782. And his mouth as the mouth of a lion, signifies reasonings from falsities destroying the truths of the church. This is evident from the signification of "mouth," as being thought (See above, n. 580), but here reasoning (of which presently); also from the signification of a "lion," as being infernal falsity in respect to its power (of which above, n. 278. This is because a "lion" signifies the Divine truth, for which reason the Lord also is called "a lion" in the Word; consequently in the contrary sense a "lion" signifies infernal falsity in respect to its power to destroy divine truth, and thus the Word; and this is especially done by adulterations and falsifications of it. And as a lion is the most powerful of animals, and its power increases according to its hunger to devour and consequently to seize its prey and tear it in pieces, so a "lion" signifies also the eagerness to destroy the truths of the Word. "Lions" have a like representation in the spiritual world, for lions also appear there, but the forms of lions are appearances arising from the eagerness of those who have great power to adulterate and falsify the truths of the Word whereby they are destroyed; with them this power increases according to their ability to reason. This is why "lions" signify in the Word in the contrary sense infernal falsity destroying the truths of the church. Because this is what a "lion" signifies, and because "the beast that was like unto a leopard" and that "had feet as of a bear" signifies the reasonings confirming the separation of faith from life, by which the goods and truths of the Word are adulterated and falsified; therefore the "mouth" of that beast, which was "as the mouth of a lion," signifies reasoning from falsities that destroy the truths of the Word. The "mouth," in a strict sense, signifies thought; but as man's speech is from the mouth, the "mouth" signifies the various things that flow from thought, as instruction, preaching, reasoning; here reasoning, because reasonings from the natural man are signified by the "beast" here treated of. But more will be said about this in the explanation of verses 5-7 of this chapter, in which are these words: "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given unto him authority to make war forty-two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them." From that explanation it will be seen what power and eagerness, and what ability such have to falsify the truths and adulterate the goods of the Word by means of reasonings.

Critics of the Bible often refer to this story, pointing to it as a reason to dismiss the Bible as a holy book. Their argument is pretty straightforward: If Elisha would cause bears to attack children – 42 children! – for insulting his hairless head, how can we regard him as a good person? He is described as a "Man of God," but what kind of God would want this?

Or put it this way: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" – unless I use words on Elisha, in which case I’m bear-bait.

Ironically, the story’s internal meaning – the spiritual lesson it's teaching us -- has to do with people who mock and criticize the Bible because of its sometimes-strange stories, and with the damage they do to themselves by such attacks.

Let’s look closely at each part of the story.

The Writings tell us that "Elisha" represents the Lord as He is revealed to us through the Bible. "Hair," in general, represents true ideas in their most outward expression. Elisha’s hair, then, represents the most outward expression of the Lord in the Bible, or the actual, literal stories themselves. This means that calling Elisha “bald” is saying that the Lord is not getting through into those actual, literal stories – that the stories are empty, without real meaning. “Youths” generally represent intelligence or the understanding of truth. Here it is presumably used in a negative way, showing people using intelligence and logic to attack the meaning of the Bible.

“Bears” represent the power of the literal, external stories of the Bible. In most cases this is negative – bears represent that power without a connection to the stories’ internal meanings – but in this case it is a powerful protection.

Finally, the number “42” represents blasphemy, or direct attacks against the Lord.

Put that together, and we can see that this is not a story about Elisha siccing bears on some bratty kids. It is really a story about the dangers of using our intelligence to attack the Bible, and through the Bible the Lord.

The Bible, even in its most external form, has tremendous power. It’s a power we can feel and understand if we approach the Bible with a genuine openness to the Lord, but it’s not a power we can understand through pure logic or pure intelligence. And if we use pure logic and pure intelligence to attack the Bible, we will get “mauled” – our ability to understand truth will be reduced to render us less of a threat to holy things.