ELIJAH AND ELISHA - 4

The Call of Elisha
1 Kings 19:19 – 21; 2 Kings 2: 1-15; 2 Kings 13: 10-25 (NIV)

Other than Jesus, Elisha performed more recorded miracles than anyone in the Bible.
Divine Direction. Elisha was God’s sovereign choice.  His name means ‘my God is salvation’ and the whole ministry of Elisha would prove to be an outworked testimony to the meaning of his name
Elisha lived in a time. Apostasy overflowed and Israel’s enemies were circling. Yet through countless situations, Elisha stood as a light… a voice in the wilderness… showing through his life that the God of Israel was well and truly alive!

Forgetting that which is behind…

19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of

oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.

20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.

2 Kings 2: 1-15

Be loyal to those to whom the Lord assigns you. Understand that the Lord will reward such loyalty.

Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

2 When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”

4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

2 Kings 13: 10-20

Jehoash King of Israel

10 In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.

12 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 13 Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

14 Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

15 Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 16 “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.

17 “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”

18 Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

20 Elisha died and was buried.

Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
22 Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23 But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.

24 Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. 25 Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.

19:19 He with the twelfth means that there were 12 teams of oxen plowing, and Elisha was driving the twelfth team. That Elijah cast his mantle upon him symbolized that he was electing Elisha to receive the authority and power of his office.

19:20, 21 The phrase Go back again: for what have I done to thee? Is Elijah’s approval that it is appropriate to say farewell to his family. Elisha uses the animals and implements of his former livelihood to host a farewell celebration. From this point on he does not turn back.

2: 2-6 Somehow Elisha had learned that Elijah would soon be departing this Earth, and he was determined to follow him until the end. Elijah had called Elisha to take up his office. Elisha was determined to follow him since a dying person would often pronounce blessings on others, and Elisha did not want to miss his moment of. opportunity. Elisha’s commitment was tested three times by Elijah. Sons of the prophets here imply that they were member of a prophetic order, not that they were physical descendants of prophets.

2:8 The dividing of the Jordan was Elijah’s last prophetic sign.

2: 9-15 Elisha request of Elijah one last thing a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Since the double portion was the privilege of the firstborn it has been suggested that Elisha is asking to be

Elijah’s successor. 

Yet this is more than just a petition to be Elijah’s successor, because that had already been established. Elisha realized that he did not have the capability to fulfill the awesome responsibility of carrying on Elijah’s work. As Elijah’s successor, Elisha’s applies the principle of the firstborn to ask for a spiritual inheritance. This is described as the spirit of Elijah, and is either an indirect or direct reference to the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word for "spirit" has a wide range of meaning (it can refer to the human spirit the Holy Spirit, an evil spirit, a prophetic gift, or even the wind). Here it probably refers to the energizing power of the prophetic spirit that characterized the life of Elijah. The Holy Spirit is the author of Elijah’s prophetic gift and the energizing power of his ministry.

2:11 According to the biblical record, only Enoch (Gen.5:24) and Elijah went directly to the Lord without having to die.

2:12 Tearing clothing symbolized mourning. Elisha and the people of God had just lost one of their spiritual heroes.

2:13 The prophet’s mantle was a symbol of the authority he had been given by God.

13:20-21 It is ironic that Elisha, the great giant of faith who had done so many miracles in his lifetime (and even one after his death, see vv.21,22), would die from sickness. There is an element of mystery in the ministry of the miraculous. Before he died, Elisha extended to King Jehoahaz an opportunity to participate in an enacted prophecy that symbolized his future victories over the Syrians. Jehoahaz would not be victorious as he could have been, because he lacked faith and was unwilling to do enthusiastically something that may have seemed foolish to him.

Janet Thomas
Founder/President/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts