Elijah: May 2011

Elijah

Elijah was a remarkable man. What do you suppose made him great? Was it the great deeds that made him famous in the eyes of men? No, we find the answer in the comment of James: “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly.” Here was the spring of inward communion with God. It was not the great acts of service; it was the secret exercises of heart in dependence on God.

God trained him in secret for his public work. When his outward service of power had taken him away from his inward communion with God and he flees from man, then God in grace cares for him and gives him further training. A man is never nearer failure than when he has done well! Elijah had to learn in secret that God can do without you, but you cannot do without God!

God never gives a man up! He will rebuke, chastise and train, but He never gives him up. But first he must learn that power is of God and that it only works in weakness.

God gave this man a work to do. He flees from it. Alone with God, he must answer the question, “What doest thou here?” God and his conscience must meet face to face. A lesson must be learned. At last the “still small voice” is heard, “Go, return.” May we learn from Elijah, God’s remarkable servant.

F. G. Patterson, adapted

The Life and Ministry of Elijah

The life of Elijah vividly portrays a man of like passions as ourselves, witnessing for Jehovah. There is much to learn from him as we go through life. His ministry was to call Israel back to Jehovah and the law. His faithful representation of God proved the real condition of Israel. His witness of the law to Israel and his subsequent discouragement and departure from the land upon his rejection revealed that to continue with that character of ministry would only bring judgment. Israel was beyond being helped by that ministry. John the Baptist had a similar role, and he ended up being beheaded. Considering the life of Elijah in this way enables us to see the principles on which God ends the dispensation of law and introduces the dispensation of grace before judging the world completely. To understand grace properly, it is necessary to understand the end of law. This is why it was necessary for Elisha to spend time with Elijah. Elisha brought to Israel the ministry of grace following Elijah’s testimony against their evil.

No More Rain

Elijah’s first appearance before King Ahab is an abrupt announcement that there would be no more rain but by his word. The purpose was to cause Ahab to “turn back” to Jehovah, an expression often used by Elijah. The Lord then tells Elijah to go and hide himself. During that time, he was miraculously sustained by the ravens which feed him by the brook Cherith. This was a witness that the One who controls the rain of heaven also cares for His own who pass through the governmental judgments of God. He even used the unclean birds of heaven against their nature to feed His prophet.

When the brook dried up, Elijah was sent to be cared for by the widow of Zarephath. The care that each of these two had for the other is an example of God’s desired relationship with His people. God wants to provide for His people, but they must be willing to give Him the first place. This was lacking in Israel, but God was seeking for such. A widow in the extremity of her condition gave the prophet the first place when he requested it. She was at the end of all resources, having only one meal left for her and her son, yet she was willing to share that meal with the prophet. He promised that the meal would not waste and the oil would not fail. They were dependent on each other and this preserved them through the time of famine. What a witness to the mercy and goodness of God, to one who would give Him His place!

The Lord Jesus reminds the Jews of this story in Luke 4:25-26, and they were filled with wrath. The story gives witness that there were none in Israel that would care for God’s prophet. If there were none in Israel willing to care for Elijah, it was right that he go to a widow and even a Gentile woman. The Lord Jesus was experiencing the same rejection as Elijah. God’s right to extend blessing to whomever He chose was being established by the Lord. This must be understood to appreciate grace rightly.

The Son Raised

After Elijah had lived with the widow for some time, her son died, and the widow concluded that he was calling her past sins to remembrance in judgment. Was there no other alternative but judgment under law from God? Elijah would not wish this on the widow. He took the son out of her bosom, laid him on his own bed and prayed to the Lord. The answer from the Lord is resurrection. This is mentioned in Hebrews 11:35, “Women received their dead raised to life again.” There was hope for those who, in faith, depended on God in the Old Testament. This resurrection hope is the final reward of all the faithful, as stated at the close of Hebrews 11, “These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” (vss. 39-40). Elijah did more than testify against sin; he raised the widow’s son. The widow recognized that Elijah was indeed “a man of God” and that the word of the Lord in his mouth was true. She was blessed by having the prophet in her home. Her faith, though tried through circumstances, grew through association with the prophet. Ahab, in contrast to this, accused Elijah of being the troubler of Israel in the following episode.

