A) THE NAME ELIJAH.

B) THE BATTLE AGAINST IDOLATRY.

C) WHAT ELIJAH IS TRULY KNOWN FOR.

D) A LIST OF THE MIRACLES OF ELIJAH.

E) A LIST OF THE MIRACLES OF ELISHA.

F) THE PROPHET ELISHA.

G) THE TIMING OF ELISHA’S MINISTRY.

H) ELISHA ACKNOWLEDGED AS BEING A PROPHET.

I) ELISHA’S MINISTRY.

 

 

A) THE NAME ELIJAH

 

 

Elijah means, “whose God is Jehovah.”  Some Bible commentators explain it as, “Converter.”  He is the great prophet of the times of Ahab, king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom).

 

Elijah is identified at his first appearance as, “Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the sojourners of Gilead,” First Kings 17:1.  Thus, his native place must have been called, “Tishbeh.”  A “Tishbeh (Thisbe),” in the territory of Naphtali, is known from “Tobit 1:2;” but if (with most modern Bible commentators) the reading of the “Septuagint” in First Kingsfollowed later Manuscripts, the word translated as “sojourners,” is itself “Tishbeh.”  This would locate the place in Gilead and making the prophet a native of that mountain region, and not merely a “sojourner” there.  Apparently, he was a very hairy man in appearance (2Ki. 1:8).

 

His name and designation mark his one grand mission, to bring his apostate people back to Jehovah as THE TRUE God (compare 1Ki. 18:39 with Mal. 4:5-6).  In contrast to the detailed genealogy of Samuel, Elisha, and other prophets, Elijah abruptly appears, like Melchizedek in the patriarchal dispensation, without father or mother named, and his exact locality unknown.  This may be by design (isn’t everything in Scripture, “by design?”), in order that attention should be wholly fixed on his errand from Heaven to overthrow “Ba-al and Asherah” (the licentious “Venus”) worship in Israel.

 

 

B) THE BATTLE AGAINST IDOLATRY

 

 

This idolatry had been introduced by Ahab and his idolatrous wife, Ethbaal’s daughter, Jezebel (in violation of the First Commandment).  As if the past sins of Israel were not enough, and as if it were, “a light thing for him [Ahab] to walk in the sins of Jeroboam,” First Kings 16:31, the worship of Jehovah under the symbol of a calf, in violation of the Second Commandment, was encouraged.

 

In First Kings 16:29-34, we read of the impieties of Ahab, culminating in his patronage of the worship of the Tyrian Ba-al, god of his Tyrian queen Jezebel (1Ki. 16:31).  First Kings 16:34 mentions, as another instance, of the little weight attached in Ahab’s time to ancient prophetic threatening’s, i.e., the rebuilding by Hiel the Bethelite, of the banned city of Jericho, “with the loss” of Hiel’s eldest and youngest sons.  This is the situation which calls for a judgment of Yahweh, announced beforehand, as is often the case, by a faithful prophet of Yahweh.  Thus, Elijah abruptly appears upon the seen.

 

Whether Elijah was already a familiar figure at the court of Ahab, the narrative beginning with First Kings 17:1, does not state.  Apparently however, his garb and manner identified him as a prophet.  In any case (compare 2Ki. 1:8 with Zec. 13:4), Elijah declared in few words that Yahweh, The Only true and rightful God of Israel, Whose messenger he was, was even at the very time sending a drought which should continue until the prophet himself declared it at an end.

 

The term is to be fixed, indeed, not by Elijah, but by Yahweh.  The drought was not to be short (“these years,” 1Ki. 17:1, three and a half to be exact, Jam. 5:17), and it is to end only when the chastisement is seen to be sufficient.  Guided, as true prophets were continually, by the “word of Yahweh,” Elijah then hid himself in one of the ravines east of (“before”) the Jordan, where the brook Cherith afforded him water, and ravens brought him abundant food (“bread and flesh” twice daily; 1Ki. 17:2-6).  We now know his cave to be on Mount Sinai.

 

As the drought advanced the brook dried up.  Elijah was then directed, by the “word of Yahweh,” as constantly, to take himself beyond the western limit of Ahab’s kingdom to the Phoenician village of Zarephath, near Sidon.  There the widow to whom Yahweh sent him was found gathering a few sticks from the ground at the city gate, to prepare a last meal for herself and her son.  To her credit, she yielded to the prophet’s command that he himself should be fed first from her scanty store; and in return enjoyed the fulfillment of his promise, uttered in the name of Yahweh, that neither barrel of meal nor cruse of oil should be exhausted before the breaking of the drought.  Josephus, in his work, “Antiquities,” VIII, xiii, 2, states on the authority of Menander that the drought extended to Phoenicia and continued there for a full year.

 

However, when the widow’s son fell sick and died, the mother regarded it as a Divine judgment upon her sins, a judgment which had been drawn upon her by the presence of the man of God.  At the prayer of Elijah however, the life was returned to the child (1Ki. 17:17-24).

 

“In the third year,” First Kings 18:1 (compare with Luke 4:25 and Jam. 5:17), Elijah was directed to show himself to Ahab the king as the herald of the rain that was to come from Yahweh.  How sorely both man and beast in Israel were pressed by drought and the resulting famine, is shown by the fact that king Ahab, and his chief steward Obadiah, were in person searching through the land for any patches of green grass that might serve to keep alive some of the king’s own horses and mules (1Ki. 18:5-6).

 

The words of the prophet Obadiah upon meeting with Elijah show the impression, which had been produced by the prophet’s long absence.  It was believed that the Spirit of God had carried Elijah away to some unknown, inaccessible, mysterious region (1Ki. 18:10 & 12).  Obadiah feared that such would again be the case, and, while he entreated the prophet not to make him the bearer of a message to Ahab, appealed to his own well-known piety and zeal, as shown in his sheltering and feeding of the prophets, during Jezebel’s persecution of them (1Ki. 18:13).

 

Elijah reassured the steward by a solemn oath that he would show himself to Ahab (1Ki. 18:15).  The king greeted the prophet with the haughty words, “Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?”  Elijah’s reply, answering scorn with scorn, is what we should expect from a prophet, who in reality is exalting God.  The woes of Israel are not to be charged to the prophet, who declared the doom, but to the kings who made the nation deserve it (1Ki. 18:17 & 18).

 

 

C) WHAT ELIJAH IS TRULY KNOWN FOR

 

 

The god imported from Phoenicia by Jezebel bore the title Ba-al; but his character and his worship were worse and more debasing than anything that had before been known in Israel.  Resistance offered by the servants of Yahweh to the claims of the queen’s favored god led to persecution, rightly ascribed by the historian of First Kings to Jezebel (1Ki. 18:4).  In the face of this danger, the differences between the worship of Yahweh, as carried on in the Northern Kingdom, and the same worship as practiced at Jerusalem, sank out of sight.  The one effort of Elijah was to recall the people from the Tyrian Ba-al to the Living God Yahweh, the God of their fathers.

 

We now come to the point in history that sets up Elijah in history as a “famous” prophet of God.  Elijah went on to challenge a test of the false god’s power.  Among the pensioners of Jezebel were 450 prophets of Ba-al and 400 prophets of the god, Asherah.  These were still fed by the royal bounty in spite of the famine.

 

Accepting Elijah’s proposal, Ahab called all of Jezebel’s prophets and all of the people (“so great a cloud of witnesses,” Heb. 12:1) to Mt. Carmel (1Ki. 18:19-20).  Elijah’s first word to the assembly implied the folly of their thinking, that the allegiance of a people could successfully be divided between two deities:  “How long halt ye between two opinions?”  First Kings 18:21.

 

Elijah proposed that if our Lord is the real God, then follow Him, but if Ba-al, then follow him.  Taking the people’s silence as an indication that they admitted the force of his first words, Elijah went on to propose his conditions for the test.  A bullock was to be offered to Ba-al, and a bullock to Yahweh, but no fire was to be put under either; “The God that answereth by fire, let him be God.”  What is great here is that the voice of the people approved the proposal as fair (1Ki. 18:22-24).

 

Throughout a day of blazing sunshine the prophets of Ba-al called in a frenzy upon their god, while Elijah mocked them with merciless sarcasm (1Ki. 18:25-29, i.e., is your god asleep, etcetera).  About the time for the regular offering of the evening sacrifice in the Temple of Yahweh at Jerusalem, Elijah assumed control.

