Casting and Catching the Mantle
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” What an honor for the Creator and Lord of the
universe to be known by anyone as my
God! If He is known as your God does anyone want Him for
themselves? Do they want to join you in
His service?
Like
Elisha, you and I stand in a field in need of plowing, planting, and
harvesting. There is a mantle of
ministry to be passed from this generation to the next, but who will cast it?
and who will catch it?
I Kings 19:19-21 “So he (Elijah) departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
Recently I
heard a great speaker describe the introduction to his message as a large porch
leading into a great house. I am afraid
that I just have a tiny step going into my house, perhaps it is more like a
cement block in front of a shack!
The “Future
Prophet” program is an early fore-runner of the “Future Preacher” program. While we do not find the church or the
pastoral ministry in these passages, we do see how servants of God gave,
received, and followed the calling of God to ministry.
I. The Called
A. Wealthy The twelve yoke of oxen were mentioned
because that was some impressive farm machinery! You had to have a lot of land under
cultivation and a lot of servants under your command to run that kind of
operation. We know that the things of
this world present a temptation and a distraction, but Elisha’s wealth had not
gone to his head or his heart.
As we present the ministry
as a life calling we know that the compensation package is not going to be the
draw for prospective preachers. As they
say, “the benefits are out of this world!”
Of course, if preachers complain about their economic status, and act
unfulfilled or even cursed to be called, we do harm to the cause of Christ and
the propagation of the gospel ministry.
B. Working It is significant that Elisha was found
plowing! With all of his servants, he
could have just been “supervising.” I
understand that working a field with a good tractor can be enjoyable, but walking
slow and steady behind two oxen cannot be that much fun! Someone has noted that there are a lot of
prancers in the ministry, but God needs more plowers!
As preachers we should give
everyone an example of the “good work” that is to be desired in the
pastorate. I have found this to be true
and magnified overseas where some men line up to become pastors because they
think it and easy and well-paid job.
Every believer ought to be diligent in their ministry, and pastors ought
to be examples to everyone, and especially to their disciples.
C.
Willing It has been noted
that since Elijah and Elisha seem to have recognized each other, and since
Elisha understood the symbolism of having a coat thrown at him, perhaps Elisha
had already attended one of the prophets’ schools. Anyhow, he did not hesitate to leave his oxen and run after Elijah to accept his calling. He seemed anxious to serve, but Elijah did
not make that assumption.
When Elisha slew his oxen (probably those which had
been designated as his inheritance to work his own land some day) he was
burning the bridge behind him. Just as Matthew
left his job with the IRS when Jesus called, and as the occultists of Ephesus
burned their magic books when they accepted Christ, there was no going
back. Elisha’s kissing his parents was
not an act of vacillation but of dedication.
If he had not gone back to settle things, the temptation to do that
would have been strong and constant in years to come, especially in the hard
times. It brings to mind the way Peter
and some of the disciples went back to their fishing nets. Perhaps if they had burned them it would have
spared them the temptation.
Elisha kept in constant
motion and did not delay in answering the call.
Many of us can point to times when we had a delay in the preparation for
ministry, usually due to finances. In my
case, I married a wife, while we were still teenagers! You must be assured though, that your delay
is part of God’s calling for you and not you getting side-tracked. I managed to do an early pastoral internship
during the semester after I was married and had to sit out of school. For you it may be cooking oxen down at
McDonalds, but just be sure to get godly counsel and peace that you are in the
Lord’s will.
II. The
Calling
A.
Godly When Elijah said,
“What have I done to thee?” (v. 20) he was asking “Who is keeping you from
doing what you want?” This was not a
calling of Elijah, but of God. Preachers
learn before long that they can lead horses to water but they cannot make them
drink, or serve, or sit still, or even stay awake while we preach! It is because we care deeply for the Lord and
the people He has put in front of us that we try to create a thirst for the
living water, but we still must leave the heart-work and the people’s response
to their God!
