Old Testament account relates a type of Christ, Sperry speaker says

PROVO, Utah — Sandwiched between two of the most spectacular stories in the Old Testament is a story about a borrowed tool. On one side is the story about Elisha directing the leper Naaman to dip himself in the river to be cleansed. On the other side is the story of a siege where Elisha calls upon God's angels to blind an army.

And in between are seven verses about a floating axe head.

Blair G. Van Dyke spoke at the 38th annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium at Brigham Young University about how the story of a borrowed axe head that ends up floating is a beautiful testimony of Jesus Christ.

2 Kings 6:1-7 tells of the sons of the prophets, faithful followers of Elisha the prophet. They are constructing a new home when one of the young men takes a swing with an axe and the axe head flies off into the murky river. He cries out to Elisha, "Alas, master! for it was borrowed." Elisha then throws a stick into the water, the axe head floats and the tool is retrieved.

Van Dyke, the coordinator of international affairs and Mormon Studies at the Orem LDS Institute of Religion, quoted the late Elder Bruce R. McConkie, who said: "If we had sufficient insight, we would see . . . in all things Deity gives his people, something that typifies the eternal ministry of the Eternal Christ."

"We're dealing with a chunk of iron floating to the surface of the river, and we're supposed to figure something out about that. That is a clue," said Van Dyke.

The context of the story is grim, according to Van Dyke. Elisha is a prophet to a nation engulfed in apostasy. Israel was cankered by riches and took advantage of the widows, fatherless and poor to build their wealth by loaning money to the desperate and then selling off the debtors' property and even children when they were in default.

When the axe falls in the water, Van Dyke said we learn four things:

1. Iron is difficult to acquire and very expensive.
2. The young man who borrowed the axe lived a modest life — he didn't have a tool shed with five axes.
3. The young man is strictly honest, even though he could be sold to pay for the lost tool.
4. The young man had great confidence in his "master" to reverse the circumstances.

"At the moment of greatest crisis, Elisha doesn't study the waters," Van Dyke said, "he just performs the miracle, and the young man is released (from his difficulty)."

The axe head is a type of Christ, according to Van Dyke. "Iron doesn't float. The Savior doesn't float."

"The axe head becomes a fantastically obvious precedent for one of the greatest miracles in the ministry of the Savior," Van Dyke said.

In Mark 6 and Matthew 14 the disciples of Christ are traveling across the Sea of Galilee when, in the midst of a storm, they see Christ coming to them, walking on the water.

In the New Testament, the disciples were on the brink of destruction. "Not unlike the son of the prophet in Elisha's day," Van Dyke said.

Christ comes to them and tells them to not fear and comes into the boat.

The floating axe head points directly to Christ, according to Van Dyke. The anxiety of the young man lines up with the anxiety of the disciples in the boat. The story can also add deeper meaning to when Peter came out of the boat and had to be lifted up by Christ.

To Van Dyke, the whole point of the axe story is to point to the miraculous power of the Savior and his mortal ministry.

"All of a sudden it becomes just so obvious," he said. "Why would we ever skip this miracle in the Old Testament?"

E-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com