The Promise

Elisha Called to Succeed Elijah

Picture: Elisha Called to Succeed Elijah 2TC 110.1

God had told Elijah to anoint another to be prophet in his place— “Elisha the son of Shaphat.” 1 Kings 19:16. In obedience to the command, Elijah went to find Elisha. As he journeyed northward, how different the scene was from what it had been only a short time before! Everywhere vegetation was springing up as if to make up for the time of drought and famine. 2TC 110.2

Elisha’s father was a wealthy farmer whose household had not bowed the knee to Baal. God was honored in their home. In the quiet of country life, under the teaching of God and nature and the discipline of useful work, Elisha received training in habits of sim plicity and of obedience to his parents and to God. This training helped fit him for the high position he would occupy later. 2TC 110.3

The prophetic call came while he was plowing in the field. He had taken up the work that lay nearest. His spirit was quiet and gentle, yet he was energetic and steadfast. He gained strength of character in his humble toil, constantly increasing in grace and knowledge. While cooperating with his father in homelife duties, he was learning to cooperate with God. By faithfulness in little things, he was preparing for larger trusts. Day by day he gained a fitness for a higher work. In learning to serve he also learned how to instruct and lead. No one can know God’s intentions in His discipline, but all may be certain that faithfulness in little things is the evidence of fitness for greater responsibilities. Only someone who in small duties proves to be “a worker who does not need to be ashamed” (2 Timothy 2:15) can be honored by God with higher service. 2TC 111.1

Many feel that their lives are useless, that they are doing nothing to advance God’s kingdom. Because they can serve only in little things, they think they are justified in doing nothing. In this they make a mistake. One may be in active service for God while performing ordinary, everyday duties—felling trees, clearing the ground, or following the plow. The mother who trains her children for Christ is working for God just as surely as is the minister in the pulpit. 2TC 111.2

Many long for special talent with which to do a wonderful work, while they lose sight of duties close at hand. Let them take up the duties lying directly in their pathway. It is not splendid talents that enable us to give acceptable service, but the conscientious performance of daily duties, the contented spirit, the sincere interest in others. The most common tasks, done with loving faithfulness, are beautiful in God’s sight. 2TC 111.3

As Elijah passed the field in which Elisha was plowing, he put his own cloak on the young man’s shoulders in consecration. During the famine the family of Shaphat had become familiar with the work and mission of Elijah, and now the Spirit of God impressed Elisha that God had called him to be Elijah’s successor. 2TC 111.4

“And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, ‘Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.’” “Go back again,” was Elijah’s answer, “for what have I done to you?” 1 Kings 19:20. This was not a repulse, but a test of faith. Elisha must count the cost—to accept or reject the call. If his desires clung to his home and its advantages, he was at liberty to remain there. 2TC 112.1

But Elisha understood the meaning of the call, and he did not hesitate to obey. Not for any worldly advantage would he pass up the opportunity to become God’s messenger or sacrifice the privilege of associating with His servant. He “took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.” 1 Kings 19:21. Without hesitation he left a home where he was loved, to minister to the prophet in his uncertain life. 2TC 112.2

A Young Man Who Rejected Christ’s Call to Service

Similar to the call that came to Elisha was the answer Christ gave to the young ruler who asked Him, “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” “If you want to be perfect,” Christ replied, “go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 19:16, 21. 2TC 112.3

Elisha accepted the call, casting no backward glance at the pleasures and comforts he was leaving. In contrast, the young ruler “went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Verse 22. His love for his possessions was greater than his love for God. He proved himself unworthy of a place in the Master’s service. 2TC 112.4

Not all of us are asked to serve as Elisha served, nor to sell everything we have; but God asks us to give His service first place in our lives, to allow no day to pass without doing something to advance His work. One person may be called to a foreign land, another to give money to support gospel work. God accepts the offering of each. What is necessary is to consecrate the life and all its interests. 2TC 112.5

To everyone who experiences His grace, the Lord appoints a work for others. We are to say, “Here am I! Send me.” See Isaiah 6:8. Whether we serve as ministers of the Word, as physicians, merchants, farmers, professional people, or mechanics, it is our work to reveal the gospel to others. 2TC 113.1

No great work was required of Elisha at first. He is spoken of as pouring water on the hands of Elijah. He was willing to do anything the Lord directed, and at every step he continued to prove faithful in little things. With a dedication that grew stronger every day, he devoted himself to the mission God had appointed him. 2TC 113.2

After uniting with Elijah, Elisha was tempted to think of the home he had left. But he had resolved not to turn back, and through test and trial he proved true to his trust. 2TC 113.3

Ministry involves far more than preaching. It means training young people as Elijah trained Elisha, giving them responsibilities in God’s work—small at first, larger as they gain strength and experience. Ministers of faith and prayer can say, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life ... we declare to you.” 1 John 1:1-3. Young, inexperienced workers should be trained in connection with experienced servants of God. 2TC 113.4

