Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 March 1911 — Bears as God's Avengers [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Bears as God's Avengers

NE of the Bible passages that infidels criticise most | hotly Is the) of the killing of 42 Bethel children by two bears because the

children- had-Insulted ~the young prophet Elisha. “How cruels” cry the critics; “how dlsproportioned the penalty to the offense! What a bloody, unjust book is the Bible!" But the criticism results from misapprehension. For, in the first place, we must remember that the episode was at the very beginning of Elisha’s career. He was in a difficult position as a young man succeeding an old man, a pupil succeeding a teacher, a man with little or no reputation taking up the work of ,the acknowledged leader of the nation. In such a case the first moments tell on all succeeding days. If Elisha had allowed ridicule and contempt at the start, his life , n_i i jiiii mu jinl il >!■«■ akaw -mil-j ~■*- ■ - 1 worn, wuuiq nave ueen rinueq. In the second place we must remember that It was not a horde of Infants that insulted Elisha, but of boys old enough to know better, and perhaps even of young men. The word j translated “children” is applied to Joseph at the time when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, to Solomon when he was 20 years old, to Joshua when he was Moses’ chief assistant, and to Jer- I emlah when, in his young manhood, he was called to be a prophet. Besides, the boys were doubtless reflecting the common sentiment and were backed up by the opinion of all Bethel. , Term of Peculiar Reproach.

In the third place the cry, “Thou bald head,” was peculiarly offensive, since the Orientals regard baldness as a disgrace. It is not likely that Elisha, being a young man, was actually bald. The term was equivalent to “Thou uncleanness, thou leper!” In the fourth place the cry of the boys was a direct Insult to Elisha as a prophet and to the God whom he represented. “Go up,” the meaning is, “as you lyingly say Elijah went up; and the sooner we are rid of you the better!” - —-

In the fifth place it is not said that the bears killed the lads, but only that they “tore” them. They would be sufficiently punished by the rending of their clothes apd their flesh. ■“ t 4n the sixth place, the opportune intervention of the two bears Is proof that God was on the side of Elisha, and in criticising the event we are criticising God. In the seventh place, If the happening had not commended itself to the common conscience as just—and consciences then were much as they are now—Elisha’s influence would have been ruined; but he seems to have been more beloved and honored than the sterner Elijah, and the general impression we gain from the other details of his life is of a kind, mildmannered man, all of whose miracles were deeds of helpfulness, mainly concerned with such small matters as a lost axe head, an unhealthful spring and poisoned pottage. Rebuke of Irreverence. Finally, considered from any viewpoint, the incident was a powerful rebuke of irreverence. It must have sent awe through Bethel and all Israel. The entire nation became more thoughtful and serious because of those bears and the punishment of those rude children.

Shall the lesson stop with the days 3f Elisha? It is surely needed now. If ever. With our new feeling of liberty, our new regard for children, the new freedom and naturalness of family life, the father’s absorption In business and the mother’s devotion to her clubs, children are allowed. In the home, church, Sunday school and on the street, a familiarity and Independence of manner that would have shocked our 'grandfathers beyond measure. To their elders also the minister is no longer the great man of the village and the church is no longer a place for reverence and the Bible Is tumbled about like any other book. On every hand we hear the cry, “Go up, thou bald head!”

Bears are in the woods—two mighty bears! Irreverence leads to two rreat evils. Infidelity and despair—'without hofie and without God." Those bears tear not our clothes and our flesh hut our very souls. Ah, let us cover our mouths and those of our children. Let learn to remove our shoes In the holy place and to bend our stubborn backbones. Let us get that fear of Lord whlcfi is at least the beginning of the love of the Lord, and the initial point ot all wisdom.