Ahab and the Prophets of Baal

In the third year of the famine the Lord sent Elijah to meet Ahab. It was time to demonstrate that Jehovah was the true God. From the beginning, Jehovah was the One who chose to bless Israel. The rain could not come until Jehovah was acknowledged. Elijah had prayed that it would not rain, and he alone, God’s prophet, could cause it to rain again. The idolatry in Israel was the hindrance. A confrontation between the prophets of Baal and Jehovah was necessary, and judgment must fall on the false prophets. Elijah performs this all alone, while there were 450 prophets of Baal. The test was, Who could cause the fire of judgment to burn the sacrifice? The prophets of Baal called on their god but there was no answer. Elijah repaired the altar of Jehovah made of twelve stones. After the sacrifice was laid on the wood upon the altar, he commanded that it be doused with four barrels of water. This was repeated three times until the trench around the altar was filled with water. Water would have been scarce in those days, but Jehovah must have the first part of that, too. Putting water on the wood and sacrifice would only make it more difficult for any man to start a fire, but for God this was no hindrance. The only way for the blessing of rain to descend on Israel was for His judgment of fire to fall on a sacrifice. Elijah’s sacrifice prefigured Christ, and it was acceptable to God. When the people saw the fire consume everything, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is the God.” Then Elijah commanded that all the prophets of Baal be taken, and he slew them there.

It was time to pray for the rain. Elijah went up to Mount Carmel to pray. He prayed while the servant went up seven times to see if there was a cloud in the sky. At last there was a little cloud like a man’s hand. The rain came in abundance. It is interesting to compare the story as told by Elijah with that of James in the New Testament. From Elijah’s viewpoint, he had to pray more earnestly to make it rain than for the rain not to come, whereas in the New Testament it is the opposite: “He prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain.” This is God’s perspective of giving rain.

Elijah Flees for His Life

When Jezebel heard what Elijah did to the prophets of Baal, she threatened to kill him. Earlier the Lord had told Elijah to go and hide, but this time he hid without instruction from God. On the one hand, we may say he lacked faith, but on the other hand, if he was the only faithful one, was there good reason to continue his kind of ministry? If the nation would not repent, what should he do? What next? Elijah returned to the place where the law was given to get the answer. The journey was long but the Lord was merciful to Elijah and sent an angel to feed him twice. In the strength of that food he went forty days’ journey to Horeb, the mount of God. There he poured out his heart to God. When asked why he was there, he responded, “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10).

The Still Small Voice

The answer from God was to make three great judgments pass before Elijah: the wind, the earthquake and the fire. In none of them did Elijah find the Lord. Such things are only preparatory for what God wants to do. God takes no delight in judgment. Such things are necessary to prepare men for God, but He is not found in them. The still small voice was where God was to be found, and Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle when he heard it. His testimony against the evil in Israel by great demonstrations of power was not to be the final judgment; it was a means to an end, an end of blessing. Elijah needed to know God, not simply His judgments. We are reminded of some verses that illustrate this principle in the New Testament: “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). Also, “That sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13). There are things to be learned from the law, though it does not give life.

More was to be done for Israel before God would judge them completely by removing them from the land. So the Lord asked Elijah the second time, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah gave the same answer, which seems to mean that there was no use for him to do anything more for Israel. But God was not finished with Israel. If Elijah would not continue as God’s witness to Israel, God would have him anoint others for the work. He was to anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in his stead. Hazael was the one who would deal severely with the people of Israel; Jehu would judge the house of Ahab and the prophets of Baal. Elisha became the minister of grace to those who recognized their ruined condition, which was exactly what Elijah had concluded their condition to be. The door was open for a completely new kind of ministry, full of grace. Elijah had not thought of such a plan; only God could have such a heart toward Israel. This required another servant of different character than Elijah. It is good to notice that of the three that Elijah was told to anoint, he anointed only the last — Elisha. No doubt it was of God that the others should be anointed later by Elisha.

