THE CALL OF ELISHA - “FULLY SURRENDERED” PART 2 OF 2
SERIES – MESSAGES ON ELISHA – HIS LIFE AND MINISTRY Number 2
We continue the account of the call of Elisha as he succeeded Elijah. This is Part 2.
2Kings 2 v 4 [[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.]]
[C]. JERICHO. (The Walk of Triumphant Faith). Jericho was the first victory in the land of Canaan, and it was the next move for Israel after the nation was circumcised at Gilgal. Jericho shouts of two lessons - that of obedience and faith. Everything God commanded, Joshua and the nation did obediently in accordance with the expressed will of God as we read in Joshua 6 v 3-4 – [[“And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. Then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.” Verse 16 gives us the execution of that faith - Josh. 6 v 16 and it came about at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city.”]] To the natural man and to humanistic reasoning, carrying a box around the city walls and blowing rams’ horns, was a dumb thing to do, but the servant of God works by different values, and each step was in obedience to the word of the Lord, and it was faith that carried it out. The additional example of “Jericho faith”, was seen in Rahab also. We will see that in this account - Joshua 2 v 8 [[Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof Josh 2:9 and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you, Josh 2:10 for we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. Josh 2:11 When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Josh 2:12 Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, Josh 2:13 and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” Josh 2:14 The men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours, and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”]] This Gentile found faith based in the works of God, and the promise of her deliverance was believed, and acted on as we follow in Joshua 6 v 22-23 [[Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the harlot’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, as you have sworn to her,” Josh 6:23 so the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and her mother and her brothers and all she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and placed them outside the camp of Israel.]] That was faith from a totally unexpected quarter in Jericho, and God honoured that faith, so much so, that Rahab became the great-grandmother of King David.
Elisha stood at Jericho and he knew what Jericho meant. He knew it demanded obedience and faith to follow on, and grow in the Lord, to be sold out to the will of God, walking by faith and not by sight. That is why Elijah told him to remain in Bethel, for the next move was not a step taken lightly, but Elisha was a fully committed prophet to God, and would not give up in his walk with Jehovah. He would go on with God, and so the two of them went on to Jericho. Where do you stand today - at Gilgal, at Bethel, at Jericho? Are we at Gilgal, not willing to go any further than an initial decision for Christ; not willing for a deeper communion with God? Are we content to remain at Bethel, not willing to walk in full surrender in a life of obedience and faith?
[D]. JORDAN (Surrendered in Death to a Living Relationship). In our Elisha passage we come to verse 6 - 2Kings 2 v 6 [[Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan,” and he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you,” so the two of them went on.]] This is the last place, and we see that Elijah tells Elisha to stay at Jericho, for Jordan was to be the final test of faithfulness. What more than we have seen already, was required in Elisha’s life in his walk with God? There was one more thing. We probably know what Jordan symbolises in the scriptures – it means death. When Israel passed through the Jordan to enter Canaan, it meant death to the old, fruitless wilderness journeys, and new life in the land of promise. Writers sometimes use this application in a believer’s death from earth to heaven, as did John Bunyan in Pilgrim’s Progress. How would this apply to Elisha now as he followed Elijah into the Jordan? It meant he was declaring that he was dead to the old Elisha and all that he had done, and was now fully given to Jehovah, fully at His call, a deeper and final commitment of surrender to Jehovah.
For the Christian, this means dying to the selfish desires, to the ambitions and pursuits of the flesh, to be totally available for Christ. It is the life Paul spoke of when he said, [[“I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”]] It is having a renewed mind as Paul again told the Romans in Romans 12 v 1-2 – [[I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God (there is the dying in the Jordan) which is your spiritual service of worship, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.]] That is the walk of the man and woman of faith. The man and woman who knows the truth of Romans 12:1-2 will be fit for the service of God.
Death to the natural desires and even to wasted time, etc. is what a true man of God would pursue as his life is sacrificed to the service of God. No Christian can be fully used by God unless he is a living sacrifice and transformed by the renewing of his mind. That is the step that Elisha reached that made him fully acceptable to God as a vessel He could use mightily.
IMPORTANT NOTE
One thing I want to make absolutely clear here. We must understand this. The way I have broken up these four steps in Elisha's experience, are real and meaningful in his commitment with Jehovah, but for us, it does not mean we have to graduate from one step to another. In fact, in a dramatic conversion to Christ, all these steps can almost occur together or in a very short space of time. For some Christians who struggle with a full commitment to God, it may happen over time, and with some, it never happens, but it is God’s desire that at conversion, we have the putting away of the old life (Gilgal); and entering into a deep communion and fellowship with Christ (Bethel); to step from conversion into a life of obedience and faith (Jericho); and reckoning ourselves dead to ourselves, and totally alive in Christ (Jordan).
Elisha went all the way with God. Let us read 2 Kings 2 v 9-13 – [[Now it came about when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you,” and Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me,” and he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if not, it shall not be so.” Then it came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” and he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.]] Elisha, with a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, succeeded Elijah as a powerful prophet.
Elisha could never have received a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, had he not gone all the way for God. Before I finish, I want to say something about the sons of the prophets we read of in this chapter 2. In verse 3, ([[Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?” and he said, “Yes, I know. Be still.”]]), they had knowledge, head knowledge. We may almost call them “know alls”. They repeated this knowledge in verse 5, but when we come to verse 7 (Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan,) there the sons of the prophets stood, a distance from Jordan, and not one of them went into the Jordan. They are so typical of a lot of Christians who seem to progress along the way to a certain extent, but just find it too hard to die to themselves in a complete surrender to the Lord. God wants us to take this step of full surrender to Him, placing Christ on the throne of our lives. Have you even dethroned the Lord? Are you one, maybe, who has never taken the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour? He wants to share His loveliness with you.
Elisha succeeded Elijah with a double portion of the power Elijah had and wrought mighty miracles. In later messages we look at Elisha, the miracles and lessons from them. The Lord will bless His word to us.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
We include a beautiful lyric that is also a song written by Elisha Hoffman. It is fitting for this message.
1 You have longed for sweet peace,
And for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed.
But you cannot have rest,
Or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.
Refrain:
Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
Your heart does the Spirit control?
You can only be blest,
And have peace and sweet rest,
As you yield Him your body and soul.
2 Would you walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
And have peace and contentment alway?
You must do His sweet will
To be free from all ill–
On the altar your all you must lay. [Refrain]
3 Oh, we never can know
What the Lord will bestow
Of the blessings for which we have prayed,
Till our body and soul
He doth fully control,
And our all on the altar is laid. [Refrain]
4 Who can tell all the love
He will send from above,
And how happy our hearts will be made,
Of the fellowship sweet
We shall share at His feet
When our all on the altar is laid! [Refrain]
