I love studying the lives of the Old Testament prophets—these were men of such incredible faith!
Elisha was one such man. I’m not talking about Elijah—I didn’t misspell the name—I meant the prophet that came after Elijah—ELISHA. He so often gets second billing because of the ginormous miracles God chose to do through the forerunner—Elijah.
Still with me?
Good. Well, as it turns out, Elisha was an even greater prophet than his mentor Elijah. How do I know that? Because he (Elisha asked Elijah for a “double portion” of the Spirit and divine infusion of power and boldness that Elijah had and scripture tells us God granted his prayer request).
2 Kings 2:8-10 says,
“8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
And Elisha did in fact go on to do incredible things for the Lord.
So mighty was his spirit and impact that even after he died He was still making an impact. Consider the bizarre yet awesome account of Elisha’s power to affect lives even from the grave. It’s found in 2 Kings 13…
“20 Then Elisha died and was buried.
Groups of Moabite raiders used to invade the land each spring. 21 Once when some Israelites were burying a man, they spied a band of these raiders. So they hastily threw the corpse into the tomb of Elisha and fled. But as soon as the body touched Elisha’s bones, the dead man revived and jumped to his feet!”
Huh?! Elisha’s corpse even did miracles?! How cool is that?!
Man! When God gives a double dose of His Spirit, He doesn’t play around! Elisha was making a mark on this world long after he left it!
That’s how we pray it will be for Southbrook Church and all of those who call Southbrook home. Our vision is to impact others with the love of Christ Jesus by
- Marking the Body
- Marking the Community
- Marking the World
- Marking the Future
Elisha did it. He started right where he was at—affecting the people closest to him. Then he traveled as the nations resident prophet and impacted those in the surrounding communities. And, God’s affected people—those marked by the influence and godliness of Elisha—became a testimony to the rest of the world.
And Elisha’s impact was so great even death didn’t slow it down! Here we are reading about the “Dead Man Walking,” thousands of years later. And it all started for Elisha with faithful obedience. After he was gone, any look back over his life would show that that pattern of living by faith never waivered—His life was a long obedience in the same direction!
How about yours?