The Call Of Elisha

Terry Siverd
03/18/18 - Sun AM

THE CALL OF ELISHA

Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd

Cortland Church of Christ / March 18, 2018

Although 1Kgs.18 ends on a high note, 1Kgs.19:1-4 begins with an unexpected twist. 

King Ahab’s wicked wife, Jezebel, tells Elijah - - by tomorrow at this time you will be a dead man.

And (Elijah) was AFRAID and arose and RAN for his life…and he requested for himself that he might die.

1Kgs.19:4-5 depicts an Elijah who was physically drained, mentally fried, cast down, stressed out and turned inward.

Because of his inward focus he became immersed in self-pity. 

He was not alone, but he allowed his feelings to convince himself that he was alone.  cf.1Kgs.18:22 and 19:10 & 14

Like Jonah, Elijah runs away.  But unlike Jonah, Elijah does not attempt to run away from God, but TO GOD.

When Jonah ran, he headed for Tarshish, hoping to escape the presence of Jehovah God.

In the case of Elijah, he runs to the Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, not a place for those attempting to hide.

Elijah is not defiant, but he is downcast and feeling defeated and in need of God’s help.

On the way to Horeb he makes a pit stop in Beersheba in the southernmost extremity of the promised land.

1Kgs.19:5-8 records how an angel came and ministered to him.  Elijah slept and ate & drank and slept & ate some more.

And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched (Elijah)

and said, ‘Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.  So he arose and ate & drank, and

went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mountain of God.

I am now convinced that Elijah was running to God.  Mt. Horeb/Mt. Sinai was a sacred site where God

had met with Moses centuries earlier via the burning bush (Ex.3:1) and the giving of the ten commandments.

1Kgs.19:9 - - (Elijah) came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold the word

of the Lord  came to him, and (God) said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’

Elijah responds by telling God - -  / I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts;  for the sons

of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets (1Kgs.19:10).

1Kgs.19:11b-13 / After God reveals Himself to Elijah - - not in a great strong wind; not in an earthquake;

not in a fire … but in a gentle blowing (whisper/quiet gentle sound).  God tells Elijah - - 

Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus,and when have arrived you shall anoint…

Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-me-holah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

Before Elijah returned to Damascus God revealed to him that

there were yet 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

This “announcement” was a rebuke to Elijah’s self-pity, but it also points to many Israelites needing spiritual guidance.

After traveling some 300 miles Elijah quickly met up with Elisha (1Kgs.19:19) and threw his mantel upon him.

Such an act served as a “call” to Elisha to begin his work as a prophet of God. 

In the case of both royalty and the prophetic realm, one’s “mantel” signaled power and authority.

While a king’s mantel would have been ornate, it is likely that Elijah’s was a simple cape draped across his shoulders. Mt.3:4 notes that John the baptizer wore a garment of camel’s hair.

To combat Elijah’s depression, God directed him to anoint a co-worker.

Eccl.4:9-10 states, two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.  For if either of them

falls, the one will lift up his companion.  But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.

This principle seemed to be part of the strategy of Jesus in sending out His disciples two by two (Lk.10:1).

There is nothing to hint that Elijah is sulking about this decision.  To the contrary,

 the fact that this was the first thing that Elijah did seems to indicate that he was delighted with this plan.

Elisha becomes Elijah’s protégé - - and will prove to be his devoted fellow-worker over the next ten years of so.

} Open your Bibles to 1Kgs.19:19-21 |

1Kgs.19:19-21 / So (Elijah) departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat,

while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth.

 And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.  And (Elisha) left the oxen and

ran after Elijah and said, ‘Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.’

And (Elijah) said to him, ‘Go back again, for what have I done to you?’

So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and

boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate.

Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

  WHO WAS ELISHA?

He was a young, strong, vibrant worker - - plowing the fields with a team of oxen.

1Kgs.19:19 states that he lived in Abel-me-holah (the meadow of dancing).

To have so many oxen implies that Elisha’s family was somewhat wealthy - - or well-to-do.

Elisha is a devoted son to his father and mother as shown by his request to bid them farewell.

Elisha has about him a sense of decisiveness.  He did not waiver.  He appears ready, willing and eager.

The text infers that Elisha knew exactly who Elijah was.  No doubt Elijah’s reputation preceded him.

When Elijah tossed him his mantle, Elisha was not dumbfounded as to what that meant.

There’s no arguing or hesitancy, like we see with Moses (Exodus 3 & 4)

There’s no balking or resistance like we see in Jonah’s attempt to run from God (Jonah 1:1-3).

It’s more like when Isaiah the prophet humbly declared to the Lord:  “Here am I; send me” (Isa.6:8).

The act of feasting on his oxen points to a spiritual decision - - he sacrificed them. 

He understood that this was not just a change of jobs, but that he was being called by God for an important new work.

He even burned his plow, showing his determination to not look back.

This “feast” was not just a farewell dinner, it was a celebration of God’s call to Elisha.

This was not just a run-of-the-mill change for Elisha, it was a very significant spiritual turning point in his life.

1Kgs.19 closes by noting that (Elisha) arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him.

Elisha embarks upon a life of discipleship and ministry that will provide much-needed fellowship for Elijah.

While we’re not told many details as to how they interacted with one another or how specifically Elisha helped Elijah, one brief passage alludes to Elisha’s servant-mindedness.

Several years later, when King Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet of the Lord who could assist

him in making an inquiry as to the will of the Lord, one of the king’s servants answered as said,

Elisha the son of Shaphath is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. / 2Kgs.3:11

We don’t get the idea that there was anything big-headed about Elisha - - no desire to usurp Elijah.

What a wonderful partner and very special co-worker Elisha must have been for Elijah.

Elijah and Elisha are about to embark upon a decade of rather ordinary ministry.

Comparitively speaking, for Elijah it will be quite different from his first four or five years of ministry.

It’s not mundane in the sense that God is absent, but it is ordinary in that it lacks splash - - very few whistles and bells.

Eccl.9:10 states:  Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all of your might.

Jeannie has a note posted on our fridge that reads:  whatever you are, be a good one!

Soon we’ll come to the end of Elijah’s early ministry.

He doesn’t die, but is “translated” to heaven (2Kgs.2:11-12).

Such a heavenly reception can only be understood as an expression of God’s satisfaction with Elijah’s ongoing work.

Elijah did not spend his final days/years just biding his time, but he was engaged in making the most of his opportunity.

And with such, God was well-pleased!