When we consider the calling to ministry, that is even
more definitely a work of the Lord, rather than any man. I appreciate several men who encouraged me
toward surrender to the ministry even when that seemed less likely than my
being, say… a cat-burglar. It was a good
thing that no one pressured me into being a pastor for two reasons, first, they
did not want to be responsible for any mess I might make in the Lord’s
work. Secondly, when things became
difficult, when the work got to be hard and seemingly unrewarding, and the
ministry lost its shine, I had no basis to say that some man had made a mistake
in calling me. “Perhaps he was aiming
his mantle at the guy behind the next ox over!”
No, I have always been convinced that I have answered God’s calling, and He is the One with
Whom I must speak if I want to re-negotiate!
Wish me luck with that!
B.
Going We noticed already
the willing sacrifice that Elisha made of his oxen. He did not even stay around to eat the
left-overs, but gave it all away.
Nothing was holding him back from following his new calling. He also demonstrated the generosity of spirit
which must characterize a man of God.
This was a calling to action. Elisha’s steady progress demonstrated that he
realized and accepted that. This was not
a “someday” thing, it called for an immediate response, even though it would be
years before he actually took Elijah’s mantle as his own, and “filled his
room.” I believe that the call to the
work of the ministry is something to which a man should respond and dedicate himself
from the moment he receives the calling.
Not everyone is given a lot of time to prepare, but some are given
years. I was twenty-one when I became a
Senior Pastor, and was still finishing college, but the Lord had been preparing
me since I was twelve! Much of that work
was done directly through my church and my pastor who had a vision for getting
God’s called off to a good, early start.
C.
Great Elisha’s immediate
task was to “minister” (v. 21) to Elijah for an unspecified period of
time. A nice thing about college and
seminary is that they have graduations, there is a finish line towards which a
man can work. Many have learned, though,
that a degree does not necessarily mean that they are immediately ready for
full-time service in God’s plan.
Elisha’s “ministry” was probably just doing little
helpful things. Most of us are familiar
with the Greek terms for servant, “duloV and diakonoV,” which suggest different levels of trust and responsibility
for the worker. There is a correlation
in the Hebrew, “abad” being the word for a menial servant, and “sharat” the
term for a confidant, a trusted steward.
Like Joseph and Joshua before him, Elisha’s office and ministry to
Elijah was described by the word “sharat.”
Especially in the course of preparation, but also
throughout our years of ministry, we are tempted to ask, “how important is this
task?” If our calling seems like a small
and insignificant thing to us, we battle our pride and suppose we ought to be
doing something more worthy of our gifts.
We would do much better to ask of each assignment, “How important is my
master?” For Elisha it was a privilege
to minister to Elijah, but it was
much greater for him, and for us as well, to minister for Jesus Christ!
III. The Test
II Kings 2:1-6 "And it came to pass, when the LORD
would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha
from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto
Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And
Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha,
and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from
thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here,
I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD
liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at
Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take
away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye
your peace. And Elijah said unto him,
Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As
the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two
went on."
A.
Pride Effectively, Elisha
was the prince of the prophets in the years after his calling, as the “heir
apparent” to Elijah. This is an
interesting account then, and it seems to be a final exam for Elisha. Was he willing to chase his old mentor around
the countryside while being treated like an unwanted tag-along? Perhaps Elijah was visiting the
prophet-schools which he had started and taking the opportunity to say
“goodbye” while he put Elisha through this dissertation work in the Lord’s
service.
We are all tempted with pride, and those who have the
least cause to be proud may be the first to fall. So I had better beware, and perhaps you
should also. Pride is a leaven which
will seep through the whole loaf, and it can quickly spoil that which is
supposed to be dedicated to God. When we
become impressed with ourselves we should go back to that vision of the
greatness of our Master. That ought to
keep us humbly working at our simple
tasks, as well as those things which receive recognition.
B.
Perseverance Three times
Elisha is asked to stay behind, but he proves that he had the discernment to
know that was not God’s will for him. He
may have expected a death-bed blessing, or just have been ready to mark the
place of Elijah’s passing and bury him.
