An Afterthought or an Intentional Placement?

 

2 Kings 13:20-22

20 Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.

21 So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. 

22 And Haz’a-el king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Je-ho’a-haz.

In reading the above verses, it felt to me as if passage 21 was an afterthought. 20 and 22 spoke of invasion and oppression, while amongst the clamour of it all - a man was buried. Not only was he dead and buried but he also came back to life. Did this not surprise those who were present?

A sacred moment in time. A narrative jolt in the centre of the horrors of war. A cinematic moment of a body tossed hastily into the prophet’s tomb and a springing to life as the dead men’s bones touched. A miracle in the middle of disaster.

Was this passage an afterthought or an intentional placement?

Let’s look a little deeper, shall we? Earlier in the story, Elijah performed eight miracles. Elisha had requested a double portion of Elijah’s anointing. Upon his death, Elisha fell one short of that double portion, having fifteen miracles and not sixteen. The sixteenth miracle, lingered and was made evident after his death.

This last miracle, a posthumous testimony, reinforcing God’s power not being bound by time or mortality. A symbol of hope in crisis. A glimpse of the mystery of resurrection. With Israel under threat and Elisha now gone, this sudden resurrection is a flash of reassurance from the Divine.

This fulfilment of prophecy bridging the gap between the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. It’s as if the author is saying – remember, Elisha’s words still matter, still account to the truth.

Although a seemingly flippant moment in time, passage 21 embodies the foreshadowing of the resurrection; a foreshadow of Christ’s resurrection power that was yet to come.

So, while it may feel like an afterthought squeezed in-between momentous events, the event itself is momentous, a kind of divine exclamation point; a startling reminder of God’s power transcending even death.

A posthumous echo where the dead still speak and of others which are also mentioned in the bible; Elisha’s bones, Abel’s blood, Joseph’s bones (moved to be buried in the Promised land), Samuel summoned from the dead by the medium Endor, Elisha and Moses transfiguration – all testifying to Christ’s glory.

What do you think? Having read this story in a new light, do you view this passage as a spontaneous gesture or something intentionally crafted?