Thought for 10 April

 1 Kings 19:19

¹⁹ So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field.

There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. 

On Monday, I read about and wrote about Elisha.  I keep finding loads of stories in the bible that, despite my advancing years, I am really not familiar with.  I hope you don’t mind me sharing this one and any others I come across with you.  I happened upon Monday’s thought by ‘accident’ or had I been directed there by some other influence, who knows?  If I had been asked questions about Elisha before then, I doubt if I would have answered any of them, but after learning about the story I shared with you on Monday, it made we want to find out more about this biblical character and, as it transpired, there was a lot to find out.

He is featured in the Old Testament from 1 Kings 19 to 2 Kings 13 and there were parallels to the life of Jesus because he performed miracles.  At this time in history, many of the Israelites had turned away from God and were worshipping idols and false gods.

Elijah was instructed by God to appoint Elisha as the prophet that would take his place and today’s reading tells of how Elijah called him.  God had told him where he would find Elisha and when Elijah got there, we are not told he said anything, he just placed his cloak on Elisha’s shoulders and walked away.  Elisha immediately followed Elijah but said he wanted to say goodbye to his parents.  At that, Elijah just told him to go back.  It looks like Elisha learned a lesson that when God requires you, he needs you to respond in a positive manner immediately and without hesitation.  His next action was to return to where he had been working with the twelfth team of oxen, killed the oxen, burned the plough they had been pulling, cooked the oxen on the fire from the plough and shared the meat with the other eleven teams of ploughmen.  These actions seemed to please Elijah more than Elisha’s initial reaction. And from that time on, Elisha became Elijah’s assistant and that is the last we hear of Elisha until 2 Kings 2.

On Monday, we learned how Elisha had prayed to God to reveal the armies of heaven to his servant so he would not feel threatened by the enemy army.  Elisha was Elijah’s companion and student up until Elijah’s time in this world was over.  When it came time for Elijah to be called home, there was a whirlwind and Elisha witnessed him being carried to heaven by the whirlwind surrounded by chariots of fire drawn by horses of fire, part of heaven’s armies.  As Elijah was taken up, his cloak fell off and Elisha picked it up.  When he struck the River Jordan with the cloak, the river divided and allowed him to cross on dry ground.  This was one of the many miracles attributed to Elisha in 2 Kings.

We’ll go on to look at some of the other miraculous things God did through Elisha and we can all learn from them and get a better idea of the amazing capabilities of our God.

Prayer – Heavenly Father, use us Lord, as is your will in your wider plans and purposes, and develop in us an understanding heart and a listening ear to hear all you have to say to us. Teach us the lessons that you would have us learn and keep us looking to you through Jesus. All this we ask in his precious name,  Amen