God mauls little children with bears. (2 Kings 2:23,24)

by easyreader1970 80 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  DaCheech

  why has god punished us for calling his prophet "washtower and trash sociopaths" similiar (rather worse) words?

  correction:

  why has god NOT punished us for calling his prophet "washtower and trash sociopaths" similiar (rather worse) words?
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  TJ - iAmCleared2Land

  joelbear69 said: my mother used this as a threat against me my whole life when I was misbehaving. "The she bears are going to get you"

  Yup, mine too. That, and the constant reminder that if I talked back or had a disrespectful tone, the birds would eat my eyes at Armageddon.
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  belbab

  Humm...intresting how the "hard and fast" Christians never make an appearance on threads such as these. I d like to know why. If your reading this ...explain to me how this scripture makes sense to believe in . Explain to me how its WORTH believing in this scripture.

  I would not label myself as a ” hard and fast” Christian but this account in the bible makes sense to me.

  In my many years of reading the Scriptures I find that the accounts of any event that is created by man is attributed to man. An event that is not directly recognized as being produced by man, is attributed to a God.

  Until recently, catastrophic acts of nature, were called by insurance companies as acts of God.

  If you replace the name of God by Mother Nature in this account of Elisha for the sake of understanding , you may find it more and realistic and believable

  I agree with the information provided in Sylvia’s link . I would like to add other comments in addition to it.

  I would like to briefly tell of two experiences with bears both involving she-bears with cubs.

  In my early twenties, in wilds of BC while hunting for game birds for supper, I came across a she-bear with two cubs. I froze in my tracks, but the cubs between me and their mother were coming closer and closer to me. My small 22 rifle would not stop the bear. What to do? I hollered and fired over the mother’s head. All I remember are flashes of the events. I saw the cubs run squealing towards their mother. I saw the mother stand up on two legs, beating the air with her two paws. growling fiercly. I remember running about ten-twenty paces, while trying to pump another shell into the rifle chamber, but the previous casing was jammed in the breach. I stopped dead and stood still behind a small tree and turned to see the mother bear standing in the same spot I had just vacated. Again she was standing on hind legs, facing towards me growling frantically. I heard this puzzling thumping beating sound and realized it was my heart pounding. I and the bear stood for some moments facing one another. Finally she dropped down to all fours and went off after her cubs. To this day. whenever a bear is in my vicinity, whether I can see them or not, I can smell them.

  The second experience is that of my teen age son, about a dozen years ago. While riding bicycles down a woodland trail with two other companions who were ahead of him, two cubs suddenly ran across the trail in front of him and he crashed off his bike. He heard the mother bear coming for him from behind, he held up his bike to ward off the bear and finally threw it at her. She backed off and realizing her cubs had run off safely, went off after them.

  So getting back to Elisha’s bears and their Nature, aka the what is of events, aka Jehovah who causes to be what conclusions can we come to.

  The hoodlums who came out from the city. This shows that coming out they had an agenda, they had a mission to taunt and harass Elisha. The adults of the city probably had the same attitude as their offspring, they did not discourage them. The attackers were a collective group, acting in unison, not standing along the roadside, but cowardly following behind Elisha, as mimicking a group of followers, calling him the equivalent of “peckerhead” Finally, Eligah turned, and “cursed” them, not in his own name, but in the name of Jehovah that is using expressions such as what God had promised Abraham centuries earlier: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Gen: 12:3

  So this group of rowdies, having just gotten away with mocking God, on a high with excitement, go along and meet first one bear and then a second. The account says she-bears, how do you recognize a she-bear from a male bear? When you see a lone adult bear, how do you know what sex it is? The only way you can tell is if there are cubs present, then it is female, male bears do not accompany cubs, the female chases them away.

  Were the female bears hungry? If so why didn’t they kill one or two and stop to eat them. They killed forty-two and then stopped to eat?

  Did the fool-hardy group kill the cubs? I doubt it, the bears would find their bodies, and attack only any foolish bystanders remaining there. No, in my opinion, the rampaging teenagers captured the cubs, either with a noose or net, and the squeals of the cubs, provoked a continued attack by the bears to protect their cubs.

  Why didn’t the crowd run away, why not scatter as some have suggested. Because they are a mob. Mobs don’t run away from each other, they feel there is safety in numbers. However there were more than forty-two there. It states that forty-two of them were killed. So those on the fringes of the mob mentality did manage to get away. The ones most reckless, fool hardy and persistent did not escape.

  Two other references in the Bible refer to she-bears bereaved of their cubs:

  An evil [man] seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
  Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. Prov: 17:11,12

  Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe [them]:
  I will meet them as a bear [that is] bereaved [of her whelps], Hosea 13:8

  I realize I am making a scenario of this account, but I believe I have reasonable basis for it.

  belbab
  
  
  
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  trevor

  belbab

  You have provided a fascinating example of how the human mind is capable of analyzing, rationalising and justifying every atrocity ever carried out, or alleged to have been carried out.

