Trivial Pursuits

Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there, and made the iron float. 2 Kings 6:6 NASB

Float – In case you haven’t read about the miracles performed by Elisha, you might want to investigate the stories found in 2 Kings. There are echoes in the life of Yeshua. Providing food for many with few supplies. Raising the dead after some time. Producing a large supply of product for commercial benefit. Exercising command over water. Healing at a distance. But perhaps the strangest of all is the story of the axe head.

Men are cutting down trees to use as beams in construction. A borrowed axe head flies off the handle and is lost in water. The borrower appeals to “the man of God” who cuts a stick from a tree, throws it into the water where the axe head fell and the iron axe head floats to the surface where it is recovered. The incident is strange enough as it stands, but it is even stranger when we ask, “Why would Elisha bother to perform a miracle over something as trivial as finding a lost axe head?” The answer to this question is speculation, of course, since the text neither asks nor answers our inquiry. But perhaps there is just the hint of a deeper lesson here. Behind this question lies another. “Does God really care about such trivial matters?”

Have you ever borrowed something and then, through no fault of your own, it goes missing? Maybe you weren’t as lucky as this man who knew approximately where the axe head disappeared under the water. Maybe you rack your brain trying to remember where you last saw the borrowed object, but to no avail. You simply can’t find it. What do you do? Well, most of us would volunteer to replace the missing object. We would purchase a new one and give it back. In other words, we would feel the obligation and take steps to meet it. Why doesn’t this woodchopper do precisely that? He clearly feels the obligation. He tells Elisha that the axe head was borrowed, as if to say that if it were his own, he would just let it go. But now he has an obligation, and at the moment, no way to repay. He exclaims his situation. Notice he does not ask for intervention. Elisha takes it upon himself to provide a miraculous solution. And Elisha’s solution is as strange as one could imagine. What does a stick have to do with floating iron? Why not simply pray, “Lord, show me where this axe head is.” Would you ever think of doing what Elisha does? Would you cut a branch from a tree, throw it into water and expect something made of metal to float to the surface? Of course not! In fact, I’m guessing that you would simply pray, “Help me find it,” rather than expect an intervention contrary to the laws of physics.

Maybe that’s the real lesson for us. You see, Elisha operated in a world where God could do anything. In fact, in some cases Elisha proclaimed what would be done before consulting God about it—and simply expected God to respond appropriately. Elisha’s world was not constrained by what we commonly think about how the world works. Elisha’s world was constrained only by the complete sovereignty of YHVH and in that world strange thinks often happen. Does iron float? No, it doesn’t. Who could believe such a thing? Elisha. Does YHVH care about returning borrowed items, about social obligations over trivial matters? We are inclined to say, “Not really. God leaves those things up to us.” But the axe head says something different. What is trivial in a world where YHVH is sovereign? Apparently, nothing at all.

Am I suggesting that the way to find a lost item is to cut a stick and expect it to float into view? No, not quite. Even I have a difficult time imaging a universe where such things happen. But Elisha is “the man of God,” and for him such events are quite reasonable, even perhaps expected. The lesson of the axe head is about our view of what this world is really like. As Elisha prayed, “O YHVH, open their eyes that they may see.” And what did they see? Thousands of angels surrounding them.

There is nothing more debilitating than the inability to see the world from God’s perspective.

Topical Index: float, axe head, Elisha, 2 Kings 6:6