The God of Borrowed Axes Text: 2 Kings 6:1-7
Introduction: The Lord of the Little Things
We live in an age that has a very high and mighty view of itself, and consequently, a very low and shrunken view of God. To the modern mind, if God exists at all, He is a remote, abstract principle, a Prime Mover who wound up the clock of the universe and then retired to some distant corner of the cosmos. He is concerned, perhaps, with the grand sweep of galaxies and the tectonic shifts of history, but certainly not with the small, mundane frustrations of our daily lives. He is the God of black holes, not of leaky faucets. He is the God of empires, not of lost car keys.
But the God of the Bible is not the god of the philosophers. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who is Lord over everything, from archangels to atoms, from the rise of kings to the fall of a sparrow. And as this brief, almost homespun little story in 2 Kings shows us, He is the God of lost axe heads. This is a domestic miracle, a small-scale wonder that happens on a construction site among a group of seminary students. There is no thunder, no fire from heaven, no dramatic confrontation with the priests of Baal. There is just a river, a lost tool, a stick, and a very practical God.
This story is a profound rebuke to our gnostic tendencies to separate the "spiritual" from the "material." For God, there is no such division. All of life is spiritual because He is Lord of all of life. This passage teaches us that God's grace is not just for the salvation of our souls in the sweet by and by; it is for the restoration of our lives in the here and now. He is interested in our work, our debts, our tools, and our troubles. And in this simple account of a floating axe head, we find a beautiful, tangible picture of the greater miracle of the gospel, where the wood of a cross would be cast into the waters of judgment to recover what was hopelessly lost.
The Text
And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.” So he said, “Go.” Then one said, “Please be willing to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I shall go.” So he went with them; and they came to the Jordan and cut down trees. Now it happened that as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up for yourself.” So he sent forth his hand and took it.
(2 Kings 6:1-7 LSB)
Holy Ambition and Humble Means (v. 1-2)
The story begins with a good problem, the kind of problem every pastor and church planter ought to pray for.
"And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, 'Behold now, the place before you where we are living is too limited for us. Please let us go to the Jordan and each of us take from there a beam, and let us make a place there for ourselves where we may live.' So he said, 'Go.'" (2 Kings 6:1-2)
The school of the prophets is growing. The ministry is bearing fruit. The place is too small. This is not a complaint; it is a statement of fact born out of success. This is holy ambition. They are not content with their cramped quarters. They want to expand, to build, to make more room for the work God is doing among them. This is a picture of a healthy, vibrant church. It is always looking to grow, not for the sake of empire, but for the sake of the kingdom.
And notice their proposal. It is marked by humble, practical initiative. They do not say, "Elisha, pray that God would rain down a new building from heaven." They do not ask for a capital campaign fund. They say, "Let us go... and each of us take from there a beam." They are ready to do the work themselves. They will provide the labor. This is the opposite of the entitlement mindset that plagues the modern church, which often sits back and waits for professionals to do the work. Here, everyone grabs a beam. Faith is not passivity. Faith is active, resourceful, and ready to get its hands dirty. Elisha, recognizing their godly industry, gives his simple, authoritative approval: "Go."
The Indispensable Presence (v. 3-4)
The students have a plan and they have permission, but they know something else is needed.
"Then one said, 'Please be willing to go with your servants.' And he answered, 'I shall go.' So he went with them; and they came to the Jordan and cut down trees." (2 Kings 6:3-4 LSB)
This is the most important request they make. More than the wood, more than the manpower, they want the presence of God's appointed man. They understand that their project, however well-intentioned, will only succeed if it is done under the blessing and authority of God. They want Elisha with them. This is a profound recognition that "unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalm 127:1). They are not just building a structure; they are engaging in a spiritual work, and they need their spiritual head to be with them.
Elisha's response is that of a true shepherd. "I shall go." He does not delegate from a distance. He does not consider himself too important for the sweat and sawdust of a construction project. He goes with them. This is a picture of Christ, our great prophet, who did not remain in heaven but came down to be with His servants, to walk with us in the dirt and grime of our world. He is Immanuel, God with us. And so they go to the Jordan, the place of new beginnings, and begin the hard work of felling trees.
A Cry of Integrity (v. 5)
In the midst of this faithful labor, an accident happens.
