"And he cast his mantle upon him"-to test him. "And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee." The expression "father and mother" signifies first principles rather than the natural father and mother. One who has tasted old wine never desires new It is grace, sovereign grace, and that alone which has done anything for man, and that is what we have to learn, and so he says, "Go back again, for what have I done unto thee?" He is drawing him with the cords of a man and is putting him through each step to see what effect it is going to have on him. Does he go back to his father and mother? No, he doesn't. The attraction to Elijah was so great that there was a new object before his soul. If you and I get Christ before our souls as our object, we will not go back.
The act of slaying the oxen with which he was plowing brought death on all former life and resources. Dear Christian, have you and I done this, or are we making provision for the flesh? These truths are vital, and they are necessary today. We either have to have Christ in everything, or we are going back, and so it says, "He slew them," and he turned everything into a new path.
He boiled the oxen and provided meat for the people of God. Remember the oxen and the instruments of the oxen in the fire. That is judgment; put them in the place of judgment where they belong, because we never reclaim anything from the flesh. The flesh profits nothing. "And they did eat." It means that if we take this path our work will be profitable, there will be results from it; they did eat.
Before Elijah was taken up into heaven, he had to show Elisha, step by step, the path to take in his absence.
"And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel." 2 Kings 2:1,21And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el. (2 Kings 2:1‑2).
In four places, Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and Jordan, he was given the necessary instruction. At these points and in the journeys between them, the prophet Elisha was tested for his fitness, besides providing sweet communion with his master.