Then the men of the city said to Elisha, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren.” And he said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.’ So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

II Kings 2:19-22 NKJV

There have been many debates as to the best method for evangelism. On one extreme of the debate, some have taken the position we should only warn of judgment, as Jonah who told Nineveh they would be destroyed. Those on the other extreme focus solely on the love of God, even going so far as to tell everyone in earshot that God loves him and has a wonderful plan for his life. Many are somewhere in between these two positions.

I do not anticipate that a simple devotional will settle the question once and for all.* But one thing is certain: The faithful proclamation of the gospel will be an aroma of death leading to death for some and an aroma of life leading to life for others (II Cor. 2:12-16). Not all who hear your reason for the hope that is within you will believe you.

What do the gospel and evangelism have to do with Elisha and the water at Jericho? Jericho was a city cursed by God when it was destroyed by Joshua and the Israelites. Whoever rebuilt it would lose two sons (Joshua 6:26) and in the days of Ahab, Hiel of Bethel** rebuilt Jericho at the expense of two of his sons’ lives (I Kings 16:34).

However, there was no sin in living in the rebuilt city, and in fact it had become one of the training centers of the prophets. Elijah visited to encourage the prophets before he was taken up to Heaven and Elisha spent some time with the men before he departed for other places of ministry. The setting of Jericho was pleasant, but the water was bad and therefore the ground was barren. Nothing could grow from the water that was available.*** Food and water had to be constantly shipped in from other places to keep the residents alive. There was no life sustaining food from Jericho itself.

The Lord used the picture of water with the Samaritan woman in John 4. She was at a well when He told her about the living water. She had water she could drink, but she would thirst again. She needed living water – water that would become a fountain springing up to everlasting life. In comparison, all other water would eventually lead to death.

We may live in pleasant places and situations with abundant water to drink. Yet the places we live, our neighborhoods, towns, states, and countries are dead without the living water. The bad water of Jericho reminded the prophets and should remind us that the present situation may seem pleasant, but the end thereof is only death. Every man, woman, and child now living will one day perish because of their sin, and unless the Lord heals us and gives to us living water our pleasant situation will end in misery and destruction.

The prophets who would spread the Word of God, Christians who will bear witness to the truth, must begin with this recognition of the situation: The water of the world is bad, the land is barren, the people are full of sin and evil, and the end thereof is the way of death. But the Lord, by His grace and mercy, provides a remedy!

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*It seems to me the specific individual’s situation is the primary determination for which evangelistic approach to take.

**Bethel, the house of God, had been made by Jeroboam into a house of sin when the golden calf was set up to provoke Israel to idolatry. It should not be a great surprise that the man who rebuilt Jericho at the known cost of his two sons was from this place.

***It seems unlikely the water was drinkable, though the text focuses on the effect on crops rather than the potability of the water.

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