 

Rebuilding an ancient altar thrown down perhaps from Jezebel’s persecution, and using in the rebuilding of it twelve stones, symbolizing an undivided Israel such as was promised to the patriarch Jacob of old, he then bade the people to help him, probably with a line down to the Mediterranean Sea for its water, thus drenching the sacrifice and wood with water until even a trench about the altar, deep and wide enough to have a half-bushel measure set in it, was filled (basically, there was so much water as to demonstrate that only a god, our God, could get a fire going in and on it).  The prophet then proceeded to call with a few and earnest words upon the God of the fathers of the nation (1Ki. 18:30-37).

 

The answer of Yahweh by fire, consuming bullock, wood, altar and the very dust, struck the people with awe and fear.  Convinced that Yahweh was the only Living God for them, they readily carried out the prophet’s stern sentence of death for the prophets of the idol god (1Ki. 18:38-40; Jezebels 850 prophets).  Next the prophet bade Ahab to make haste with the meal, probably a sacrificial feast for the multitude, which had been made ready; because rain was at hand (a prophecy of Elijah given by Jehovah for the event).

 

Moving to upnn the mountain top, Elijah bowed in prayer, sending his servant seven times to look out across the sea for the coming (cloud) storm (faith at its best).  At last the appearance of a rising cloud, “as small as a man’s hand,” was reported, and before the hurrying chariot of king Ahab could cross the plain to Jezreel, it was overtaken by “a great rain,” from the heavens which were black with clouds and wind after three and a half rainless years.  With strength above nature (God ordained, God given), Elijah ran like a courier, “before” Ahab’s chariot of two horses to the very gate of Jezreel (1Ki. 18:41-46).

 

By contrast, after this great victory, that same night a messenger from Jezebel found Elijah.  The message ran, “As surely as thou art Elijah and I am Jezebel” (so the “Septuagint” reads), “so let the gods do to me, and more also” (i.e., may I be cut in pieces like a sacrificed animal if I break my vow; compare with Gen. 15:8-11 & 17-18; Jer. 34:18-19), “if I make not thy life as the life of one of” the slain prophets of Ba-al, “by to-morrow about this time.”

 

Explain Elijah’s action how we may -- and all the possible explanations of it have found defenders -- he sought safety in instant flight.  Even the patriarch Abraham succumbed to fear by stating that his wife was his sister (Gen. 12:13).  From extraordinary great faith to a lack thereof, how to explain it?  Take a look at your own life.

 

At Beersheba, the southernmost town of Judah, he left his “servant,” whom the narrative does not elsewhere mention.  Going onward into the southern wilderness, he sat down under the scanty shade of a desert broom-bush and prayed that he might share the common fate of all mankind in death (1Ki. 19:1-4).  After sleep he was refreshed with food brought by an angel (Where is faith now?).  Again he slept and was fed.  In the strength of that food he then wandered on for forty days and nights, until he found himself at Horeb, the mountain sacred because there Yahweh had revealed Himself to Moses (1Ki. 19:5-8).

 

The prophet was then bidden to take his stand upon the sacred mount and view the majesty of Yahweh, Who passed by, heralded by a tempest, an earthquake, and a thunderstorm (1Ki. 19:9-12).  What Majesty, what a display!!!  This must have been needed by Elijah; and also, our God’s love towards him; for who else has seen such individual displays just for themselves?

 

These were Yahweh’s forerunners only; Yahweh was not in them, but in the “still small voice,” such as the prophets were accustomed to hear within their souls.  When Elijah heard the not unfamiliar inner voice, he recognized Yahweh in it immediately.  Elijah seems to be seeking to justify his own retreat to the wilderness by the plea that he had been, “very jealous” for God, and had done in Yahweh’s cause all that a mortal prophet could do before he fled.

 

The same people who had forsaken the Law and “covenant” of Yahweh, thrown down His altars and slain His prophets, would have allowed the slaughter of Elijah himself at the command of Jezebel, he expressed and believed, and in him would have perished the last true servant of Yahweh in all the land of Israel (1Ki. 19:13-14).  But the Lord assures him that there remained 7,000 who had not bowed their knee’s to Ba-al.

 

Divine compassion passed by Elijah’s complaint in order to give him directions for further work in Yahweh’s cause.  Elijah must anoint Hazael to seize the throne of Syria, Israel’s worst enemy among the neighboring powers.  Jehu, in like manner, he must anoint to put an end to the dynasty of Ahab and assume the throne of Israel.  He also would anoint Elisha to be his own successor in the prophetic office.  These three, Hazael and his Syrians, Jehu and his followers, and Elisha, are to execute further judgments upon the idolaters and the scorners in the land of Israel.

