2 Kings 2:23-25

"Get out of here, baldy!" they said. "Get out of here, baldy!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria" (2 Kings 2:23-25).

Question:

I need help interpreting this. Calling a curse in the name of the Lord is offensive to me. Probably just semantics. So the bears are not literal but a mind consciousness? God = Love. After the bears mauled the consciousness of the boys, the boys recognized and returned to their true nature? Why would this not be considered a blessing rather than a curse?

Comment:

I admire your efforts to rationally interpret this melodramatic passage. It is an early story about the prophet Elisha, who has just received the mantle of Elijah, who has been carried up to heaven in a chariot. The writer of 2 Kings seems eager to establish the fact that Elisha was every bit as powerful a prophet as his better-known predecessor had been. I think that 'calling a curse in the name of the Lord" means simply that the prophet was emphasizing the spiritual truth that choices have consequences, and negative choices such as insulting a prophet—or anyone, for that matter—will result in painful consequences. Whether or not the boys accepted the lesson and changed their consciousness isn't indicated, but at least they have learned the essential spiritual lesson that their words have more power than they may have realized.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed