In I Kings 19, we read how the anointing came upon Elisha. Learning this is basic to the walk that God is bringing to His people in the earth.
Elijah found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Please let me kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” So he returned from following him, and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him. I Kings 19:19b-21.
When reading this story, you may not immediately grasp the dedication of Elisha at the moment he started to serve the Lord. The Lord tests our dedication as He did Elisha’s.
As Jesus passed by some men mending their nets, he said, “Follow Me,” and continued walking (Matthew 4:19). They had to leave everything and follow Him. When He passed a tax collector who was taking tolls by the side of the road, He said, “Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9).
It is not as though God does not prepare our hearts; He does. But He prepares our hearts for the time when He tells us to follow Him. Then, in one day’s time, many things must happen.
Elisha, who must have been a prosperous farmer, was a man of opposite temperament from Elijah. Elijah lived a lonely life in the wilderness, but Elisha, liking the cities, lived in such places as Samaria and Gilgal. He was an associate of kings and many high men.
At that time, Elisha was probably one of the most prosperous farmers in the area. Notice that he had twelve teams of oxen plowing, and he was with the twelfth team. People now would not think much of that, but correspondingly today, such a man would have several tractors in the field plowing at the same time.
Elijah, who dressed in the simplest of garb and never cut his hair, came by and threw his mantle on Elisha; then he walked on.
This action had a special meaning, and the mantle was to play an important part again in II Kings 2. The mantle of Elijah was representative of a ministry and responsibility.
Elijah was asking, in effect, if Elisha was willing to assume the responsibility. So Elisha said, “Let me first go kiss my father and mother.” Elijah said, “What have I done to you?” However, he was content to wait.
Notice the rapidity with which Elisha then moved. He slew his oxen, and with their implements cooked their flesh. (Farming implements were made of wood, for those days were not very far out of the Stone Age and not far enough into the metal age. Metals were very precious, so wood was used that had been carefully hardened by placing it over a fire. Sometimes a tongue and implement to gouge into the earth was made from the fork of a tree. However, hardwood was also difficult to obtain, especially in Palestine.) Elisha, after cooking the oxen, fed the people and then walked off after Elijah.
It takes dedication to do that. When God puts you in a position challenging your dedication, do not choose between the worst the Lord has for you and the best the world has, reluctantly choosing the Lord. When you choose the way of the Lord, choose it irrevocably with no other alternatives.
Follow Ruth’s dedication: Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. Ruth 1:16–17. That is the kind of dedication to make to the Lord. Accept no other alternative. It is an irrevocable dedication.
Elijah ministered approximately twenty-five years before the Lord took him. Elisha, the prophet of the double portion, ministered about fifty years.
Elisha had a double portion, even in years. For seventy-five years the evil men in Israel were scourged by these two prophets, and all their plots were upset.
In I Kings 21, we read of one such account involving Elijah. King Ahab wanted the beautiful field that was owned by a man named Naboth, and he was grieved because Naboth would not sell it to him. Naboth said, “God forbid that I should give away my father’s inheritance” (verse 3). The rich might covet to take all the land, but the partition of the land of Canaan prevented that. They could buy the land, but all they would actually have would be a lease. When the year of jubilee came, the land returned to the original owners.
Naboth could not give up the land that belonged to his fathers, even to Ahab the king, for that was the way God set it up.
So Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, arranged to have Naboth promoted. Then she had two men speak lies about him in front of the people so they would stone him. Naboth died, leaving Ahab to wander through his new vineyard. He looked up with a start and saw Elijah, and he said, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” Elijah answered, “I have found you,” and he began to pronounce judgments upon the king. The Elijah ministry of judgment is going to return in this day.
II Kings 2:1–2. And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
You must realize that Bethel, Gilgal, Jericho, and Jordan all had what we call the school of prophets. The school of prophets was started first at Ramah under Samuel (I Samuel 19:20).
God is bringing forth the school of prophets with the spirit of Samuel again. It is essential for a prophet to have basic training. Elisha had training; for we read of his credentials in II Kings 3: Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. II Kings 3:11. He simply trailed along and took care of Elijah, cooking and doing everything he could for him. However, in the association he absorbed what it was to be a prophet, so Elisha became a mighty prophet.
Churches send their young men to Bible schools, only to see them return with the fire and the vision gone. Few return with the true ministry they were first called to produce. They come out as if from an assembly line in a factory (knowing how to conduct Sunday school and having had organization and certain doctrines preached to them) which handicaps them from continuing on in the truth. This should not be.
A Timothy must be linked to a Paul. An Elisha must be linked to an Elijah. That is the way they learn and move. That is the way the school of prophets is coming forth again.
The sons of the prophets and the various schools were very much under the instruction of Elisha. Notice how perceptive these prophets were. Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” (They had tuned in to the situation and could predict what would happen.) And he said, “Yes, I know; be still.” And Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be still.” Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance.… II Kings 2:3–7. These prophets were tuned in to what God was doing.
In this day, the sons of the prophets are going to fill the land again. Some people may aspire to see great churches built with thousands of members. I am waiting to see a thousand true prophets move across the land, binding principalities and powers, freezing the activities of Satan, and liberating the people of the Lord.
The stars and stripes do not have to be defamed and brought down. God raised this nation up as the major source of missionaries for the world. Although there has been wanton materialism, yet there have been people with a vision. God has given us a vision and a revelation of this walk with Him; and we must carry this burden in whatever country we are in, so that we can be the salt of that earth and see that nation preserved (Matthew 5:13).
Prophecies indicating that a nation will fall within a certain period of time are relative to the people’s repentance.
Jonah brought the prophecy: “In forty days Ninevah will be destroyed” (Jonah 3:4); but the people repented, and the city existed for nearly two hundred years before destruction. God is immutable (Malachi 3:6). He does not change. Nevertheless, if people change, then His dealings with them change. Lord, give us the power to preach the word to this nation.
The sons of the prophets were saying to Elisha, “The Lord is going to take Elijah from you today.” Elijah also said, “Stay here while I go on.” But Elisha insisted, “I am going too.”
Why did Elijah, the greatest man of God on earth at that time, try to discourage Elisha from going on? To understand this we must understand something about the way that God moves.
True faith does not thrive on encouragement. Faith is never really tested if it is constantly supported by encouragement. Even though we are supposed to encourage one another that is not the way faith is really tested. If someone is always ready to help us with our bruises and talk away our fears to encourage us, our faith is never challenged to grow.
When God gives you a word, as you begin to walk in that word He throws a mountain in your way. You must then decide what to do with that mountain. It is wonderful to receive a prophecy.
When you receive a word from the Lord, you cannot wait to walk in it and see it come to pass. Nevertheless, if a word comes from the Lord that you are to go down to the corner and buy a newspaper, hell will be loosed against your getting that newspaper. God does not intend for His prophecies to be fulfilled in the natural abilities and wisdom of man.
He will give you a prophecy, but you must appropriate His grace so that the accomplishment of it is an anointed effort, inspired and wrought by God. …thou also hast wrought all our works in us. Isaiah 26:12. He has wrought all of them, not just part of them; for they cannot be done by natural ability.
The apostle Paul turned away from his own natural ability. Imagine Paul, who had been a member of the Sanhedrin with so many accomplishments, writing to a church, “I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. My words were not the enticing words of man’s wisdom, for I did not want your faith to stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (I Corinthians 2:3–5).
Paul did not want to talk the people into faith through an excellent speaking ability. If an excellent speaker can talk a person into faith, an excellent speaker can talk him out of it. If it comes as a revelation from God, in words anointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, he stands.
We are not promoting another program in the earth; we are proclaiming a word from God by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. God is burning it into the hearts of men in whom a level of dedication and sacrifice is found that cannot be compared. God is bringing this system to an end, and He is demanding a new level of dedication from us.
Dedication must have discouragement. As soon as you really begin to move well in the Lord, He allows a situation to arise that appears to be discouraging. Yet looking back, you realize it was a factor of strengthening your faith. People seek words of encouragement, but they remember the hardships.
When we are walking in the Kingdom, after the first resurrection, we will begin to talk with all the saints. Think how it will be to sit down with Abraham in the Kingdom. Suppose Daniel tells us all about those mangy old lions, “You see, I was almost ninety-eight years old when they threw me into the lion’s den. I just walked in there where those lions were, and I was trusting God.”
“Well, we don’t want to hear about that, Daniel. Tell us about that vision you had of the seventy weeks.”
“Just a minute, I want to tell you about the lions.”
“But Daniel, all those visions of beasts and everything that you saw—would you like to explain those to us?”
“Just a minute, I want to tell you about those lions. I started walking among them, and they started sniffing.…”
Suppose the three Hebrews are sitting at Abraham’s table in the Kingdom, and we say, “Oh, you were among the captives that were picked for your excellence. We would like to know what it was like being administrators in that great kingdom.”
“Well, I will tell you about the time when we were told to bow down to that idol on the plain. We did not do it, so they chucked us into a fiery furnace.”
“Yes, we know, but now tell us what it was like to be an administrator.”
“Wait till I finish about the furnace. You would never believe how hot it was. It slew the men who tied us up, when they opened the door and threw us in.”
“Just a minute, we would like to hear about your association with Daniel. How did this begin?”
“First I have to tell you what happened when they threw us in. The furnace was seven times hotter than it had ever been before when they threw us in.”
People are going to tell about the experiences they had when their faith became strong: those things that challenged their faith.
Elijah told Elisha three times to stay behind. Many a preacher would draw back if a prophet told him something like that, but Elisha was persistent. He was probably thinking, “If I am going to walk with this man, he must be willing for me to walk with him.” We can be thrown into so many confused thoughts over such situations, that we could wish God would provide a way to disengage our brains from our hearts. The Word does not say, “Trust in the Lord with all your brains.” It says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5.
In the submission that God orders of us, we are positioned in the divine order where we must walk by faith, simply accepting what God has said. After awhile it comes to pass. But in faith we believe that after awhile all our problems will work out too. That will be the day of which the Lord said, And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. John 16:23a.
Now it came about when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”
Although that sounds somewhat arrogant, Elijah knew that the anointing of the Lord was upon himself; therefore, Elisha (who had been following him around and washing his hands for him) was asking for a double portion. And he 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 came about as they were going along and talking, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. And Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over. (During this entire time the sons of the prophets were there). Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. II Kings 2:9–15.
Following the cities that Elijah and Elisha passed through, going from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, and on beyond the Jordan, it appears as though Elijah was heading right toward Mount Nebo.
This is significant, for Mount Nebo was where Moses died in the arms of the Lord. Again it is significant that in this same area the Lord went up on a mountain and was transfigured. Elijah and Moses were there talking with Him (Matthew 17:1–3). In Revelation 11 we read about the two witnesses, the ones who will bring fire down out of heaven and plagues upon the earth whenever they desire (verse 6); this relates back to the ministries of Elijah and Moses.
What do these things mean? Do you think about them as I do, pondering them and wondering why these things happen as they do? We do not yet know all the answers, but we are learning much. We should not worry about the things we do not understand, but rather about those things that we do understand. We had better be concerned about how we are going to walk in them.
Elisha asked a hard thing, but nevertheless it was given to him. Here is teaching that I want you to understand, because it will bless you.
Consider Elijah as a portrayal of Christ Himself. Before Christ was to be caught back up to the Father, He was saying in effect to His disciples: “When I go back to the Father, tarry here until you are endued (from the Greek ‘enduo’ meaning ‘clothed’) with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). …it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come.…” John 16:7.
The mantle of anointing that rested upon Christ was to be put upon His believers who waited upon Him. Peter, preaching on the day of Pentecost, told how Christ had been crucified, and he said, …he hath shed forth (like a mantle of fullness) this, which ye now see and hear. Acts 2:33. Believers were heard speaking forth in other languages.
The mantle of Elijah had fallen on Elisha. Likewise, God’s mantle will be upon His faithful ones who follow Him, and they will go forth under His anointing.
Christ said, “The works that I do will you do also, but you will have a double portion. Greater works than these you will do; because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). This is a very precious promise. It is not a sacrilege for us to expect to see greater works wrought by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, in this generation, than Christ performed in His ministry here on earth. This will be the double portion, the day that God brings the anointing of the Lord not only for blessing, but also for judgment. The judgments of the Lord will be upon the earth.
All that the earth has ever seen is but a portion. However, in this hour God’s people will know a double portion. We have to believe in the greater works if we believe in the Word. …the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. Daniel 11:32. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former.… Haggai 2:9.
Again and again, God saves the best wine until the last (John 2:10). How can we look at all the pictures in the Scriptures and then say that this is but a dying age? Although it is a dying age, a new age is being born. Something more is coming forth.
If you wish it would hurry, because you are having such a hard time and you also want help, you must not want to make it. If someone has to keep encouraging and carrying you along, you will not make it. You have to have pressures put upon you. When a baby chicken begins to hatch, you can see it moving around inside the shell trying to peck its way out. If you respond with pity and try to break the shell open, the chicken will die. A chicken needs the exercise of breaking through its shell in order to live.
Likewise, you will not survive if you are helped too much. This is why the ministries coming forth are given a calculated neglect. They are given the Word, but they must reach forth and break through themselves. Help them too much and you create a pampered generation that will fail.
If you want to move into the greater works, God will help you. He will throw a mountain or two in your way and seas for you to pass over. Perhaps you will be pursued by a pharaoh, or whatever else is necessary. You will grow strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). And you will wrestle against principalities and powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). That is your destiny.