Elisha the Prophet

By Gerardus van Rongen

Although this book carries as its title the name of Elisha, it does not concentrate on this prophet only, but it sets out to describe the work done by the covenant God in the days of Elisha.
This prophet had to announce the blessing and the curse of God's covenant in the situation of his own times. God's Word needed to be accepted. Woe unto them who were unwilling to do so, however, a faithful remnant was comforted and encouraged.
Today also this is God's way: Everything happens according to the Word of the LORD. We have been put under the authority of His Word. This is something great indeed, because from God's side the covenant means certainty, security. The guarantee lies in Him, in His eternal counsel and will concerning our redemption in Christ the Saviour, which is being fulfilled. At the same time it is a very serious thing, for God's covenant requires of us that we keep His Word and really live in this relationship.
The present days are packed with all kinds of denials of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. One of the consequences is that by many people the LORD is no longer acknowledged as the God of the covenant and that the real fear of the LORD is lost.
This book may be helpful in keeping us with God's Word, in teaching us the riches and the responsibilities of being children of the covenant.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pro Ecclesia Publishers
• Release date: Jan 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301786329

Gerardus van Rongen

GERARDUS VAN RONGEN was born in Rotterdam on May 16, 1918.He attended the Dr. A. Kuyperschool at Ridderkerk, the Dr. J. Woltjerschool and the Marnix-Gymnasium (Grammar school) at Rotterdam, and studied theology at the Theological Seminary (now the Theological University) of De Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland at Kampen, which in the year 1943 conferred on him the degree of Bachelor of Theology, and in 1980 the Master’s degree.He has ministered in the Reformed Churches at Waardhuizen c.a. (1944-1948), Zwijndrecht (1948-1952), and Leyden (1952-1955) in The Netherlands, The Free Reformed Church at Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (1955-1973), The American Reformed Church at Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A. (1973-1977), and the Reformed Church at Steenwijk, The Netherlands (1977-1983).From May 16, 1983 he was a minister-emeritus, and lived in Kelmscott, Western Australia until his death in 2006.Van Rongen was a prolific writer, covering liturgy, Bible commentary and church history.

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Preface

Although this book carries as its title the name of Elisha, it does not concentrate on this prophet only, but it sets out to describe the work done by the covenant God in the days of Elisha.

This prophet had to announce the blessing and the curse of God’s covenant in the situation of his own times. God’s Word needed to be accepted. Woe unto them who were unwilling to do so. However, a faithful remnant was comforted and encouraged.

Today also this is God’s way: Everything happens according to the Word of the LORD. We have been put under the authority of His Word. This is something great indeed, because from God’s side the covenant means certainty, security. The guarantee lies in Him, in His eternal counsel and will concerning our redemption in Christ the Saviour, which is being fulfilled. At the same time it is a very serious thing, for God’s covenant requires of us that we keep His Word and really live in this relationship.

The present days are packed with all kinds of denials of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. One of the consequences is that by many people the LORD is no longer acknowledged as the God of the covenant and that the real fear of the LORD is lost.

This book may be helpful in keeping us with God’s Word, in teaching us the riches and the responsibilities of being children of the covenant.

The author gratefully acknowledges the linguistic assistance rendered by Mrs. M. Woonings, and the readiness of Pro Ecclesia Publishers to publish this book.

Kelmscott, January 1988

Chapter 1

ELISHA THE PROPHET

God’s work and Word

We want to write about the man called Elisha.

Or to be more precise, about Elisha the prophet.

About God’s work done by this prophet.

About the history of God’s covenant in his days.

Therefore about the blessings and curse of the covenant.

About the majesty of God’s Word shown in his actions.

About the Word that kills and quickens, that bends and breaks but also brings the rest and peace of paradise regained.

Name

The name ‘Elisha’ means: my God is salvation.

This is one of the many biblical names which include the name of God, just like Eli, Elijah, Eliab, Eliezer, Eliakim, Elimelech, and others.

All these names include a confession of faith regarding the LORD God.

We may suppose that Elisha’s parents intended to profess their faith by giving their little boy just this particular name and so to pass on the message in those dark days: there is help and salvation with the LORD only!

Honoured

It is really striking that we know of no other biblical personality bearing the same name.

It is also striking that Elisha is hardly mentioned in the Scriptures apart from these sections of the books of Kings which relate to us his story, I Kings 19 and II Kings 2 to 9 and 13.

