Elisha the prophet lived during a time of upheaval and challenge in Israel, but his relationship with God impacted the course of the entire war with Syria. Consistently, we see him respond to his circumstances in surprising ways–ways that make us realize he must be closely connected to God the entire time. As we examine these passages in 1 and 2 Kings, let’s gain insights into areas of our lives where God is calling us to grow.
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Jon Stallsmith
Series: One Story: Digging Deeper
February 3, 2013
Fractured Kingdom: Elijah and Elisha
1 and 2 Kings
First Kings. We’re going to start in chapter 19, but I have to get a little bit of background before we read from 1 Kings, chapter 19. We are in the One Story where we are just digging deeper into that grand narrative of redemption that God has been working at from the very beginning: the garden of Eden, the fall, the flood, the flop.
Then he calls on Abram to be a blessing and a witness for all nations, and the rise of this nation Israel delivered out of slavery at the exodus by the blood of the Passover Lamb, given the Law so they could live out the life of the kingdom, walking then into the Promised Land miraculously over the Jordan River, conquering, God giving them a place here in this land of Canaan where they could live out the life of the kingdom, and the cycle of judges and then of course the kings, the famous King Saul, then David, then Solomon.
Now we started last week looking at the real fracturing of the kingdom of Israel. This week we’re going to be in that even more so, but what happened is after Solomon died (we talked about this last week), Rehoboam (his son) decided he was going to try to rule by force. He told the people, and 10 of the tribes to the north said, “No, that doesn’t sound very good. We’re not really into that.” Remember Rehoboam said, “I’m going to whip you with scorpions.” They’re like, “No. We don’t really want to do that.”
They rebelled, and they went with Jeroboam, who was another leader at the time. They formed the northern kingdom that, through this section of the Bible, is referred to as Israel. Rehoboam stayed with the southern kingdom, which is called Judah through the text. What we see now through the end of 1 Kings and all of 2 Kings is the story of the rulers of Judah and the rulers of Israel and the mistakes they made.
By and large, these kings were exceedingly wicked, and they pursued false gods and idolatry. They led the people away from devotion to God. The consequences were quite serious actually. We find as this section, this chapter, will conclude in the next couple of weeks, it will end up resulting in their exile from the land. Right now, we’re at that sort of discouraging place where the fabric of society has been under stress for a while.
Now the leaders of that society are carrying the people farther and farther away from God. The godliness that’s woven into the fabric of that people of Israel is just kind of falling apart at the seams. It’s interesting because there are seasons. I mean, 1 and 2 Kings covers a period of about 400 years, so it’s not just like an overnight process. Sometimes if you just read it all in one sitting, you’re like, “Wow! That happened in 20 minutes. That was a real wipeout.”
No, it took about 400 years, and there were seasons of real prosperity where the people are very wealthy, and their hearts are kind of going this way and that and don’t care about God at all. Then there are other seasons of hardship. Over all of it, one of the major themes of this section is, though the human kings are going in a wayward direction, God is the Sovereign King in control of everything. He never fully forsakes his people. He never leaves his people. He is still working for his people. It’s a beautiful story.
One of the ways we see how God works in the midst of this society that’s kind of coming apart at the seams is he raises up prophets, these sort of wandering, roving men and women (men mostly at this point, but they had wives and the schools of the prophets and things). They were going around the land, and they were empowered by God to see what was really happening.
They were able to discern the tearing of the fabric, and they called the kings back toward God. They called the people back toward God. They actually were able to see to the future also by the power of God what he was going to do and, even beyond that, what he was going to do to redeem. So tonight we’re going to look at a couple of the prophets, two of the very most famous prophets in the entire Old Testament: Elijah and Elisha. Okay?
Elijah comes on to the scene in 1 Kings, chapter 17. He comes on to the scene during the reign of King Ahab. Now Ahab was really, really wicked. He married Jezebel, who was one of the most wicked women in the entire Bible. She really led Ahab’s heart astray. So together, they started all kinds of Baal worship. They were abusing the people. It was a rotten period of time.
Almost out of nowhere in the midst of Ahab’s evil reign, it just says Elijah the Tishbite (he comes from Tishbe) just shows up and tells Ahab, “Hey, it’s not going to rain.” Then the Lord leads him off into the wilderness where he spends a period of time next to a creek. Every morning and every night, the ravens bring Elijah food (bread and meat). Sure enough, according to the prophet’s word, there was no rain. The entire country went into a deep, deep drought as the Lord was trying to get Ahab’s attention and the people’s attention.
During this period of time, eventually the little brook Elijah was next to dried up because there was just no rain. So he went out walking, and he came across this woman and her son. He said, “Hey, would you help me out?” She said, “We have nothing. We’re just gathering up sticks, and we’re just going to get ready to die. I have a little bit of flour and a little bit of oil.” Elijah said, “Let me stay with you.”
The Lord provided for them. Every day there was oil in the jar, and there was flour. They were able to bake cakes and survive for the rest of the drought. After about three years, Elijah went back before Ahab as it became clear God was the king and Baal was not any kind of powerful god. Even though they worshiped this idol of Baal, he wasn’t doing anything. Elijah went in, and he really stimulated this great showdown between the prophets of Baal (who, of course, were trying to get Baal to make it rain) and then just this lone, solitary prophet of God.
They have this amazing story. You guys have read this. This is some of the most compelling stuff in the whole Bible. They go up to Mount Carmel, and all the people of Israel gather in the midst of the drought. You know, they have the prophets of Baal all day trying to get the fire to fall from heaven to consume the offering, and nothing happens. Elijah is just sitting and watching. Then finally when their efforts are done, Elijah just says, “Okay, God. Let’s go.”
They douse that offering of bulls and all the salt water and all sorts of stuff there, so it’s not very flammable. Elijah just looks to heaven and says, “Okay, God.” Poof! The fire of God comes down out of heaven, consumes the entire offering. Elijah slaughters the prophets of Baal, and everybody in Israel is going, “Maybe we were wrong about that whole Baal thing.” Elijah is a fierce individual, and his ministry is marked by fierce moments, powerful moments, zealous moments.
We could actually say if we’re kind of summarizing Elijah’s mantle (because it will show up again here in a little bit when we start reading) is it’s one of power and zeal. Okay? That was really what marked his ministry as he was denouncing the will of God in the midst of fabric that was fraying in Israel. So after all this stuff, Elijah goes, and he prays. He prays really hard. God sends rain, and it drenches the land like a torrent.
Jezebel hears about this whole story that’s gone on, and she threatens Elijah and says, “I’m going to kill you just like you killed the prophets of Baal. I’m going to kill you.” Elijah, after all of this, freaks out. He is terrified. He runs off into the wilderness. 1 Kings 19, verse 9, is where we’re going to pick up the story. It says, “There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?'” (1 Kings 19:9)
I love how the Lord meets Elijah right where he is. Verse 10: “He said, ‘I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.’ And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’
And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He said, ‘I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.’
And the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’ So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.
And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, ‘Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’ And he said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you?’ And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.” (1 Kings 19:10-21)
It’s an interesting story. We could say Elijah, after all these victories, hears the threat of Jezebel, and it really spins him out. He ends up in a state of pretty severe depression. He is on his own. He is completely isolated. When God says, “What are you doing here?” did you hear the tone of his voice? Twice he tells the Lord, “It’s just me. I’m all alone. I’m on my own, and I’m miserable. They’re hunting me down. They’re trying to kill me.”
I think we can identify with this at times. We’ve all probably been in that place where we feel like we’re the only one. We’re trying to serve God. We’re trying to work out our faith. We just feel completely alone. Maybe it’s even at a point where you feel like your own spouse doesn’t understand you, your own parents. You just get into this rut, and it kind of cycles, and all of a sudden you find yourself in a cave saying, “I’m the only one here, completely isolated.”
It’s interesting how God addresses this with Elijah. He says, “Okay, listen. Get up. I’m going to give you a little mission. I’m going to give you some stuff to do. You’re going to go anoint a couple of kings, but you’re also going to get Elisha. I want him to be your successor.” It’s very interesting. The answer to Elijah’s depression is discipleship.
Sometimes we get into those places where we’re depressed or we’re discouraged. The very last thing we want to do in that place is serve, is to pour into another. The last thing we want to do when we’re sitting in a cave feeling like the only one… We don’t even feel qualified. It’s like, “Well, I’m depressed. What am I going to pour into somebody else but all my depression?”
What the Lord says is, “Go find Elisha and get him. Let him follow you. Pour into him.” That’s what gets Elijah’s life going again: discipleship, pouring out. Rather than continuing to turn inward, the Lord says, “No. Look outward.” So you wonder, “Okay. What’s the deal about Elisha? Why does the Lord tell him, ‘Go to Elisha’?” I think probably the Lord just wanted Elijah to disciple a guy with a name as close as possible to his own name so everyone would be confused forevermore about who we’re talking about.
