ELISHA-II

Introduction

II Kings 2:11 "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."

In this chapter, we see Elijah’s ministry comes to a fruitful end and Elisha starts his ministry. When we talk about Elisha, we can learn from a lot of experiences that he faced in his ministry. Both Elijah and Elisha’s ministries were completely distinctive in nature. The Prophet Elisha’s ministry focused more on normal people around him. We can say that his ministry was more peaceful and calm when compared to Elijah’s ministry. Today, as a part of our meditation, let us learn about the ministry of Elisha.

I Abundance in lack

II Kings 4:1-2 "Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil."

We the children of God should save up something for our generations not to leave some debts for them to pay off. When we read the above passage we can notice that our Lord was able to perform a miracle out of what they have. Our Lord God is able to bless us with what we have. Today, the Lord God is going to bless us with an abundance in lack. When we read Exodus 4:2 ‘And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.’ This passage tells us how our Lord almighty was able to lead the whole crowd of Israelites with a single rod of Moses. This proves that our Lord is able to perform miracle out of anything that we have in our hands.

In II Kings 4:21,33 “And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD.” Over here we see when Elisha prayed after shutting the door, his faith was restored and his prayer gets answered. In Philippians 4:19 ‘But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ For we the children of God will be blessed abundantly with whatever we have in our lives. As recorded in the verse, we will be blessed according to his riches and glory.

II Double-fold miracle

II Kings 4:8 "And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was,that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread."

Interestingly, the ministry of Elisha starts from this eighth verse of this chapter. Here, we see the woman constrained him to eat bread. This shows the respect and honour that she gave for the servant of God. This act of her leads her to witness a miracle in her life which is recorded in In II Kings 4:35 ‘Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.’ On the other hand we have the second miracle in II Kings 4:14,17 ‘And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.’ Totally, the woman receives double blessings in her life.

Even in our lives, we ought to have certain attributes like the woman in order to obtain the double blessings from our Lord almighty. We read in II Kings 4:10'

Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.’ We see the woman honored Elisha and made all necessary arrangements for him. She made the man of God comfortable and she was spiritual minded. When we truly honor the servant of God, we will be blessed abundantly. Further we read in II Kings 4:19 ‘And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.’ The bible researchers claim that the lad might have passed away due to sun stroke. We see the woman did not broke down having her son dead. Instead sshe reaches out to the servant of God. In II Kings 4:31 ‘And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked.’ We see Gehazi was not able to perform the miracle as he was greedy. In II Kings 5:20 ‘But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he brought: but, as the LORD liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him.’ This verse tells us that if we are not receiving any miracles from the hands of God, we need to put down all that is ungodly in our lives.

II Kings 4:30,34 ‘And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm.’ When we read this passage we can understand how the miraculous hands of God was with the woman and blessed her like she has never seen. Interestingly, the life of the woman starts with a miraculous baby and ends with a miracle.

Therefore, we the children of God should also be like the woman who had all her attributes which was pleasing before the eyes of God. Let us not give up hope when problems surrounds us. May the divine faith of God burn all the negativities in our lives. We the children of God will be blessed abundantly if we truly trust our Lord God and honor the servants of God we will be honored by the hands of God. Amen. God bless you.