This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Life of Elisha” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, October 23, 1988.
About this sermon
The series opens in the aftermath of Elijah’s ascension, read as a signpost toward the heavenly kingdom against the existentialist’s flat despair. Elisha’s cleansing of the poisoned spring becomes, in this light, a picture of the living water John sees flowing from the throne in Revelation 22.
Sermon transcript
Tonight we are in 2 Kings 2. We will be reading a few verses there and then turning over to the book of Revelation, the last chapter in the Bible, to read some verses there. This is 2 Kings 2 verses 19 through 22. Then the men of the city said to Elisha, Behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is untruthful.
And Elisha said, Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. And he went out to the spring of water, and he threw salt in it, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have purified these waters. There shall not be from their death or unfruitfulness any longer. So the waters have been purified to this day according to the word of Elisha, which he spoke.”
Then, from Revelation chapter 22, Beginning with verse one, we’ll read the first five verses of this wonderful, glorious chapter. And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its stream, and on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his bondservants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. and there shall no longer be any night, and they shall not have need of the light of the lamp, nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them, and they shall reign forever and ever.”
Our Father, in your Church, you have established that which pleases you, an order, so that confusion may be chased and peace may prevail. Truly, our Father, you have established for your Church that office of the ministry of the Word, and we are beseeching you that that office may be honored. and that glory may be given to you as, in fact, the ministration of that office is received.
But we also rejoice, our God, that you have blessed your church with the office of rule. And we ask you, Lord, that those who are given that office in your church, not only here but in every place where you are called upon in truth, that those who have been given that office may in fact be zealous to oversee the life of the people so that care may be supplied. And Lord, beyond that, that the word itself and the office of the ministry may be guarded. To this end, Lord, raise up for your people many who can proclaim that word effectively with integrity. and also many who can offer rule and responsible leadership for your people. And what a blessing this will be. Truly, Lord, you have blessed this congregation in these matters in times past, and even now we are looking to you for your strength and encouragement.
That in all places of your dominion throughout this world where your church is established May this order be observed to the glory of your name, for in it the ministry of Jesus Christ is shown forth. We ask this in his name. Amen. Tonight we begin what will be a continuation of the old series, but a new series nonetheless.
We move from the life and times of Elijah to the life and times of Elisha. Do you have in your mind, well fixed now, where Elisha is at this point in 2 Kings? Do you know the name of the city that is in view in verses 19 through 22. Elisha is at Jericho. Now, we know a little bit about Jericho, don’t we?
We know, for instance, that Jericho was that magnificently fortified city that sat on the west banks or in the western regions of the land of promise. Actually the western bank of the Jordan, the eastern part of the land of promise. But as a fortified city, it sat as a fortress, a citadel at the entrance at the gate of the land through which then the people of God were to enter in the days of Joshua. You know the story of Joshua and Jericho and how the walls came tumbling down. Well, if you were to look at the account of the destruction of Jericho, that’s found for you in Joshua chapter 6, you would notice that in the 26th verse of that 6th chapter of Joshua, we are told that God pronounced a curse upon that site, the site of the city, and that that city was not to be rebuilt. And cursed would be that one who did rebuild it, for he would rebuild it at the cost of his own family, losing both his oldest and his youngest sons. Jericho, then, is a city that symbolizes, signals for us, a number of truths.
We could speak about it as it is that sentinel, that fortress at the gate of the land of promise. As it were, something of a mighty testament, a mighty testament to the forces of evil, wickedness, entrenched within the ultimate destiny of the people of God. In an alternate sense, speaking to us about not just enemies of flesh and blood, but principalities, powers, spiritual wickedness in high places, entrenched in the inheritance of God, as it were, keeping us from our entrance into our final destination.
We could approach the city from that point of view, but there’s another way to approach this city as it is dealt with here in this story, and that is as it becomes a symbol of that which is irretrievably lost. Irretrievably lost. That which seems to be then permanently under God’s wrath and curse, under his just sentence, under his judgment. The city itself epitomizes wickedness. All that would rise up against God against the knowledge of God, against the intention and purpose of God. And now, this city, having been destroyed, coming then to our attention as a symbol of that which is irretrievably lost under a band, beneath God’s wrath and curse. Cursed be anyone that attempts to rebuild this city.
Now, an extension of this image that has been given to us as we connect the city of Jericho with that which is irretrievably lost is what we find here concerning the wells, the springs, the fountains, for the city of Jericho. For undoubtedly, this curse by God is focused in the fact that the wells of Jericho are themselves reflecting the curse that has been pronounced upon the city.
Note what is said, the water is barren, the land is barren, produces nothing. That then, as we approach the city, what we would consider, first of all. But we have a complication here, and it enters, of course, from the 16th chapter of 1 Kings, and the story there from the 34th verse of that chapter of Hiel, H-I-E-L, a Bethelite who comes down from the hill country north of Jerusalem to the plain, the Jordan plain, to the site of Jericho, and he sets about to rebuild the city. And sure enough, sure enough, according to the word of God, uttered in Joshua, chapter 6, verse 26, Hiel lays the foundation and sees the towers and walls built with the deaths of his firstborn and his lastborn.