 

With the anointing of Elisha comes the magnificent departure of Elijah.  Elijah tells Elisha not to go with him.  Elisha however, bound himself by an oath not to leave his master.  Elijah divided the Jordan River with the stroke of his mantle that the two might pass over toward the wilderness on the east.  Elijah asks Elisha what he should leave for him and Elisha asked that he might receive a firstborn’s portion of the spirit, which rested upon his master.  With that, “A chariot of fire, and horses of fire” appeared, and parted the two asunder; “and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into Heaven,” Second Kings 2:1-11.

 

Jehu then finished the work begun by Elijah; not without blood.  We hear no more of the worship of the Tyrian Ba-al in Israel after that anointed usurper’s time (2Ki.  9:10).  To say that Elijah is anything other than a major prophet in God’s work would be to diminish the lesson which our Lord Who would have all of us learn -- that He is a Jealous God, and that He, and He alone is to be worshipped as the One and Only True Living God.

 

Elijah was not a reformer of peace; the very vision of peace was hidden from his eyes, reserved for later prophets for whom he could but prepare the way.  It was his mission to destroy, at whatever cost, the heathen worship; which else would have destroyed Israel itself, with consequences whose evil we cannot estimate.  The prophets Amos and Hoseawould have had no standing-ground had it not been for the work of Elijah and the influences, which at Divine direction, he put into operation.

 

When Elijah was to be taken to Heaven, Elisha could not be persuaded to leave his side.  And as Elijah was preparing to leave, he asks Elisha one last question (request), “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee,” Second Kings 2:9.  Elisha’s answer is profound.  Why?  Because Elisha asks for “a double portion of thy (Elijah’s / God’s) spirit be upon me,” Seond Kings 2:9.  Here is the breakdown:

 

 

D) A LIST OF THE MIRACLES OF ELIJAH

 

 

“As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”  “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.”

 

2) First “For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.”

 

3) First And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.”

 

4) First Kings 18:37-38 = “[37] Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back again. [38] Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”

 

5) First Kings 18:41 & 44 = “[41] And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. [44] And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.  And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.”

 

6) Second And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.  And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”

 

7) Second Kings 1:12 = “ And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.  And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 

 

8) Second Kings 1:17 (see 2Ki. 1:2-4) = “So he died according to the Word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken.”

 

9) Second And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.”

 

 

E) A LIST OF THE MIRACLES OF ELISHA

(Elisha Performs Twice As Many As Elijah)

 

 

“And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.  And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”  Second Kings 2:9.

 

1) Second Kings 2:14 = “And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither:  and Elisha went over.”

 

2) Second Kings 2:21-22 = “[21] And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. [22] So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.”

 

3) Second Kings 2:23-24 = “[23] And he went up from thence unto Bethel:  and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. [24] And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD.  And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.”

 

4) Second Kings 3:14-20 = “[17] For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. [20] And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.”

 

5) Second Kings 3:18-24 = “[18] And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD:  He will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. [24] And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them:  but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.”

 

6) Second Kings 4:3-7 = “[3] Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. [7] Then she came and told the man of God.  And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

 

7) Second Kings 4:16-17 = “[16] And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son.  And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. [17] And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.”

 

8) Second Kings 4:32-35 = “[32] And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. [35] . . . Take up thy son.”

 

9) Second Kings 4:40-41 = “[40] So they poured out for the men to eat.  And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot.  And they could not eat thereof. [41] But he said, Then bring meal.  And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat.  And there was no harm in the pot.”

 

10) Second Kings 4:42-44 = “[42] And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof.  And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. [43] And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men?  He said again, Give the people, that they may eat:  for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. [44] So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the Word of the LORD.”

 

11) Second Kings 5:10-14 = “[10] And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. [14] Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God:  and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

 

12) The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever.  And he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow.”

 

13) Second Kings 6:6-7 = “[6] And the man of God said, Where fell it?  And he shewed him the place.  And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. [7] Therefore said he, Take it up to thee.  And he put out his hand, and took it.”

 

14 & 15 & 16) Second Kings 6:9-10 = “[9] And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down. [10] And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice [So at least 3 times, maybe more].”

 

17) Second Kings 6:18 = “And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness.  And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.”

 

18) Second Kings 6:20 = “And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.  And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.”

