You probably know most of the prophets in the Bible like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, and the others with Old Testament books named for them, but the bible identifies many more prophets. In this blog series we will get to know most of the prophets of the Bible, the ones with books named after them, and those whose names you may not know at all.
The English word prophet in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew word “nabiy” which means “spokesman” or “speaker”. The Greek word for prophet is “prophētēs”, which can mean “one who speaks forth” or “advocate.” Prophets are also called “seers,” because of their spiritual insight or their ability to “see” the future, as directed by God.
My prophet last week was Elijah who was the mentor of this week’s prophet Elisha.
Elisha
1 Kings 19:19-21 (NLT)19 So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away.20 Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.
Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah’s ministry and asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit
2 Kings 2:9-13 (NLT)9 When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.” And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.13 Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.
Elijah is one of the best known prophets to the Jews but, Elisha ends up performing twice as many recorded miracles as Elijah (God is the one who performs miracles but He often uses people to do them through).
The English word prophet in the Old Testament comes from the Hebrew word “nabiy” which means “spokesman” or “speaker”. The Greek word for prophet is “prophētēs”, which can mean “one who speaks forth” or “advocate.” Prophets are also called “seers,” because of their spiritual insight or their ability to “see” the future, as directed by God.
My prophet last week was Elijah who was the mentor of this week’s prophet Elisha.
Elisha
1 Kings 19:19-21 (NLT)19 So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away.20 Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.
Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah’s ministry and asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit
2 Kings 2:9-13 (NLT)9 When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.” And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.13 Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.
Elijah is one of the best known prophets to the Jews but, Elisha ends up performing twice as many recorded miracles as Elijah (God is the one who performs miracles but He often uses people to do them through).
Who Was Elisha?
Elisha is first introduced in Scripture when God told Elijah to anoint him as his successor
1 Kings 19:15-16 (NLT)15 Then the LORD told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram.
16 Then anoint Jehu son of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. (Bold mine).
Elijah found Elisha working, plowing with 12 pairs of oxen. Elijah threw his mantle on Elisha, signifying his selection, and he then became Elijah's assistant.
1 Kings 19:19-21 (NLT)19 So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away.20 Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.”21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.
Elisha’s first miracle was immediately after Elijah was taken up.
2 Kings 2:13-15 (NLT)13 Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.14 He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.15 When the group of prophets from Jericho saw from a distance what happened, they exclaimed, “Elijah’s spirit rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
Elisha’s ministry was primarily to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and he was active during the reigns of Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash (Joash).
Elisha had a ministry of miracles. There was a town in Jericho had a water problem and Elish threw some salt in the spring that supplied their water and cleared up the problem.
2 Kings 2:19-22 (NLT)19 One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem, my lord,” they told him. “This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.”20 Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.” So they brought it to him.21 Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. And he said, “This is what the LORD says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.”22 And the water has remained pure ever since, just as Elisha said.
Another time Elish who was bald was being harassed by some young boys. Out of the blue came two bears who took took care of the problem.
2 Kings 2:23-24 (NLT)23 Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!”24 Elisha turned around and looked at them, and he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of them.
The widow of one of the prophets who worked with Elish needed help with a debt that would have resulted in her two sons being taken by the creditors. Elisha believed God that God would provide enough to pay the debt and take care of her sons.
2 Kings 4:1-7 (NLT)1 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the LORD. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors.4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another.6 Soon every container was full to the brim! “Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons. “There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”
Elisha believed God for a child to be born of a couple who had been hospitable to him.
2 Kings 4:14-17 (NLT)14 Later Elisha asked Gehazi, “What can we do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She doesn’t have a son, and her husband is an old man.”15 “Call her back again,” Elisha told him. When the woman returned, Elisha said to her as she stood in the doorway,16 “Next year at this time you will be holding a son in your arms!” “No, my lord!” she cried. “O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that.”17 But sure enough, the woman soon became pregnant. And at that time the following year she had a son, just as Elisha had said.
When the child suddenly died, Elisha again believed God and raised him from the dead.
2 Kings 4:31-36 (NLT)31 Gehazi hurried on ahead and laid the staff on the child’s face, but nothing happened. There was no sign of life. He returned to meet Elisha and told him, “The child is still dead.”32 When Elisha arrived, the child was indeed dead, lying there on the prophet’s bed.33 He went in alone and shut the door behind him and prayed to the LORD.34 Then he lay down on the child’s body, placing his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes, and his hands on the child’s hands. And as he stretched out on him, the child’s body began to grow warm again!35 Elisha got up, walked back and forth across the room once, and then stretched himself out again on the child. This time the boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes!36 Then Elisha summoned Gehazi. “Call the child’s mother!” he said. And when she came in, Elisha said, “Here, take your son!”
One of the king of Syria’s top commander’s a man named Naaman was a leper who was encouraged by a captured Israelite servant to go see Elisha and be healed. He went and was healed after following some very strange instructions from Elisha.
2 Kings 5:9-10, 13-14 (NLT)9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house.10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” 13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!
Elisha's faith saved the life of King Jehoram and the armies of Israel more than once through revelation from God.
.2 Kings 6:8-10 (NLT)8 When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, “We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place.”9 But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, “Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there.”10 So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he would be on the alert there.
The king of Aram was told that Elish was alerting the king of Israel of his plans so he sent troops to capture and kill him. God not only protected Elish but used him to lead the Arameans to the king of Israel where they surrendered.
2 Kings 6:16-19, 21-23 (NLT)16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!”17 Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.18 As the Aramean army advanced toward him, Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please make them blind.” So the LORD struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.19 Then Elisha went out and told them, “You have come the wrong way! This isn’t the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to the city of Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”22 “Of course not!” Elisha replied. “Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.”23 So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their master. After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.
Elisha loved God first, and he loved the people of Israel, and he was never intimidated. He fulfilled God's directives and lived to see prophecies of Elijah come to pass. Elisha was a true hero and champion for God.
Even after he died a miracle happened when the corpse of a dead man was revived when thrown into Elisha's tomb.
2 Kings 13:20-21 (NLT)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!
RSS Feed