Intrude, then, upon this picture of wrath which is irretrievably under the band, irretrievably lost beneath God’s wrath and curse. Intruding upon that is this effort of man as he rises up in all of his pride, knowing what God’s Word has said, yet resolutely denying the effectiveness of that ban, almost as if he were some sort of present-day modernist, who lays aside the Word of God and proceeds to do exactly what God has cursed, or exactly what God has forbidden, without any thought that his actions will bring upon him the just and certain sentence of the Lord. God has then placed the city under the ban. The city is irretrievably lost, but man rises up, resolutely determined to rebuild what God has cursed, led on, driven on by his utopian visions, that he can, in the end, renovate the world, renovate the city of man, rebuild the earth, even though God is cursed. Even though God is cursed.
Now the complication here continues, because if we back up in that second chapter of 2 Kings, we know full well that Jericho had become one of the cities on the prophet’s circuit. And the reason was because there was a pocket of prophets at Jericho. They had come to Jericho too, maybe because they understood what was said by the men of the city to Elisha, it’s a pleasant place to live, who knows. At any rate, it’s as if we have here in the scene portrayed for us the world in a microcosm, a microcosmic picture portrait of the world at large.
Men then endeavoring to Reclaim what God has cursed. Rebuild what God has placed under a ban. And there, also, the testimony to God in the presence of his prophets, with the presence of his servants, as they would hopefully bring the word of God to bear even there.
It could be also. that the band of prophets misunderstands the intention of God with regard to the world, and that seems to be fairly the case as we review their attitudes and ideas. You remember, it was this band of prophets from Jericho that pled with Elisha, send out send out a company to do a reconnaissance mission to look for the body of Elijah. Maybe the spirit took him up, dropped him on a mountain somewhere, left him in a valley. The band of the prophets at Jericho didn’t quite understand the ultimate intentions of God.
For in the translation of Elijah from this world out of this world, the ultimate intention of God was made plain. from this world to the next, and that’s the destiny for the people of God. Keep that in mind. I am not here advocating some sort of policy of world flight, but I am telling you where your destiny is. It is precisely in that place to which Elijah came by route of the spirit and the fiery chariots with the fiery horses. heaven above. And the prophets you see, the prophets from Jericho, didn’t understand this. They don’t seem to comprehend this. So what is it as the prophets go to Jericho?
These religious people, these religious leaders, these who have the name of Jehovah on their You would trust them, would you not? They may even come to you with the name of the Trinity upon their lips, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Why, they seem orthodox, yet they are in league, possibly. They are in league with those who have Utopian fantasies, so that culture and the leaders of culture with religion and the leaders of religion join hands across the table as they then construct the kind of establishment with which we are all too familiar. Priests and Presidents. Candidates and Preachers. are pursuing the same thing. Rebuilding, retrieving Jericho. Man’s efforts. Man’s efforts. But what is the verdict on man’s efforts?
You might marvel at the progress of science and say, well, we’re certainly not faced with the same predicament as the people of Jericho so many centuries ago. Because technology now, in our day and age, can actually Heal the waters through science. But you see, in that day, what stands out here in this story, testifying to the futility of man’s efforts, is the fact that the waters are not healed and man can’t heal them. You see, the testament to God’s irretrievable, irrevocable sentence and judgment remains, focused in the water, in the springs, in the fountains for the city. And despite the fact that the city walls are being rebuilt, and the city politicians have city government back on its feet, and they have joined hands with the religious establishment. Despite all of this, despite the fact that it was a pleasant place to live, yet the testimony to God’s curse and His wrath continues.
Man, by his efforts, by his cleverness, ingenuity, cannot heal He cannot make that which is unbearable, unbearable. That which is unfruitful, fruitful. He cannot ultimately turn things around. You are faced then, you are faced then with the utter hopelessness of the situation.
That utter hopelessness, grounded in God’s justice, that utter hopelessness is terrible wrath unleashed against sin and rebellion. The cities are built The governments are organized. The utopian fantasy pursued by culture and by religion. But the testimony continues. The circumstance, the situation is utterly, completely, thoroughly hopeless. Hopeless.
Thank God for Joseph Conrad. And a little book called The Heart of Darkness. Not that he was a Christian. But God is pleased to use even one like him to expose the facade of man’s vanity. Thank God for Sigmund Freud. Oh, it may well be proved that in the end he was a charlatan fraud, that he did call attention to the beast within, despite the facade of society. Thank God for Friedrich Nietzsche. Strange words from a Pope, isn’t it? Thank God for the existentialists. They won’t tell you the truth. The situation, they say, is hopeless. Hopeless. John Paul Sartre says, no exit. No exit.
Now you can dress it up. You can call it Republican, Democrat. You can call it Socialism, Capitalism. You can call it sophistication. You can thank your lucky stars that we’re not barbarians anymore. And you can look at the relative values of the pleasant places in which we live. Just like the people of Jericho looked at their circumstance. But please don’t be deceived. Don’t be deceived by skyscrapers. Don’t be deceived by the apparent pleasantness. The truth is, the world is eugenic. That’s the truth. Under God’s wrath and curse and just sentence, and irretrievably lost, because of his judgment. But that’s not the end of the story, is it?
