Elisha

Denny Marone shares this devo that a friend sent to him. I know you will appreciate this. Thx Denny.

There is a story tucked into the Bible that is so short you could blink and miss it, and yet it is one of the most absolutely unhinged, “excuse me what just happened” moments in all of Scripture. It shows up in 2 Kings 13, and there is no long explanation, no dramatic buildup, no neatly packaged lesson at the end. It just happens.

Elisha, the prophet who had spent years doing miracle after miracle, has died. That part alone feels heavy. The man who spoke for God, who raised the dead, who purified water, who did all these incredible things is now gone. Buried. End of story. Except apparently not.

Because sometime later, a group of men are in the middle of a funeral. Which is already not a casual event. They are carrying a body, doing what you do when someone dies, grieving, processing, probably not expecting any plot twists that day. And then suddenly, raiders show up. Moabite raiders. Which means this funeral just turned into a “we need to leave immediately” situation.

So in a moment of pure urgency, no time for ceremony, no time for careful placement, they take the body they are carrying and basically toss it into the nearest tomb. Which just so happens to be Elisha’s. And this is where the Bible casually drops a sentence that should probably come with sirens and flashing lights.

“When the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” 2 Kings 13:21, ESV.

I’m sorry. He what.

There is no pause. No explanation. No “and here is the theological breakdown.” Just a dead man, mid funeral, getting thrown into a grave, touching some bones, and then standing up.

Can you imagine being there.

You are already having a rough day because, you know, funeral. Then you are running from raiders, adrenaline is high, you throw the body in the tomb, and then suddenly the person you just buried is no longer cooperating with being dead. At what point do you just collectively decide, “We are not going to talk about this right now, we just need to go.”

And what gets me is that Elisha is not even alive at this point. There is no dramatic prayer. No prophet standing there calling on God. Just bones. Just the aftermath of a life that was so saturated with God’s power that even what was left behind still carried it.

Because God’s power was never limited to Elisha being physically present. It was never about proximity in the way we think about it. It was never something that expired the moment his life on earth ended.

And that is the part that hits.

Because we tend to think in very neat timelines. Alive equals useful. Dead equals done. Impact has a clear start and stop point. And God just casually ignores all of that and goes, “Actually, I am not bound by your timelines.”

Elisha’s story did not end at his death. God’s power did not fade when the prophet did. And a man who had zero intention of encountering a miracle that day walked out of a grave because he came into contact with what God had already used.

Also, and I feel like this is important to say, if you ever find yourself at a funeral and things start escalating in that direction, I would personally recommend just running. No follow up questions. No investigation. Just go.

But seriously, there is something here about how God works that we do not fully grasp. He is not limited by time. He is not limited by circumstances. He is not limited by what we consider finished.

And sometimes the evidence of what He has done does not just stay in the past where we neatly placed it.

Sometimes it stands up. Literally.

Make it a Wondrous Wednesday! God is good…