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Elisha and God’s Call

Published October 14, 2014 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Elijah, Elisha, God's call, Prophet

Here’s a shocking bit of news, courtesy of Forbes:

Right Management ran the online survey between April 16 and May 15, and culled responses from 411 workers in the U.S. and Canada. Only 19% said they were satisfied with their jobs. Another 16% said they were “somewhat satisfied.” But the rest, nearly two-thirds of respondents, said they were not happy at work. Twenty-one percent said they were “somewhat unsatisfied” and 44% said they were “unsatisfied.” (http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/05/18/new-survey-majority-of-employees-dissatisfied/)

That’s a whole lot of dissatisfied employees! No wonder we get stress headaches. No wonder so many of us dream of the day we can retire and do what we enjoy rather than what we have to. Most of these dissatisfied employees will tell you they can’t quit the job they hate so much because of the money. But what if you could quit the job you hate and start the job you dream about having? What would that dream job be? Some of you would love to “work from home.” Others would love to be able to turn your hobby into your occupation. Still others hold onto some childhood ambition that’s just unpractical as an adult; like being an astronaut or a deep sea diver or a stewardess or a famous actor. There are probably as many “dream jobs” as there are people. That’s because we all have different interests, talents, and ambitions. God in His wisdom created us as individuals; all different from each other. And, ideally, as we grow and mature in the Lord, we discover what our interests and talents are and we find a way to use what God has given us to not only glorify Him but benefit ourselves as well.

Such was the case with a man named Elisha. Most of us seem to be familiar with the prophet Elijah, but in some ways his successor, Elisha, had an even greater ministry. Elijah was a great prophet, but God sent him to prepare and anoint Elisha to also be a prophet. We can learn some things from Elisha’s great life and ministry that help us to follow God’s will for our lives.

1 Kings 19:19 – 21

In this brief incident, we read about the call of Elisha to the prophetic ministry.

The Lord said, “Return to the wilderness near Damascus, then enter the city and anoint Hazael as king of Syria; anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. (1 Kings 19:15, 16 GNB)

That’s God giving His busy prophet Elijah a laundry list of things to do, including anointing Elisha to be his successor. We don’t know a lot about Elisha, but he was apparently a man of some means, as he was working next to the twelfth pair of oxen. Elijah approached this man and did a curious thing:

Elijah took off his cloak and put it on Elisha. (1 Kings 19:19b GNB)

Putting one’s cloak or mantle on another was a highly symbolic act of transferring leadership. That symbolic act was Elijah’s way of doing what God told him to do: anoint Elisha to be his successor. Elisha, for his part, did what most of us would do:

“Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will go with you.” (1 Kings 19:20b GNB)

In other words, Elisha wanted to set his affairs in order and provide for a proper farewell. Elijah’s response to Elisha has been translated in various ways, but this one seems to fit his character:

“All right, go back. I’m not stopping you!” (1 Kings 19:20c GNB)

That single statement is important. It shows us Elijah hadn’t called Elisha to be his successor; God had done that. And it also shows us that answering God’s call was something only Elisha himself could do. It was his decision to make.

And that’s the way God works in the lives of His people. He may call, but we must answer. God has a will for our lives, but we must be co-operative participants. God doesn’t force anybody to do anything. He calls, creates the conditions whereby we are able to respond, but ultimately the choice is ours. A lot of times we may be hesitant to step up and answer God’s call. We may be fearful or unsure or too busy, we think. Following the call of God very often entails sacrifice. It always means aligning our wills to His; it requires a new set of priorities. Recall what Jesus said when He called a young man to follow Him:

And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:61, 62 NKJV)

If you want to follow the call of God, you can’t be distracted by other things. Following the call of God requires single-minded devotion. Elijah’s response to Elisha seemed to be a little more charitable than that of Jesus. But Elisha’s actions showed that he was ready to follow the call.

Elisha then returned to his oxen, killed them, and used wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the other plowmen, and they all had a great feast. Then he went with Elijah, as his assistant. (1 Kings 19:21 TLB)

2 Kings 2:1 – 15

The historian who wrote 1 and 2 Kings takes a break in his account of the kings to return to the subject of Elisha. It’s been a number of chapters since we last saw Elijah’s successor. By now, Elijah is an old man, beginning the last leg of his journey in this life.