That reminds me of my visit to the springs of Gideon,
in Israel, which is supposed to be the actual place where his men stooped to
drink. We had already seen a hundred
tombs of the historically famous and we were poised to see a thousand
more. Our guide, a somewhat sarcastic
man, pointed to the top of a high cliff above us where there were some flags
and there was a mausoleum of sorts. We
could see people climbing up there on a steep, narrow staircase and the guide
told us that it was a revered spot, especially by the Muslims, as the burial
place of Elijah. We let out an “oooh”
and prepared to climb, when someone pointed out, “wait a minute, Elijah wasn’t buried!”
And our guide said with a grin, “Yes, and that is where he was not buried.”
I see an illustration here of the need for disciples
to be persistent in following their mentors and even reminding them that they
need training in all aspects of ministry.
Elisha was annoyingly faithful in following his master. He seemed to be looking to wring the last
drop of prophet-wisdom out of him.
IV. The Request
A. Asked
vv. 7-9 “And fifty men of the
sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by
Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and
wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and
thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone
over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be
taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy
spirit be upon me.”
As a spiritual son, and
having abandoned his earthly inheritance, Elisha was offered a choice of what
he would receive from his mentor.
Considering the great things that Elijah had done, our imaginations
might have run wild with things that could be asked of him. What he did ask, though, was
extraordinary. He demonstrated faith
both in the Lord’s power and in His generosity, and he honored the great man
by asking something great from him. Like
this one, our greatest requests are for works which only God can do and for
which He will receive great glory.
“A double portion” was far
beyond the status quo, it was a term used to refer to the inheritance that a
first-born son would receive which was twice as much as the other
children. A simple examination of the
miracles of the two men recorded in Scripture seems to bear out that Elisha did
twice as many.
What he asked for though,
was not twice as many miracles, but twice as much “spirit.” This is usually a reference to the part of a
man which comprises his mind, desires, and passion. He was not asking for twice as much of the
Holy Spirit, but twice the ministry
spirit. Bible history bears out that in
addition to the miracles that he performed, Elisha was not plagued with
discouragement like his mentor.
I must admit that it did not
occur to me as a pastoral apprentice to ask the Lord if I could be twice the
man of God that my mentor was. It takes
a great deal of faith to see that we could be used beyond those who are ahead
and above us, but it is not a false faith, it is trust in our omnipotent God.
B. Answered vv. 10-11
“And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me
when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not
be so. And it came to pass, as they
still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and
horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind
into heaven.”
Since it was not within
Elijah’s personal power to grant Elisha’s request, he made a provision which
left his blessing in God’s hands. Ever
the pessimist, or realist (as pessimists call themselves), Elijah noted that
his apprentice had asked “a hard thing.”
After all Elijah had seen, he still thought that some things were hard
for God! He probably thought that the
age of miracles was coming to an end rather than just warming up to a climax.
Of course, there are many
who think that the organized church and the ministry have outlived their
usefulness, and that it is time for a new de-centralized model for leadership
accountability and for “doing worship.”
Why would you want to be a student of an outdated job like this
one? You might as well go join up with a
blacksmith! Actually, where my church is
there are more horses than people, and the smithies are doing quite well. Prophet or not, we do not know the future
other than what God has revealed, but we can see that the Lord still has
wonderful things in store for the church, and it will continue to have a great
need for leadership throughout this age.
vv. 12-14 “And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father,
my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no
more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that
fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell
from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and
when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha
went over.”
If Elisha needed more
encouragement, to see his mentor so honored of God would have supplied it. He did not pause long, though. He only observed a brief time of mourning, in
which he acknowledged that the nation’s defense was in its godly men not its
fighting men. When it was Elisha’s time
to die, King Joash knelt by his bed and made the same cry.
Conclusion:
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
What an honor for the Creator and Lord of the universe to be known by
anyone as my God! If He is known as your God does anyone want Him for themselves? Do they want to join you in His service?
Like Elisha, you and I stand in a field in need of
plowing, planting, and harvesting. There
is a mantle of ministry to be passed from this generation to the next, but who
will cast it? and who will catch it?
