Elisha did not engage in the fruitless search for Elijah, but waited for the fifty men who sought him to return. “The servant of the Lord must not strive,” 2 Timothy 2:2424And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, (2 Timothy 2:24), is a good word for us, for while faithfully speaking the truth in love, we need to be patient and wait for the Lord to reveal it to others. But Elisha was not idle, and so while these men were going on their fruitless search, he was bringing the blessing of God to those who would turn to him in Jericho. The men of the city had discovered that the water of the city was poor and that the ground was barren. It is much better to let the sinner see the emptiness of this poor world, than to try to attract him to Christ by the very “elements of the world,” which is under judgment. (Galatians 4:33Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: (Galatians 4:3); Colossians 2:20-2320Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not; 22Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? 23Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20‑23).) Yet how much we see of this today in the entertainments of various kinds used in Christian work, all appealing to the natural man, and trying to bring him to Christ by such means. Just as Elisha had crossed the Jordan, so the death of Christ is the end of all that we were as natural men, and in our service we need to bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.” John 6:6363It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63).
Jericho, as we have remarked before, is a picture of the world under judgment, but it looked very bright and beautiful to the men who lived there. They said, “The situation of this city is pleasant,” but admitted that it had nothing to satisfy the longings of their hearts. Elisha then called for a new cruse with salt in it and healed the waters, according to the word of the Lord. Salt would bring before us the thought of judgment and also of preservation — it is used in these two ways in Scripture — and so since the Lord Jesus bore the judgment of sin at the cross, those who turn to Him, accepting Him as their Saviour, are “preserved in Jesus Christ,” Jude 11Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: (Jude 1), from the judgment to come. We are in a new position now and for us the curse is removed, like the new cruse of salt healing the waters of Jericho.
We see that now instead of being taken up with the effort to find some good in man, as Elijah had sought to recall the guilty nation of Israel to the worship of Jehovah, the Christian is to bring the precious message of God’s grace to sinners that feel their need. How beautifully this spirit of grace is seen all through Elisha’s ministry.
In looking at these things in regard to Israel as a nation, it is very instructive and helpful. Elijah had sought to recall the people to Jehovah, as we have remarked, but he had been rejected as the Lord Jesus was. Israel would not be gathered (Isaiah 49) and so, as far as responsibility was concerned, the nation had failed utterly. But God had purposes of blessing toward them, and He would not fail. Elisha therefore enters Israel’s land through the Jordan in the power of grace, typical of the Lord Jesus going through death and resurrection, and it is beautiful to see him displaying the grace of God to a nation that had forfeited every claim to blessing. He used a “new cruse.” Thus the healing of the waters of Jericho typifies the blessing that will be brought in during the millennium, Israel will then receive a new heart and the curse will be removed. Man never could bring in the blessing himself, but on the ground of Christ’s death, all God’s purposes in grace will be fulfilled.
ML 11/04/1956