrash about in difficulties, in spite of the fact, that close to them is the Rock of Ages. God must be our first resort, not the last. The man who lost the axe head knew that. Elisha was to intervene, and in doing so, he was implementing the will of God.

2Kings 6 v 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” and when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float, 2Kings 6:7 and he said, “Take it up for yourself,” so he put out his hand and took it.

O, yes! Can’t you hear the mockers? Many are the critics who would laugh at this story. These mockers talk about a stretch of the imagination. Yet, at the same time, they tenaciously hold to their delusion that the entire universe was once something the size of a grain of sand, and for some reason it exploded. And how did that grain of sand get there in the first place? Well, “It made itself!” they say. These are the very same ignorant people who would mock Elisha. (Don’t forget about God’s two she-bears!) Believe me, it is God who laughs at them. Listen to these verses from Psalm 2 - Psalm 2 v 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed: Psa 2:3 “Let us tear their fetters apart, and cast away their cords from us!” Psa 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them.

The solution was totally unexpected. Elisha was led to use a stick for the recovery. Naaman had to dip in the water to cure his leprosy. Oil was supplied by constant pouring of a tiny amount at first, for the widow. Poisonous stew was converted by adding meal for the sons of the prophets. We could say that the means was not important because God was the Creator, and just His spoken word brought a universe into existence. Elisha wanted to know the precise place where the axe head had fallen. We need to be specific when approaching God or praying. Casting our bread upon the water is . . . . but be specific in need.

The axe head floated, but the man needed to stretch out his arm and hand to bring it into his possession. The Hebrew means Elisha made the axe head float (swim = KJV). I think God often supplies the solution but we have a part too. Stretch out our hand and take up the provision. The man who stood before Jesus with the withered hand would never have had healing, unless he stretched out his hand in response to the Lord’s command. The staff Moses had thrown on the ground became a serpent but he had to stretch out his hand in faith to take the serpent’s tail for it to become a staff again. There are times we need to take the serpent’s tail. It is faith that does that. Faith must rest in God for the solution to happen.