God has honored young people by choosing them for His service, and they should be faithful, obedient, and willing to sacrifice. If they submit to God’s discipline, choosing His servants as their counselors, they will develop into high-principled, steadfast workers whom God can trust with responsibilities. 2TC 113.5

The Great Results of Elijah’s Work

As the gospel is proclaimed in its purity, people will be called from the plow and from common commercial business vocations and will be educated in connection with experienced workers. As they learn to labor effectively, they will proclaim the truth with power. Through God’s wonderful workings, mountains of difficulty will be thrown into the sea. The message that means so much to the dwellers on earth will be heard and understood. The work will advance more and more until the whole earth will have been warned, and then the end will come. 2TC 113.6

For several years Elijah and Elisha worked together. Elijah had been God’s instrument to overthrow gigantic evils. His efforts had brought a stop to the idolatry with which Ahab and the heathen Jezebel had seduced the nation. Baal’s prophets had been executed. Israel had been deeply stirred, and many were returning to the worship of God. By careful, patient instruction, Elisha must guide Israel in safe paths. His association with Elijah, the greatest prophet since Moses, prepared him for the work he was soon to take up alone. 2TC 114.1

From time to time during these years Elijah had to meet open evils with stern rebuke. When Ahab seized Naboth’s vineyard, the voice of Elijah prophesied his doom and the doom of all his house. And when Ahaziah turned from the living God to Baal-Zebub, Elijah protested earnestly. 2TC 114.2

The schools of the prophets that Samuel had established had fallen into decay during Israel’s apostasy. Elijah reestablished them, making provision for young men to gain an education that would lead them to magnify the law and make it honorable. Three schools are mentioned in the record—at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. Just before Elijah was taken to heaven, he and Elisha visited these centers of training. Elijah now repeated the lessons that he had given on former visits. Especially did he instruct them about maintaining their loyalty to the God of heaven. He also impressed on their minds the importance of keeping every feature of their education free of pride and show. Only in this way could they be molded into heaven’s likeness and work in the ways of the Lord. 2TC 114.3

Elijah rejoiced as he saw what these schools were accomplishing. The reformation was not complete, but he could see the truth of the Lord’s word, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal.” 1 Kings 19:18. 2TC 114.4

As Elisha accompanied the prophet from school to school, his faith and commitment were tested once more. The prophet invited him to turn back: “Stay here, please,” Elijah said, “for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” 2 Kings 2:2. But Elisha had learned not to become discouraged, and now he would not leave his master, as long as opportunity remained to become better qualified for service. 2TC 114.5

God had revealed to Elijah that he was to be translated, but Elijah did not know that He had also revealed this to his disciples in the schools of the prophets and to Elisha. And now Elisha kept close beside him. As often as Elijah gave the invitation to turn back, Elisha’s answer was, “I will not leave you!” Verse 2. 2TC 115.1

“So the two of them went on. ... Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water [of the Jordan River]; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?’” Verses 6-9. 2TC 115.2

What Elisha craved most was a large measure of the Spirit that God had bestowed on Elijah, who was about to be honored with translation. He knew that nothing but the Spirit which had rested on Elijah could fit him to fill the place in Israel to which God had called him, and so he asked, “Please let a double portion of your Spirit be upon me.” Verse 9. 2TC 115.3

In response Elijah said, “‘You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.’ Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:10, 11. 2TC 115.4

Many Will Be Translated Without Tasting Death

Elijah foreshadowed the experience of God’s people who will be living at the time of Christ’s second advent and who will be “changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,” without tasting death. 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52. As a representative of those who will be translated, Elijah was permitted to stand with Moses by the Savior’s side on the mount of transfiguration. The disciples saw Jesus clothed with the light of heaven; they heard the voice that came “out of the cloud” (Luke 9:35), acknowledging Him as the Son of God. They saw Moses, represent ing those who will be raised from the dead at the Second Advent. And there also stood Elijah, representing those who will be changed from mortal to immortal at the close of earth’s history, translated to heaven without seeing death. 2TC 115.5

In the desert, discouraged and lonely, Elijah had prayed that he might die. But God still had a great work for Elijah to do; and when his work was done, he was not to perish alone and in discouragement. Going down into the tomb was not his destiny. He would ascend with God’s angels to the presence of His glory. 2TC 116.1

“And Elisha ... saw him no more. And ... he also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the mantle ... and struck the water, and said, ‘Where is the Lord God of Elijah?’ And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over. 2TC 116.2

“Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, ‘The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.’” 2 Kings 2:12-15. 2TC 116.3

When the Lord sees fit to remove from His work those to whom He has given wisdom, He strengthens their successors, if they will look to Him for aid and will walk in His ways. They may be even wiser than their predecessors, for they may profit from their experience. 2TC 116.4

After this Elisha stood in Elijah’s place. Faithful in that which was least, he was to prove himself faithful also in much. 2TC 116.5