Author: SFJ Bible

Going Deeper

Elisha (4-30-16)

Grab your Bibles, and let’s go deeper into the life and testimony of the prophet Elisha.

Elisha was a prophet whose faith and miracles were a great sign of an awesome God at work in and through him.

In 2 Kings 2:1-14, we see Elijah’s hand off to Elisha.  In this, Elisha is being given the ministry of Elijah. This is confirmed in the fact that Elijah’s clock fell on him. Also, God parted the waters for him, just as this was a sign of God’s favor on the leadership of Moses and of Joshua before him.  Leading up to this we know that Elisha served with Elijah for some time before succeeding him as prophet.  When asked what Elijah could bless him with in his parting, Elisha requested a “double portion” of the spirit that was upon Elijah (2 Kings 2:9b).

In this Elisha shows incredible wisdom, as he understood it is not enough to just seek success, but it is far better to have the Person who works in and through His people, namely the Holy Spirit of God.  If we were offered one wish, we would likely burn it on something temporary but not Elisha. He sees the lasting benefit of the Holy Spirit upon him.  For those of us who are saved, we don’t realize how good we have it.   Are you making the most of the fact that in Christ, the Holy Spirit is present and able to convict you of sin and guide you in all things?  Let Elisha’s longing for the Holy Spirit be a great reminder to us today.

Ephesians 1:13-14 teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the seal of salvation for all those who believe: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  Praise God for this!

In this exchange, Elisha faced a moment of decision. He could take up Elijah’s mantle of prophethood, the anointing of the Spirit, and the rejection by the world that went with it, or he could go his own way. Elisha went on to be one of the greatest prophets in the history of God’s people. Although none of us is a prophet like Elisha, we likewise face a moment of decision when the Lord calls us. The question is:  Will we take up His mantle and follow Him?

In 2 Kings 4:1-9, we read one of the most memorable testimonies of Elisha’s ministry. A widow is being threatened to have her sons taken, and Elisha tells her to take her little remaining oil and to pour it into large vats to be sold off.  Once again, we see the sovereign hand of God working His supernatural ways to bring provision and blessing in a way only He could.  The vats are filled, and the sons are spared.   This stands as another marker that God can and will provide for His people. Our lives are His and He will continue us for as long as He has determined.  We need to remain in faith and rest in Him even when our situation seems bleak. Philippians 4:19-20 says, “my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

I love the testimony of the wealthy woman we read in 2 Kings 4:8-10, who provided a regular space in her home for the man of God who would often pass through.  Many who are of wealth are often the ones who are pickier with their means and slower to share.  But here we have one entrusted with much using it for God-honoring purposes.  What are you doing with what God has entrusted you?  Now some of you are thinking, “But I am not rich like the woman in the story.”  I want to encourage you to reconsider that view on your life. In 1 Timothy 6:17, Timothy is instructed to command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth.

Here is our problem: Most of us hear this verse and we think that it is for someone else… Someone rich.

But most of us have a car!  Some of us own more than one.

Do you realize that only 8% of the people in the world own a car?  That means 92% of the world looks at us and sees wealth.

I went to Vietnam in 2013 on a missions trip where in Ho Chi Minh City there are 6.5 million people (the same as the entire state of Arizona), and only a tiny group of people own cars.  The Vietnamese travel their family of 4 and sometimes more mainly by Moped, because there is no way they can afford in a lifetime to buy a car.

780 million people in the world don’t have access to clean drinking water. That is 3.5 times the population of the United States. This is the reason 3.4 million people die each year from water-related diseases.

You and I are so wealthy that we can literally go to any hose bib in our city and open it up and safely drink from it. But most of us won’t even do that– because it taste bad– not because it’s contaminated; because chlorine tastes gross.

Do you realize millions of people in this highly advanced world don’t even know what it’s like to turn on a water source– any water source– and have something come out for them to drink?  They don’t know what this is like.

How many freshly prepared meals and yummy snacks will you consume today?

Over 800 million people will not eat anything today.  Even the homeless in America can beg and get food in their bellies.

Our homeless are more wealthy then 800 million people around the world.

So we must read a text like this with new eyes and realize, we have been entrusted with so much by God. Our response should not be guilt but to use it for His purposes. So let me ask you, do you hoard what you have and consume it all, or are you looking for ways to invest into the kingdom and others whom have need?  God wants us to be good stewards of the resources and talents with which He entrusts us.  The question is, are we leaving a legacy like this woman and investing those means into others?

In 2 Kings 6:8-23, we see another great example of God at work in and through Elisha. God gave Elisha the “gift of knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8-11; 1 Corinthians 14:6), by which he knew King Aram’s secret plans.  With that gift, he was able to advise the King of Israel in foiling Aram’s every move.   When the siege started, God gave Elisha “spiritual vision” to see the armies of heaven protecting him.  This no doubt helped Elisha remain calm and confident in the face of the enemy siege.  When Elisha prayed, God answered him by opening his servant’s eyes and blinding the enemy’s army.

Do you often feel like you are surrounded by the enemy?  While we may not be facing a crisis as large as what Elisha was facing, it can certainly seem that way to us.  We have the opportunity to look at such situations as opportunities to exercise our faith and obey God, rather than responding with fear.   When we are surrounded and taunted by the enemy, we are tempted to look at our adversaries and cower in fear.  When that happens, I find it helpful to follow Elisha’s example and remember that God is with me and has a plan for me.  We too can pray, “O LORD, open my eyes so I may see,” so that His will and Word is in full view as we look to honor Him with our lives.

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

2 Kings 8:1-15

The Shunammite’s Land Restored

8:1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”

Hazael Murders Ben-hadad

7 Now Elisha came to Damascus. Ben-hadad the king of Syria was sick. And when it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God, and inquire of the LORD through him, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but¹ the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. 12 And Hazael said, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel. You will set on fire their fortresses, and you will kill their young men with the sword and dash in pieces their little ones and rip open their pregnant women.” 13 And Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are to be king over Syria.” 14 Then he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bed cloth² and dipped it in water and spread it over his face, till he died. And Hazael became king in his place.

Footnotes

[1] 8:10 Some manuscripts say, ‘You shall certainly not recover,’ for

[2] 8:15 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

(ESV)

2 Kings 6:8-23

Horses and Chariots of Fire

8 Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” 10 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.

11 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” 13 And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 19 And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.

20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the LORD opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 21 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?” 22 He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.

(ESV)

2 Kings 4:1-37

Elisha and the Widow’s Oil

4:1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

Elisha and the Shunammite Woman

8 One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food. So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. 9 And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. 10 Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”

11 One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. 12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.” 14 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. 16 And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” 17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

Elisha Raises the Shunammite’s Son

18 When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. 21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out. 22 Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23 And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “All is well.” 24 Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. 26 Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’” And she answered, “All is well.” 27 And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’” 29 He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply. And lay my staff on the face of the child.” 30 Then the mother of the child said, “As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” 37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

(ESV)

2 Kings 2:15-25

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the LORD has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” 17 But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. 18 And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

19 Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” 24 And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

(ESV)