  May your gods go with you...

  You need help!
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  MissingLink

  Belbab - I didn't realize we were allowed to write our own stories to add to the bible. Freakin sweet! I like where you're going with the cubs slant. Here's my adjustment to your story:

  Elisha hated the children making fun of his bald head, so he sprinkled some magic dust on 2 sleeping baby bear cubs which caused them to shrink to the size of a fig. He sneakily placed these fig sized cubs into the bags of the children, and then went back and woke up the mama bears. The mama bears followed the scent of their cubs, found the children, and killed them all. At midnight the spell was broken, and the cubs returned to normal. (no animals were harmed in the making of this story)

  It really is a magical book.
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  Galileo

  belbab - thanks for the laugh. I couldn't get through the whole thing, but I got through enough to make it painfully obvious to me that your doctor needs to increase your dosage. It's funny how many believers take the bible as an intellectual exercise as to how they can squish and mold the text into something plausible, instead of simply analyzing the plausibility of what was written. Apparently the one thing god can't do is explain himself coherently on his own.
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  BreakingAway

  What this account of the mauling bears taught me is that humans will stop at nothing to justify the most despicable of actions simply because "He" is God.If you're "sinful, imperfect and weak" you'll pay for your crimes, but if you're omnipotent and omniscient you get a free ticket for doing the same stuff...

  Some people keep "exotic" animals on their property.If such a human today were to sic their trained bears on a group of "taunting children" they would be rightfully prosecuted and the bears killed.But according to some of the explanations given; both the Prophet and God had an "obligation" to defend their "name" ! Such twisted reasoning is the same motivator,and justification, terrorist groups use to back up their heinous crimes.Is it any wonder they act the way they do when it seems God is the originator of terrorist acts ? Surely these kids were terrorized, and "loving" Christians and other religions not only fully support it, but also seem to take twisted glee in such accounts.Maybe it's because they feel they have a totally badass invisible bodyguard backing them up and if He doesn't take any shit from little kids you sure don't have a chance ! It's truly amazing, isn't it, that the most "kind", "compassionate" and "loving" person in all the Universe couldn't find a better way to teach them a lesson ? So much for an Omnibenevolent creator.It's also worth mentioning that many religions teach that God will torment one for all eternity for perhaps even just one wrong move in life.Maybe all these little "brats" are being repeatedly ripped apart in hell right now ! That's a pleasant thought, isn't it ? I know it sure makes me feel much closer to God.Of course, if the Bible is soley the work of man, it becomes quite clear that these are fabricated stories used to support ones own selfish desires, a case of ...man becomes God.
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  odie67

  fact or fiction? it doesnt really matter... for me it's a lesson...respect your elders. Just about anything can be debated. we all have a choice...I believe in God and his word the bible... thats my choice.
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  BreakingAway

  And what a great "lesson" it is.Respect your elders... or become bear crap.
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  chrisjoel

  Hey Belbab, appreciate your comment..

  ..Id like to share with you my thought process of reading this when I was a JW. Its intresting because all the injustices, all the wars, the killing, death and destruction is committed by former children. So little buggers become big buggers. Little gnats become big gnats. Little bastards grow up to be opposers of Jehovah. At the same time however, the Bible says..."children are a gift from Jehovah"....so as a JW my mind would reason, back then they had what they had to deal with persecution, tests of obedience, and in this case a warning example of disobedient. disloyal, apostate children with the spirit of Satan that mocked GOds representative and were dealt with. So also today I would reason these are the last days and amazingly tie that into "children are a gift from Jehovah" because our children WOULD NEVER behave in such a way. NO our children are loving, kind, and are brought up properly so they will not get ripped apart at armageddon. No bear will touch my child. No harm will come to my child because I worship the Only true God.

  But I ask how exactly ARE children a GIFT? First we have to believe that God is creator and STRICTLY SPEAKING this cannot be proved one way or another. It is believed on faith. So STICTLY SPEAKING childbearing is a natural biological function that happens countless times a day on our planet. It happens all day long. In the oceans, in the forests and in our hospitals...It is not STRICTLY SPEAKING a miracle. It is a natural biological function of women. Of course they give us great joy. But now having been handed the "great joy" from your wonderful wife to raise together it is a responsiblity to rear. It makes sense in the story of these taunters of Gods prophet . that. IF children were Really a Gift from the Creator the Creator would have brought them to their parents, Instead, these so called "gifts" were killed. No opportunity given to these young "gifts" to learn. If the parents were the same why doesnt the account tellus that Jehovah punished the parents of the "GIFTS" for not teaching them correctly...If God wants us to believe in HIM doesnt he have to set the example first?

  What we end up with in the Bible are warning examples that breed fear.