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?