ELISHA: A CHARACTER STUDY

Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus; 
* to grow TOGETHER in our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-to-day JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR and REDEEMER everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT ON ISSUES OF VARIOUS THEOLOGICAL THOUGHT, WE MOST CERTAINLY MUST AGREE ON THIS: THAT WE HAVE BEEN BOUGHT BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF A MOST LOVING SAVIOR AND BECAUSE OF THAT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

Today we will consider the man called Elisha, a prophet of God. We will study his life as revealed in scripture. We should however, 1st recall WHY we take the time to examine the lives of those God has put before us in His word. It is not to be out of mere curiosity, or obligation or even just for entertainment (Sheesh! I gotta read SOMETHING, it might as well be one of those "BIBLE" stories that Hollywood likes to make movies out of...); 
It is because that GOD REVEALS HIMSELF to us through the lives of these people. And in their lives we can see our own, and learn that the God who was faithful to folks just like us then, can STILL be able NOW; 

Before we just jump into this guys life, let's get a little background 1st. David's original single kingdom was split by civil war after the death of Solomon into the northern kingdom of Israel (consisting of 10 of the original 12 tribes of Israel), with the capitol city named Samaria, and the southern kingdom of Judah (consisting of the remaining 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin), with Jerusalem as it's capitol. 
The northern kingdom of Israel was ruled only by wicked idolatrous kings through out its entire 210 yr life until it was completely swallowed up by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. This is where some refer to the "10 lost tribes of Israel" as NONE of these 10 tribes were ever returned or restored after their capture, unlike the southern kingdoms 2 remaining tribes. 
The 7th man to rule as king over the northern kingdom of Israel was a fellow named Ahab. He had taken a Canaanite women named Jezebel as his wife. He was a fairly gutless easily manipulated kind of guy, and he allowed Jezzy to establish the pagan demonic religion of Baal worship on a massive scale in the kingdom. Crowds of people were appointed priests and prophets of Baal, and the prophets of Jehovah were persecuted and slaughtered or hiding in caves. All of Israel seemed willing to follow their king and queen into Baal worship and it seemed the last remnants of the true worship of God were about to blow away. Then a guy named Elijah showed up, and tore everything apart for this utterly depraved and demonic  filled reign. He pronounced God's judgement on the sin of Israel's idolatry and worked miracles to back up what he declared. If you want to read more about this guy, you'll have to look in 1st and 2nd Kings in the OT.
Well, ONE of the things that this powerful mighty man of God did was obey the command of God to pick a young man named Elisha to be his spiritual successor and adopted son. The 1st mention of Elisha is found in 1Ki 19:15-21.  
[HAVE SOMEONE READ THIS PASSAGE]  
Just by the name alone we can know some things about him. Elisha means "God his salvation" or "My God is salvation", which clearly shows that he was raised by Godly parents. They were pretty well off financially since they owned 12 yoke of oxen, and yet he was no ner'do well rich boy as he was plowing with the 12th yoke of oxen himself when Elijah found him. 
What did Elijah DO to Elisha? What does it mean? Throwing a prophets cloak around a person symbolized the passing of the power and authority to that individual. Elisha clearly recognized BOTH WHO Elijah was and WHAT his actions meant to him, based on his reactions to the encounter. Immediately he abandoned his former life to follow Elijah. What did Elijah's response to Elisha's request to say goodby mean? "What have I done to thee" is an idiom meaning "Do as you please" or "What have I done to stop you?". Some see it as a test by Elijah of Elisha to check his sincerity and commitment. I'd say he passed since he killed his only prior source of livelyhood and then used his yoke to cook them! He wanted to honor his parents and family with a feast symbolizing the utter finality and completeness of his new life. 
What was it he ended up DOING? Serving Elijah, a sort of prophet apprenticeship training?? 
After this, we don't read Elisha's name again until the 2nd chapter of 2nd Kings. We DO read a LOT of exciting and miraculous stuff about Elijah during the interim pages, and what do you think Elisha was doing during this time?? Witnessing the same!! He was given the opportunity to see close up and 1st hand the effects of the power of God's Spirit in and through the life of Elijah. And starting in 2nd Kings 2 we get our first chance to see the results of that relationship. 