The only place in the Bible to mention the prophet’s name is Luke 4:27. There his name is quoted by none other than the Saviour Himself. In this way the Lord Jesus Christ bestowed a great honour upon Elisha. He called him Elisha the prophet when He wanted to illustrate the truth of the proverb that no prophet is accepted in his own country; He also was rejected by the citizens of His former home town. Therefore the Lord Jesus reminded them, amongst others, of the story of Elisha who did not heal any Israelite leper but Naaman the Syrian. The people of Nazareth could fare just as badly: the Word of God could leave them also if they did not accept the gospel.

Neglected

Elisha’s name does not often appear in scriptural literature either.

We do not want to exaggerate and call him a forgotten prophet, but it is a fact that the name of Elisha appears only occasionally.

Therefore we will give him our attention, and consider God’s covenant work done in and by Elisha’s ministry.

Chapter 2a

ELIJAH’S SUCCESSOR

The great Elijah

The first time Elisha’s name is found in the Scriptures, is in a very important context: he would become the successor of the great prophet Elijah.

The name of the latter is found more frequently throughout the Bible.

We find his name in the prophecies of Malachi who spoke of an ‘Elijah redivivus’: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes (4:5).

This prophecy was fulfilled in the person and activities of John the Baptist (Matthew 11:14; 17:11-13).

Elijah was again seen on the mount of Transfiguration. There, together with Moses, he had - for just a short time - come back to earth (Matthew 17:3).

His name is also mentioned in the well-known Israel-chapters of Paul’s epistle to the Romans (11:2).

In one of the witnesses of Revelation chapter 11 we also recognise the prophet Elijah because they are said to have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying (11:6).

Elijah was a great prophet indeed!

Twin prophets

Was Elisha not as great as Elijah?

It is not necessary to weigh the pros and cons of this question.

For the point is not that we are so much interested in his person as in his work, in God’s work done during his days. We are interested in what God’s Word did as administered by Elisha.

This work of God and the course of His Word among the people continued. It is not for nothing that sometimes Elijah and Elisha are called ‘twin prophets’. Indeed, they strongly remind us of the father-son relationship.

Consequently, when we want to obtain a clear picture of the characteristics of Elisha’s activities we do wise to turn to the story of Elijah.

To get a clear understanding of Elisha’s work, we need not acquaint ourselves fully with all the chapters containing his name. In this case it is enough to know something about the work of Elijah.

As soon as we understand the peculiar character of Elijah’s work, we realise immediately what the - rather long - story of Elisha is about.

‘Moses redivivus’

There are no serious difficulties.

We just called John the Baptist ‘Elijah redivivus’.

There are obvious parallels in the Bible chapters featuring Moses’ name and those containing the name of Elijah.

Let us mention some of them.

First of all there is the story of Elijah being commissioned to address the Godless king Ahab. Moses had to do a similar thing when the LORD sent him to the royal palace in Egypt to tell Pharao: "Let My people go!

Elijah was kept alive in a wondrous way at the brook Cherith. The same can be said of Moses who was saved from the waters of the Nile and later on also during the long journey through the desert when he, together with the whole nation of Israel, was saved from starvation by that miraculous outpouring of manna.

Elijah was protected and kept safe when he was separated from his own people and stayed for some time with a widow at Seraphat, just across the Syrian border. The same occurred to Moses who was educated at the royal court of Egypt, separate from his fellow- Israelites, and who also lived for no less than forty years in the desert.

Moses was confronted with the Egyptian sorcerers. Elijah had to face the Baal priests.

In both instances we hear about a period of ‘forty years’.

There was a Theophany in the days of Moses as well as in Elijah’s days, both taking place at Mount Horeb.

We see Elijah, accompanied by Elisha, going through Jordan River. Earlier Moses went in the midst of his people through the Red Sea. Its sequel was the great event of Israel crossing Jordan River under Moses’ successor, Joshua. The same can be said about the miraculous crossing of the same river by Elijah’s successor, Elisha.

All these facts and events lead us to the important thesis: The same divine work was done not only under Moses as well as Joshua but also in the days of Elijah. One more step: the same work was done also under Elijah’s successor, Elisha.

It was God’s covenant work.

And that covenant work continues.

