A MIRACLE GOD HAS FOR YOU
(The Miracle of The Water at Jericho)
2 Kings 2:19-2:22
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. The story is told that between heaven and hell there was a fence. The inmates of hell had a big fight and damaged part of the fence.
2. Peter called the devil and said, “It was fighting on your side that damaged the fence, so I’m expecting you to fix the fence.” The devil agreed.
3. But a long time passed without the fence being fixed. Finally, Peter called the devil and said, “If you don’t fix that fence by next week, I’m going to take you to court and file a lawsuit against you!”
4. The devil laughed and said, “Oh Yeah? And just where do you think you’re going to get a lawyer?”
B. TEXT
“Then the men of the city said to Elisha, ‘Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.’ And he said, ‘Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.’ So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, ‘Thus says the LORD: I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’ So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.” 2 Kings 2:19-22
C. THESIS
1. Where is the least likely place would you except God to perform a miracle? We often think that miracles happen to other people but not to us. But frequently God chooses the most unlikely has called the most unlikely people and places to perform miracles.
2. Illustration: An alcoholic became a believer. He was asked how he could possibly believe all the nonsense in the Bible about miracles. A skeptic said, "You don’t believe that Jesus changed the water into wine do you?" "I sure do, because in our house Jesus changed the whiskey into furniture."
3. The greatest miracle is when a life is transformed by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
I. THE MERCY OF THE MIRACLE
A. JERICHO: A CURSED CITY
1. Behind this story is a long history. When Joshua and the Israelites entered Palestine, the first and greatest opposition they met was Jericho. Jericho was one of the oldest cities in the world, being first occupied about 9,000 B.C. It was a pagan city, with rampant idolatry, prostitution, and every other kind of evil. It stood as a symbol of a world without God, and as such, it was under a sentence of divine judgment.
2. It was the strongest city in Palestine, with double walls 32 feet high, the first wall 6 feet thick and the second wall 12 feet thick. It was a crowded city and had NEVER been conquered throughout its long history. The only way the Israelites conquered it was that God supernaturally made the walls fall down.
3. After its fall, Joshua & God cursed it; "Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: "At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates" (Joshua 6:26). It was really more of a prophecy than a curse.
4. It had lain in ruins over 500 years (1451 B.C. – 910 B.C.) until the evil reign of King Ahab, when Hiel the Bethelite fulfilled the terrible prophecy, “In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun” (I Kings 16:34).
5. The city was rebuilt, but the spring and the soil upon which its prosperity depended still remained unhealed. The location and surroundings of the city were beautiful, but the water was bad and the land “miscarried.” The unusual word used here indicates that the water caused expectant mothers to miscarry or their children to be stillborn.
B. THE PEOPLE WERE HELPLESS
1. The situation created a sense of helplessness. Though generations had lived there and attempted to correct its deadly detriments, the struggle was useless; the land was barren and the water bitter. No effort by the people could remove the curse.
2. How striking is the image of godless civilization, stately and imposing, yet lacking the means to cure the spring of the corrupt human heart!
C. WE ARE UNDER A CURSE AND ARE HELPLESS
1. The Bible tells us that we, individually, are in the same trouble, spiritually, as Jericho.
2. Until we surrender to Jesus, we’re also under a curse, for God’s word says, “Cursed is the one who does not fulfill all the words of the Law...” Deut. 27:26. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and come short of God’s glory” and “The soul that sins – it shall die.” (Rom. 6:23; Ezekiel 18:20). Terrible judgment awaits us after death.
3. We, like Jericho, can’t change our situation. THE CORRUPTED WATERS = THE HUMAN HEART.
Peter said, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” Acts 3:19.
II. THE MANNER OF THE MIRACLE
The people of Jericho asked the Prophet Elisha for help. This would be Elisha’s first miracle after taking up Elijah’s prophetic mantle.
A. THE TRUST & OBEDIENCE OF ELISHA
1. Why salt? Salt is a strange substance to add to bad water. Scientifically, salt would make the ground more barren, not less. And pure salt water cannot be drunk without harmful effects. So why salt?