 

19) Second Kings 13:21 = “And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha:  and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”

 

 

F) THE PROPHET ELISHA

 

 

The Name Elisha means, “God His Salvation” (“Eli,” God, “sha” His Salvation).  He lived in “Abelmeholah,” First Kings 19:16, which is at the northern end of the Jordan valley, on the western side of the Jordan River, but south of the Sea of Galilee.  He was a farmer according to First Kings 19:19, and apparently unraised with any education in the School of the Prophets.  Thus, when we read in First Kings 19:20, “Let me, I pray thee,” go take care of other business before I follow you; farming duties come to mind.  By contrast, Elijah responds with “Go back again:  for what have I done to thee?”  This response, without the rest of the account, could have been, and at first glance is scary for Elisha, in that Elijah could have passed him by and sought out another (compare with Luke 14:18-20).  However, Elisha’s offering of the “oxen,” First Kings 19:21, shows a full renunciation of his home ties with its comforts and privileges.

 

As far as what he looked like, we have an enormous clue in Seond Kings 2:23, when the mocking “little children” of the city of Bethel let us know that his head is bald.  For anyone in those days to not wear a long beard or have a great set of hair would indeed be unusual (as a contrast, Elijah was very hairy; 2Ki. 1:8).  However, their intent apparently was the blatant profanity of, and the utter disregard of God or anything sacred to God.  This caused the justly angered Elisha to turn around and curse the “little children” “in the Name of the LORD,” Second Kings 2:24.  Let this be an observation for our lives and how we handle sacred things.

 

Elisha is first mentioned in First Kings 19:16, were Elijah is told that Elisha will succeed him in the duties of being Israel’s prophet.  We are not given his age, nor is any speculation valid.  However, since he was “plowing with twelve yoke of oxen,” First Kings 19:19, when Elijah meet him, he mustn’t have been a mere boy.

 

In First Kings 19:20, we have this statement from Elijah to Elisha when he asks for more time before following him, i.e., “Go back again:  For what have I done to thee?”  This really turns out to be a test as to whether or not Elisha will make a full renunciation of his home ties with its comforts and privileges.  Obviously, we know that he did return to the prophet Elijah and served him.  In fact, we can know this for sure (that he became Elijah’s servant) from this rare statement in Second Kings 3:11, that Elisha “poured water on the hands of Elijah.”

 

 

G) THE TIMING OF ELISHA’S MINISTRY

 

 

It is estimated that Elisha’s prophetic career lasted about 50 years, for it extended over the reigns of Jehoram (part of 12 years), Jehu (28 years), Jehoahaz (17 years), and Joash (part of 16 years).  However, the records in Second Kings 2:19 through 5:27, are most likely in chronological order.  Whereas, the events in Chapters 6 through 9, cannot be chronologically arranged because the names of any king of Israel is not mentioned.  As an example, in Second Kings 6:23, we are told that the Syrians came no more into the land of Israel.  And in Second Kings 6:24, it proceeds to give an account of Benhadad’s invasion and the terrible siege of Samaria.  While in Chapter 5, Gehazi (Elisha’s servant) is smitten with leprosy.  But then, in Chapter 8, he is in friendly converse with the king.  In Chapter 13, the death of Joash is recorded.  But this is followed by the record of his last interview with Elisha (2Ki. 13:14-19), which event had occurred some years previously.

 

 

H) ELISHA ACKNOWLEDGED AS BEING A PROPHET

 

 

Elisha would later be recognized as the head of the School of the Prophets when “the sons of the prophets. . . bowed themselves to the ground before him,” Second Kings 2:16, because Elijah was taken to Heaven.  When Elisha was not able to be present, or wanted Gehazi to have more faith, Elisha would but only send Gehazi with his (Elisha’s) staff to perform the miracle (see 2Ki. 4:29).

 

 

I) ELISHA’S MINISTRY

 

 

Elisha seems to have lived in different cities, such as Bethel or Jericho, with the Sons of the Prophets, Dothan or Samaria and Shunem (2Ki. 4:8-11; 6:24 & 32); although he apparently owned his own home in Samaria (possibly Dothan, 2Ki. 6:32).  His ministry starts out with the healing of a spring of water near Jericho (2Ki. 2:21).  As far as all of his miracles, they are listed above.  However, the one where he increases the food in order to feed all of the people must be noticed, in that it mostly corresponds to that of the two miracles of our Lord -- the feeding of the 4,000 and 5,000.

