Woman prays to Jesus during a Bear Attack

[Politico]

Is there a point to this story?
What do you think it is?

She was lucky. And secure your garbage when bears live nearby.

 

[Chuckt]

Clearly it would mean she didn't pray enough. It's like meter on a game show where God will smite her or something...unless she prays hard enough to move the arrow on the meter. Pass the magic mark and God answers your prayers. Don't pass it and become bear fodder.

I personally like the story in the Bible where the kids were making fun of some prophet's bald spot, so he prays for some bears to kill the children and the bears show up and kill the children. Nothing say Holy Man doing God's work like having wild animals devour school kids because they said your comb over looks stupid.

He was a prophet and they were mocking him. Children? Youths in their 20's perhaps but children? No...

23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.


Says children right there in the King James Version. 2 Kings 2:23-25 KJV - And he went up from thence unto Bethel: - Bible Gateway

But you haven't done a word study in Strong's to be sure your assumption is correct because it is not.

 

[thebrucebeat]

Is there a point to this story?
What do you think it is?

She was lucky. And secure your garbage when bears live nearby.

Excellent advice.

 

[PostmodernProph]

When was the last time you referred to Ecclesiastes without being prompted?
Be honest, if you know the word.

actually, after reading one of your posts the other day, this passage from chapter 10 came to mind.....

A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;
The babbler is no different.
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?

 

[thebrucebeat]

When was the last time you referred to Ecclesiastes without being prompted?
Be honest, if you know the word.

actually, after reading one of your posts the other day, this passage from chapter 10 came to mind.....

A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;
The babbler is no different.
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?

Would that apply to both of us, or just me?

 

[PostmodernProph]

23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.


Says children right there in the King James Version. 2 Kings 2:23-25 KJV - And he went up from thence unto Bethel: - Bible Gateway

right....who on earth would feel threatened by a group of 42 boys......

And if the passage mentioned actually attacking the prophet, you might have a point. They made fun of him. They mocked him and he killed 42 kids for it.

he apparently thought the judgment fit the crime.....I've made it a habit not to second guess God.....

 

[thebrucebeat]

When was the last time you referred to Ecclesiastes without being prompted?
Be honest, if you know the word.

actually, after reading one of your posts the other day, this passage from chapter 10 came to mind.....

A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;
The babbler is no different.
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?

The words of the Teacher,[a] son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.

 

[thebrucebeat]

right....who on earth would feel threatened by a group of 42 boys......

And if the passage mentioned actually attacking the prophet, you might have a point. They made fun of him. They mocked him and he killed 42 kids for it.

he apparently thought the judgment fit the crime.....I've made it a habit not to second guess God.....

So if you or Boss were smote because of the foul tongues, that would seem about right?

 

[PostmodernProph]

When was the last time you referred to Ecclesiastes without being prompted?
Be honest, if you know the word.

actually, after reading one of your posts the other day, this passage from chapter 10 came to mind.....

A serpent may bite when it is not charmed;
The babbler is no different.
12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
13 The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
14 A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?

Would that apply to both of us, or just me?

we are both mentioned in verse 12.....

 

[Papageorgio]

There’s a Christian who’s hiking in the woods one day when he comes upon an angry bear.
The bear stood up on its hind legs and growled ferociously, clearly preparing to charge.

In panic, the Christian started to run, but the bear followed close on his heels.

Finally the hiker came to a cliff. So he dropped to his knees and asked God to please make this bear a good Christian bear.

To the hiker’s amazement, the bear suddenly stopped growling, fell to his knees and folded his paws together in prayer!

"Thank you, Lord!" exclaimed the Christian.

"Thank you, Lord!" exclaimed the bear, "for this meal I'm about to receive!"

 

[thebrucebeat]

actually, after reading one of your posts the other day, this passage from chapter 10 came to mind.....

Would that apply to both of us, or just me?

we are both mentioned in verse 12.....

Since I tend to be more gracious than my adversaries (modestly so, but a bit), I guess we know who is who.

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Two guys are sitting at their campsite and spot a grizzly bear, downwind, and starting to come toward them with blood in his eyes. One sits down on a log and starts to lace up his running shoes. The other says, "What are you doing? You can't outrun a grizzly bear!"

First guy says, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun YOU!"

Rimshot.

Yep, that's part of Alaskan Survival 101. LOL

 

[Kooshdakhaa]

Well, I know this. God doesn't save the life of everyone who prays for mercy. Mothers of children included. Children included.

So I have to deduce that when someone prays in a life-threatening situation, and does not die, they would have survived whether they prayed or not.

That does not say that God does not exist. It just says that praying to God, asking for help from God, is all about redemption of the soul, not about survival of the flesh.

People have a hard time with that. One of the few people I've ever known to impress me with his faith in God was a Catholic priest. He was dying of pancreatic cancer, close to the end. He had been going to perform the wedding of my husband and I, but could not because he was so ill. He sent us a letter in which he said something along this order...

"Here you are at the beginning of your spiritual journey together (wedding), and here am I on my final journey! Isn't GOD WONDERFUL!!!!!"

And he meant it. He was rejoicing his own death because he truly believe he was going home to God. He wasn't just unafraid, he was rejoicing!

Now that got my attention.

He loved butterflies. They said that at his graveside a whole swarm of butterflies swooped in, flew around a bit and then flew off. Many people saw that happen. Coincidence...perhaps.

 

[Coloradomtnman]

So God changed His mind at the last second about the bears eating the woman? So I guess He doesn't know the future and isn't perfect. Hmmm, makes one think...