We are told in the New Testament that Elijah made intercession to God against Israel; this was the reason his ministry was to be terminated. He did not make a difference between Ahab and all Israel. Now, after having heard the still small voice and knowing there were still seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal, he had good reason to return to the land of Israel; it was not time to condemn all of them. The rest of his life was occupied with judging Ahab and preparing Elisha for his ministry. Elisha fulfilled the commission of anointing Jehu as king of Israel and Hazael king of Syria, but not before he fulfilled his ministry of grace. It was a difficult mission for Elisha to anoint Hazael king over Syria. Elisha wept for Israel, knowing the awful judgment that Hazael would execute on them (2 Kings 8:12). Judgments that fall after grace has been despised are the worst judgments.

D. C. Buchanan

I Only Am Left

It does not indicate a very good condition of soul when Elijah made his petulant complaint against Israel thus: “I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10).

The Indispensable Factor

In the main, Elijah furnishes us with a fine example of faithful testimony for God in an evil day. In the midst of widespread apostasy, he stood out boldly for Jehovah, caring little whether he was supported by many or by few. None would question that he had been truly jealous for the honor of Jehovah and that he had earnestly sought to uphold it in the face of all opposition. But at the time that he made his complaint at Horeb, he had become unduly occupied with himself and his testimony, and he had come to regard himself as the sole pivot on which everything turned. For the moment, God had been displaced by Elijah in his soul’s vision. Elijah seemed to be the great indispensable factor and his life was in danger; what would become of the testimony then? To his mind it appeared that all true testimony for God was at an end in Israel and that Satan had become absolute master of the situation.

How painfully self-assertive are these poor hearts of ours! The best and truest of the servants of God are not proof against the snare. It is true that He can sustain a lonely man and make him a power for testimony in a dark scene, but let not the witness regard himself as indispensable or disaster will immediately result. Communities are as liable to fall into this error as individual witnesses. If a company of saints, few or many, seeks diligently to recover for practical use principles of truth that have lapsed, their zeal and obedience will unquestionably turn to a testimony, and God will be with them, both to bless and sustain. But let them get occupied with themselves as witnesses, let their testimony to others become more important in their eyes than their own spiritual condition, and God will no longer support them, but give them over to disaster and shame. Has not the truth of this been made painfully apparent to many of us?

Intercession Against Israel

Elijah’s occupation with himself led him to entertain highly improper feelings towards the erring people of God around him. “Wot ye not what the Scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel” (Rom. 11:2). Intercession against Israel! Speaking well of himself and ill of God’s people! Is this the true part of God’s witness? In speaking thus, was he faithfully expressing the feelings of that heart which bears long with His people and, in spite of all their waywardness and sin, never gives them up? Moses spoke very differently; it is most refreshing to listen to his touching intercession to God for Israel after their worship of the golden calf (Ex. 32-33). Though he felt strongly the affront to Jehovah, yet in His presence not a single ill word escaped his lips concerning them. On the contrary, he persisted in reminding Jehovah that they were His people, notwithstanding their grave sin, and that the honor of His great name was bound up with their blessing. Rather than that they should be overthrown, he was willing that God should blot him out of the book that He had written.

Let us note this principle well, for it is greatly needed in this day. Self-inflation, occupation with our own faithfulness in testimony, breeds censorious feelings in our hearts toward the people of God around us and puts us quite out of the place of intercession with God for them. We should not be surprised if our improper airs draw forth from others the sarcastic remark, “No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you” (Job 12:2).

The Commission for Elijah

In Elijah’s case, his complaint had quite different results from what he anticipated. We may pass by at this time the lessons taught him by the wind, the earthquake, the fire and the still small voice and dwell a little on the actual words of Jehovah to him. “The Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay, yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:15-18). Did He wish the people of God to be chastised for their sin? He Himself should anoint the executors of God’s judgment — painful work surely for one who really loved the people. Did he consider himself indispensable as a witness? Then he must go and anoint his successor — Elisha the son of Shaphat. Did he regard himself as the only faithful man left in the land? Then he must learn his mistake in the startling announcement that Jehovah had still seven thousand loyal hearts among Israel’s tribes.

