Never, in the course of Israel's history, had the moral condition of the nation been so low as
in the reign of king Ahab. Of this weak and wicked man we read, that he " did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." The law was broken. The worship of idols was all but universal: men bowed down to the golden calves at Bethel and Dan: false prophets conducted their idolatrous rites in Jehovah's land. Under the leadership of the king, and his idolatrous wife, the nation had apostatized from Jehovah, and proved itself ripe for judgment.
Nevertheless, God lingers over this judgment-doomed nation. Instead of overwhelming the people with the judgment they deserve, God sends His prophet Elijah to expose their true condition and recall them to Himself. The life and miracles of Elijah had been one long witness against the nation's utter apostasy from the moral law and the worship of Jehovah. The years of drought, the fire from heaven, the destruction of the prophets of Baal, the judgment of the Captains and their Fifties, the doom pronounced against the king in the vineyard of Naboth, and the letter to the apostate king of Judah, foretelling a coming plague, were all solemn denunciations of prevailing evils.
Alas! the ministry of Elijah only brought to light the utter ruin of the nation in responsibility. It clearly showed that, not only the nation had broken the law, and sunk into idolatry, but that prophecy -which recalls a failing people to God—was entirely powerless to effect any restoration. In spite of a ministry accompanied by the warning signs of a famine on earth, and fire from heaven, the prophet of God is rejected by a blinded and idolatrous nation. Having fulfilled his ministry, the faithful but rejected prophet forsakes the land of Israel by way of Jordan—the river of death—and is taken to heaven by the whirlwind.
Thus as far as Israel is concerned, all is over. The nation has utterly failed to secure, or maintain, the blessing of God on the ground of the fulfillment of its responsibilities. Apparently nothing remains but the execution of the judgment they deserve. Here, however, we are permitted to see the wonders of the ways of God. For God uses the wickedness of man to disclose the resources of His own heart. Man had utterly failed, and God had shown that He is not indifferent to sin, and in His own time must act in judgment. Nevertheless, God is sovereign, and reserves to Himself His sovereign rights of grace. Thus it comes to pass, that instead of cutting off the nation in judgment, God falls back on His sovereign grace. On the one hand He secures for Himself a remnant that have not bowed the knee to Baal; on the other hand He sends to a guilty nation a ministry of grace for every one who has faith to avail himself of grace. This ministry, being a ministry of grace, cannot be confined to the bounds of Israel. Its source lies outside the land, and, while sent to Israel, is available to the Gentile.
Elisha is the chosen vessel to carry this new ministry of grace to a ruined world. As one has said, Elisha "completes by a ministry of grace in the power of life, what Elijah had begun in righteousness against idolatry." Elisha returns to the land that Elijah had left. The curse was there; widows are in need; hunger and famine are in the land; enemies oppose and death is over all. Into this scene of sin and ruin Elisha comes with power from on high, to display, in the midst of a dark world, the grace of heaven that can meet the need of man. Thus it comes to pass as Elisha passes on his way, the curse is removed; the needs of the widow are met; the barren woman becomes fruitful; the dead are raised; evil is averted; the hungry are fed; the leper is healed; enemies are baffled and defeated; earth's famine yields before heaven's plenty, and out of death there comes forth life.
Thus it becomes manifest that the ministry of Elisha wears an entirely different character to that of his great forerunner. Moreover, the manner of life of the two prophets, while in keeping with their respective ministries, was of necessity wholly different. Elijah led a life, for the most part, remote from the haunts of men: Elisha moved among the masses, on familiar terms with his fellow-men. Elijah was found by lonely streams, in desert ways and mountain caves: Elisha is found in the cities of men, and the camps of kings. Elijah is entertained by a humble widow of Sarepta: Elisha is the guest of the rich woman of Shunem.
These differences of life and manners were right and beautiful in their season. It was fitting that the one who has been rightly described as " the sworn enemy of all persons and institutions which interfered with the honor of the Lord God of Israel," should lead a life of strict separation from the nation that he so sternly condemned. Equally right that the one whose great mission is to declare the mercy of God to a guilty world, should freely move amongst his fellow men.
Nevertheless, the prophets were alike in their holy separation from the evils of the times. If Elisha moves amongst his fellow men as the intimate of kings and, at times, the companion of the great of the earth, he is wholly apart from the evil of their lives. He brings mercy to the guilty but walks apart from their guilt. He enriches others with the blessings of heaven, though content to remain a poor man on earth. As another has so truly said," It was for others he occupied his resources and strength in God. He was rich, but not for himself. Thus—he meets the inconveniences of nature;—without a purse he relieves the poor;—without a commissariat he feeds armies—the deadly thing he makes harmless;—without bread he gives food to a multitude, and gathers fragments;—without medicine he heals disease;—without armies or soldiers, he defeats enemies;—in famine he supplies a nation; -though dead he communicates life."
May we not add that, in all these shining ways of grace, Elisha is leading our thoughts to that far greater One who became poor that we through His poverty might be rich. In the spirit of Elijah, the great forerunner of Christ had dwelt in desert places, there to bring to light a godly remnant, and there to denounce the evils of a wicked and adulterous generation. Thus he prepared the way of the Lord, who, as the Son of Man, came " eating and drinking " with the children of men, as He moved amongst the needy crowds, dispensing the grace of God in a ruined world.