Elisha

II Kings 5:1-27.

(Insert after Chapter XVI.)

The prophetic ministry of Elijah gave place to that of Elisha. Between no two men could there have been a greater difference.

I. "Although the principles which Elijah valiantly advocated did not gain immediate recognition with the court and people, he did succeed in impressing them indelibly upon the minds of certain of his followers. Chief among these was Elisha. According to I Kings 19: 16-21, he was from the town of Abel-Meholah, which was situated on the southern side of the plain of Bethshean, not far from the Jordan. His home, therefore, was in the midst of a rich agricultural community, and his father, Shaphat, was one of the rich farmers of Israel. His call to the prophet's office was unprecedented, for he is the only prophet who, according to the biblical record, was summoned to that high calling by another. At first his relations to Elijah were those of a disciple and servant (II Kings 3:11). A more striking contrast could not be imagined than existed between the rugged, fearless prophet of Gilead and his follower. The one represented the uncompromising life and religion of the nomad, while the other belonged to the agricultural class in Israel and was familiar with the customs of city and court. The stories respecting these two prophets which were current in the prophetic schools during the succeeding centuries, illus

trate how different was the impression which the two men made upon posterity. With the name of Elijah was associated the drought, the thunder-roll, and the lightningflash-wonders within the realm of Nature. Elisha, on the other hand, was always found among men, healing their maladies, cleansing their fountains, and advising king and subject. The one used denunciations to accomplish his ends, the other diplomacy; in the eyes of his contemporaries the one seemed to fail, the other to be crowned with complete success."-CHARLES FOSTER Kent.

II. Elisha and the King. "Under the rule of the house of Jehu, the influence of the prophet Elisha in the court was very strong. The old antagonism between king and prophet was for a time set aside. Elisha's position and personal ability made him the chief adviser of the realm. Samaria's prolonged resistance was evidently due to his counsels, for when the king learned of the appalling conditions within the city he swore that it should cost the prophet his head. According to the narrative, Elisha met this crisis with an assurance equalled only by that of the great Isaiah in strikingly similar circumstances. Confidently he asserted: "Thus saith the Lord, To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.' Before the dawn of the next day four Hebrew lepers, who had turned in desperation to the Aramean camp, came with the report that it was deserted. Subsequent investigation demonstrated that the enemy had retreated in wild confusion. The cause of their panic was the rumor that the king of Israel had hired certain allies to attack them. According to the accepted English translation, these were the Hittites and Egyptians. This may

be only the popular Israelitish account of the event, while the real enemies were the Assyrians."-CHARLES FOSTER KENT.

III. Traditions about Elisha. "At this point we must dwell at greater length on the prophetic traditions about Elisha (chaps. 2-8). Like those about Elijah, they were no doubt at first handed down orally, and later committed to writing. In some points the stories of Elijah and Elisha are alike. Both increase a widow's store; both restore a mother's son; for both Jordan is divided. Other stories are more exceptional about Elisha-like, as has been justly said, to the stories in lives of saints outside the Bible. An iron axe-head swims; a poisoned pot is made harmless; a corpse touching Elisha's bones by accident lives again; children who call him 'bald head' are killed by bears-here the marvellous is dwelt on for its own sake.

"The story of Naaman the leper reaches a far higher level: it has a spiritual meaning. He despised the advice of the prophet to wash in Jordan: what was the Jordan beside the Syrian rivers? Yet he washed and was cleansed. God works His will-the story taught, by means that are 'foolishness' to the world. The prophet cannot be deceived: Gehazi, his servant, who obtained a gift from Naaman by a lie, was stricken with leprosy on his return.

"When the King of Syria tried to arrest the prophet at Dothan, Elisha revealed to his timid servant the invisible armies of Jehovah of hosts-a noble parable indeed! He blinded his pursuers by his prayer, and led them to Samaria. He then secured peace by dismissing them unharmed. He foretold the flight of the besieging army, and a famine of seven years, to the mother of the son whom he had

saved. He foretold to Hazael his coming to his throne. On his deathbed, when the young King Joash, Jehu's grandson, on whom he had set his hopes, came to visit him, he rested his hand on the king's and bade him fire from the window towards Syria 'the arrow of Jehovah'; then take the sheaf and strike upon the ground. Thrice the king does this: and thrice only, says the dying prophet, shall he smite Syria."-T. C. FRY.

IV. Elijah and Elisha Compared. "In Elijah's life we first find the prophets influencing royal policy. Elijah was the king's foe: Elisha was a king's friend. Elijah is the son of the desert, whose grave is unknown. Elisha is the quiet farmer, careless of wealth, indifferent to Court favor, kindly on the whole, and peaceful. The stories told of him are less vivid and dramatic, doubtless more changed by oral tradition, part history, part parable, more miraculous, less stirring, once inhuman to children, though doubtless the tellers of the story wished only to teach reverence for a prophet: it was the home reflection of the fierce political and religious spirit of the time that in the massacres of Jehu counted itself zeal for Jehovah."-T. C. FRY.

V. Elisha's Death. For 60 years his ministry had gone on in its gentle spirit, and yet unswerving purpose. He had done wonderful works, had shown a power and authority so definite and unmistakable that it would have seemed impossible for him to fail. But the current towards idolatry was too strong. He had fallen sick and rumors fled through the city of his approaching death. The people crowded to his house. The king came in person to see him. He knew that the land was losing its best friend and wisest counsellor. The scene at his death bed is told in the 13th chapter of II Kings:

I Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father! the chariot of Isfael, and the horsemen thereof.

"And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.

"And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hand upon the king's hands.

"And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.

And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. smote thrice, and stayed.

And he

"And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice."

Had Joash been a man of energy and purpose he would have emptied his quiver in the intense earnestness of his soul. The indifference of the half-hearted resolution of the man showed in the symbolism of the three poor arrows, and the results of the campaign showed in its partial and fruitless victory.

VI. The qualities of Elisha's character came out clearly in the long story of his life. We know more of the details of his career than of any other prophet. The characteristic qualities of patience, gentleness, fidelity, simplicity of faith, human sympathy, approachableness, all these give us the picture of a prophet who was in the truest sense a pastor of souls, a kindly and steadfast friend.