>>"At first reading, the breif account in these three verses is very
>>troubling. A prophet calling on bears to maul children? But, in this
>>instance, historical background an precise translation help cast the event
>>in a different light. Bethel was a hotbed of Baal worship, and its
residents
>>were engaged in a life-and-death struggle with true prophets of God. When
>>the youths called out, "Go on up you baldhead!" they were likely refering
to
>>what just happened to the prophet Elijah-- they were calling for Elisha to
>>vanish into the sky, or in other words, to die. Furtheremore, the word
>>translated youths usually refers to young people in their late teens. In
>>actuality, a large gang of teenagers was threatening a prophet's life.
>>Elisha cursed them, but there is no indication he actually called for a
bear
>>attack."
>Nice try, but I prefer to take the bible literally or not at all.
>And I don't think you can fault me for that.
That is a literal reading. You accuse God of doing wrong because you use it
in the context of God just wanting to beat poor children. Nice flip of the
coin. Each verse of the Bible goes hand in hand, therefore you must look to
Ezekeil's message in 18:25-32 and you must remember Christs words in the
Gospel "Suffer ye not these little children...". That is literal.
So my question is how do you figure that you are reading it literally? I
suggest that you do some research. I thought you were an apologetics major,
I guess this proves me wrong.
>>If they were children why were they not with their parents or in school?
>Because they were out playing?
Good question. No. Read the context in the origional Aramaic. If you bother
to understand Jewish history, you would come to the conclusion that those
children where not out playing. I would also like to point out that the word
'youths' in this instance means people in their late teens. They were quite
responsible for their actions and they knew that the consequences could mean
death. I am sure that if they had apologized and repented they would have
been spared, maybe that is why the Bible mentions 42 and not all were
mauled.
>>These "youths" were of age to understand and know how to poke fun at God
and
>>the man they knew was doing the work of God. God judged them then, they
had
>>their chance but they chose not to take it, which is one of the reasons
why
>>we are so fortunate to live in the age a a grace dispensation.
>Even if they were teenagers, God was criminally harsh.
They knew the consequences and they had the opportunity to repent. It was at
that time that they recieved God's judgement. I suggest you take some
courses in the old testament.
In Him,
-JDF-
jfern@ltsrv.ltnet.kelly.af.mil