Elijah II/Elisha I: The Mentor Prophet

I Kings 19:19-21, II Kings 2:1-18 (note passage change, not that I Kings 21 isn't a riveting story!)

“The Christian faith is always one generation from extinction.” One of the stories of ancient Judaism is of the Essenes, a sect that believed that the Messiah would come in their generation and usher in a new day. They chose not to marry or have children. Some of the finest of the Old Testament manuscripts were preserved by them, but the Essenes went extinct. The spiritual gift highlighted in this passage is Nurturing Leadership.

In Elijah’s day, prophets, much like the Buddhist faith of today, had schools of disciples who became prophets in the style of their mentor. One of the reasons that the book of Isaiah covers more than 230 years of history, is because the first 39 chapters were written by him, and the other 27 were written by his disciples. The writing is varied enough, that they might have been written by a spiritual son and grandson! This set of readings from I and II Kings tells the story of Elijah passing on the mantle of spiritual power and leadership to Elisha.

Elisha has a special request of Elijah. “Give me a double portion of your Spirit.” This has often been misunderstood as meaning he wanted twice of much of God’s anointing and spiritual power as Elijah had. But what he is asking is to be the recognized heir of Elijah’s ministry. If a man had two sons, he would leave his property in thirds, with two-thirds going to the eldest and one-third going to the youngest (the whole issue between Jacob and Esau earlier). The eldest was the executor of the estate and got “the double portion.” Elijah agrees. Elisha follows Elijah everywhere, for he doesn’t want the double portion to go to someone else. The symbol of his anointing is Elijah’s old hairy coat (a nice parallel to the eccentric outfit of John the Baptist in the gospels).

When Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind in a chariot of fire (a reminder of Enoch) with no burial place (a reminder of Moses), Elisha is left with nothing but the mantle of his mentor. II Kings 2 vividly tells the story as he now claims the Spirit of God for himself. Even though we mentor faith to the next generation, they must experience it for themselves. I fear that many church people are trying to live off of the anointing that was on their parents and grandparents. It never works. There is no such thing as “second-hand” faith. The other prophets recognize the Spirit in Elisha as he becomes the true heir.

Who has been your spiritual mentor or mentors? I wouldn’t be here today without mine. How has the power and presence of God become personally real for you – your first-hand experience of faith? How are you passing your faith along? It’s like evangelism. We are all called to nurture the next generation, but there are some for whom this is a special passion and gift. I have seen it demonstrated in several of our class members already.