This time it means quite concretely: God does not leave the northern kingdom, that of the ten tribes, called Israel, to its own devices. He is not finished with them, not by far, in the favourable as well as in the unfavourable sense of the word. Although they do not bother with Him anymore, they are still His own people!

Another parallel

There is also another parallel which needs to be mentioned separately: Particular new commissions were given to Elijah in a situation similar to that of Moses. When the latter came back from Mount Horeb carrying with him the text of God’s covenant with Israel, he met a disobedient nation that was worshipping a golden calf. Moses had to go back. First the LORD wanted to finish the whole matter and put an end to the whole affair. Yet He renewed the covenant and gave Moses another set of covenant tables. Well, Mount Carmel became a second Mount Horeb. The Lord is God, the LORD is God!, the enthusiastic Israelites cried.

This strongly reminds us of the solemn statements made by their forefathers before and after the proclamation of the covenant of Sinai and its Constitution, the Ten Commandments: All that the LORD has spoken we will do (Exodus 19:8; 24:3).

It was really a matter of God’s grace when the LORD continued to speak His Word to this nation and when Elisha became Elijah’s successor.

Just as it was strongly promoted in the days of the latter it was continued in the days of the former.

Elisha’s word was basically the same as that of Elijah. There is only difference in accent.

Chapter 2b

ELIJAH’S SUCCESSOR

An even clearer picture

However, this is not all. The picture is not yet clear enough. We shall have to read the story of the Theophany which Elijah received in order to obtain some clarification.

It is here that Elisha’s name is mentioned for the very first time.

Let us read this story. It is in I Kings 19:8-18. It is this:

8. And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

9. And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the Word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

10. He said, I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thy altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

11. And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;

12. and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

13. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?

14. He said, I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thy altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

15. And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;

16. and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.

17. And him who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.

18. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.

Encounter

The first encounter of Elijah with the LORD was not in the way of a Theophany, no appearance of God Himself. The prophet only heard the question: What are you doing here, Elijah?

The answer was a bitter complaint: He had done his utmost but it was all in vain. Here, at Mount Horeb, it started a long time ago, but the result was next to nothing. Elijah was the only person who honoured God’s covenant. It would not be long before he too would cease to do this, as the people were seeking to kill him.

Then the prophet was commanded to leave the cave and stand before the LORD on the mountain.

This reminded him of the appearance of the LORD to Moses (Exodus 33 and 34).

For this reason he did not hear what Moses heard, ‘the proclaiming of the Name of the LORD’ (Exodus 34:6,7): The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.

This was not necessary for Elijah. The simple reminder of the Theophany of Moses’ days was sufficient to make it perfectly clear to him: those sanctions in the text of the covenant, in the second commandment, are still relevant today!

Theophany

Then something great happened.

There was a tremendously strong wind. It rent the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces.

However, the LORD was not in it.

Then there was an earthquake causing the foundations to shudder. The LORD was not in that earthquake either.

Fire was the next sign. However, also this time it was no more than the prelude of God’s arrival. He Himself was not in that fire.

Indeed, these majestic signs announced the coming of the LORD. They told that His arrival was at hand.

Yet they also contained a message in themselves.

They illustrated God’s zeal, the same zeal that sounded through in the words of the ‘proclaiming of the Name of the LORD’ in the Theophany of Moses’ days.

In his own opinion Elijah was finished. According to him the LORD would do better to stop and drop the whole thing. But God’s zeal and the continuance of His work are not dependent on the endurance of His servants.

After that there was complete silence. The only thing that was heard was a very soft wind.

This reminds us of the story of paradise, of its rest and peace (Genesis 3:8). God walked therein and enjoyed it every evening.

This silence was remarkable. It is particularly remarkable that the LORD appeared in this silence. Elijah was well aware of that. For exactly then he left his cave and came into the open, according to the command of God.

He must undoubtedly have remembered the Theophany which Moses saw and the great majesty of God’s appearance by then. For he hid his face in his mantle.

A voice

Then at last Elijah heard a voice.

This voice repeated the same question of a little while ago: What are you doing here, Elijah?

Unfortunately, Elijah gave the same answer, complaining about the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel, that they had left their covenant-God, that he was on his very own as a God-fearing man, and that they even wanted to kill him.