For it’s not just man who has intruded here upon the plain of the Jordan into the region of Jericho, but now there comes this one who bears the word who is so connected with the Word that in his person it says, if he was the walking Word. Elisha, the prophet of God, the one in whom we can see the very patterns of the coming Christ, the one in whom we can see the very patterns of the coming Spirit of God. So here is the hopelessness amidst all of the vanities of man, all of the pretentiousness, all of the fantasies that are concocted within his brain and by his heart. Into that now there strides the servant of God, the servant of the living God, this one in whom we can see the patterns of the coming Savior, the coming Deliverer, that one in whom there will be given life, that one in whom there is hope. In fact, there is hope in no one else.
Although the sentence has been spoken, and it has been read out upon all of the earth, irretrievably lost, I tell you that, I tell you that, from the garden of Eden. Irretrievably lost, yet now there intrudes the servant of God who bears with him the life-giving word.”
He asks for the new cup, not an old cup, a new cup, one that hasn’t been used, one untainted, unsoiled, one that hasn’t been corrupted, placed in it that which symbolizes purity, Preservation. And with this cup, with that salt, he addresses the wells. And now, by the word of God, that which was irretrievably lost is regained.
Reclaim. Because the people of Jericho were inherently worthy of this ministration, because they deserved such kindness, mercy, and grace? Not on your life! wholly unmerited, there intrudes upon them then this ministry, this service, by which then salvation is effected and the waters are healed. The work of God.
And with it there comes, yes, through the image of the salt and also with the statement of Elisha himself that there shall be from this well no longer death or unfruitfulness, as if a permanence had settled in upon the circumstance. Previously, permanently, eternally lost. Now, permanently, eternally saved. So the waters were purified as it is to this day.
Verse 22. It’s grand. It’s magnificent. And it’s all beginning to press itself upon you as you hear it. Why? Because this is not just the story of a sinner. This is not just the story of a group of people that lived many, many years ago in Palestine. This is your story. Not just a city. The world. Not just those people. You. You were irretrievably lost. in a circumstance of utterly hopeless. I expect God to be true with the living word, and heal me, and save me. Now, there’s a little more here, and if you’ll be patient with me. I know that this is a long sermon on four verses. But bear with me for just one more thought.
We might walk away from this story thinking that its intention, finally, is merely to convey to us the idea that what we need is renovation. refurbishment. What Jericho needs is a renovation so that old orders are propped up and made permanent, so that they are established and maintained in a perfection along the lines of the order of the things of this world. as if you see all that is necessary is taking some stuff of this creation, like salt, putting it in something else of this creation, like a new cup, and merely administrating, or administering this potion to the springs and healing them. But as the imagery that is connected with this story explodes upon the pages of the Old Testament, you realize it’s not simply a renovation or refurbishing of the old or the administration of something that belongs to the order of this world to materials of this world so that the structures and the attitudes and the establishments of this world may continue. No, you see, in the ultimate use of the images that arise out of this story, what you are dealing with is no mere renovation, but displacement. For it won’t be simply a healing of the waters of this world, but the displacement of the waters with the waters that flow forth from the throne of God.
There is a river that streams hereof, make glad to see it go. Psalm 46. Ezekiel chapter forty seven, the first twelve verses, read about it there. The river that flows forth from the New Temple, that actually heals all the streams displacing them. And out of Zechariah, eventually Jonathan will get to the fourteenth chapter and the eighteenth verse that speaks the eighth verse, rather, that speaks about the living ones that displace the old. And what is it that we read of in the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22?
Not of just another stream that is added to all the other streams, speaking about things as if they were on the same level, the plane of this world. No, it’s a river that flows forth from the throne of God displacing the rivers of this creation. How wonderfully it is all personalized by Jesus in Samaria talking to a woman beside a well. If you knew who it was who was speaking to you, you would ask for him and he would give you living water. And if you drank of that water, you would never be thirsty again. So it is.
Not just propping up the old, cleaning up things, getting our lives in order, applying ourselves a little more. Not some religion of effort along those lines, no. God’s intrusion means No mere renovation but displacement. The old gives way to the new. The old man comes, the new man comes. The old world passes away, the new world comes. And already that new world is asserting itself. And the evidences of the presence of that new world are right here.
You. For you were irretrievably lost under God’s just wrath and condemnation. You were a veritable Jericho, but now the one who bears the living word has come to you. You have drunk legally of the wellspring of eternal life, and you have been made new. it’s true and I don’t even care whether you feel it tonight that’s the ultimate truth about yourself and my job is to tell you that and to encourage you to live in light of it If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation.
Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. How great your grace, Lord, we irretrievably lost, now reclaimed. And that through the service of one greater than Elisha, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life upon the cross so that our sins may be forgiven. who gave himself and then was raised again so that he could dispense the spirit from on high that spirit himself being a veritable wellspring of living water so that our hopelessness has given way to eternal life Praise be to our God.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.