Principles which test the soul as to reality before the eye of God are set forth in the story we find in the last few verses of 1 Kings 19 and in Luke 9:61,62.
It is interesting to observe that in some portions of the Word of God the Spirit of God condenses much truth, while in others He gives more general histories.
In the passages before us, we are brought into the very heart of God's ways in preparing the soul for the new and final order of the kingdom of God.
"And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:61,62).
"So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon 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. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him" (1 Kings 19:19-21).
There is a special connection between these two portions of Scripture, the subject of both being "fitness" for the kingdom of God.
It has been said that one who undertakes to go forth and preach the gospel, but turns back, is not fit for the kingdom of God. This may be a cursory deduction, but it does not rise to the full meaning of the passage. Service is not the issue here, though it surely is involved.
The Word of God declares, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). The terms to man are simple, but how dear was the debt our Savior paid in order that we might have life.
Life has the property of manifesting itself after its kind. This will be seen in the verses we are considering.
"So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth" (1 Kings 19:19).
There is something very special and rare in contacting an empty vessel, a man or woman who has been in the presence of God as to his sins, one who has been plowing, digging deep, securing a good foundation upon which to build for eternity. This, beloved, is what is meant by fitness for the kingdom of God.
Is not the kingdom of God in its full, final condition a vast order of which the Holy Son of God, who is the Son of man, is the Head?
This eternal kingdom has a moral character described as "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). Only those who are born from above can enter it (John 3:3).
Christ is Son over this, God's own house the universe of God, where He is the Light and the Sun, the central Object who fills the entire scene with blessing. The souls who have been fitted participate in this kingdom (Col. 1:12,13).
Is my profession of this kingdom real? Is there faith in Christ? Do I dare live an unreal life when the consequences are eternal? Do I dare deceive myself into a false security, hiding under traditions?
Do my habits and deportment betray that at heart I am part and parcel of this world, even while breaking bread with saints gathered to the blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ?
As Elijah passed through the country, he found Elisha plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him and Elisha with the twelfth. Plowing figures repentance. "He with the twelfth" would suggest that the end of the dispensation of law had come and a new order was in the offing.
"The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it" (Luke 16:16). John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord by preaching repentance. He was the "Elias, which was for to come" (Matt. 11:14).
The Apostle Paul reminded the Ephesian elders of how he had insisted upon two main themes while among them, "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21).
Surely there is no permanent foundation without true repentance toward the God whom we have offended. Have we bowed our souls before Him, confessing our sins?
Repentance is more than an act. It becomes a state of soul in which I abhor myself and adore my precious Savior. In this I give evidence of fitness for the kingdom of God.
Those who hold the greatest amount of truth will be held most responsible for the truth entrusted to them. This is not only a corporate, but an individual, responsibility.
The highest testimony ever placed in the hands of men is that which has been given to the saints. Have we carelessly forgotten what lies beneath this testimony and what empowers the soul so that a true testimony will result?
Would it be in keeping with the character of the kingdom to publicly set forth lovely doctrines while I lead my family into the world?
It is much better to be humbled before God. "He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope" (Lam. 3:29).
We are living in a day of increased gospel activity. How thankful we are that the Word of God's salvation for sinners is being proclaimed. Do we rise out of the dust to proclaim it? Has the gospel had power in our own homes? We are living at a time of high profession but little manifest reality.
Hell will be filled with people who are intelligent as to the letter of Scripture, but this will only add to their eternal woe. They were not fit for the, kingdom of God. There had not been an inward change, simply an outward assent to truth.
"And Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him" (1 Kings 19:19).
Elijah, typifying the Lord Jesus, prepared others to carry on the work before he went to heaven. All those who are thus prepared are tested by certain principles to qualify for the kingdom.
He cast his mantle upon Elisha. "Many be called, but few chosen" (Matt. 20:16). "By grace are ye saved through faith... it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). It stands equally true that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9)
It is God who tries the heart. The unchanging Word of God is the criterion of all our doings. The principles of the Word of God are as stable as His character; they change not.
The fact that Elijah cast his mantle upon Elisha did not mean that there was fitness in Elisha for the place he was about to occupy. He personally had to press into the kingdom, as Luke tells us (Luke 16:16). Only one who has a nature born of God can or will press into the kingdom of God.
Many may have mantles cast upon them, that is, have special advantages, being reared under the sound of God's Word, besides enjoying Christian privileges outwardly, but they may have never pressed into the kingdom because of not having life. It is through violence that I take the kingdom by force (Matt. 11:12).
"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. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?" (1 Kings 19:20)
Elisha ran after Elijah, leaving the oxen, but crying, "Let me... kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee."
This request of Elisha needed a prompt rebuke. The issues of the kingdom of God are urgent, immediate, and binding.
There is nothing, not the dearest thing to my soul, that is worth exchanging for entrance into the kingdom of God. Besides, I must make my decision when the Spirit of God calls.
The following statement of the prophet Elijah tested Elisha for fitness for the kingdom of God. "Go back again: for what have I done to thee?"
To run after the prophet Elijah, who typifies Christ, is not enough. This might pass in religious circles but never at the great tribunal. A declaration of moral bankruptcy is called for, putting the flesh in the place of death (Luke 14:33).
To kiss father and mother is to go back to nature, Adam, first principles. This will never do. A piece of new cloth upon an old garment, or new wine into the old bottles, will end in disaster. A new garment (character) is necessary as well as a new bottle (capacity) (Luke 5:36-39).
When one is thus equipped, death is brought in upon everything with which he was formerly occupied. Such spiritual severance is complete, no turning back (Luke 9:62; Rom. 6:3-6).
"And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him" (1 Kings 19:21).
In returning back from Elijah after the solemn rebuke, he did not go to kiss his father or mother, but only to slay the oxen with which he had been plowing.
"Reproofs of instruction are the way of life" (Prov. 6:23).
Only that life of God which is in the believer can mortify the members which are upon the earth (Col. 3:5).
We see more evidences of fitness for the kingdom in subsequent actions of Elisha. No longer "destruction and misery are in their ways" (Rom. 3:16), but now the way of peace is known (Rom. 5:1).
To merely destroy the oxen would be meaningless. "There is nothing unclean of itself" (Rom. 14:14). Anything that has an element of self-will in it is unclean. In death there is no will. Elisha boiled the flesh of the oxen to provide meat for the people of God. This typifies his ministry which concerns a risen, glorified Christ. It is a new vista opened to the soul, after death has been brought in upon the old order. (See Psa. 16:10,11.)
In Christianity warmth is added to light. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, not only truth. Grace came first.
To cast the instruments of the oxen (wooden yoke and plow) into the fire is to dedicate the energies of the new man to the use of the Spirit of God in service in this world. In Num. 19:6, everything from the cedar to the hyssop, which is the smallest of all trees, is cast into the fire.
Only what was prompted by the Spirit of God could be of use to God from that time on. Elisha arose to go after Elijah and minister to him.
In passing these moral tests, Elisha proved his fitness for the kingdom of God.
"And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:61,62).
In the remaining history of events in the life of Elisha and his ministry, there are not only many manifestations of a changed life but also new energy representing a heavenly, exalted Christ. "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (John 17:18).
In Elisha's ministry, illustrations of New Testament doctrine are given, especially of some of the more difficult doctrines found in Paul's ministry. (See 2 Peter 3:16).