The LORD gave him the opportunity to say something completely different, after what he had supposedly learned from this appearance of God to him. But Elijah apparently did not understand what God wanted to tell him by means of these signs and by His appearance in that silence, that He would go on, just as in the days of Moses.

A threefold anointing

The LORD acted as if He did not hear Elijah’s complaint.

Immediately afterwards He spoke about a new assignment.

This was a threefold one. Elijah had to anoint three different persons, Hazael as a king of Syria; a certain Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as a king of Israel; and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as his own successor as a prophet.

These three men had to be anointed. Whether or not this had to be done with real oil is not important at all. For the point is this that all the three of them would be used by God in the fulfilling of His plans. What these three different persons would do would be one thing only; they would execute God’s judgment on the apostate nation of Israel!

Why was Hazael to be anointed?

We find the answer to this question in II Kings 10:32. It says there, that in his days the LORD began: to cut off parts of Israel. What would remain was a very small and insignificant state only, something really different from the mighty nation Israel had been in the days of old.

The people had to learn that they should not seek their prosperity and happiness across the borders, in Syria. All they could expect from there was trouble and calamities. Was not the pagan religion Queen Jezebel had imported from there a disaster for the people of Israel?

Why was Jehu to be anointed?

By means of a coup he would finish off the dynasty of Ahab, and thereby create the possibilities for improving the situation. Indeed, he cleared and cleansed many a thing. The Baal-priests were killed. He did that which is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Unfortunately, he stopped halfway. He did not take the images from Dan and Bethel.

Would Israel understand what was going on in his days? Indeed, they did not!

Therefore Elisha, too, was to be anointed.

Sure, we do not read about a sword in the hand of Elisha, in the literal sense of the word; however, he accursed the youngsters of Bethel, and most likely he urged the people to kill the Baal-priests - which was the last command Jehu would obey.

We do not read anywhere that Elijah indeed did anoint Hazael and Jehu, only that he anointed Elisha.

We must however remember that it is here we find the explanation of the Theophany; here was revealed to Elijah that which according to God’s counsel was to happen.

Indeed! For the assignment, and the reason given for it, are definitely a commentary on that majestic appearance of the LORD.

They show and prove once again that the signs of the strong wind, the earthquake and the lightning, bore the characteristics of a judgment. They announced the coming of God as Judge.

God’s work would be continued, even in His judgment on an apostate nation. The three persons to be anointed had to execute it on His behalf.

The final say

Yet the judgment has not the last and final say!

That is the great thing here!

It is very important that the LORD appeared not in the first signs but in the cool, soft wind.

The LORD has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live (Ezekiel 13:11).

This is why the explanation of that Theophany ended only after a promise had been given, the promise concerning the ‘seven thousand’.

This is a perfect number, a really round figure.

It is ten times ten times ten, and then seven times.

Ten is the last figure one can count on his fingers - which was the way young people learnt counting in the days of old.

Then all this is in the third power: three is already a round and perfect figure.

Seven is the figure of the covenant. It is said that it has been derived from the same stem from which also the verb ‘to swear’ came. This then, reminds us of the oath which God has taken when He established His covenant with Israel.

God will leave - it is a promise, something of the future and not of the present, as the Authorised or King James Version suggests - God will leave Himself seven thousand people who have not bent their knees for Baal.

Another Passover

This means another Passover!

Many people - altogether a great number, a round figure - would be passed over when the wrath of the covenant would be poured out upon the apostate nation.

Israel would undergo the same things ancient Egypt experienced. It fell down to the same low level as ancient Egypt, especially because it killed the prophets of the LORD.

Fundamentally the same would happen later on to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the ‘synagogue of satan’ according to the book of Revelation, because the people of the Jews, the old covenant nation who were once redeemed from Egypt, became ‘Egypt’ themselves and therefore would see the ‘plagues of Egypt’ fall upon them (Revelation 18:4,8).

In the near future the same thing would happen to ten of the twelve tribes of Israel: The great majority of the people would be scattered abroad and no one would ever be able to find them back. Only a remnant, the seven thousand, would be saved. Passover would be repeated!

It is not: ‘history repeating itself’; rather: certain ‘rules’, covenant-rules, are repeatedly applied in the course of history.

The word ‘Passover’ reminds us of the true Passover Lamb. It happened all for Christ’s sake. God’s saving grace would be founded on the true Passover