2. God was testing the prophet to see if he would follow instructions that seemed illogical. We must follow His leading, even if we don’t have complete knowledge. We often won’t know the reasons ‘why’ until later.
B. WHAT DOES THIS SCENE REPRESENT?
1. This is a picture of God healing the cursed nations who are barren and corrupt. The new bowl equals a fresh vessel, free from defilement. This vessel represents Jesus Christ. The salt represents the living truth of the Gospel which, when thrown into the world, has the power to heal and cleanse it. This not only pictures what Jesus did, but what God will accomplish through the church.
2. Jesus told us to “Have salt in yourselves” (Mark 9:50). Christians are to be revolutionized by the gospel. “Be not conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed…” Rom. 12:2. We must experience a “metamorphosis.”
3. Our saltiness is the transforming nature of the truth and God’s Spirit operating in us. It’s the water turned to wine, the yeast penetrating the dough, the new wine expanding to destroy old wineskins, the shekinah glory manifested in an earthly tent. If we lose the provocative nature of the divine life, we’re good for nothing except to be thrown out for people to walk on!
4. Jesus told us we’re to be “The Light of the world” and “The salt of the earth,” that is, to be a salty influence on the world around us. We have the obligation to change our world!
C. WHAT THE SALT REPRESENTS
1. Salt is a PRESERVATIVE. In the days before refrigerators, putting salt on meats was one of the few ways available to keep meat from rotting or decaying.
2. Salt is PENETRATING. In foods heavily salted (salt pork), you can taste the salt throughout the meat. It dissolves in water and dominates its taste.
3. Salt is POTENT/POWERFUL. It is very strong tasting; only a little bit is necessary. Pure salt is concentrated; it’s sharp, biting.
4. This salt represents our new divine life which kills out the old fallen nature in us, and grows to influence every area of our lives.
D. THE CHANGE WHICH OCCURRED
1. The outcome of Elisha’s prophetic action was that the world’s waters were purified by the salt. This prophetically indicates that the church will not fail to fulfill its duty to reach and revolutionize the world, at least those who’re open to change.
2. How did the salt change Jericho?
a. It changed the water:
1). From bitter to sweet
2). Unusable to useful
3). Thirsty to satisfied
4). Permanent change: “The waters were healed unto this day” (2 Kings 2:22).
b. It changed the barren land
1). From dead to alive
2). from fruitless to fruitful
3). from emptiness to fullness
III. THE MESSIAH AND THE MIRACLE
A. JESUS HIMSELF DEMONSTRATED LOVE TO THE PEOPLE OF JERICHO
The Law, given by Joshua, said that no one should ever go to Jericho again, but grace spoke through Elisha and later by the Lord Jesus, who Himself went to the place of cursing and imparted blessing. Instead of remembering their past and holding it against them, he accepted them for what they were then. He had Mercy and forgiveness.
B. HE WORKED IN JERICHO. We know of at least three things he did there:
1. He taught the parable of the good Samaritan
2. He saved Zacchaeus
3. He healed blind Bartimaeus
CONCLUSION
A. WHAT’S YOUR COMMITMENT LEVEL?
1. Pliny the Elder, was a Roman writer who lived during the same time period as Jesus. He told a story of the setting-up of an obelisk, which when erect would stand 99 feet tall.
2. 20,000 workers where chosen to pull on the ropes and activate the hoisting apparatus. There was great responsibility and risk in the operation. Just one error could cause the obelisk to fall, ruining years of work.
3. The King demanded one act which insured the complete attention and best direction of the engineer. He ordered the engineer's own son to be strapped to the apex of the obelisk, so that his heart as well as his head would be given to the task. [Pulpit Helps, August, 1992, p. 14.]
B. ALTAR CALL
1. God has a miracle for you! But God also has a requirement of you – you must surrender your life to Jesus Christ! Have you done that?
2. Just as God healed the waters of Jericho, God desires to heal your life. How many of you need something in your life to change? Let’s pray!
