Date: 18/05/97
Speaker: David Meiklejohn
Text:

Elisha

Introduction

Does God treat everyone the same? Obviously not. God values us equally, but he works through us in different ways. In this sermon we're going to look at Elisha, how God used him, how different he was from Elijah, his predecessor and what we can learn from his life.

Background

In the time we're looking at, Israel has been divided in two, with the northern kingdom of Israel, capital Samaria, and the southern kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem as its capital. Israel consists of ten of the original tribes, with Judah containing just Judah and Benjamin. In Israel, Ahab has died, Ahaziah ruled for 1 year and Joram taken his place. In Judah, Jehoshaphat is ruling, along with his son Jehoram.

In 1 Kings we hear how Elisha is called by Elijah. God tells Elijah to put his coat on Elisha, who is ploughing at the time. Elisha burns up his plough and cooks his cattle to signify he has left his old life behind, and follows Elijah. He becomes Elijah's servant and pupil ("poured water on Elijah's hands").

At the end of Elijah's ministry, he is taken away in a chariot of fire. Elisha has asked for a double portion of his spirit, and receives the sign that he has it. In these days the heir of the household received twice as much as the other sons, so Elisha is asking to take over Elijah's mantle here, not asking for more spirit than he had. Elisha strikes the Jordan river with Elijah's coat, walks across on dry land and starts his ministry.

Comparison

The people at the time must have wondered how Elisha would compare with Elijah. When we look at the two characters and their works, they are very different.

Elijah was a very forceful prophet. His miracles were mighty, destructive ones usually:

Altar consumed by God's fire
Prayed for rain to stop
Killed Ahaziah's messengers

In contrast, Elisha's miracles rarely did any damage. He seems to have spent most of his time helping people. The people must have respected and feared Elijah, but they probably loved and trusted Elisha. Most of Elijah's time was spent fighting against the worshippers of Baal, while Elisha's ministry seems to have been more of a building up of the other prophets.

God works with people in different ways. Some people he will lay on their back to get their attention, some he will just need to speak quietly to. Some people he will use in the pulpit, some in their work, some in their home. Some people's job is to fight against evil in the country, some are just their to be helpful and to encourage.

The Prophets' School

It looks like there was a school of young prophets at this time, led by Elisha. The prophets of Baal, led by Jezebel, had wiped out most of God's prophets so this was probably the beginnings of a reconstruction of the people.

Elisha doesn't just train these people in prophecy, but in practical things. They seem to be a bit inept in what they try and do: one prophet tries to make some stew with some plants he has found, which turn out to be poisonous, and Elisha has to step in and purify the stew. Another time they are building a bigger house for themselves and one of them loses his axe head in the river. Elisha drops a stick into the river and the axe head floats to the surface.

Helpful Miracles

Sometimes we look at today's problems and think they are new, that this situation didn't exist in the old days. We can see though that people in Elisha's time had much the same problems as we have today, and he tackles many of them in miraculous ways:

Thirst - he purifies the stream that supplies Jericho's water. Today there is a spring in Jericho known as Elisha's fountain.
Debt - a widow of one of his prophet school is seriously in debt; so much so she fears she must sell her children. Elisha provides a miracle which gives her enough oil to fill all her containers, and more than pays off her debt.
Death - a woman from Shunam has a son, thanks to Elisha's prophecy. When the child dies, Elisha comes back and lies on top of the boy, who is brought back to life.
Poison - Elisha purifies the stew his prophets make which has "death in the pot".
Hunger - Elisha manages to make 20 small loaves spread around 100 men: a foreshadow of Jesus feeding the 5000.
Disease - Namaan comes to Elisha to be cured of leprosy, and is healed after bathing in the Jordan seven times.

Elisha helped the debtors, the sick, the dead, the hungry. He went about helping people and his ministry must have been a great testimony of God's provision when the people were in need. This is one of the most effective ways we can witness, simply by helping people, by doing good. The bible tells us it is our duty to look after widows and orphans and so on. The most effective witness can often be helping someone out.

God with Elisha

It looks like Elisha was quite a gentle man, but this doesn't mean people could walk over him. Elisha had all the power of the Lord behind him, and people soon found this out:

One time Elisha was heading towards a town when a gang of youths started shouting at him and insulting him. Elisha cursed them and two bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the youths apart.
Elisha kept telling the Israelite king what the Arameans were about to do, after being told by God. They took umbrage at this and went out against him. Elisha was in Dothan and the Arameans surrounded the town. When one of his pupils professed concern about the situation, Elisha told him not to worry: "They that are with us are greater than they which are with them" he said, pointing out fiery horses and riders beyond the enemy. Elisha prayed, God made the army blind, and Elisha led them to Samaria. Instead of killing them he gave them a big feast and sent them home.
Later the Arameans came and besieged Samaria, but once again, God defeated them without using violence. The Arameans heard noises in the night and ran away.

Lessons from Elisha's Life

What can we learn from Elisha's life? Some will associate themselves with Elisha while others may think of themselves as an Elijah. We can all learn a lot from Elisha's life, however.

He was trained under Elijah: he had a mentor who brought him up, advised him and taught him. It's important that we have someone we can look to as our teacher. Once Elisha was mature, he took on others as trainees, passing on his knowledge and experience.
He wanted God to use him. He was willing to take on the task he was given.
He was available. Whenever people were in need they could find him. When the Shunammite woman's son died, she went to Mount Carmel to find and retrieve him. Elisha was willing to go back with her. We can be of no use to people if we're not available.
He cared for people. Elisha went out of his way to help people. We need to have more care for those around us.
He was practical. When the widow came to him he didn't just say he would pray for her; he provided the solution to her problem. It's very easy to pray for people without getting out there and helping them, which is what we should be doing.

Conclusion

Elisha was a caring man and a much loved prophet. We should all strive to love people as much as he did, to get out there and help people in need, instead of just praying for them. Praying is important, much faith without works is dead. We should also learn to see the sort of person we are and accept that is what God has given us and start to use our unique talents for him.

Next - Eyes, Hands, Mouth