And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has send me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has send me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”
2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6
What to do with the curious case of Elijah and Elisha here in 2 Kings 2? On the one hand, a senior man of God, Elijah, is giving explicit instructions to his junior, Elisha - instructions which Elisha steadfastly ignored.
Is this blatant disrespect? Disobedience? Rebellion, even?
Or is there something more going on?
We’re going to explore what lies behind Elisha’s persistence. In doing so, we’ll discover a couple of useful applications to our lives today - whatever the circumstance.
Testing, testing, testing . . .
It can be helpful to think of Elijah’s statements not as commands, but as tests. In each case, he’s offering Elisha an easy out. We do this all the time in modern life, saying things like “only if you’re free,” or something similar. We have an idea that someone isn’t truly committed or doesn’t really want to do something, so we make it easy for them to step aside.
Elijah is doing something similar, testing Elisha’s commitment to the mantle of responsibility that he will, quite literally, take up very shortly.
Jesus does something similar in the New Testament. In John 21, the resurrected Jesus appears to the dsciples ’ on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Dejected, they’ve returned to a life of fishing. In a remarkable scene, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” He knew the answer, but by asking repeatedly he gave Peter a chance to demonstrate his faith. And in Peter’s case, it also served as a chance for Peter to match his thrice-repeated denial of Christ with a thrice-repeated statement of faith that resounds even today.
Location, location, location . . .
Back to Elijah and Elisha. There’s also an element of progression here. Note the locations Elijah mentions - “to Bethel,” “to Jericho”, “to the Jordan.”
Elijah is led by God a bit further each time, each a little farther out in the desert. Each time, he tests Elijah to see if he, also, is willing to be led.
This one we know experientially. We even talk this way, of being “led” from one life event to another by the Spirit of God. There’s significance, however, even in the locations to which Elijah is led - and where Elisha persists in following.
Bethel, the “house of God,” is a place of great refuge for God’s people. From that place of refuge, the prophets are led to Jericho. That great, ancient city, one of the oldest in the world, was the site of a great victory for God’s people. But like all great cities, it was full of sin and misery. And in this case, it was a literal fount of impurity - note that Elisha’s first independent miracle will be done here, just a few verses along in the chapter.
Finally, from Jericho the prophets are led across the river Jordan. That river, the site of so many miracles, would see more in the course of Elisha’s ministry. But first, Elijah and Elisha would cross it on dry ground, symbolic of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea centuries before.
It’s easy to find parallels in our own lives; the place of refuge, perhaps our home or our supporting church, gives way to a new location. We find opportunity and challenge in equal measure there. And often we’re led out once again - perhaps just for a season of testing and triumph, as Elisha was.
Persistence is key to it all. It’s a persistence through testing and a persistence in any location, wherever the Lord may lead.
That persistence is not without reward, as we’ll see in the next part of our study. But it’s worth noting that Elisha doesn’t see the reward at first. True, Elijah does promise that Elisha will receive a double portion of his blessing on him - but only if he persists to the end. But that promise doesn’t come until after the verses above. In other words, the reward is disclosed only after the test is completed. Had Elisha failed to persist, he would have missed on the chance altogether.
What gave Elisha the wisdom to persist from the beginning? We’ll look at that more fully in the next instalment.