Directly from God .2Ki 2:23 Then he (Elisha) went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!"24 So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
Who believe this was just a coincidence or directly from God?
Leviticus 26:21 “‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. 22 I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.
When the youth were saying "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" they were mocking a prophet of God and in essence they were mocking God too ! They were saying "Go up " as in the way Elijah left this realm .
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
These youth reaped a mauling . And this was a message sent to the people about mocking God . Just think about all the times the youths were asked about their scars they carried and how the story lived on .