Passage: Exodus 6: 1-7 Reclaiming our Lost Edge

This homework seemed to be one of the most difficult tasks I encountered. But
as I start reading it, I remember the popular story in American Literature, entitled The
Woodcutter and the Axe. This story is one of the most popular stories in grade school
especially teaching about values and moral lessons.
Long ago, there lived a woodcutter in a small village. He was sincere in his
work and very honest. Every day, he set out into the nearby forest to cut trees. He
brought the woods back into the village and sold them out to a merchant and earn his
money. He earned just about enough to make a living, but he was satisfied with his
simple life.
One day, while cutting a tree near a river, his axe slipped out of his hand and
fell into the river. The river was so deep, he could not even think to retrieve it on his
own. He only had one axe which was gone into the river. He became a very worried
thinking how he will be able to earn his living now. He was very sad and prayed to the
Lord. He prayed sincerely so God appeared in front of him and asked, “What is the
problem, my son?” The woodcutter explained the problem and requested God to get
his axe back.
God put his hand deep into the river and took out a silver axe and asked, “Is
this your axe?” The Woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”. So God put his
hand back deep into the water again and showed a golden axe and asked, “Is this
your axe?” The woodcutter looked at the axe and said “No”. God said, “Take a look
again Son, this is a very valuable golden axe, are you sure this is not yours?” The
woodcutter said, “No, It’s not mine. I can’t cut the trees with a golden axe. It’s not
useful for me”.
God smiled and finally put his hand into the water again and took out his iron
axe and asked, “Is this your axe?” To this, the woodcutter said, “Yes! This is
mine! Thank you!” God was very impressed with his honesty so he gave him his iron
axe and also other two axes as a reward for his honesty.
Going to the passage, whatever else can be said about this narrative, we should
understand that it focuses on, revolves around, and wouldn’t be a story without an
axe head that flew off its handle. Had the axe head remained attached to the handle,

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there would have been no emergency, no need to consult Elisha for a miracle, and no
need to exercise faith.
At first glance, this mishap seems unimportant and unnecessary for inscribing
into the eternal pages of God’s Word. But this lost axe head created serious problems.
That’s why I first want to investigate/disect a series of problems this mishap created.
Problems of the Lost Axe Head:
1. Trouble happens even when believers are engaged in doing God’s perfect
will. Have you noticed how quickly things can go crooked when you’re doing
God’s will? There are times when things seem to turn against us when we
pursue God’s will. That’s what this story of the lost axe head shows. While the
Bible doesn’t say why this axe head broke free from the handle, there are two
things I noticed: One, this prophet was careless. Not being a professional axe-
man, he didn’t know to monitor his equipment. Second, this young prophet may
not have been careless at all. He simply had an unavoidable mishap. I realized
that as a Christian, we should not jump to conclusions when we see problems
in the Kingdom of God. Difficulty does not necessarily indicate a task is out of
God’s will. Satan is known to impugn God’s work; human miscalculation creates
problems; and mistakes happen. But God, with His providential mastery, is
always in control. And the Lord is supremely responsible for allowing this
episode to occur. This will become evident later in my reflection.
2. The Prophets had borrowed this lost axe head. Because this axe was “on
loan/borrowed,” someone in the Company of Prophets would have to pay for
its replacement. And we can assume the young prophet that lost the axe head
would become someone’s servant until he had worked off the debt. Remember,
back in the old times, iron was a valuable commodity. In the story of the The
Woodcutter and his axe, we see that this iron is the source of his living. That
meant someone was doomed for a lengthy time of servitude in order to repay
the debt.
3. The work on the prophetic quarters could not continue without a cutting
device. Notice the definition of an axe: An axe is a tool of sharpness that
assists men in chopping. The sharp-bladed head of an axe helps accomplish
what men could not do without it. We need axes for many of God’s assignments.