“Elijah.” “What? Elisha?” “Are you talking about the first guy or the second guy? Wait.” What we do we know about Elisha in this little sketch? Well, first of all, he is plowing oxen. He is a hardworking guy. He loves God. I mean, he sacrifices the oxen. It’s a lot of sacrifice. It’s a big sacrifice actually. He loves the Lord, and he is willing to follow Elijah.
We don’t know much more about their relationship than that, but it kind of brings to mind Paul’s advice to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2. He says, “Entrust these things that I have shared with you to faithful men who are able to teach them to others. Pass them along to people who are faithful and who will pass them along to others.” So this is some basic sort of foreshadowing of Jesus’ discipleship ministry in the New Testament.
The principle is powerful that out of Elijah’s depression, the Lord calls him to discipleship. I have to remember this in my own life. I was early working at Grace. The first few years were up and down, kind of rocky for me. The Lord had to work out some stuff in my own heart as a leader. Some of you guys have heard me tell this story or maybe were even there for a while.
My first assignment from Buddy at Grace was to lead the college and singles ministry. They said, “Hey, Jon is going to be the leader of this thing.” So I came in there. There were about 100 folks at the Christmas party (college and singles). Everybody was like, “Oh, this is exciting.” I was thinking, “This is going to be so exciting. I can’t wait to basically turn these hundred people into a giant ministry of thousands!”
I imagined myself like probably the most important and charismatic leader of college and singles really the nation had ever seen, which is a little telling indicator right there that this was not going to turn out very well. When you come in saying, “I am going to do this,” it never works very well in the kingdom of God.
So that was kind of my mindset, though. Within about nine months, those hundred had dwindled down to about six folks, maybe seven. We were meeting underneath the pavilion over here at Ronald Reagan Park on Thursday evenings. I don’t think anybody wanted to be there honestly. I mean, I didn’t want to be there, and I was looking around, and everybody else was just like, “We didn’t have anything else to do, so we’re just sitting.”
It was rotten. That was my first experience, and it threw me into a bit of a tailspin because, you know, my self-image of the next whoever was shattered! At least Elijah had some success before he ended up in the cave. I ended up in the cave because I did not have any success. I mean, very similar. This passage really spoke to me, and I felt like the Lord was just saying, “Hey. Go out. Pour out, and start discipling.”
So there were a few different things, but there was a group of high school guys who just kind of were in a high school D-group at that time, and there were some transitions of the leadership, so I actually stepped into this role kind of discipling a handful of high school guys. We loved to go to El Torero. Have you guys ever been to El Torero? El T is what we called it. Some people call it the Mexican restaurant with the fish on the wall. They have these big marlins that are painted up really beautifully. I don’t know if like the owner is a big deep-sea fisherman or what.
We’d always go over to El T every week, and we’d all sit in those big tables, and we’d talk about God. Something really happened there. The Lord was healing my heart even as I was pouring into these high school guys. It was amazing to see how out of that cave, the Lord led me to discipleship. It really healed a lot of my depression. I learned some stuff. I learned some really powerful stuff from those guys. I don’t know if they learned anything from me, but man, I was transformed.
So that’s part one, right? Elijah calls Elisha. Now part two. We’re going to talk about the way Elisha follows Elijah. So flip forward to 2 Kings, chapter 2. This is nearing the end of Elijah’s life. I want you to pay attention here to the places in this story. I’m going to read about eight verses. We’ll talk about those, and then we’ll pick it up a little bit later. So 2 Kings, chapter 2, verse 1.
“Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I know it; keep quiet.'” (2 Kings 2:1-3)
I guess all the prophets kind of knew today was the day for Elijah’s whirlwind. I don’t know if it was on a billboard, or maybe he tweeted it. Maybe that’s part of what being in the school of the prophets means. Everybody is kind of tuned in. Verse 4: “Elijah said to him, ‘Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho.
The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, ‘Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?’ And he answered, ‘Yes, I know it; keep quiet.’ Then Elijah said to him, ‘Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ But he said, ‘As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.’
So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.” (2 Kings 2:4-8) It’s just convenient.
“When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.’ And Elisha said, ‘Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.’ And he said, ‘You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.’
