The Call Of Elisha - "Walk In This Way” Part 1 Of 2 Series

THE CALL OF ELISHA - “WALK IN THIS WAY” PART 1 OF 2

SERIES – MESSAGES ON ELISHA – HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY Number 1

Elisha is one of the greatest prophets of the Lord, faithful and true.

Today we are looking at chapter 2 of second Kings, which is our introduction to the prophet Elisha. It is an important chapter because, by application, it impacts all our lives. There are three characters in the chapter, Elijah, Elisha and the sons of the prophets – the latter I will consider as one. Elijah’s ministry had ended, but not before his final appointment had been made, and the demands of the prophetic office clearly laid out. We will look at the steps in commitment, as there is a very lovely progression here. We are going to look at the journey these two prophets took prior to Elijah’s promotion to Paradise (where the righteous went before the ascension). Elijah had been a prophet of the Lord for a long time, a powerful prophet most remembered for his victory over the prophets of Baal. He was a prophet of judgement and will be one of the two prophets to appear in the middle of the Tribulation period in Jerusalem for 1260 days (3.5 years).

Elijah’s mantle is to be passed on to another, but that other must be fit and qualified for service. Elisha would be tested before Elijah was to be satisfied. [This passing on of the mantle, is a very important service, and if not done properly, will cause havoc. Every servant has a specified time of ministry allotted by God, but the time comes when the mantle must be passed on. When must that happen? If the servant is godly and trusts in the Lord, then God will raise up a replacement. This can be a difficult area as to timing, but one massive mistake can be made when a person hangs on to a position through a delusion of self-importance. There are men and women who think they serve God, but they are best out in the pasture. They fail to see God has replacements, but their attitude is the barrier to the door of progress.]

Another massive mistake is made in ministry when those who ought to have the responsibility to train others, have failed to do so, and they have then created a resulting vacuum. The training of others is imperative, and it is in accordance with a biblical principle. Jesus trained His disciples. Paul trained his young men in ministry with him, and when the time came for his departure, he passed the mantle to Timothy and Titus, just two of those he had trained, and to others. Those of us in any position of authority or leadership, fail our responsibility, if we do not train people, especially young people in ministry and service for the Lord. I am aware of churches of two to three hundred in my city that struggle if the minister is absent, and no one feels properly qualified to take a service or a sermon. Why? It is because the minister sees it as his right to own the pulpit. It is serious when we don’t train or prepare for the next passing on of the baton to those who will succeed us, that is, to those we should have trained. (I would love to do instruction on message preparation and public speaking in a church)].

Let us look at the final days of Elijah as he prepares God’s replacement prophet for service. There are FOUR STEPS IN THIS.

[A]. GILGAL (The Shedding of the Reproach of the Flesh).

2Kings 2:1 It came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal,

For the story of Gilgal, we must look back to Joshua chapter 4 where we encounter the first mention (first mentions are very important in Scripture) - Joshua 4 v 19 “Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho, Josh 4:20 and those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal.” We see it was at Gilgal that the memorial of the Lord’s goodness in arriving in the land, was memorialised by the placement of 12 stones from the bed of the Jordan. Those stones signified what they had passed from, which was 40 years of disobedient wandering in the world, now to have their feet standing in the promised land. But there was a problem, for the symbolic cutting off of the old life was not properly realised, and the covenant seal of circumcision had not been observed for 40 years. Now all that had to be attended to at Gilgal. It was at Gilgal (Gibeath-haaraloth = hill of foreskins) where sharp, flint knives were used to cut away the flesh, but what did all that mean? It meant in symbol, the world was cut off, the reproach of Egypt was done away with, that these people were free of the old system, and alive now to the promises of the new land. Elisha (as did all those prophets) knew what Gilgal meant. It meant a separation from sin and a new walk with Jehovah. That is what it is supposed to mean to all the Jews.