42 Boys Eaten Bears (Are You Bald? Part 2)

Making fun of a man or woman who is living in a close relationship with God and walking in His anointing (power) is not a good idea. Even if that person is merciful enough not to curse you, God doesn’t appreciate your ridicule. Here’s what happened to some boys who called the prophet Elisha a baldy…

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria. 2 Kings 2:23-25

Now, I really don’t know what ‘baldy’ meant back in that part of history. Some think it pertains to a severe disease like AIDS that was looked upon as a curse for their sin. Some think it was a way of saying that the person is an outcast (like a leper), a very offensive way of saying that person is damned or unfit for society. Either way, these guys were punished for their mockery of a man of God.

Sound severe? Think about this. The Bible says not to grieve the Holy Spirit, which is the only unforgiveable sin.

Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Isaiah 63:10, “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy  and he himself fought against them.”

I have my own personal understanding of what it means to grieve the Holy Spirit, but I’m not going to teach it to you. I urge you to ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and give you understanding. It’s a serious thing.

Whether grieving the Holy Spirit means mocking the anointing (like calling a man of God a baldy or an outcast), or pretending to be doing something prompted by the Spirit when it is really a human, self-glorifying side show, or if it is confessing Jesus with your mouth but denying Him with your actions, or if it is something completely different: watch out and respect God. Honor those who serve Him, whether you believe or not. Honor the Holy Spirit by giving Him respect and speaking truth when you’re in His presence.

Fear of God is not a bad thing. Yes, He is gracious. He is love. But He deserves respect and all of us who are welcomed into His family deserve respect, because of our Father, not because of any good thing we’ve done or how much money we have.

Here’s one more example of what can happen when you grieve the Spirit of God by disrespecting a man of God.

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ² With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

³ Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

⁵ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶ Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

⁷ About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

⁹ Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

¹⁰ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Acts 5:1-11

So I use some humor in writing my devotions, but this is a serious topic. Please respect God.

– Richie Castaldo