Passage: 2 Kings 6:1-7

The Big Idea

Ministry is God’s work; we just get to point people to what Jesus accomplished, and He does the miracles they need. When a young prophet’s borrowed axe head sank in the Jordan, Elisha asked, “Where did it fall?”, cut off a stick, threw it in, and the iron floated. On one level it pictures salvation: what was lost in the waters of death is raised to life because the Messiah was “cut off” for us. On another, it shows how to recover lost blessings like joy, peace and confidence in prayer: not by trying harder, but by bringing the loss to Jesus, honestly finding where it fell, applying the cross and reaching out in faith.

Ministry Is God’s Work

Elisha shows us what serving God looks like. And miracle after miracle proves that ministry is really God’s work.

We just get to point people to the work Jesus finished for them on the cross. He does the miracles they need. And make no mistake, people need miracles!

You and I can’t do miracles. Only Jesus can.

The Story (6:1-7)

The sons of the prophets told Elisha, “The place where we live with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, and each of us get a beam there, and build a place to live.” He said, “Go.” One of them said, “Please come with us.” He said, “I’ll come.” So he went with them.

At the Jordan they cut down trees. But as one was felling a tree, the iron axe head fell into the water. He cried, “Oh no, master! It was borrowed!” The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut off a stick, threw it in there and made the iron float. He said, “Pick it up.” So the man reached out his hand and took it.

The sons of the prophets. These were young preachers, people with a heart for God.

In Hebrew, “sons of the prophets” isn’t about family lineage, but calling and ministry.
Elisha seems to have been leading training schools for prophets.
He was teaching the next generation how to know God and live by faith.

The place is too small for us. They were growing and needed a bigger place to meet.

Lesson One: A Picture of Salvation

The axe head sank into the Jordan. Lost in “death.” No hope. It went under the waters of judgment and disappeared.

But then it was raised up again. It floated! That’s impossible. Iron doesn’t float!

How? Only because something was cut off.

Follow the clue:

Daniel prophesied that after the appointed time, Messiah would be cut off, but not for Himself (Daniel 9:26).
Isaiah said the Servant was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken (Isaiah 53:8).

This miracle foreshadows what the Messiah would do for us all.

Why did Jesus come? Not mainly to be a good example, show us how to be human or teach good ideas.
He came to be cut off for us, so that God could pour out on His own Son the full punishment for our sins.
That was always the plan.
Jesus explained these Scriptures to His disciples again and again (Luke 24:25-27), but they didn’t understand at first.
They couldn’t see that Jesus had to win our forgiveness before He would reign.
They thought the real problem was Rome. But the real problem was that all people were in deep trouble with God because of sin.
Sin was the real problem. God knew it long before we did. And because He truly loves us, He provided a way to save us!

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
He was cut off for you and your sins, to make you alive!
The only way to be made alive is faith in Him.
Do you believe it?

Lesson Two: Recovering Lost Blessings

Have you lost your confidence in prayer? Your joy in Scripture? Your peace, assurance, vision or boldness?

The enemy will tell you each one is lost forever. “It’s gone. Don’t bother trying to get it back. This is just how your life is now.”

That’s resignation: shrinking back in fear and unbelief.

Some of us won’t accept that. Good! But then the enemy tricks us another way.

He seizes on the word try. He convinces us that trying will get our blessings back. So we give it our best effort, and it never works.

That’s all our flesh knows. And the result of trying harder and harder is burnout, because we can never try hard enough.

The axe head never floats by trying!

This story shows how to recover what’s been lost, no matter how it was lost.

1. Talk to your Master about it

Bring it to Jesus.
Don’t think you’re too busy, or resign yourself to living without it.

2. Listen to His question: “Where did it fall?”

Let His question search you.
Be honest about your part. Look carefully for the place where you stopped trusting His Word and promises and started trusting your flesh.
No one else can really see when you made that shift.
Then confess it. Don’t hide it.
Don’t blame God. He never designed you to live without these blessings!
You’ve been adopted as a child of God, with all the blessings that come with that.
You may have peace, joy, confidence and assurance at any time. You should! It isn’t right if you don’t.
All spiritual blessings are yours in Christ. He’s already given them (Ephesians 1:3).
That doesn’t mean believers never suffer. We do. But even in suffering, we never have to lose these spiritual realities.

3. Throw in the wood

The cross is the only solution.
God, in His love and power, has given a solution for every lost blessing: the cross!
Jesus did it. He’s already dealt with your problem. Whether you fully understand it or not, it’s done if you believe it.
Your part is to believe it and apply what was finished at the cross to the place where you lost your blessing.
The answer to a dead devotional life isn’t a different book or reading harder. It’s the cross.
The answer to a broken marriage isn’t, at its root, more effort or more time apart. It’s the cross.
The answer to anxiety, fear and depression is never ultimately found in a human system alone (though God often uses doctors and counselors). It’s the cross, and the life Jesus gives.
The answer to a weak prayer life isn’t more books on prayer or more strain on your knees. It’s the cross.
The answer to resentment toward people isn’t them changing. It’s the cross. The cross changes you. It makes you alive. It makes you float where you’d sunk. It brings life where there was only death.
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you were healed (1 Peter 2:24).
The answer to any sickness of the spirit is the cross of Jesus.
Proof? The resurrection. Jesus was dead, and then He was alive. And you can share His life too!
Believe it. Trust it. Throw it into the place where you need resurrection.
The Jordan pictures death. Where did something die in your life? That’s where you need the cross.

4. Reach out with the hand of faith

Believe God is good and loves you, and expect Him to do a miracle in your heart and life.
Expect Him to do it! That’s faith: expecting God to keep His promises.
And it will be done for you:
Your Bible reading will be filled with power and real intimacy.
Your heart will receive a peace that can’t be explained.
Your prayers will be confident and effective.
Your love for others will be real and gentle.

Grace Takeaway

Jesus is here today with rest, victory, love, mercy, forgiveness and power, all given to you just as He gave His whole life for you. He holds nothing back. You never have to earn anything from God. And you don’t have to wonder whether a lost blessing is gone for good, because Jesus has already given it to you in Him. Talk to Him about it, let Him show you where it fell, throw in the cross and reach out your hand. The iron will float.

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The Floating Axe Head