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There is very little information about Elisha the Prophet in the Bible and in Commentaries.

Posted by BIML ASIA TEAM on Aug 5th 2017

There is very little information about Elisha the Prophet in the Bible and in Commentaries.

Elisha the Prophet in the Bible and in Commentaries

Elisha was not a volunteer to the call of God. “Pick me, pick me, and pick me!”NO!He was SENSITIVE to the call of God. He was not volunteering!


GOD IS NOT LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS!

WHY?  Because, most volunteers are just looking for activities. Just to float their boat, to amuse themselves for a short period of time.

We will see in the tone of Elisha’s response to Elijah, what Elisha does.

I Kings 19:19

So he departed from there (from Mount Horeb = a place of living fellowship with God) and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth.And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.

We see 12 pairs of oxen, each pair is 2 oxen that is 24 oxen!This was a sign of great prosperity.Kind of like he has 12 taxis / cars, in today’s situation.Plowing his field, working on his land.It says he was pushing the twelfth pair of oxen!Which means they have servants/workers that are pushing the other 11 pairs of oxen.So we can clearly see that he is coming from a RICH BACKGROUND!

Then Elijah passes by him and throws his mantle on him!CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP!

Neither Elijah nor Elisha initiated this call.

v.20

And he left the oxen and run after Elijah and said, “Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.”And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

DOES THIS REMID US Matthew 8:21 And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.”

It is similar, but not the same.

READ Luke 9:57-62

He loved his parents more than the call!

BUT ELISHA, what does he do in response:

He gave back his inheritance

v.21

So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the tools of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate.Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

THE OXEN PROVIDED for him financial security!They were his tool to work the fields and plant crops.But he offered them as sacrifice to God.

He burned the tools!What was he doing? BURNING ALL HIS BRIDGES!No turning back!BOY, and this is something that is important to the call of God!

When we want to follow God, we say: what is convenient to do? Not saying:What will work for me?ME ME ME!

BUT when it comes to the call of God, I need to make sure to CUT all ties that pull me back to the world.

When we follow God, God wants surrender.God doesn’t want a volunteer!Does not like temporary fixes.

How do we recognize our call?

1.What are you prompted to do? (in the Old Testament we see the prophets saying: the burden of the Lord is upon me…)Do you feel a pressure from the Holy Spirit?A burden from God?To the point that there are no excuses not to execute!

2.What do you feel pleasure in doing?(MOSES a shepherd becomes the shepherd of God’s people – starting with growing up in the palace, being trained as a leader, being prepared for the moment of the Exodus)

3.What do you feel power in doing?Romans 12:6And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly…There will be a grace that accompanies the call.For example in preaching, you can feel the grace, the anointing as you preach and minister.Or some feel grace doing outreach, going after the lost!Or some maybe singing, you feel it!Or some maybe administration and leadership.

4.Often your gift will receive recognition from others.GOD MANIFESTS YOUR GIFT TO ALL THE OTHERS!

Your call can catch you off guard!

MOSES by the bush

SAUL OF TARSUS on the way…

MY CALL to CHINA, cut me off guard!  I was preparing to move to Pakistan.

WHY ELISHA???7,000 did not bow the knee!


Elisha is a farmer.On the field plowing, hard worker! Off guard.

God doesn’t call the qualified, but qualifies the called!

Elisha has to give himself to the call and we see how he is used by God.

v.20

And he left the oxen and run after Elijah and said, “Please, let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.”And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

This is between YOU AND GOD!

He threw the mantle then he ran.The Elisha runs after him, and gets the strange answer:“Go back again, for what have I done to you?”

There is a DECISION and A PRICE TO BE PAID!

Elijah is going to be taken by the chariot of fire, and Elisha will be facing the worst king AHAB in all of Israel’s history.

There is a blessing with the call, but also always there is a price to be paid.SUFFERING, PERSECUTION, LONELINESS…

v.21

Elisha became Elijah’s servant!

God does not call us to be STARS, but he calls us to be SERVANTS!

God is not looking for HEROES in the service!God is looking for a SERVANT!A servant of Elijah is exactly what God wanted him to be, for the time being.

So from I Kings 19, you will not see the name Elisha till II Kings 2.What is he doing?He is serving Elijah.

What is NOT SHOWN here is 10 YEARS!What happened during these 10 years?

SAUL OF TARSUS 3 years in the desert

DAVID had such preparation time

MOSES was prepared in the palace, but then 40 year to wait

God’s system to prepare his servants is interesting!