Occupation With Our Testimony

These are serious lessons; happy for us if we learn them thoroughly. To magnify our own importance in testimony is to be set aside as witnesses altogether, that others may take our place. Has not this happened, to our deep sorrow? Have not some of us been accustomed to hear some saying, “We are in the place of testimony; we are Philadelphia, and nearly all else is Laodicea”? The painful result is that when we look around for the special operation of God’s Spirit, we do not observe it among those who speak thus approvingly of themselves, but among others possessing far less spiritual light and knowledge of the letter of God’s Word. It is the inevitable result of allowing ourselves to displace God in our minds and hearts. “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth” (2 Cor. 10:17-18).

What comfort that even in the darkest hour, God has this true-hearted seven thousand! If they do not come out so boldly in public separation from evil as we would desire, it is nevertheless joy to us to know that they sigh and groan over the sins of the times and seek to keep their affections right towards their Lord and ours. “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy” (Rev. 3:10).

W. W. Fereday, adapted

The Restoration of Elijah

“Know ye not what the scripture says in the history of Elias, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, they have dug down Thine altars; and I have been left alone, and they seek my life. But what says the divine answer to him? I have left to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed knee to Baal” (Rom. 11:2-4 JND).

Despite the courage, devotedness and faithfulness of Elijah during a difficult time in Israel’s history, his name does not appear in Hebrews 11, that great chapter which identifies many whose names are placed in the eternal record as examples of those who lived by faith.

But Elijah’s name does appear in Romans 11 in a much different context — not as an example of one who lived by faith, but as one who, at a low moment, interceded against the people of God.

A Word of Warning

As we consider the trying circumstances Elijah was in and recognizing our own vulnerabilities, we can hardly fault Elijah for words he privately uttered in exasperation to the Lord. But the Lord, who alone heard them, knows and measures all and recorded them for our instruction. This incident — similar to the time when Moses, at the end of the wilderness journey, provoked by Israel’s constant complaining, angrily spoke with his lips (Psa. 106:32-33) — serves as a sober warning to us not to lash out with our tongues against our brethren, even if their ways are grievous. The Lord dealt firmly with each of His honored servants because of their wrong response to a wrong condition among God’s people.

Considering the uniqueness of a reference in the New Testament to a failure of an Old Testament saint, some have observed that immediately following Elijah’s complaint, the Lord instructed Elijah to anoint Elisha as his replacement (1 Kings 19:14-16), thus emphasizing the seriousness of what Elijah had said. While acknowledging this to be so, subsequent incidents recorded in Scripture preclude us from inferring that Elijah’s service was completely terminated at that moment.

It is in Elijah’s subsequent history that we witness the restoration of heart of one of the Lord’s most honored servants.

The Order of Events

Before we identify those points that clearly show Elijah’s restoration, perhaps it is well to note the order of events that led up to Elijah’s registering his displeasure to the Lord about His people.

Elijah, whose name means “Jehovah is my God,” was called by God to recall Israel from the worship of Baal to Jehovah. At Mount Carmel it appeared that the people had indeed acknowledged Jehovah as the one true God (1 Kings 18:39).

But at that moment, Jezebel threatened his life, and Elijah, who had demonstrated such remarkable courage up to that point, runs for his life. Such is man.

In his discouragement, Elijah asked the Lord to take away his life, even though the reason he had fled was to preserve his life. How inconsistent we can become when motivated by fear and unbelief! Yet, the Lord graciously ministered to His downcast servant, and he went in the strength of that provision for forty days. Then in a cave, no doubt symbolic of his gloom and depression, he uttered his assessment of the foreboding situation. The Lord called upon Elijah to stand before Him on the mount as He showed Elijah He was not in the wind, fire or earthquake, but His mind and His movements were only to be understood by His servant in hearing “a still small voice.”

So much like ourselves, Elijah did not lay hold of what the Lord was quietly bringing before him, and he repeats his prior complaint verbatim as if the Lord did not hear him the first time. Elijah’s prompt response to the Lord leads us to wonder if he had perhaps rehearsed this idea in his mind so frequently that, as a result, it flowed forth automatically.

The Word to Return

It is at this moment the Lord instructs Elijah to “go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay” (1 Kings 19:15-16). The essence of the Lord’s direction to Elijah was, “If you want Me providentially to deal with My people according to their ways, you must begin the process by officially installing those who will carry out that work.”