And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, ‘My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw him no more.” (2 Kings 2:9-12) What’s going on here? We’re seeing Elisha’s determination as a disciple. We just looked at Elijah’s realization that out of his depression, he needs to move into discipleship, but now we’re seeing Elisha’s determination.
Elijah is trying to get rid of him. He is testing Elisha’s resolve. He is testing Elisha’s determination to keep following him. So they do, and the places they go to, the places that are mentioned here, are actually really significant in the history of Israel. It’s actually a little bit of a One Story review. I mean, the first place where they’re starting is Gilgal. Gilgal is the place after the Israelites came across the Jordan River under Joshua, they realized the entire new generation had not been circumcised yet.
So there they stopped at a place, and everyone was circumcised. Rather than naming that place, “Ouch!” they named it Gilgal, which means to roll. It says in the Scriptures in Joshua, chapter 5, that the Lord has rolled away the reproach from Israel because now the people are obedient once again to the Law. What we find as we look at Gilgal is a real place of purity. It’s where the people are renewing that covenant purity with God by obeying the command of circumcision. Right? So that’s the first place they start is purity.
Then they go on, it says here in 2 Kings 2. Elijah and Elisha get to Bethel. Bethel, if you remember, got its name actually much earlier from Jacob. When Jacob was fleeing from his household (Esau wanted to kill him), remember he laid down in a certain place, put his head on a rock, and had this amazing vision of God.
God made a promise to Jacob, and when Jacob woke up, he said, “Wow! God was in this place. I didn’t even know it!” He named the place Bethel, which means the house of God. If Gilgal is about purity, historically what’s connected with that name Bethel is the presence of God, coming awake, becoming aware of the presence of God when you didn’t before.
The next place they come to in this little story between Elijah and Elisha is Jericho. We know the story of Jericho. Again, this is the first major battle in the conquest of the land. God gives them the plan. “March around the city seven days, seven times the seventh day. Blow the trumpet.” The walls come down. So if Gilgal is about purity, Bethel is about presence, Jericho is a major display of God’s awesome power. It’s awesome really! The walls just crumble.
What we’re seeing is just a little glimpse into some of the keys to discipleship. Elijah is leading Elisha through the place of purity, the place of learning about the presence of God, and the place of God’s power. Finally he turns around as Elisha has been faithful. He says, “What do you want?” Elisha says, “Double portion. Two times.” He goes, “You’ve asked a hard thing. If you will stay with me and watch until I’m fully gone, we’ll see what the Lord does.”
So, of course, the chariots come as we just read, and Elijah is gone. Elisha is looking up at the sky. “My father! My father! The chariots and the horsemen.” He is crying out, “I see. I’m watching you all the way to the end.” So what remains? What remains? We’ll pick it up in the second half of verse 12.
It says, “Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.” (2 Kings 2:12-14)
The cloak, the mantle of Elijah left behind, Elisha takes it up, walks up to the river. He is like, “Well, let’s see what happens. Let’s see if I got what Elijah gave me.” Waters part. “All right!” You know, you have to think, “It worked! The transfer is complete.” It’s amazing. As Elisha comes back to the Jordan, he has walked through the place of purity and presence and power, but now he is coming to the place of practice where he has to put into practice what he had just seen Elijah do.
Elijah had just parted the waters, and now Elisha comes back. It’s like, “All right. Let’s put these things into practice.” God is with him. The waters part, and he passes on. The prophets and the sons of the prophets who had been watching recognized that now Elisha is the guy. He is carrying the mantle of Elijah. The discipleship has been complete, and it’s not just a transfer of good phrases or a Bible study or of filling in the blanks.
What’s happened is a spiritual transfer from Elijah to Elisha where now Elisha is able to fulfill the role Elijah once did as a counselor to kings and as a minister of God’s power in the midst of brokenness. If we read through Elisha’s ministry, it’s really quite beautiful. There are actually seven major miracles of Elijah that are talked about. When you get to Elisha, guess how many there are. Fourteen to the number. Twice as much. Double portion.
These miracles are amazing. I mean, you guys remember that scene where the group of the prophets are not very wealthy or whatever, but they’re kind of living together in community. They decide they’re going to build a larger home structure. So they have an iron ax head, and they’re cutting down some wood. All of a sudden the ax head flies off into the river, and it’s gone. Now they’re freaking out because iron in those days was a precious commodity. It’s like gold today.