Now the time came for the Lord to take Elijah to heaven—by means of a whirlwind! Elijah said to Elisha as they left Gilgal, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.” (2 Kings 2:1 TLB)

We’re not told why Elijah repeatedly tried to leave his successor behind, but Elisha was determined to stick close to his mentor. Some have suggested it was difficult for Elijah to retreat from public ministry and he just wanted to be alone. Or it could be Elijah was subtly testing his student. Whatever the reason, Elisha’s true character and commitment shone through. He was completely loyal to Elijah and he seemed determined to fulfill his God-given destiny to be there when Elijah was gone. As we look at where the two of them traveled – Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, the Jordan – we can’t help but think of another mentor-student relationship: that of Moses and Joshua. In fact, the similarities don’t stop with their itinerary. Consider this:

Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it; and the river divided and they went across on dry ground! (2 Kings 2:8 TLB)

Not only had Moses parted a body of water before, but Elijah’s destination (the other side of the Jordan River) was also where Moses’ life came to its end.

This exchange between Elijah and Elisha serves to further show just how committed Elisha was and how seriously he took his calling.

When they arrived on the other side Elijah said to Elisha, “What wish shall I grant you before I am taken away?” And Elisha replied, “Please grant me twice as much prophetic power as you have had.” (2 Kings 2:9 TLB)

Elisha was determined to continue Elijah’s ministry, and he innately knew he would need something more than what he had. He needed to be able to lead, but he desired the power to succeed. He needed divine empowerment.

For his part, Elijah knew that what Elisha needed was beyond his ability to give. Elisha needed to see and experience something unquestioningly supernatural. He did.

As they were walking along, talking, suddenly a chariot of fire, drawn by horses of fire, appeared and drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11 TLB)

Elisha was understandably upset with what he had seen, but he did receive Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen during Elijah’s ascent. As the young prophet picked it up, it confirmed to him that he had indeed become his master’s successor. As if to prove it, he did a remarkable thing – he parted the waters just as Elijah had done.

When the young prophets of Jericho saw what had happened, they exclaimed, “The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and greeted him respectfully. (2 Kings 2:15 TLB)

Elisha crossed over. He left his Moses behind, just as Joshua had done. The “young prophets of Jericho,” student prophets, witnessed the event and knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that God’s Spirit did in fact rest on Elisha and they accepted his leadership.

Some lessons

Just before Elisha parted the waters, he asked this question:

Where is the Lord God of Elijah? (2 Kings 2:14b TLB)

That’s not an unimportant question. And it’s one that Christians should be asking. Elisha had Elijah’s cloak, the symbol of the prophet’s office. But what Elisha really needed was the presence of God Himself. As Christians, we may have our confession, but we also need the presence of God. In looking back at the elder prophet’s life, we can see precisely where the Lord was and what He was dong:

* The Lord always cared, 1Kings 17

* The Lord answers in definite, unmistakable ways, 1Kings 18:1 – 40

* The Lord hears prayers, 1 Kings 18:41 – 46

* The Lord is still the Lord even at the “juniper tree,” 1 Kings 19:4 – 18

* The Lord still empowers those who serve Him, 2 Kings 2:9 – 12

In Malachi 3:6, we read this:

For I am the Lord—I do not change. (TLB)

The things that He did for Elijah and Elisha He will do for believers today. Of course, God works in different ways with different people in different dispensations. But He remains the same. What we need to serve Him effectively, He will give us.

JEREMIAH, PART 1

Published July 24, 2012 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Babylonian Captivity, book of lamentations, Hebrew History, Jeremiah, Judgment, Prophecy, Prophet

Jeremiah 1:1—10

In 70 AD, Jerusalem was utterly destroyed and its inhabitants scattered to the four corners of the world; the result of a terrible judgment of the Jews’ rejection of the Messiah. But this wasn’t the first time God judged His people, nor was it the first time the Holy City was destroyed. In 586 BC, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians and most of Judah’s population was carried off as captives. For a century Mount Zion was little more than a wasteland, inhabited by a variety people; some Jews left behind by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, other people from other countries destroyed by the mighty Babylonians wandered around, settling in and around what was once Jerusalem. What an odd assortment of misfits; a rag-tag-band of fugitives, that now called the Holy City home.