 

[Coloradomtnman]

right....who on earth would feel threatened by a group of 42 boys......

And if the passage mentioned actually attacking the prophet, you might have a point. They made fun of him. They mocked him and he killed 42 kids for it.

he apparently thought the judgment fit the crime.....I've made it a habit not to second guess God.....

Which is called dogma. If god exists and gave you the gift of reason, I think He would want you to question everything, including authority.

The terrible deaths of 42 children for teasing a bald guy and hurting his pride and vanity hardly seems fitting or just. These kind of Bible stories are what make me think that it really isn't a moral book and that Christianity isn't a moral belief system.

 

[Coloradomtnman]

Here's the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bar3GOzDNzg

 

[Steven_R]

He was a prophet and they were mocking him. Children? Youths in their 20's perhaps but children? No...

23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.


Says children right there in the King James Version. 2 Kings 2:23-25 KJV - And he went up from thence unto Bethel: - Bible Gateway

But you haven't done a word study in Strong's to be sure your assumption is correct because it is not.

The Bible Gateway site has multiple translations available. The same passage in other translations uses boys, lads, youths, children but all agree on the same story. Elisha was going to Bethel, ran into some kids who made fun of his baldness, and in what can only be described as an overreaction, used his prophet powers to curse the kids which was manifested by two she-bears eating 42 of the aforementioned kids.

Sorry if the prophet in your Bible is a bit of a dick, but there you go. Unless you think killing kids for being mouthy is an appropriate (and apparently godly) reaction.

 

[PostmodernProph]

And if the passage mentioned actually attacking the prophet, you might have a point. They made fun of him. They mocked him and he killed 42 kids for it.

he apparently thought the judgment fit the crime.....I've made it a habit not to second guess God.....

Which is called dogma. If god exists and gave you the gift of reason, I think He would want you to question everything, including authority.

The terrible deaths of 42 children for teasing a bald guy and hurting his pride and vanity hardly seems fitting or just. These kind of Bible stories are what make me think that it really isn't a moral book and that Christianity isn't a moral belief system.

if he exists and gave me the gift of reason, I would use it and conclude that an omniscient being is better qualified to determine what action is merited than I am.....Elijah didn't kill 42 children for hurting his vanity....God killed them for reasons he deemed just......or two bears killed them because they were really, really hungry.....

incidentally, I've always been amused by those that insist they have a higher level of morality than God.....gives me an image of you meeting him on Judgement Day and you saying, "WTF were you thinking when you murdered 42 poor, innocent boys with a bear?"......

 

[Chuckt]

23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.


Says children right there in the King James Version. 2 Kings 2:23-25 KJV - And he went up from thence unto Bethel: - Bible Gateway

But you haven't done a word study in Strong's to be sure your assumption is correct because it is not.

The Bible Gateway site has multiple translations available. The same passage in other translations uses boys, lads, youths, children but all agree on the same story. Elisha was going to Bethel, ran into some kids who made fun of his baldness, and in what can only be described as an overreaction, used his prophet powers to curse the kids which was manifested by two she-bears eating 42 of the aforementioned kids.

Sorry if the prophet in your Bible is a bit of a dick, but there you go. Unless you think killing kids for being mouthy is an appropriate (and apparently godly) reaction.

So basically you would say it is okay for a young person not to listen to a police officer?

I've seen Palestinian children on the news throwing stones at people.

There have been 12 year olds in military in third world countries even though it is illegal today.

Back then the longevity was not like it was today so an adult would have been younger.

I'm sorry that your intelligence means that you can only read translations instead of doing your own study but the ability to understand deeper what the passage means is not within your reasoning.

 

[Book of Jeremiah]

he apparently thought the judgment fit the crime.....I've made it a habit not to second guess God.....

Which is called dogma. If god exists and gave you the gift of reason, I think He would want you to question everything, including authority.

The terrible deaths of 42 children for teasing a bald guy and hurting his pride and vanity hardly seems fitting or just. These kind of Bible stories are what make me think that it really isn't a moral book and that Christianity isn't a moral belief system.

if he exists and gave me the gift of reason, I would use it and conclude that an omniscient being is better qualified to determine what action is merited than I am.....Elijah didn't kill 42 children for hurting his vanity....God killed them for reasons he deemed just......or two bears killed them because they were really, really hungry.....

incidentally, I've always been amused by those that insist they have a higher level of morality than God.....gives me an image of you meeting him on Judgement Day and you saying, "WTF were you thinking when you murdered 42 poor, innocent boys with a bear?"......

He was acting on his authority as a Servant of God. Bible gateway isn't the final authority. The Word of God is. According to the word used - the ages of these kids would have been late teens ( 17 or 18 yrs old ) to 35 yrs old. They were all within the age of accountability. - which is younger than 17 by a few years -

What did they say? Go up! Go up where? To heaven! This was their mockery of Elisha concerning Elijah being caught up in a whirlwind. They not only mocked a Servant of the Most High God, they mocked heaven too! The bible never has anything good to say about Mockers. They are referred to in the bible as the enemies of God.

Mocking Gods Servants is a very dangerous thing to do. In this case it cost the mockers their lives. Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm is not a suggestion. It's a warning. Do not do it.

Judgment can happen without the Servant being aware of it until after the fact. II Thessalonians 1: 6 God is just. He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.

In the King James the wording is more pronounced........God counts it a righteous thing to recompense with trouble those who trouble His children...

The wise thing to do is watch what you say. It reminds me of a quote from the Forest Gump movie... life is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're going to get!