December 20TH
THE RESTITUTION OF THE BORROWED AXE (Continued)
Scripture: 2 Kings 6: 1-7
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.
Further, a picture is seen of Christ Jesus fulfilling the Law. God gave a command in the Old Covenant to illustrate a truth for the New. According to Exodus 22:14, "if a man borrowed anything from his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, its owner not being with it, he shall fully make it good." The wisdom of Christ reveals the importance of the borrowed iron. Something borrowed must be returned or made good. To make it good means to make whole, finish recompense, covenant of peace, complete, all of which are attributes of Christ and His Redemptive Work.
The son of the prophet to whom this experience happened is a picture of a believer who must fully identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once he experienced what spoke to Christ’s death and burial he had to employ Elisha’s help (the Power of God) to raise the iron. What returns is in like kind, "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection_Romans 6:5." As believers we often remove ourselves from the experience but what is true of Christ is also true of us. His death was our death and His life is our life. In Him all have been "made good" and returned to Father.
Continued