Dead Bodies and the anointing?
Recently some Bible College students from a particular church, went to a cemetery, laid on the tombstone of Aimee Simple McPherson (pentecostal speaker from California) to try to receive a transfer of her Holy Spirit anointing to themselves.
ON WHAT SCRIPTURAL BASIS CAN THIS BE JUSTIFIED?
Their actions somehow appear to be linked to an event from 2 Kings 13:21. During the spring, the usual season of beginning campaigns in ancient times. Predatory bands from Moab generally made incursions at that time on the lands of Israel. The bearers of a corpse, alarmed by the appearance of one of these bands, hastily deposited, as they passed that way, their load in Elisha’s sepulchre, which might be easily done by removing the stone at the mouth of the cave.
According to the Jewish and Eastern custom, his body, as well as that of the man who was miraculously restored, was not laid in a coffin, but only swathed; so that the bodies could be brought into contact.
The object of the miracle was to stimulate the king’s and people of Israel’s faith in the still unaccomplished predictions of Elisha respecting the war with the Syrians. Accordingly the historian records the historical fulfillment of the prediction (2 Ki 13:22–25), in the defeat of the enemy, in the recovery of the cities that had been taken, and their restoration to the kingdom of Israel.
The revival of the corpse is unlike anything else in the Scriptures. Either the bones of Elisha are left or the decayed body is wrapped in cloth on the stone inside the cave.
The incident clearly took place some time after the prophet’s death (Elisha). This miracle was a sign that God’s power continued to work in relationship to Elisha even after his death.
What power there was in his dead body: it communicated life to another dead body, v. 21. This great miracle, though very briefly related, was a decided proof of his mission and a confirmation of all his prophecies. It was also a plain indication of another life after this.
When Elisha died, there was not an end of him, for then he could not have done this. From operation we may infer existence. By this it appeared that the Lord was still the God of Elisha; therefore Elisha still lived, for God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
And it may, perhaps, have a reference to Christ, by whose death and burial the grave is made to all believers a safe and happy passage to life. It likewise intimated that though Elisha was dead, yet, in virtue of the promises made by him, Israel’s interests, though they seemed quite sunk and lost, should revive and flourish again.
This event is different in that there are two dead people and one comes alive as compared to a live person getting close to a dead person.
Is this more like 2 Kings 4:32? Elisha demonstrated the Lord’s power over death by raising their son from the dead. Also like Elijah, part of the restoration process involved lying on top of the boy’s body. The question is should we go and lie on dead people everywhere? If a miracle occurs in the OT should it by necessity be always repeated today? Perhaps the Bible College students should return to the cemetery and practice raising the dead?
ON WHAT SCRIPTURAL BASIS CAN THIS BE JUSTIFIED?
Their actions somehow appear to be linked to an event from 2 Kings 13:21. During the spring, the usual season of beginning campaigns in ancient times. Predatory bands from Moab generally made incursions at that time on the lands of Israel. The bearers of a corpse, alarmed by the appearance of one of these bands, hastily deposited, as they passed that way, their load in Elisha’s sepulchre, which might be easily done by removing the stone at the mouth of the cave.
According to the Jewish and Eastern custom, his body, as well as that of the man who was miraculously restored, was not laid in a coffin, but only swathed; so that the bodies could be brought into contact.
The object of the miracle was to stimulate the king’s and people of Israel’s faith in the still unaccomplished predictions of Elisha respecting the war with the Syrians. Accordingly the historian records the historical fulfillment of the prediction (2 Ki 13:22–25), in the defeat of the enemy, in the recovery of the cities that had been taken, and their restoration to the kingdom of Israel.
The revival of the corpse is unlike anything else in the Scriptures. Either the bones of Elisha are left or the decayed body is wrapped in cloth on the stone inside the cave.
The incident clearly took place some time after the prophet’s death (Elisha). This miracle was a sign that God’s power continued to work in relationship to Elisha even after his death.
What power there was in his dead body: it communicated life to another dead body, v. 21. This great miracle, though very briefly related, was a decided proof of his mission and a confirmation of all his prophecies. It was also a plain indication of another life after this.
When Elisha died, there was not an end of him, for then he could not have done this. From operation we may infer existence. By this it appeared that the Lord was still the God of Elisha; therefore Elisha still lived, for God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
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| English: Elisha raising the Shunammites Son (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
This event is different in that there are two dead people and one comes alive as compared to a live person getting close to a dead person.
Is this more like 2 Kings 4:32? Elisha demonstrated the Lord’s power over death by raising their son from the dead. Also like Elijah, part of the restoration process involved lying on top of the boy’s body. The question is should we go and lie on dead people everywhere? If a miracle occurs in the OT should it by necessity be always repeated today? Perhaps the Bible College students should return to the cemetery and practice raising the dead?