“Oh no!” It’s like if you borrowed your neighbor’s $15,000 riding lawn mower, and you accidentally just drove it into the pond. You’re like, “Oh shoot!” It’s sinking down, and you’re going, “This is going to be big trouble.” Now they’re in debt, and they’re concerned. Elisha comes along. “Okay.” By the power of God, that ax head just floats up out of the water and is returned to the people. It’s amazing!
I mean, some of Elisha’s miracles are sort of big, national-level sort of miracles. There’s the campaign against the Moabites, and the armies of Israel and Judah are working together at this point. They’re really having trouble because they are in the wilderness, and they don’t have any water. So they say, “Hey, is anybody here like a prophet?” One guy says, “Well, yeah. Elisha poured water on Elijah’s hands. He is here.”
They’re like, “That will do.” Elisha comes up, and Elisha says, “Okay. Yeah, God tomorrow morning is going to send water.” So the next morning through the dry valley came the water of God miraculously. It’s amazing how it worked. So there were several of these sort of big, national-level miracles, but what’s maybe even more remarkable is a lot of the work Elisha did with the power of God was just small, sort of caring for people who were in need.
You know the Shunammite woman. Her son died. Elisha prayed for him. The son is raised to life, the same sort of miracle Elijah had done earlier in his ministry. Multiplication of food. They cleansed the water in Jericho miraculously. The stew that was poisoned. Everybody was eating it during the famine and the drought, and it was poisoned stew. They’re like, “Oh no! Somebody picked up the poison plant and put it into the stew by accident.” Elisha is like, “It’s okay.” The stew is made well.
It’s like little miracles. Actually they almost seem insignificant. Maybe sometimes we think that about our own lives. We come across something like, “Oh man. I have a terrible headache, and it would be wonderful if I could just think straight, but does God really care about a headache?” Or, “I’ve misplaced my wallet, but does God really care about a wallet?” Or, “My car is horribly broken down. Does God care about a car?”
If you look at the work of Elisha, the answer would be yes actually. He does. He cares about that stuff. He cares about the ax head. He cares about your debt. He cares about the need we have. It’s a powerful testimony, because even at the national level as the nation is falling apart at the seams and the kings are leading people away from God, here is Elisha the prophet who is the true witness to what God is really doing.
Do you know what he is really doing? He is ministering in the lives of the simple people who love him and who want to be with him. God doesn’t forsake his people. He is still working, still ministering through Elisha. Elisha’s ministry has a massive impact, so big, in fact, that as Elisha grows old, the next king Joash or Jehoash (there are two different ways to spell it…just a difference of an e-h in there) comes to Elisha. We’re going to see something really interesting.
Verse 14 of 2 Kings 13. So just flip forward a few pages. Second Kings 13, verse 14. “Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash [or Jehoash…same name, different spelling] king of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, ‘My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!'” (2 Kings 13:14)
Familiar phrase, isn’t it? That was exactly what Elisha had said when Elijah was going off. That was the key sort of phrase. Elisha was watching Elijah, and he cried that out because he was watching, and he saw him, and that was like the symbolic moment when the mantle was passed from Elijah to Elisha. So now when the king shows up, what does he want from Elisha? He wants the mantle. Elisha is about to croak. It’s the day when Elisha is going home.
“My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” “Is that going to work? Can I get the mantle with that?” “And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and arrows.’ So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Draw the bow,’ and he drew it. And Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the window eastward,’ and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot,’ and he shot.
And he said, ‘The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Syria! For you shall fight the Syrians in Aphek until you have made an end of them.’ And he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground with them.’ And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.'” (2 Kings 13:15-19)
The king comes. He wants the mantle. Elisha prophesies. He shoots the arrow out the window. “This is going to be your victory.” Then he says this thing about striking the ground. I have colored pencils, but just imagine it’s a quiver full of arrows, small arrows that are good for coloring. He says, “Take some of these arrows.” So he takes some arrows like this. He says, “Strike the ground with the arrows.” So this is what happens.
The king kind of goes, “Whatever you say.” Three times. Elisha sees in the way the king strikes the ground, “All right. The king’s heart is not zealous for God.” He sees Joash’s lack of motivation. He says, “You should have struck the ground like one who hears the word of the Lord and sells out wholeheartedly to it. Get down there and strike the ground five or six times like you really obey the word of the Lord.”