The first indication of Elijah’s restoration is not in words, but in action. The Lord told him to anoint Hazael to be king of Syria. Here was one who would bring the sword against Israel without compunction. But there is no record that Elijah ever anointed Hazael. It was a long time later that Elisha, with tears, told Hazael he would be king, which position he secured for himself by treachery and brutality. Nor did Elijah anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, even if he, unlike Hazael, was not numbered among Israel’s enemies. Ultimately, it was one of the sons of the prophets who, under Elisha’s direction, anointed Jehu to be king.

The Call of Elisha

In contrast to Hazael and Jehu, Elijah without hesitation or reserve immediately finds Elisha and throws his mantle over him. How much greater is this act of personal identification with Elisha than a formal anointing! While the Lord had told Elijah to anoint these three men so that they might bring judgment upon Israel, it seems equally clear that Elijah, in his response, had spiritual intelligence as well as affection for God’s people. He declined to anoint those who would slay God’s people, even if he had complained about them. And while the Lord had spoken of Elisha’s slaying those who had escaped Jehu’s sword, his ministry would be the ministry of grace, and it was this that Israel needed.

Elijah’s ministry of righteousness, seeking to lead the people to repentance under the law, was as necessary as was John the Baptist’s as a forerunner of the Messiah, but it could never in itself bring Israel into blessing. It must be by grace alone.

Fellowship in Service

There is also a beautiful illustration of unselfishness in this scene. Are we as eager as Elijah to give way to another servant of the Lord, even if it means that we are, so to speak, “put on the shelf”? Elisha could not have received a warmer or fuller expression of fellowship from the man he had displaced. This scene of these two noble hearts is nothing less than remarkable, and their fellowship continued to the day Elijah was taken up, with Elisha observing in rapt attention. The Lord had spoken of seven thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Elisha was one. In the subsequent chapters we read of others: one of the sons of the prophets, Micaiah and Naboth. God’s work would carry on with or without Elijah.

The Witness Against King Ahab

Yet God still had important work that only Elijah could do. Ahab’s greed and savagery in executing Naboth was a crime against one of God’s servants that He would not overlook.

At times, we recognize there are situations where something needs to be said but no one seems fitted to say it. So it was here. Who could approach, much less rebuke, the king of Israel? Moral weight, courage, integrity and faithfulness in delivering the message would be required.

Elijah, seemingly set aside from his public role, is directly called by God to deliver a solemn message to Ahab face to face.

Ahab and Elijah had met before at the very beginning of Elijah’s ministry. Ahab certainly had not forgotten that one who had withheld rain from Israel for three years, and he wasted no time in greeting him, “Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” Elijah did not stop to correct Ahab’s thinking. He simply responded as one who was the master of the situation, “I have found thee” (1 Kings 21:20).

Elijah’s prophetic word to Ahab resulted in what we would consider virtually impossible — that the proud and wicked Ahab would humble himself. Such was the power of the word of a broken man who, without resentment, accepted God’s discipline and yielded himself to be at God’s disposal, however God wanted to use him.

The Judgment of Ahaziah

But Elijah’s work was not yet done. Ahaziah, king of Israel, had a serious fall and was sick. Instead of turning to the God of Israel, Ahaziah turned to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, a city of the Philistines. Elijah was sent by the Lord to meet Ahaziah’s delegation and deliver the news that Ahaziah would die. Their dictate to Elijah was twice met in Elijah’s characteristic boldness and power by calling down fire from heaven, an account the Lord’s disciples remembered well, wondering if they should use Elijah’s response as a precedent for calling down fire on the Samaritans (Luke 9:54). When a captain from the third contingent sought for mercy, “Let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight,” the Lord redirected Elijah to go with him to meet the king.

These three incidents show Elijah at his finest — one who immediately bowed to the discipline of the Lord, who would not — when it came right down to it — raise a hand against God’s people, who, freed from any hope of having his ministry result in the restoration of Israel, was able to deliver God’s message of judgment with unhesitating boldness directly to kings and to act according to the demands of the law he was called upon in his ministry to require.

Elijah As a Person

Perhaps it should be clarified that it is important to distinguish between Elijah personally and Elijah typically, just as with other servants of the Lord such as Moses, Solomon and Jonah.

