2 Kings 2:19-22
"19 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.”20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke."
It is interesting to compare the opening of Elijah's ministry with that of Elisha. There it was the announcement of a drought (1 Kings 17:1) here it is the healing of the waters, and there is considerable significance in this contrast, for the nature of the two prophets’ ministries is summed up therein; Elijah's, judgement, Elisha's, mercy. This is not to say that the lat- ter was better or more hopeful than the former, or more truly God-given. The fact is, they were complementary ministries, and this is the pointer to an important lesson in spiritual life. So often conviction and judgement are necessary before healing and blessing are possible. Thus, John the Baptist's stern denunciations preceded the ministry of Jesus, as a necessary preparation for it, and in what is perhaps the profoundest statement of the Christian message ever written, the Epistle to the Romans, Paul begins with the message of universal condemna- tion before proceeding to declare the matchless message of the divine mercy. And what is true in doctrine is true also in experience. What our forefathers used to call 'the killing-work' of the law has to take place in the heart and conscience, bringing conviction and condemnation and an urgent sense of need, before a man is in a position to receive God's mercy and forgiveness. Without the stern denunciation first, the idea, and therefore the experience, of forgiveness can prove all too superficial, and it is this that explains much of the unsatisfactory nature of Christian experience in modern days when the concept of divine judgment has been so much at a discount.