SINKING OR SAVED Larry W Peebles 21.37 October 8, 2021
By now we have all seen the pictures. The great ship Titanic has been sitting on the ocean floor since early morning April 15, 1912. She lay there 73 years until discovered in 1985, and for the 36 years since, she has been explored and photographed. The bow and the stern were found 1/3 miles apart, as she broke in two when she went down. The debris field is estimated at 3 by 5 miles. Two-man submersibles capable of reaching her 2.3 mile deep watery grave have retrieved artifacts, and have taken the latest photos. Her discovery prompted a fresh curiosity, and even a new round of books, movies, exhibits and memorials concerning her fateful maiden voyage.
At the time, Titanic was the best of the world-class cruise ships, and the largest afloat. Her first-class accommodations boasted a gymnasium, Turkish bath, swimming pool, library, and high-class restaurants. The cabins were luxurious with the finest appointments. However, she carried only twenty lifeboats, enough for half the passengers. Over 1500 of her 2,224 passengers and crew died when she struck an iceberg that tore open the hull below the water line. Six of her 16 air chambers were punctured; she was built to withstand damage to five. Her demise still represents the deadliest peace-time sinking of a cruise ship. Better wireless communications between ships, and adequate lifeboats, both required today, would have prevented the tremendous loss of lives.
The 2000 hull plates were 6’ x 30’, 1 ½” thick, and weighed over 2.5 tons each. Three million rivets held her together, weighing over 1200 tons. She carried a total of five anchors, with the center anchor weighing 16 tons. Given the observed deterioration since her discovery, it is estimated that this once magnificent creation of steel will be a pile of rust on the ocean floor in another 50 years. The enormity of this disaster is hard to fathom.
In the Bible we find the story of another piece of iron that went to the bottom, but had a very different outcome. This story also speaks of the miraculous. 2Kings 6: 1-7 says- “The company [school] of prophets said to Elisha, ‘Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live.’ And he said ‘Go.’ Then one of them said, ‘Won’t you please come with your servants?’ ‘I will’, Elisha replied. And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axe-head fell into the water. ‘Oh my lord,’ he cried out, ‘it was borrowed!’ The man of God asked, ‘Where did it fall?’ When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. ‘Lift it out,’ he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it.”
As we know from science, and as confirmed by the Titanic, iron does not float. A volume of iron is heavier than an equal volume of water. Yet the prophet Elisha called on God for a miracle, and the iron axe-head floated to the surface of the water.
The symbolism is as equally powerful as the miracle.
The plan to build a “pole building” tells us the budding prophets in Elisha’s school had no money. They could not buy or rent a building. They could not build out of stone or man-made bricks. They went to the river to cut poles, a practice we have seen in the past in certain African countries. A pastor and some of his men will go into the forest, cut poles, and bring them out to build a church building. The resulting structure is economical, and will suffice until the congregation grows. This is what the prophets did, but they did not even have an axe. The one they used was “borrowed”, according to the Scripture, which also indicates they had no money.
The axe-head flew off the handle. As an adjective, “axe-head” might describe someone with a hard head, perhaps stubborn with a temper. When the axe-head flew off the handle, it was the result of a stroke too powerful, or misplaced, or perhaps frustrated and angry such that the axe-head became detached from the handle. It pays to be aware when the axe-head is about to fly off the handle. It is best to stop, back away, and tighten it down.
The axe-head went into the water and sunk to the bottom. Because they had no money, when the axe-head went into the water it became a debt they could not repay. The borrowed axe-head would have to be replaced. This is symbolic of a problem that cannot be fixed. When there is no money, one cannot buy an axe-head. The plan, no matter how well-intentioned, was underwater. With one stroke, an axe-headed person can fly off the handle, and by a word or a deed take down a dream, a hope, a relationship, even a life-long work. The result is a situation that is impossible to repair or restore. Absent a miracle, it will sit underwater on the bottom until it becomes a pile of rust.
When Elisha prayed and asked God for a miracle, the axe-head floating to the surface represents complete restoration, problem fixed, and debt repaid. Instead of a watery grave, the prophets were celebrating a resurrection. Like a baptism, what went into the water was a dead situation. What came up out of the water had new life. In place of sleepless nights trying to figure out how to pay a bill, they were debt-free. In an instant, their plan or project went from doomed to prosperous. The Titanic only had one chance; the prophets got another chance. Instead of sinking, their dream was saved.
The same truths apply to our lives. God is still the Master over the debt that seemingly cannot be repaid, the problem that cannot be solved, and the broken heart that cannot be mended. When it looks like the situation is headed to a watery grave, God smiles and plans a baptism. When we turn to Him, He will not leave us drowning and rusting below the surface of the water. When He responds, what looked dead and hopeless going into the water will be resurrected and comes up new and alive.
Isaiah said it this way-“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Not shall the flame scorch you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Your Savior.” (Isaiah 43: 1-3) Notice Isaiah emphasizes walking through the water and the flame. We may go through some stuff, but Jesus never intended we would stay and/or die there.
By name, Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave (John 11:1-44). By name, He still calls us out of the watery grave of our circumstances. We need not fear the devil or his works. We might go down, but Jesus still redeems and saves. He lifts us up to new life and hope, and repairs the broken things in our lives. The devil wants to sink us; Jesus came to save us. He came to destroy the works of the devil; He is the Resurrection and the Life.