As we consider Elijah personally, we marvel at the grace of God to His servant (who twice begged the Lord to take away his life), in that He took him up in a whirlwind, attended by chariots of fire, apt figures of Elijah’s ministry and a fitting commendation for one who served his Lord so faithfully. God’s purposes exceeded not only Elijah’s pathetic wishes in the depths of despair and self-pity, but beyond what he could conceive — to be “received up in glory” and be associated with the Lord Jesus on the mount when He was transfigured before His disciples (Luke 9:30), the sample of the coming kingdom for which Elijah’s ministry will ultimately prepare God’s people (Malachi 4:5-6).

W J. Brockmeier

Elijah’s Translation

The journey of Elijah before his translation to glory is most interesting, starting from Gilgal. It seems that this Gilgal, from which Elisha went with Elijah, was not the Gilgal on the low banks of the Jordan near to Jericho. From that Gilgal, it was not possible for them to have gone down to Bethel. But if we look at the Gilgal placed on the map about ten miles from Samaria, near to Shechem, over against the West or Mediterranean Sea, then this Gilgal would be right on the way down to Bethel. This agrees with Moses’ reference to “Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh” (Deut. 11:30), and also Joshua’s reference to “the king of the nations of Gilgal” (Josh. 12:23). This Gilgal was evidently a royal city on the heights of the mountains of Canaan, and it is nearly a straight line from the Gilgal of the heights of Canaan to Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan. Thus the descent of Elijah was from the heights of Canaan to the depths of the Jordan. Do we not then see here a picture of the path of the Lord Jesus? The heights of the royal Gilgal remind us of those heights of glory He had with the Father before the world was. In figure, Elijah too must pass through the very Jordan of death.

The Descent to Jordan

The first step in Elijah’s descent was from Gilgal to Bethel. As the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus was sent to Bethel, the house of God, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And just as Elisha, the called one, clave to Elijah, while the sons of the prophets at Bethel had mere knowledge and talk, so in the midst of rejecting Israel, Jesus could say, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). Very beautiful were the words of Elisha, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee” (2 Kings 2:2).

This leads us to the further descent of Elijah. “Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho” (2 Kings 2:4). If Bethel was the house of God, Jericho was the place of the curse. Not only did Jesus descend to Israel, as their Messiah, but He descended to man in his lost, guilty estate. Oh how wonderful, that God should have so loved a world under the blighting curse of sin. What a Jericho!

But the holy One must descend lower still. Thus we have, in a figure, “Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan” (2 Kings 2:6). Thus Elijah (whose name means “My God is the Lord”) descends from Gilgal on the heights of Canaan, to Bethel, to Jericho, to Jordan. In figure, he must pass through death, before he is the ascended man. How strikingly this illustrates the downward path of the Son of God! Not only did He become the incarnate man, and as such present Himself to Israel and to man under the curse, but He must descend to the depths of death before He could ascend to glory and be Head of a new race.

The Death of Jesus

Elijah was sent alone, yet Elisha went with him. There are also two distinct aspects of the death of Jesus. In the one, as the atoning substitute of God, He was absolutely alone. In another aspect, as Head of the new creation, we are reckoned to have died with Him. This is also the meaning of Christian baptism, as every believer understood it in the beginning. “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into [or unto] Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:3). There is important instruction in this aspect of the death of Christ, in the contrast between the fifty sons of the prophets who stood to view afar off and Elisha who went down and passed over with Elijah. It is one thing to believe that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and quite another thing to accept that place of death with Him. How many have been baptized, who have never understood its meaning! How many stand afar off to view, like the fifty sons of the prophets! How few accept the place of death with Christ!

Association With His Death

As Elijah took his mantle and smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground, so the Lord Jesus, the righteous One, could pass through death. He, in divine righteousness, could endure the righteous judgment of God for us. Thus, in righteousness, we pass in Him from the old creation to the new. “It came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me” (2 Kings 2:9). Elijah did not so speak to the sons of the prophets that were standing afar off, but to the one who had gone down to Jordan and passed over with him. If we have passed through death with Jesus, we cannot ask too great a request. Elisha asked a hard thing, but it reminds us of the words of Jesus, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father” (John 14:12). This was an amazing promise.

