December 19th
THE RESTITUTION OF THE BORROWED AXE
Scripture: 2 Kings 6: 5-7
1 And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
3 And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go.
4 So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
5 But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
6 And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
7 Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
While cutting down a tree, the axe head fell into the water. Cutting down is translated "cut off" in two very interesting Scriptures. They read:
Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Lamentations 3:54 Waters flowed over mine head; [then] I said, I am cut off.
The axe head is also called "the iron" in the verse 6 above. Iron speaks to will and strength. Upon closer examination a picture of Redemption emerges from this whole situation from start to finish. A living tree (Jesus Christ) was cut down. His will and strength or His essence became one with the water or Word of God. They are at Jordan which means to descend. One left a high place and to go to a low place. That is precisely what Jesus did. Ephesians 4:9 reminds us, "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?" But, one might ask, how does the term borrowed fit here? Webster defines "borrow" as "to take from another by request and consent, with a view to use the thing taken for a time, and return it." Jesus completed His earthly ministry and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God_(Hebrews 12:2).
Continued