2:1-6  Elijah is going to be caught up to heaven, and everybody seems to know it already; The man who has been E's spiritual father for some time now, through amazing and difficult times is going to leave him behind in a land rapidly deteriorating into more and more demonic worship; Although there were the "Sons of the prophets" who apparantly were true worshipers of God, E. would still be and feel alone in a hostile land; 
What did Elijah asked E. to do 3 times? WHY? The scripture never says, although several explanations have been offered: 1. Elijah desired the solitude that seemed to always characterize his life in these final hours on earth, 2. his natural humility concerning the mirical of his translation, 3. a desire to test E's faithfulness and affection, 4. this was part of some solemn pagentry, a sort of ritual to prepare E. fully for the transfer of Elijahs mantle and office to E.; 
I vote for the 3rd choice; Each time it was an offer to remain behind at some comfortable place as opposed to having to drag on farther along the rough and weary way. 
What was E's response?? WHY?? Maybe 2 reasons. 1st, E loved the old man and wasn't going to miss any chance to be with him, esp since their time together was growing short; 2nd, it was customary for a dying man to pronounce blessings on others, and E did NOT want to miss out on Elijah's blessing; 

2:9-10  Here's where we learn something about the inner man of E.; We see the tender and affectionate relationship between these 2 men, the Elder wanting to grant what ever he could to his spiritual son in the faith; Then we see the "son", who knew IMMEDIATLY what he wanted: "a double portion of thy spirit..."; UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS REALLY MEANT; based on Mosaic law in Deut 21:17, E was asking for the blessing given to the Firstborn, he was stating his desire that he DID want to be the successor of Elijah and his spiritual heir as Elijah had designated him when they 1st met; I think this also reflected that E was a man of true deep wonderful hunger for the deeper more ture things of the Lord; He recognized that he had an enormous task ahead of him and that he NEEDED to have the same character and spiritual character that Elijah had been living in front of E ever since they 1st met; 
What did Elijah's answer MEAN?? E's request was NOT Elijah's to give. Although God had told Elijah to pick E. as his heir, Elijah did not know if God would grant E's request for that DOUBLE portion of that spirit that empowered Elijahs life and ministry; The answer was NOT some sort of condition for E pursue in order to achieve or win that double portion, but rather it was Elijahs way of saying that if E DID see him leave, that would be GOD'S sign to E that He had indeed granted his request; 

2:11  WHAT happened next?? What was the significance of the firey chariot and horses? They were symbols of God's power in battle, being the mightiest military weapon system of the day; It was as if God was saying that HIS power was greater than ANY human military might. It wasn't for Elijahs sake that this parade occured, it was for Elisha's; to remind him again just WHO it was Elijah had been serving, and now Elisha was going to serve; 

2:12  What was E's response to this miraculous event?? He was 1st broken hearted, crying out "Father! Father!" as any son would at the loss of his father; What did he mean by his remarks about the "chariots and horsemen"? He was maybe acknowledging God's presentation of His might, or perhaps honoring Elijah as ALSO being God's powerful instrument of spiritual warfare against the idolatry of Israel; 
A sad and poignant verse, "...and he saw him no more"; and perhaps it was the absolute finality of that realization that broke his heart within him even as it led him to tear and rend his garments without; 

2:13-14  With his own clothes torn to rags, he now puts on the cloak of Elijah to wear, it representing his new role as God's number one prophet; Try to appreciate his terrible sense of loss and abandonment, he deep sense of fear that he is now "alone" wothout Elijah to count on, hide behind, to be a visible tangible proof of the reality of a living INvisible God; So his question in vs14 was a deep one born of grief and hurt and fear, as a child who suddenly and terrifyingly discovers his mother has disappeared...
It was critical that here and now, E make the essential transition in his relationship with the Lord, that God become real and true and alive DIRECTLY TO HIM, PERSONALLY, so that He will NOT just be "the God of Elijah" but ALSO the God of Elisha as well;
And WHAT did God DO? By parting that water He answered with all His power to love and reassure, as if to say, "Just 'cause Elijahs gone doesn't mean I'VE left you too..."; 

We've seen Elisha introduced in these 1st sections. What follows are episodes from his life as seen in 18 snapshots, 18 events of miraculous power demonstrated through him that God used to reveal insights about His own character, as well as show us the nature of both believers (including Elisha) and unbelievers in the face of God's revealed Person. 

Without examining each of these 18 one at a time here, there are conclusions about Elisha that can be made based upon these events. E presents a striking contrast to his spiritual father Elijah. Elijah was a true Bedouin child of the desert, remaining distant and aloof, desiring the remote and desolate places, only appearing before men to deliver his message from God reinforced by a miracle, then disappearing from sight again. Elisha was a civilized man, preferring companionship, dwelling in cities, often in close connection with kings. Elijah was a man whose mission was to accuse of sin and denounce it, or bring judgement upon the men because of it. Elishe did defend the antient true religion, BUT came as a healer, and his miracles were those of restoring to life, increasing the widows oil, making bitter waters pure. There were tender sympathy fro friend's, tears for the torments pre-seen for his countrymen. Yet, as seen by his own judgements against the wickedness and idolatry poisoning and polluting Israel, he never strayed from what God had called him to do with that "double portion" of spirit.