Seeing the Ascended Man

Elijah felt Elisha’s request a hard thing, and at once he names an important condition. He says, “If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so” (2 Kings 2:10). He does not say, If thou hast seen me in my past life, or if thou hast seen me descend from the heights of Canaan down to Bethel, then to Jericho, then to the depths of Jordan. All this he had seen. And, surely, it is most important for us to see the path of the Lord Jesus from the highest throne of glory down to Jordan’s lowest depths of death. Yet if this is all, faith is vain: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). To Elisha, the answer to faith’s request depended on this one thing — seeing the ascended man who had passed through the Jordan. Elisha did indeed see him ascend with a chariot of fire and obtained the double portion.

C. H. Mackintosh, adapted

Elijah and Elisha

After returning from Horeb, the first thing Elijah did was to find Elisha and cast his mantle on him. In doing so, Elijah may well have been glad to know a younger servant was being prepared by the Lord. This case of one prophet giving his mantle to another is unique; the two prophets together give us a view of the link there is in the ways of God between law and grace.

Elisha was plowing with the last of twelve yokes of oxen. He was rightly occupied with the inheritance given him by God. He seemed to understand that having the mantle cast on him was a call to leave his occupation and family to serve the Lord, for immediately he asked permission to kiss his father and mother. Elijah told him, “Go back again: for what have I done to thee?” Elijah was not the author of this call to service; only the Lord could do that. Elisha must hear the call from the Lord. The mantle was a token of the call. This act was not merely one prophet passing on his work to another. When Elisha turned back, he did it to sacrifice the oxen and burn the instruments. Then he gave the food to the people. He gave God His part and the people their part and kept nothing for himself. He counted the cost and became a true disciple, ministering to Elijah. Important lessons were to be learned from the older servant who preached righteousness by the law. In Galatians 3:24 (JND), Paul said, “The law has been our tutor up to Christ, that we might be justified on the principle of faith.” Elisha was learning this principle to be better able to minister grace afterward.

Naboth’s Vineyard
(1 Kings 21:17-29)

Elijah appears only two more times in the Scriptures before being taken up to heaven. In both cases he pronounced judgment, but he also showed mercy when humility was shown. This was a change in his behavior; he had learned something from the still small voice. The first time he appears is to pronounce judgment on King Ahab for killing and taking possession of Naboth’s vineyard. Jezebel falsely accused Naboth and had him stoned. This was a great sin against a neighbor. Naboth valued the vineyard as the inheritance his fathers had received from the Lord and would not sell it as Esau did with his birthright. It was not just another piece of ground, convenient to sell or trade. It should be preserved in the family until the Messiah came. The Israelites’ possessions were earthly; ours are heavenly. Let us not sell out our heavenly blessings. If we do not walk in the good of them, we will be in danger of eventually giving them up altogether. This is the kind of subtle temptation we face today.

In the resurrection, Naboth will be able to reign over what he held dear even to death; Ahab will not.

King Ahaziah and His Captains
of Fifty (2 Kings 1)

The next and last appearance of Elijah before his translation was to King Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, after he sent to enquire of Baal-zebub concerning his health. This was a sin against Jehovah, the God of Israel, and it brought down judgment on him. Elijah said to the messengers of the king, “Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?” (1 Kings 1:3 JND). After hearing this, Ahaziah sent soldiers to take Elijah. But Elijah said unto them, “If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty.” Twice this was repeated, and two captains, each with his fifty men, were consumed by the fire which Elijah called down from heaven. It was a dramatic example of God and of His power. Elisha may well have witnessed this and was familiar with God’s power. The ministry of grace that Elisha was to preach does not overlook the holy claims of God as it dispenses blessing. This is established in the Book of Romans.

The third captain came to Elijah in humility, pleading for his life and that of his men. “O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight” (vs. 13). Elijah discerned it was time to show mercy and spared his life. He went with the captain to see the king. Humility is the best sign of repentance. These men survived and would have been able to partake of Elisha’s ministry of grace. The king was shown no mercy and died according to Elijah’s word.