"Now it happened that as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, 'Alas, my master! For it was borrowed.'" (2 Kings 6:5 LSB)
The physics are simple. A heavy iron axe head, a powerful swing, and a loose fitting. The iron flies off and sinks into the murky Jordan. This is a disaster for a poor student. But listen carefully to his cry. He does not cry, "Alas, my master! For it was expensive." He does not cry, "Alas, my master! For now I cannot work." He cries, "Alas, my master! For it was borrowed."
This is the cry of a tender conscience. His immediate distress is not about the financial loss, but about the moral failure. He has lost something that belonged to another. He is in debt. He has broken trust. In a world that treats debt as a normal way of life and cavalierly declares bankruptcy, this man's integrity is stunning. He is grieved by his obligation, by his inability to make his neighbor whole. This is the heart of a righteous man, one who is sensitive to his duties before God and men. The law required restitution, and he knew he could not afford it. His cry is one of helpless integrity.
The Peculiar Cross (v. 6)
Elisha's response is not a lecture, but grace in action.
"Then the man of God said, 'Where did it fall?' And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float." (2 Kings 6:6 LSB)
First, Elisha asks a practical question: "Where did it fall?" Grace must be applied to a specific problem. It is not a vague, ethereal concept. God meets us at the point of our failure. We must show Him the place. We must confess the specific sin, the specific loss, the specific location of our disaster. We cannot be helped until we point to the spot where the axe head went in.
Then comes the miracle. Elisha cuts a stick, a piece of wood, and throws it into the water. And the laws of nature are reversed. The iron, heavy and sunk, floats to the surface. Why the stick? God could have simply commanded the iron to rise. But God loves to use means, to use the material creation to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The stick does not have any magical properties, but it is the instrument God chooses to use. And in this, we have an unmistakable foreshadowing of the gospel.
We are the iron. Sunk by the weight of our sin, lost in the murky waters of judgment, hopelessly beyond our own recovery. And God takes a piece of wood, the cross of His Son, and casts it into the place of our condemnation. And that cross, by the power of God, reverses the curse. It takes what is heavy with guilt and makes it buoyant with grace. It takes what is dead and brings it to the surface of new life. The wood of the cross is God's answer to the iron weight of our sin. It is a peculiar solution, foolishness to the world, but it is the power of God unto salvation.
Faith That Reaches (v. 7)
The miracle has occurred, but one final action is required.
"And he said, 'Take it up for yourself.' So he sent forth his hand and took it." (2 Kings 6:7 LSB)
The axe head is floating, within reach. But Elisha does not command an angel to retrieve it. He commands the man, "Take it up for yourself." God provides the miraculous salvation, but we are required to receive it. Grace is not irresistible in the sense that it nullifies our will; it is effectual in that it enables us to will what we could not will before. The man had to respond. He had to stretch out his hand in faith and take hold of what God's grace had provided.
This is the nature of faith. Faith is not simply observing God's miracles from the riverbank. Faith is acting on God's command and appropriating the gift. God has made our salvation float. In Christ, He has brought our forgiveness, our righteousness, our restoration to the surface. And His command to us is the same: "Take it up for yourself." Reach out the hand of faith and lay hold of Jesus Christ. Do not just stare at the provision; take it. He sent forth his hand and took it. This is the simple, active response that receives the gift of God.
Conclusion: Our Great Debt
This is a simple story, but it is our story. We were all in a much deeper predicament than this young prophet. We had not merely lost a borrowed tool; we had lost a borrowed life. We were entrusted with the image of God, and we let it sink into the muck and mire of sin. We were in a debt to God's perfect righteousness that we could never, ever repay. We were sunk, lost, and helpless.
And the Man of God, the Lord Jesus, came to us and asked, "Where did it fall?" He met us at the point of our sin and shame. And on a hill outside Jerusalem, He took the wood of the cross and cast it into the depths of our condemnation. He went down into the waters of death for us, and by His resurrection, He reversed the irreversible law of sin and death. He has brought our salvation to the surface.
And now He stands on the riverbank of your life, and He points to the forgiveness, the restoration, the new life floating there before you, purchased at His own cost. And He says to you, "Take it up for yourself." The only thing left to do is for you to send forth your hand, the hand of faith, and take it. Do not let it drift away. Take it.