#125: The Floating Iron and God’s Works of Providence

Published by Ben Stahl on November 20, 2020November 20, 2020

So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the waters and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.” So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there and he made the iron float. Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

II Kings 6:4-7

Shortly after Jesus began His earthly ministry in Mark 1:40 a leper came to Him and said, “If you are willing, You can make me clean.” We are told that Jesus was moved with compassion and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately the leper was cleansed. Later in Jesus’s ministry in Mark 9, Jesus healed a blind man by first spitting on the ground, making clay, anointing the man’s eyes and telling him to wash in the pool of Siloam. After washing, the man who had been blind from his birth, was able to see. On other occasions people simply touched Jesus’s clothes and were healed (Luke 8:43-44). Three different miracles of Jesus carried out in three different ways. We learn something of our God from the manner in which the Lord performs His miracles.

God by His work of providence powerfully preserves and governs all His creatures and all their actions. [1] Everything that comes to pass for every animate and inanimate created thing in heaven or in earth comes to pass by the providence of God. From God alone we have life and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). To carry out His will, the Lord ordinarily uses other created things. To give breath to all living the Lord provides air through His created process of photosynthesis. He provides animals for meat. He provides plants, trees, roots, and rivers to provide all manner of other types of food and drink. God made all things in such a manner that until He returns the sun and moon will rise and set each day while spring, summer, fall, and winter will continue, and the waters will never completely cover the land. These are all ordinary means the Lord uses to carry out His will. But the Lord is not confined to such means.

God who made all things is free to work without, above, and against His ordinary means at His own pleasure. The Scripture is filled with such examples. We call those occasions “miracles” for they are supernatural [above natural order]. Jesus in His earthly ministry healed by speaking, touching, washing with mud and water, and the list goes on.

In the Old Testament we find similar miracles of the Lord. We saw Elijah and Elisha pray and the Lord raise the dead. We saw a widow pour oil and it was multiplied to many jars. We saw Naaman wash seven times in the Jordan and He was healed. The Lord did great things through His prophets showing the greatness of His power. The Lord shows us in today’s text He also cares about what we might consider the small needs of His people.

A son of the prophets was laboring to build a larger house for Elisha and the prophets when the iron ax head flew off the ax handle and into the Jordan river. Iron was quite costly especially in a time of famine and this ax head was borrowed from a neighbor. We should care about those things we borrow from others and treat them as our own (or better). The man was filled with sorrow when it was lost for he either had no way to repay it or the cost would cause a great burden to his family. So he cried out to Elisha (vs. 5).

Without hesitation, Elisha asked where the ax head fell, cut off a stick, threw it in the Jordan, and the iron ax head floated. God worked against the natural law of gravity and brought the ax head to the surface. The prophet simply had to reach into the water and pick up the valuable tool.

God does great wonders. He raises the dead by the Word of His power. He also cares for the smaller things of life including the ax head that was lost. There is no situation in life that the Lord has not ordained by His sovereign will so there is nothing too small nor to great for the Lord. May we trust in the Lord for all things for by His power He works with His created means and also without, against, and above those means.

Remember the ax head in the Jordan river and remember the glorious providence of God that preserves and governs all His creatures and all their actions.

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[1] See Westminster Shorter Catechism Question and Answer #10. What are God’s Works of Providence? Gods works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions.

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