Elijah’s Descent to Jordan

Elijah’s departure from Israel involved a journey of leaving behind the high place of Gilgal and going down to the river Jordan. Along the way Elisha was tested three times — at Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho — to see if he would leave his master. This is a picture of the Lord Jesus leaving Israel, the place of earthly blessing, by descending to death and then ascending by way of resurrection into heaven. The three cities represent the different characteristics of earthly blessing that must be left behind to enter into the good of heavenly things. Elisha followed with Elijah all the way until they were across Jordan. The other prophets knew about the event that was to happen but did not walk with Elijah as he left. The Lord Jesus plainly taught His disciples of the need to leave all and follow Him (Luke 14:26-27,33). Heavenly blessing cannot be enjoyed without doing this.

The miracle Elijah performed by smiting the water with his mantle is a demonstration that God, who dried up the river for Joshua as he entered the land, was now taking away His preacher of righteousness by the law as the means of blessing. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom. 10:4). Attempts to mix law and grace are a failure to see this principle.

Elijah Taken up to Heaven

Elijah’s ascension to heaven after being rejected by Israel is a picture of the Lord Jesus being received in heaven. Elijah was God’s representative to show when it was time to end the preaching of righteousness by law. Now the time had come and God was going to remove him, but one more thing remained. Elijah had been much grieved with all the evil in Israel; now he desires to bless the servant who would follow him in his rejection. He had God’s mind, for God would not shut up His store of blessing to those who followed His servant. Under this circumstance, he gave Elisha unqualified opportunity. “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me” (1 Kings 2:9). Elijah said it was a hard thing he asked. We little realize how much it cost the Lord to give us our blessings. Nevertheless, Elijah said, “If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so” (vs. 10). The key point was for Elisha to see Elijah when he was taken up. This is the key point for us today, to see by faith that the man Christ Jesus has ascended into heaven. The Lord told His disciples just before leaving this world, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you” (John 16:23). This is the basis of all blessing. The double portion is brought to us from Christ by the Spirit of God. The Spirit is what brings the believer into relationship with Christ in glory. When Elisha saw Elijah being taken up by the chariot of fire, he cried, “My father, my father.” This is “the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15).

The prophets observing from Jericho did not see Elijah taken up to heaven and insisted that they go look for Elijah in the wilderness, but they did not find him. It was a waste of time and energy. Looking for Jesus only as a Man on earth is to miss what Christianity is about.

Elisha Crossing the Jordan

We now come to the time when Elisha began his ministry of grace. His first act after Elijah was taken up to heaven was to rend his clothes in two pieces. The double portion does not make one proud, but rather is very humbling. Through the ministry of grace we are not made to deserve anything, but are given everything because of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. Elisha showed this attitude in his behavior.

Next he took up the mantle that fell from Elijah and went to the Jordan. At the Jordan he smote the water and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over” (vs. 14). The power did not come from himself, but he called on Elijah’s God. We call on the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In that attitude the Apostle Peter said to those who observed the miracle he did, “Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? ... Faith in His [Jesus] name hath made this man strong” (Acts 3:12,16). The name of the Lord is our source of strength.

Elisha went over the Jordan after the waters were parted, and this time it was to return to Israel with a new ministry. God gave witness by this sign of power that this new ministry was from Himself, as he had done in Joshua’s day. “When the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him” (2 Kings 2:15). In the Book of Acts, it says, of the apostles, “When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). This is the best commendation that can be said of anyone who preaches the gospel of the grace of God through Christ.

D. C. Buchanan

Pass It on

“Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).

The sun is high and hot; the brook makes little sound;
Elijah gazes ’round upon the dry and barren ground;
His prayer had been, “No rain”; he suffered with the rest
Of Israel, who forsook the Lord; a nation once so blessed.

Might we surmise he yet, in quietness, prayed still,
Communing with His Lord, wanting to know His will?
When is the time to move? Will ravens still provide?
Should I in faith move on, Jehovah by my side?

“The brook dried up,” and yet, in faith, another test:
“Arise, and go, and dwell”: Jehovah’s way is best;
Two sticks, a drink, a cake: Am I content with these?
It is His path, His choice, not to myself to please.

Is loneliness your lot? Does no one understand?
Enjoy His fresh supply; give ear to His command!
You’ll find the road will lead to others you can bless —
Some starving soul that needs refreshment you possess.

C. P. H.