The children and the bear

In 2 Kings 23-25 Elisha went up to Bethel and as he was going up there came little children out of the city and the children mocked him and said to him. Go up thou bald head go up thou bald head. And when he turned back and looked at them and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the woods and tore forty two of them. Then he went to Mount Carmel and finally returned to Samaria.

My Question is how could this be or how could God allow this to happen?

The God of the old testament was full of wrath. Children who desparaged his prophets were fair game...

banjo bandit said:

In 2 Kings 23-25 Elisha went up to Bethel and as he was going up there came little children out of the city and the children mocked him and said to him. Go up thou bald head go up thou bald head. And when he turned back and looked at them and he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the woods and tore forty two of them. Then he went to Mount Carmel and finally returned to Samaria.

My Question is how could this be or how could God allow this to happen?

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The first thing you have to remember is that the translation of "children" is debatable. It's much more likely (and has been translated as such) that these were young men of the late teen years.

The second thing you have to remember is that these young men weren't punished just for mocking Elijah as is often assumed, but because they were mocking God's word and authority and, in effect, God, Himself.

God will always protect His word.

I always wondered that as well. Unfortunately I still don't understand in my heart what the deal was and.....well anyway.....

i think one thing we must always understand is that there is often alot more to the story that just what was stated in the bible.
God always has his reasons, he often doesnt explain himself to us.
becuase God understands a very simple truth, that a critical person can never be satisfied.
so he doesnt bother.
im not saying your critical, im just giving an example.
im not sure he gave us the whole picture here.
just a sentence, and we have to trust him.

another thing we have to understand is that many times God allows bad things to happen, but they werent his intentions.
Satan could have used that oppurtunity of them rebelling agaisnt God and Gods servant to strike at those people, and in that time, they were vulnerable becuase of their sin.
satan walks about like a lion seeking whom he may devour, and loves to blame it on God so people will question him.
many times a person allowing satan to destroy them becuase of the vulnerability their sin puts them in, is actually called being done by God in KJV.
though it should be called being "allowed" by God.

if we sin or something, were vulnerable, and if we die we die, and the KING JAMES VERSION would probly say God did it himself, but it should say he allowed it happen. becuase our own actions left us vulnerable to the gOD OF THIS WORLD satan.
thats gOD LITTLE G. not BIG G.

oh sorry, I LOVE THE KJV, its about the only kind i read. its just not perfect.
just had to clarify that.