2 Kings Chs. 4 – 6 give a list of “misc. miracles” performed by the prophet Elisha. One of those is making an axe head float.
The sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please notice that the place where we live under your supervision is too small for us. Please let us go to the Jordan where we can each get a log and can build ourselves a place to live there.”
“Go,” he said.
Then one said, “Please come with your servants.”
“I’ll come,” he answered.
So he went with them, and when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Oh, my master, it was borrowed!”
Then the man of God asked, “Where did it fall?”
When he showed him the place, the man of God cut a stick, threw it there, and made the iron float. Then he said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out and took it. (2 Kings 6:1-7 HCSB)
These “sons of the prophets” were one of the many schools of prophets that Elisha was the overseer of. The place where they were living at in Gilgal was too small for the growing number of students.
While chopping down trees, one of the students lost his axe head into the river. An axe was constructed by tying the head to the handle. Axe heads were usually made of stone, copper, or bronze. It is interesting that this scripture specifically names iron as the material the axe head was made of.
Since the axe head is simply lashed to the handle, it was a common occurrence for the head to come loose and fall off. If it occurred in mid-swing, the head could fly at a dangerous velocity and injure or kill someone. In fact, Moses used this as an example of why someone could live in a city of refuge:
If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may flee to one of these cities and live. (Deu. 19:5 HCSB)
Now, when this student loses his axe head, he runs to Elisha and asks for help, especially considering the axe was borrowed. He knows that he must return it, and the owner probably won’t accept an axe handle minus a head! Since his job is “student”, he probably doesn’t have much (which is why he had to borrow the axe in the first place!) I remember my college days. I was broke! The prospect of having to replace an item I couldn’t afford would have terrified me. That’s the sense you get from this student asking Elisha to help.
Elisha asks him where it went into the water, then throws a stick to that approximate location. The iron axe head floats to the surface. Then, the most significant part of this whole story, Elisha tells the man to “Pick it up”. The axe head is floating out in the water, so this man has to wade out and get it. There a a number of ways that this miracle could have ended. The axe head could have landed back at this man’s feet. The axe head could have reattached itself to the handle. But, the axe head remained in the water where the man had to go out and get it. We don’t know how deep the water was where the axe head submerged and resurfaced. However, it was far enough away from the shore that it could not be seen or easily retrieved.
This is a significant teaching. God provides for you all the time. Sometimes, His blessing is just handed to you. Other times, His blessing is put in your eyesight, and He says, “Pick it up!” It is in those times that you have to go out of your way, exert a little effort, and retrieve the blessing that God has for you.
When I was enlisted in the Air Force, I felt the Lord was clearly telling me to apply for a college program that would make me an officer. There were a lot of steps involved and hurdles to cross. He could have just blessed me with the program that I never applied to. However, sometimes we need to have a little skin in the game. I did the work I needed to do to get into the program, and God cleared the hurdles for me. In this way, He promised a blessing and told me to pick it up.
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