Why did the bears kill 42 children?

[Timeo]

Passage 2 Kings 2:24:
24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

Often when i speak to others about christianity they use the quoted verse from the bible, and ask something like: "How can God be good, when you look at that?"

Anyone got a good explanation why these children got torn apart by bears just by saying the prophet was bold? This really make no sense for me.

[Father Rick]

I think you meant to say because the prophet was "bald", not "bold"... but I do understand your question here.

Before answering the specific issue, you need to back up and look at the overall context of the timing of this occurrence.

Yes, God is good... but God is also a God of justice and holiness. In the OT, we are dealing with a time before Christ had come-- so there were significant differences in the way in which God dealt with man's sinfulness. Let me try to explain:

In scripture we see a progressive revelation of God's nature. For us to understand His nature, God had to start with certain fundamental truths first.

The first thing we see revealed is that God is holy and man is not... and there is nothing that we can do to be holy. In the OT, we see all kinds of rules and regulations defining what is necessary for someone to be holy. Noone can keep all those regulations... it's is impossible for any man to, since we are sinful. God knew this from the beginning, but needed for man to learn that he couldn't be holy by himself. The just punishment for breaking any of those laws was/is death.

So... first we see in scripture "the Law" (also known as the Pentateuch, or the Books of Moses... the first 5 books of the OT). These are the books that show how God gave us the Law as well as what the Law is.

Next we have "the Writings". These are history books showing how the Jewish people tried to live in the light of the Law. These are the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. The Writings also include Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon which are poetry, music, etc. by the people reflecting their relationship with God. In this, we see a very real picture of what life was like for the Jewish people. Scripture doesn't gloss over anything... showing the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between.

After that, we have the Prophets. Here we see the messages from God repeatedly calling His people back to Law when they sin/fall away. The prophets both warned of the consequences of rejecting God's Law as well as sharing the promise of the coming Messiah.

Moving into the NT, we first have the Gospels showing how Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law for us, then, out of His great love for us, offered Himself as a sacrifice so that we don't have to suffer God's judgement, even though we still deserve it. He took all God's judgement on Himself... so that justice is served, yet God's love is shown. (It's not one or the other, but both simultaneously.)

Then we have the book of Acts, a history book of how the early Church lived out the reality of what Christ did for us. We have the Epistles, in which the apostles give practical explanation and exhortation of how to live in the light of Christ. And finally Revelations, a prophetic book showing the ultimate victory of Christ over all sin and death.


So... now that that is laid out, let's put this occurrence in it's proper context.

This happened in the OT, during a time when God's judgement/justice was seen but grace of Christ was not yet extended. The elders of the town had come to Elisha, as the prophet of God, asking for help because the water was bad which killed the crops. God used Elisha to perform a miracle, healing the water. As Elisha is leaving town, a crowd of teenagers followed him, mocking Elisha. The issue here wasn't just rudeness to Elisha, but also direct disrespect to the office of prophet (messenger from God), which they were clearly aware he held-- and by default, mocking God. Remember, the just punishment for sin is death. Here, this gang of "juvenile deliquents" were actively mocking God and His messenger. The consequence was judgement by God.

Thankfully today we have the grace of Christ to cover us.

[Timeo]

Thanks for answering, and yes I meant bald, not bold, I only have a couple of years of english education from school and I never paid much attention back then :)

But i still got some questions: Why would God care about mockery? This mockery can't possible harm him in any way, He is the same no matter what humans do or think. And would it not be better to just teach these children a lesson instead of killing them? I can't imagine that this is something that would cause less mockery from those hearing the story - this story about the bears is one of the favorite-verses of atheists that like to mock God. I just wish i had some water-proof explanation for it, cause its one of those things that make me sceptical some times too. It's hard to understand the wrath of God.

[Bouke285]

First off this story has been majorly misunderstood The smallness of these "children" is misunderstood. The Hebrew ne'arim qetanim can be translated "young lads" (NASB) Solomon was called a "little child" when he took the throne. These were not inocent little children but a band of rowdy teenagers. These irresponsible young men were taunting Elisha. Go up is a mockery of Elijah's translation. They may have refused to believe the report concerning Elijah, or they were wishing to be rid of Elisha. A bald head was thought to be a disgrace in the East, but this taunt may have been contrasting Elisha's baldness with Elijah's abundance of hair. Regardless, it was an insult to God's appointed prophet; so Elisha cursed them in the name of Jesus, and they were torn by bears. Note Moses' warning against apostasy in Leviticus 26:21-22 Ellison comments, "It can only have been the result of teaching of the lads' parents, who in the conception of the time were the chief sufferers from the punishment.

I got this out of KJV Bible commentary you should check it out. Most of it goes right along with what would seem to be the truith. Thought it was interesting and might give some more understanding to the age of the men.

[uhmiliekmudkipz]

hail satan and they would have lived