IT WAS springtime along the fertile Jordan Valley, birds were singing, buds were bursting their sides, and soft warm breezes spoke of new life everywhere. Shaphat, his family, and hired hands were busy in the fields. Elisha, a son, held firmly to a huge wooden plow as twelve yoke of oxen pulled it through the fertile red soil. Suddenly, as though appearing from out of nowhere, a well-known man stepped behind Elisha and threw his well-worn mantle over the young man's shoulders (1 Kings 19:19-21).
The mantle of a great teacher has deep meaning even to this day in the Middle East. Elisha understood the significance of this act—that it meant a calling, a being set aside for God's service. So he affectionately kissed his father and his loved ones farewell, then sacrificed his oxen and burned his plow—the tools of his past life. He made no provision for his return, planned no alternative for his future. He did not ruminate to himself, "Well, if I cannot make it as a prophet, I can always fall back on my farming trade." There were no "if's" in his planning, no question about his complete commitment for the future of his life.
Evidently Elisha served an internship with Elijah the master preacher (1 Kings 19:21) as he "ministered unto him." Just what was involved in all that I do not know, but I am sure Elisha observed Elijah's methods and techniques. He recognized the master's skillful handling of the many problems that came to him. But above all he recognized the power of God in Elijah's life in the performance of mighty miracles of God.
Double Portion of Power
One day Elijah said to Elisha, "Son, is there anything I can do for you?" "Yes," came the immediate reply, "I want a double portion of your power." He did not ask for his sermon notes, was not desirous of his fame or honor, nor did he want his visual aids or technical skills. He had been close enough to the great man to be cognizant of an unusual power in his ministry. That was what he wanted. And more than that, he did not want merely Elijah's power; he wanted to have twice as much of that power—a double portion.
Somehow I can see Elijah smile, and one can easily imagine that down inside he said to himself, "Well, the lad doesn't want to be as able as I am, but better by far than I am. He is setting his sights high, and that is good."
"Elisha, I understand I am going to be taken to heaven soon, but if you will stay very close to me and be there when it happens, to see the angels take me into the skies, you will have the desire of your heart —a double portion of God's Spirit."
Elisha took Elijah at his word. He was determined to follow the instructions to the letter. He was tested three times. Elijah said, "I am going to Bethel. It's a long, tedious trip. I'll be back soon. You wait here for me." "As the Lord liveth," said Elisha, "and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." Then Elijah tested him on a Jericho trip, a dusty, difficult experience. Elisha answered the same way. And again, Elisha gave the same reply to a proposed trip over the Jordan River.
Perhaps Elisha did not understand all the reasons why such a strange charge was given him, but it was not for him to question, only to obey, and he was determined to obey; he wanted that power. I may not always understand or discover the reason why this or that instruction has been placed in the Christian pathway, but as my soul liveth, I will follow the Master's instruction. He is the author of my salvation, it is His plan, and I will not question it.
Elisha stayed close to the source of power; so must we. Where is our source of power? The Sacred Scriptures, communion in prayer, fellowship with the living church. How tragic it is that so many cheap, human obstacles, ordinary little things, often have a tendency to keep us away from our source of strength and power.
Behold a Miracle!
On the other side of Jordan, Elijah was translated. Elisha caught the prophet's mantle as it fell toward him from above. He turned, and before him was the Jordan River. He had followed the instructions outlined, he had asked for something, and now he believed he had it. See him there hesitating but a moment, then flinging the mantle through the air, he smote the waters and shouted, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" and behold a miracle! The waters parted. Was Elisha acting presumptuously? Ah, no. He knew what the God of Elijah could do. And so do we. We know what the God of Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and John can do. We have seen how He turned a blasphemer into an apostle, fishermen into evangelists, and a demoniac into a preacher. Behold the hundreds of thousands freed from the shackles of dope, crime, sin, and degradation of all depths.
Before us are great cities with their multitudes of indifferent people almost completely drowned in materialism. Whole nations are exploited by the enemy of Christ, blocked by curtains of iron, stone, wire, bamboo, and prejudice. Only a miracle can penetrate these walls of evil. Where is the God of Elijah? He is here. He is alive. He has power. Nothing is too hard for Him. It is His plan to proclaim a message, finish a work, and save a people. The pioneers were great men of faith, industrious in works, full of power. However, in this day and age we can expect, and we want, a latter-rain experience of power that indeed will be far greater than any known by these worthies of old.
A double portion, Lord, we ask—we have great rivers to cross, dense forests to penetrate.
Elisha took temporary residence in Jericho. The city was fair and attractive in many respects, a very pleasant place in which to dwell, yet it had one drawback—the water was bad. No matter how hard they worked, the people could not make a living in such poisoned, barren ground. So they sought out Elisha and said, "Please, Elisha, will you help us." Why did they come to him? They knew he was different, art extraordinary man. The residence of a good man is soon known, his influence is readily recognized. Should not the atmosphere of our lives be thus? When people are in sorrow or trouble, should they not see in us men who know God, men who can truly help, men who have a loving willingness to serve?