A few years ago, some of the young guys on staff used to get together and pray in the mornings. The first or second time we got together, we were kind of asking the Lord… We knew we needed to pray once a week (Tuesday mornings really early). So we were asking the Lord, “What is this time all about?” He led us to this passage. We were reading it, and we saw, “Wow! We don’t want to be guys like Joash who kind of just tap the ground. We want to be men, who when God tells us what to do, we are on our knees crying out that the Lord will move, that he will act.”
We felt like the Lord just gave us this idea that there’s like an earthquake. As we’re striking the ground, it would send out sort of ripples into the community that would make an impact, because prayer matters, and God is real. He really does stuff. He delivers the sick, and he raises the dead, and he heals those. He forgives debts, and he does all this stuff. So that was “earthquake hour,” and we did that for several years. It was a powerful time. We saw so much fruit out of that time. It came right out of this passage.
We didn’t want to be like Joash, the lack of motivation. We wanted to be people who, when God spoke… “This is what we need to do.” We would strike the ground, because here’s why. Verse 20: “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” (2 Kings 13:20-21)
You know, that would be a surprise. You’re at the funeral, and everyone is kind of sad. All of a sudden, here come the raiders, and now you’re freaking out. It’s like, “Oh geez! This is not what we were hoping. It’s not a very reverent moment in the midst of the funeral.” “Well, quick throw him in a grave and get out of here, because they’re going to kill us.” So they throw him in the grave, and here he comes! What in the world is this story about?
Elijah raised the dead. He passed his mantle on to Elisha. Elisha raised the dead. Joash came. He wanted the mantle, but he didn’t have the heart. He didn’t have the desire. He didn’t have the passion. Elisha dies. He goes into the grave, and the mantle stays in the grave. That resurrection power the Lord had entrusted to Elijah and Elisha stayed in the grave. So when you throw a dead guy in there, out he comes!
It’s not like it’s a magic grave or something, but I think this is what the Scripture is trying to tell us. Elisha’s mantle didn’t pass on to the next generation because Joash, the guy who wanted to carry that mantle, didn’t have the motivation. The mantle remained in the grave. So here’s sort of how I just feel like we can reflect on these stories tonight. Okay, some of us are maybe in a place where we kind of identify with Elijah and the cave. Maybe the Lord is calling us to look outward, not just inward but outward.
Some of us are either walking and learning in that process of discipleship, or maybe we’re discipling others. We need to just ask that question, “How is God leading us through the areas of purity? How is God leading us to a greater awareness of his presence? How is God leading us to a deeper understanding of his power?” Think about that a little bit. In your own life, is that purity and presence of God and the power of God…are you seeing this stuff?
Because that’s his heart. That’s his heart for his people. Again, it’s a foreshadowing of what Jesus did with his disciples. He did the same thing with those disciples, and he said, “Guys, you’re going to do greater things than even I do. Guys, I’m going to teach you how to do the exact same sort of things I have done. I’m going to pass my life on to you.” So all of us as disciples, purity, presence, power, practice.
Then finally, just a quick moment before the Lord. Let his Spirit kind of search our hearts. Are we kind of just going through the motions? Are we just kind of just tapping the ground, or has the Spirit of God captured our hearts in such a way that when God speaks, we’re there, and we’re pounding the ground? We’re like, “Yes, Lord! We want it!” It’s not like how animated our response is. It’s not like we have to put on this big show to prove our passion, but there is something there, isn’t there?
You know about the hunger of your heart. You know when you haven’t eaten for days, and you’re hungry. You know when you’re kind of full, and somebody says, “Let’s go to O’Charley’s for dinner.” You’re kind of like, “Oh great. Okay.” You’re not really hungry. The Scripture calls us to be hungry. Strike the ground. Let’s have a word of prayer.
Lord, thank you for this passage of Scripture. It’s powerful. It’s worked through my life so powerfully. I pray again tonight it would continue to do that, that this living Word of the Scripture and these true stories of your servants Elijah and Elisha, man, would minister to us and through them your Spirit would be working. Lord, would you just reveal for us the next steps, clear perspective, looking forward, looking at where we are now, looking at where we’ve been? Lord, I pray your Spirit now would just come and minister to us. Minister to us from this Word.
As we respond in worship through giving gladly of our tithe, and as we respond in worship through taking of the Communion here at the front, as we respond in worship through song and through prayer and through silence, God, would you meet us? Would your powerful Holy Spirit minister to us, minister through us? Lead us out of depression. Awaken the hunger. Restore the purity, Lord. Let us come alive to your presence. God, let us see your power at work. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.