 

He was well respected, so much so that even the Kings of Israel addressed him as “father,” Second Kings 6:21; 13:14.  Even the king of Syria shows total respect towards him (2Ki. 8:7-8).  May our characters be such that others respect us for our acts.

 

Much more could be stated, but I adjure you to look at the miracles performed by him (listed above), which will both give you a time frame of his ministry and a personality of God our Father and of the prophet himself.

 

 

J) THE CHARACTER OF ELISHA

 

 

Elisha was always conscious of the character of God being tainted.  Here is a Bible Commentary explanation of an event in Second Kings 2:23-24, under the Title, “little children.”

 

“little children” = “They mocked God, and met their punishment there.  They had learned it of their parents.  And those who have scoffed and mocked at the idea of the saints’ going up, will be visited with the plagues of God, and will realize that it is not a small thing to trifle with Him.”  1SG:154.

 

   “. . . wicked youth, who had learned from their parents to despise the man of God,” EW:247.2.

 

Also, under “mocked him” I have this explanation:  “Had Elisha allowed the mockery to pass unnoticed, he would have continued to be ridiculed and reviled by the rabble, and his mission to instruct and save in a time of grave national peril might have been defeated. . . Even kindness should have its limits.  Authority must be maintained by a firm severity, or it will be received by many with mockery and contempt.  The so-called tenderness, the coaxing and indulgence, used toward youth, by parents and guardians, is one of the worst evils which can come upon them.  In every family, firmness, decision, positive requirements, are essential.”  PK:236.

 

Of great significance was the carrying out of the first order given to Elijah at Horeb.  The account is found in Second Kings 8:7-15.  Elisha proceeds north to Damascus and finds Benhadad sick.  Hearing of his presence, the king sends a rich present by the hands of his chief captain Hazael and inquires whether he will recover.  Elisha gives a double answer.  He will recover, the disease will not be fatal, yet he will die.  Fixing his eyes on Hazael, Elisha sees a fierce and ruthless successor to Benhadad who will be a terrible scourge to Israel.  The man of God weeps, the fierce captain is ashamed, and when told of what he shall do, represents himself as a dog and not able to do such things.  But the prospect is too enticing; he tells Benhadad he will recover, and on the morrow smothers him and succeeds to the throne.

 

The next move of Elisha was even more significant; found in 2Kings Chapters 9 & 10.  It is the fulfilling of the second order given to Elijah at Mt. Horeb.  The Israelites are fighting the Syrians in defense of Ramoth-gilead.  King Jehoram is wounded and returns to Jezreel.  Elisha seizes on the opportunity to have the house of Ahab avenged for its many sins.  Elisha has one of the prophets take a vial of oil to Ramoth-gilead to anoint Jehu as king over Israel.  The prophet delivers his message and flees.  Jehu tries to conceal the real nature of the event, but is forced to tell and is at once proclaimed king.  He gets into his chariot and goes to Jezreel, meets the king by the vineyard of Naboth, sends an arrow through his heart, and has queen Jezebel thrown into the street.  He also butchers the king’s sons and exterminates the royal family.  He then kills the priests of Ba-al, making the revolution complete.  The house of Ahabis destroyed; Ba-al worship overthrown; and an able king is upon the throne.

 

Elisha was also known to be accustomed to accept hospitality from people.  An account of one of these times finds Elisha staying with a Shunammite woman, whom he employs the Lord on her behalf for a son, whom then dies and Elisha resurrects.  The account can be found in Second Kings 4:8-37.  We may never know why we are placed in certain situations.  But we should always be open to our Lords promptings.

 

The record of Elisha’s death is carried in Second Kings 13:14, and his last prophecy was to have King Joash smite Syria until he “consumed them,” Second Kings 13:17.  However, Joash was soft in his zeal and therefore lost the opportunity to do so.  But the prophecy was still sure (see the Chapter).

 

Elisha carried with him a walking “staff,” Second Kings 4:29, with which he utilized in order to perform miracles.  Gehazi, his servant, was allowed to carry it and could have possibly succeeded Elisha.  But he was greedy for earthly (monetary) wealth.  The account of this is found in Second Kings, Chapter 5, verses 15-27.  Let us not be found so when we are (supposed to be) following our Lord.

 

As stated before, Elisha was well respected in his later years, known to many as their spiritual “father,” Second Kings 6:21; 13:14.  May our characters be such that others respect us and see God our acts.