Perhaps Elisha asked the people of Jericho if they had prayed about the bad-water problem. Well, no, one would not pray to God about such a small item as this, would he? "Oh, yes," could well have been Elisha's reply. "God is interested in all things that pertain to us, no matter how small they may be. Bring me a new cruse with salt therein." He then cast the salt into the spring. The waters healed, and from then on there was no "more death or barren land."
The Salt of the Gospel
We are to be the salt of the earth—salt melts, preserves, seasons, makes food tasty, and heals. Many situations may look pleasant, fair in daytime and glowing at night, but down underneath the springs pour forth filth. Nothing can heal save the salt of the gospel. You and I should be that living gospel, the salt contained in a pure, clean cruse, used by God's Spirit as an antidote to the contamination of the poisoned springs of earth.
Elisha gave much of his time to educational projects. He was vitally interested in the theological seminary of his day. He was wise in recognizing that the results of his own work were not enough. He must train others to share in witnessing the message. What a great man it is who by example and inspiration develops younger men to handle the Scriptures in the power of God to save. May God bless our theological seminary. May it always send us men true to the Bible, true to the gospel, men who have no doubt as to the way to heaven, men who can preach a positive message, a "Thus saith the Lord," men who believe their beliefs, men who possess more than a philosophy of Christianity or a psychology of religion. May it always give us converted men who walk with God and know how to guide others in the closeness of that relationship, men of power who inspire the will to live above the cheap and shoddy things of human experience.
"Master, come quickly, a poisoned gourd has been shredded into the soup, some of the boys are sick, there is death in the pot." Elisha cast into it an antidote of meal "and there was no more harm in the pot." What a privilege we have to be the instruments in the hands of God to heal spiritual death. The meal we use is the truth of God's Word.
Do you believe in miracles? Some say God does not countermand His laws or change them. Why, the life of this man Elisha, who asked for a double portion of the power of God, was filled with miracles.
Remember the time when the young prophets entered a cooperative venture—enlarging their school quarters. Their seminary was growing. They borrowed equipment and each took a beam. In other words, each took his planned part of the work, and as you observe the story in the Bible you will notice that they took Elisha with them. That is good, the preacher going right along with the rest of the young men, helping to build the seminary. One lad was enthusiastically flaying away at a tree, and zip went the axhead into the river, down to the bottom. The law of gravity says iron must sink, and so it did.
"Alas, my master, what shall I do? It was borrowed." "Now, son, where did it fall?" When the spot was pointed out, Elisha took a stick, put it into the water, and the iron swam. Did the stick in the hands of Elisha bring the axhead to the surface? Of course not. God enabled it to swim. Impossibilities are possibilities with God. In a figurative sense this is what God wishes to do with and through us—make the iron swim. The iron of ugly habits, sorrow, bereavement, sickness, suffering, and sin, which would drag us down, is to be changed from adversity into blessings—miracles of the grace and the power of God demonstrated through us. Oh, how much we need a double portion of the power of God.
Today's Miracles
Do you believe in miracles? The vast majority of the Indians in the high altiplano of Bolivia and of the Lake Titicaca region of Peru have been cocaine addicts since childhood. Our missionaries pull teeth, cut around the gums, dig deeply to extract a broken or impacted tooth. All this is done without evidence of pain felt by the Indians. You see, their bodies are benumbed by one of the most terrible addictions known to man. Science says it is impossible to cure this cocaine habit, yet the missionaries tell the story of Jesus, of His power and His willingness to heal. The Indian may comprehend but little, but it is enough to bring the desire for help. Our missionaries are the Elishas—God furnishes the power to transform the life, to cause the iron to swim in the life of the cocaine addict. Miracles, oh, yes, more than eight thousand of them in Bolivia; more than nine thousand in Peru. Will God do less for us wherever we may be? We are the Elishas for our place of responsibility—our sphere of influence. Yes, Lord, we need a double portion.
A tent campaign was in progress on a corner lot. One evening old Jack, a drunkard, sat on the curb in the darkness to listen. The next night he was back, and night after night he came to his spot on the curb. Finally his friends wondered what had happened to old Jack. Where was he going every night? And he wasn't drinking, either. They cornered him one late afternoon and asked what was going on. "I go to preaching every night. Why don't you come down and hear my preacher?" Well, they thought, if old Jack could get interested in a preacher, he must be a good one. Now Jack had two friends with him, and for the first time he came inside the tent. Suffice it to say that in time Jack was converted. He had been married, but because of his debauched life his family had left him. With the aid of the evangelist he wrote to his family that he was a changed man. His wife and children returned, and found indeed that a modern-day miracle had taken place. Yes, iron can swim in a life when God wills it so.