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 God has given everyone a very special instrument that was designed for your
usage. He has placed something in our hand that makes us effective for
kingdom service. It is an “axe” of the Holy Spirit that empowers us to
accomplish God’s work. These “axes” are called gifts of the Spirit. The Holy
Spirit’s gifts, talents, and tools are the instruments that accomplish God’s
purposes. It could be an axe of prayer, or giving, or teaching, or mercy, or
serving, or encouraging. That’s why it’s important to exercise our spiritual gifts.
4. It would take nothing less than a miracle for this axe head to be retrieved
from the bottom of the river. And that’s what happened! Sometimes things go
amiss or even messy despite obeying God. That’s why the Lord placed this
story in the Bible. He wanted to illustrate His providential mastery of life and
disclose how He can pull victory from the jaws of defeat. God is never
constrained from resolving our problems regardless of how perplexing they are.
That’s how miracle works.

Having said that, how this lost axe head was reclaimed:

1. First, the young man rushed to Elisha and, with a flurry of words, explained
his dilemma: “What shall I do Sir? It was a borrowed axe.” We can hear the
desperation in his voice; and that’s okay. There is nothing inappropriate or
over-reactionary with this young man’s actions. He simply admitted his
dilemma. Just like the woodcutter in the story, he simply admitted it. It’s not
time to pray a faint-hearted prayer when we are faced with crisis. Desperate
situations beget desperate prayers. But now the case has been made and the
young prophet has presented the dilemma to Elisha.
2. And, now it’s Elisha’s moment! He listens carefully to each word of the story.
He’s curious but without accusation. Why blame anybody who is serious about
God’s work? Elisha understands the drama but he shows no emotion. There is
something about men of faith that stare-down problems with divine aloofness.
Men of faith don’t allow problems to overwhelm them because they know their
God towers higher. Elisha, with calm repose asks, “Where did you lose the
axe”? That’s a perfectly normal question for Elisha to ask. And we do the same

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 when we lose something of value. We ask, “Where did I last possess the
object?” “When did I last see it?” Some people might disagree and say, “If God
could give resilience to that chunk of lead, He could also reveal where it fell in
the water.” But remember, God is disclosing a secret here and this is my
observation: Elisha’s simple question, “Where did it fall?” demonstrates our
need to identify where we lost our effectiveness in life. Sometimes we have
lost our kingdom sharpness because we stopped praying, stopped studying. Is
the blade of our lives missing because we stopped sharing Christ or serving
others? If we lost our cutting-edge, we can always go back and consider where
we lost it. Why did we lose it? We need to recall these things, because these
are important considerations. But there’s more: This story doesn’t terminate
with a fanciful memory of where we lost anything. The story of the far-flung
axe head is about reclaiming our losses.
3. When this young man identified the place of his loss, Elisha moved into
action. The Bible says Elisha took a piece of wood and threw it into the river.
Within moments, the axe head swam to the surface of the Jordan and bobbed
like a cork as the Company of Prophets looked on in stunned amazement.
Perhaps the imagery of this “stick” is obvious. That piece of wood represented
the Cross of Christ. It shows that there is no salvation, no miracle, without
Christ. It foretold how Christ upon that wooden Cross would raise us from the
depths of sin and replace us to our rightful place.
4. But the story is not quite over. Listen to Elisha’s words once the axe head
arose on the water. He said to those nearby: “Take it out.” In essence, Elisha
said, “Reclaim your usefulness and get busy again. Everything is alright.” And
that’s what I hear the Lord saying to me: “The gifts and calling of God are
irrevocable, we can claim it anytime.” Reclaim and employ what is rightfully
ours.

In conclusion, I want to rehearse how we can reclaim our cutting edge with God:
1. Admit that we need God. Verse 5 says when the young man lost the axe head
“he cried out and said, “What shall I do Sir? It was a borrowed axe.”” Don’t be
ashamed to confess your mistake and ask God for help. Just like the woodcutter

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 in the story, he was honest enough to confess his mistake and he asked for
help.
2. Identify where we lost our usefulness. Elisha was careful to inquire where
the loss occurred in verse 6: “Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall”?
This is where the young man stepped forward and pointed where the axe head
flew into the river. We too should confess to God where we lost our blessing.
We should know where part of the river we lost our axe, our blessing, so we
can correctly point it to the Lord. And with that, He can appropriately perform
His miracle.
3. Work with God’s plan to restore our loss. Elisha said to the young man in
verse 7, “Take it out.” So he put out his hand and took it.” When God performs
this miracle of making the axe head float, time for us to take part in this miracle
by taking it out. I remember the story of Lazarus, where Jesus said, “remove
the stone”. It’s the same, we have to do our part in restoring our loss.