Elisha was one of the great prophet of God recorded in the Bible!
• His name in Hebrew means ‘my God is salvation’ and his ministry would prove to be a testimony to the meaning of his name.
• He was God’s choice. We read last week how the Lord asked Elijah to anoint Elisha to succeed him as prophet (19:16).
• We are going to read the call of Elisha today – 1 Kings 19:19-21.
Read 1 Kings 19:19-21.
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 good-by," 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 attendant.
HE OBEYED THE CALL He was WILLING to obey the CALL
Elijah was directed by God to find Elisha, his successor-to-be.
• He was a ploughman. Elijah saw him ploughing the ground with his oxen. This was done to loosen the ground before sowing.
• Elijah went up and threw his mantle around Elisha. Elisha did not have to ask, “What was going on?” He knew exactly what that meant.
A mantle then was typically made of animal hair and generally worn by kings and prophets to represent their position and authority.
• So the passing of the mantle was understood then as the calling of the one receiving it to follow the master.
• Elisha knew what that means and he wanted to follow Elijah. He was willing to accept the call into the ministry of the prophets.
This wasn’t Elijah’s plan. It wasn’t even Elisha’s own doing. From what happened earlier, we know this was the plan of God.
• There was no coercion, no hard-selling, no canvassing or any persuasion from Elijah.
• Elisha was simply going about his normal daily business of ploughing the fields, when God came through his prophet Elijah and sought him out.
It reminds us of what Jesus said to His disciples - John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last.”
• When Jesus called the first disciples, the situation was very similar - Matt 4:18-22.
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Elisha has the freedom to choose and he chose to follow Elijah and serve the Lord.
• It wasn’t a choice to a better life, as in an easy and comfortable life. Elisha was called at a difficult time in his nation’s history. They were surrounded by enemies and there was widespread apostasy in their land.
• So it wasn’t a recruitment for a glamourous job. It was a call to significance.
HE COUNTED THE COST He was PREPARED to count the COST
We see the seriousness of Elisha’s response. He slaughtered his pair of oxen as a sacrifice and burnt the ploughing equipment to cook the meat!
• No going back for this young man! In doing this he cut off his old occupation completely. No going back.
• And this was no small feat. We were told he had twelve pairs of oxen in the field, meaning he was likely very rich.
• With twelve pairs of oxen ploughing the field, his crops were understandably huge.
There’s a lot to let go. But to Elisha, more to ‘gain’ in serving the Lord as a prophet.
• He would still plough the hard ground, so to speak - not the natural ground of this land - but the spiritual ground of the hearts of his people.
• God is going to use him to till the hardened hearts of the Israelites and prepare them for the sowing of God’s seed – the truth of God.
Knowing what he did help us understand his earlier words to Elijah: “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will come with you.” (19:20)
• This wasn’t an attempt to put off the call or an act of hesitation. It was a commitment, in fact. “Let me say GOODBYE for good!”
• And Elijah’s response, “Go back, what have I done to you?” was more of an idiom that expresses the great commitment he saw: “Oh, what have I done to this boy! Now, he’s leaving his parents!”
Elisha slaughtered his own pair of oxen, used the yoke as firewood to cook the meat and gave it to the people.
• And then he left all to follow Elijah. He was not prepared to return. He was determined to follow Elijah and serve as a prophet of God.
• He became his attendant – a servant, a learner, a disciple.
We read in 2 Kings 3:11 when King Jehosaphat wanted to consult God about the war against Moab, he asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD through him?”
• An officer of the king of Israel answered, "Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah."
• The small print says, “He was Elijah’s personal servant.”
HE MADE THE COMMITMENT He was DETERMINED to make the COMMITMENT
• Elisha served Elijah as his attendant (serving him and learning from him) for some 7-8 years until his master was taken away – translated into heaven in 2 Kings 2:1-11.
1 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, "but do not speak of it."
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, "but do not speak of it."
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 of 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 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.
Nothing has changed with regards to his commitment. Elisha was determined to follow Elijah wherever he goes, as long as it takes.
• Three times in the passage above Elijah tells Elisha to stop and stay where he is!
• It seemed that Elijah was testing Elisha as to how far he was willing to go.
• But “the two of them walked on” because nothing could stop Elisha from following his master.
• How far would Elisha be willing to go? All the way, as far as Elijah was willing to take him!
Elisha asked his master to bless him with a double portion of his spirit - the anointing of God’s Spirit he saw in Elijah.
• Elijah says the blessing is yours “if you see me when I am taken from you.”
• He got it because he was with his master when he was taken away.
• They were walking along and talking together when it happened (2 Kings 2:11). This is the blessing of commitment.
That’s Elisha’s commitment. He followed his master all the way for 7-8 years.
• And after that, his own ministry lasted for another 60 years, across the reigns of four Kings in Israel (N).
• That’s commitment. It was a decision he made here in 1 Kings 19 when he slaughtered the oxen and burnt the yoke.
• He was with his master from the CALL (1 Kings 19) to his PASSING ON (2 Kings 3).
Today this word “commitment” is almost a dirty word. No one wants to talk about it.
• Many exchange vows at weddings – saying “to love and cherish each other TILL DEATH DO US PART” or “to be faithful to each other AS LONG AS YOU BOTH SHALL LIVE” - doesn’t really mean it.
• Before death, many parted. Divorces have been on the rise. 7,522 in 2016 and statistics showed that 50% of the divorces happened within the first 9 years of marriage.
• Don’t talk about parting at death, they couldn’t even grow old together.
Are we prepared to follow the Lord and serve Him no matter what?
• Elisha the ordinary farmer in the field became an extra-ordinary servant of God in His Kingdom, because he made himself available to God.
• He stands out as the light in the darkness, a voice in the wilderness. He made his life count.
• He performed more recorded miracles than anyone in the Bible other than Jesus.
Five missionaries perished when they tried to reach out to an Indian tribe deep in Ecuador jungle, called the Aucas (ow-cuz). They did not succeed. All five of them were killed. Among them Jim Elliot.
People thought operation Aucas was a failure, but in less than 2 years Elisabeth Elliot (wife of Jim) and their daughter Valerie, and the sister of one of the other missionary Nate Saint, managed to move into the village and many Aucas became Christians. The fruit that came from the seed of the martyrs. Aucas is now a friendly tribe. Nate Saint's son and his family now live among the them today.
Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Choose significance. Let’s do that which is eternally significant with our lives.
• Be willing to obey His call, prepared to count the cost and determined to make the commitment.
