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..
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When a prophet like Elijah leaves the scene, who will dare to take his place? As the time came to choose a successor, Elijah looked to find someone out of a different mold. He settled on his most faithful companion, a farmer named Elisha.
The slight variance in the two men's names expresses their difference in style. Elijah, whose name meant "The Lord is my God," dueled a king and the priests of Baal in dramatic confrontations of power. He lived apart from the people and preached judgment and the need for repentance. Elisha ("God is salvation") shifted the emphasis. He lived among people, preferring the poor and outcast, and stressed life, hope and God's grace. All social classes had access to Elisha, from lowly widows to foreign kings. His colorful life included work as a spy, a miracle worker, an adviser to the king, a leader of a school of prophets and an anointer of revolutionaries.
Elisha's exploits fall roughly into two categories, and the Bible seems to group them that way. One set of stories concerns people with evident needs. Elisha showed a deep sensitivity for the suffering and distressed, and sometimes helped them in miraculous ways: providing food, healing diseases, even raising a young boy from the dead. He dealt far more gently with the poor and downtrodden than with kings and generals. Another group of stories relates to the nation. Israel was reeling from the corruption brought in during King Ahab's reign. Politically, Israel was at the mercy of the neighboring state of Aram (the area known today as Syria), which launched periodic raids across the border.
Sometimes Elisha helped out Israel's army, using his special insight to detect bands of raiders. Twice, miracles he predicted allowed Israel's army to break out of an impossible situation and rout the enemy. Yet, he refused to become a "court prophet" serving the king's whims. On at least one occasion, he blatantly insulted a king of Israel (3:13-14). Another time, he anointed a general to overthrow the king in an outright revolution.
Both Elijah and Elisha used words and dramatic events to convey their messages. Everyone knew their power, especially the kings who sometimes sought them out for advice and other times tried to kill them. In a great irony, the kings and political leaders- who thought themselves the center of history at the time- all faded away. Meanwhile the stories and words of Israel's prophets live on, expressing a message as forceful today as ever.
Life Question: Prophets who followed Elijah and Elisha relied less on spectacular displays and more on the power of verbal messages from God. Which, in your mind, best captures the attention of people?
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We've touched on this before in an earlier post...spectacular displays of miracles/ supernatural events do not necessarily equate to a binding faith in God. When I listen to someone preach the Gospel message with passion and conviction, (Mike Castelli comes to mind) for me, that refocuses my attention back to Christ just as much as any other event that may occur. Faith begins in your heart, and Elisha's parting of the Jordan River shouldn't have to occur to strengthen your faith.
2 comments:
"This generation seeks signs and wonders.." This quote can apply throughout the generations. Perhaps this is man's feable attempt to want to grasp the truth they seek - to prove it's reality; but that's contrary to the trust of faith committment God is asking of us through Christ.
God's Word promises that it will not return void. Mix that promise with the Power of the Spirit working through a humble servant of God, and God's power, personality, and glory seem to shine through!
All that being said, I have a great concern for the direction that we find some churches taking to "reach" this post-modern world that we live in. I believe that the Enemy can play a key role in this deception, as we see less and less of the Gospel message in the church (not to offend anybody, of course) and worship has become more about entertainment and production than worship and praise. Many times, it's an effort to reach the un-churched, and although the intentions are good, we slowly find that the Church looks no different from the World.
4-Him once wrote a song called, "The Basics of Life", and somehow, I feel this is a critical message for today's Church. In our continued response of obedience to share the Gospel, we cannot abandon the Gospel. As we move forward, we need to preserve the Truth.
Have you noticed this trend?
I see both as necessary to put God's Glory-Display before people. We often think that the main work of salvation happens in the church building. The miracles really occur in the marketplace, schools,workplace, and anywhere that Jesus is not the main topic. People are drawn or repelled by spirit-driven believers and God gives them the choice. The greatest miracle is the way the Word of God comes to control even the thought processes of His children. He has made us the the message-bearers and will entrust us with miracle situations. He has made us the "voice crying out in the wilderness".
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