![]() Will we have the strength to follow our master in everything we do? Will we follow him into times of suffering or torment like Elisha and Ruth? Or will we waver when the going gets tough like Peter? We must constantly pray for the strength to keep following the pathway that our Lord has set before us.Īs we continue in v9, Elisha is made an offer that has no limits. ![]() We are given opportunity every day to try and love God and follow him in everything we do. Once again we see a powerful lesson for us here. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” And he said, “Yes, I know it keep quiet.” Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. He would have seen also the power of the Lord when Elijah called down fire from heaven.Īfter this we arrive at the occasion of Elijah being taken from Elisha, and we see the wonderful loyalty of Elisha to his master as he is taken away, and parallels the wonderful loyalty that Ruth showed Naomi as she promised to cling to her side whatever happened.Īnd Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. In the time since his calling he would have had the opportunity to work alongside Elijah, experienced the tyranny of the idolatrous Ahab and Jezebel and the murder of Naboth, followed by the repentance of Ahab and the mercy of the Lord. We don’t hear of Elisha again until 2 Kings 2. He rises up, follows Elijah and assists him in his work. There was no going back! Elisha had left nothing to go back to. Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luk 9:62) He left his family, he sacrificed his livelihood to follow God. He gives his answer in that he said goodbye to his parents, took a yoke of his oxen and sacrificed them, using the ploughing instruments as wood for the fire, and gave the meat for food, then left all behind and followed Elijah. So how does he respond to the call of Elijah? It is obvious he understood fully the extent of this call. These were dark times in Israel, God had been rejected, the enemies were encircling the nation, and I’m sure he would have heard about the trouble that Elijah had caused King Ahab.Įlisha was found by Eljiah ploughing the ground with his 12 yoke of oxen, what seemed like a peaceful untroubled life. Here we have wonderful lesson for us in the attitude of Elisha. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. So Elijah leaves and searches out Elisha to be his successor in v19. He was involved in two of the three Old Testament resurrections and was a forerunner of Christ in many of the things he did, he performed more miracles than anyone else, except for Jesus.Įlisha was chosen by God to be a successor to Elijah, and in 1 Kings 19 we read of his calling, and one of the rare occasions we hear of the anointing of prophets. There is something reassuring about learning lessons from someone’s successes or failures (partly because we can avoid discovering the pitfalls ourselves and shortcut straight to the positive outcomes) and we can find great strength and encouragement from keeping Bible characters in mind, and with that in mind I’d like to look at the life of Elisha and the events in his life that point forward to the time of Christ.Įlisha served the nation of Israel as a prophet for approximately 60 years, and there is very little to criticise about his service to the Lord. Print This PageWe can all draw strength from people who have gone before us and shown us how to proceed, or perhaps how not to proceed.
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