| “And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city [Jericho] is pleasant … but the water is naught [bad], and the ground barren [does not grow things very well]. And he said, Bring me a new cruse [container], and put salt therein … And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed” (2 Kings 2:19-22). |
| As we know from reading his history, Elijah performed a number of miracles by the Lord’s power. Here we find the first miracle that Elisha performed, again by the Lord’s power. It is the type of miracle that was characteristic of Elisha, and it shows how his approach to the work of the Lord was different from that of Elijah. Elijah’s miracles were often characterized by judgment; Elisha’s miracles were characterized by grace. |
| After Elijah was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind, Elisha went back to Jericho. Perhaps you will remember that Jericho was destroyed (when its walls fell down in Joshua’s day), away back when the Israelites first conquered the land of Canaan. At that time the Lord had said, through Joshua, “Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates thereof” (Joshua 6:26). Yet hundreds of years later, when Ahab was king, it is recorded that “in his [Ahab’s] days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Joshua the son of Nun” (1 Kings 16:34). This really means that both his eldest son and his youngest son died because Hiel disobeyed the Word of the Lord. |
| When Elisha came back to Jericho, the men of the city told him that the water was bad, and the land did not grow crops properly. Elisha could easily have said, “It serves you right! That city should never have been rebuilt! The Lord pronounced a curse on the man who rebuilt the city, and the bad water and the barren land is the Lord’s judgment on you.” However, Elisha did not say anything like that. He acted in grace, and asked for some salt, which he threw into the spring of the waters. As a result, the waters were healed. |
| Salt in the Bible speaks of holy grace. God did not excuse the man who had rebuilt Jericho, but He graciously healed the water and the land. This is the way the Lord Jesus has treated us. Instead of punishing us for our sins, He has made a way for our sins to be forgiven. God does not pass over our sins; rather the Lord Jesus suffered for us. Now God can come out and heal us, and we do not have to suffer for them. |