Yet a scant century later, a remnant of exiles returned to what was left of Jerusalem, eventually rebuilding the city and the Temple. But the glory and splendor that was Mount Zion never returned. It won’t be until the dawn of the Millennial Age that the world will see that splendor and magnificence again.

The books the prophet Jeremiah wrote are key in understanding what happened in 586 BC, for they were composed just prior to and during Jerusalem’s destruction. They give us a glimpse into what his world was like and provide key historical data of the period. As Jeremiah’s book comes to an end, so does the very last remnant of what had been David and Solomon’s magnificent 12-tribe kingdom. Reading this part of Hebrew history brings to mind T.S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men—

This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but a whimper.

The book called “Jeremiah” is one of five books in the Old Testament we call “The Major Prophets.” They are “major” because of their length. The book of Lamentations, also written by Jeremiah, is quite short, but it is part of the Major Prophets because it serves a kind follow-up to Jeremiah’s main book of prophecy. The shorter prophetic books—and there are many of them—form “The Minor Prophets,” again because of their brevity, not because they are any less unimportant than the Majors.

Though written in the sixth century BC, the books of Jeremiah are vitally important to those of us living in the 21st century. Though ancient, they paint a picture of a society frighteningly similar to ours. Today is a troubling time of sin and complacency, very much like Jeremiah’s day. Apostasy and hypocrisy are seen in seen in ever increasing frequency, just as in Judah of old. The balance of power among the nations was shifting in the sixth century BC, and today nations once thought unshakable are teetering on the brink of economic and moral collapse. Preachers of righteousness are in short supply today; and during Jeremiah’s day, nobody wanted to hear the truth of God’s Word, either.

It becomes painfully obvious as we read the book of Jeremiah that nations rise and fall, not of their own accord, but according to God’s plan. Our destiny as a people in not in our hands, but in God’s. We are living in the last days, and during these last days the message of Jeremiah is timely and inescapable. Jeremiah is sad book to read, not just because it was written during an extraordinarily sad time for God’s people, but because it forces its readers to confront the state of their own lives before the righteous demands of God. But at the same time, the book of Jeremiah is a book of hope that teaches believers that there are better days ahead; there is a Savior coming and a New Covenant is on the horizon. Jeremiah teaches us that for those who hold fast to their faith and serve God to the best of His ability, there is always hope!

As we begin our study of Jeremiah’s great book, we need to look at the man himself. Jeremiah, like the other Old Testament prophets, knew nothing of human ordination. He did not attend a seminary, take ordination exams, and sit before a denominational examination committee before he began his ministry. He also didn’t rush headlong into it. In fact, Jeremiah often shrank from the message he was compelled to preach. But in this, he was in good company! Moses offered God the lame excuse that he wasn’t eloquent enough to preach and Isaiah famously exclaimed that he was a man of “unclean lips” after God called Him to preach. Jeremiah said:

“Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” (Jeremiah 1:6)

The great voices for God of the Old Testament were no different than believers today who so often get all tongue-tied as they try to share their faith. Take heart, though, out of our weakness, God ordains strength.

1. Jeremiah’s Call, 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Jeremiah was born in the small village of Anathoth, about two miles from Jerusalem, in 648 BC. He lived in and his ministry spanned tumultuous times spiritually, politically, and economically. He preached from the days of Judah’s last righteous King (Josiah) to Judah’s last actual King (Zedekiah). He lived long enough to see Jerusalem burned to the ground. All during his life and ministry, Jeremiah came to learn a profound truth: all events on earth, good or bad, are under God’s sovereign control. It is He, not kings or armies, that govern human history.

This sovereign God is also a personal God, and when Jeremiah was about 20 years old, God called him to be a prophet. In fact, in a personal conversation with Jeremiah, God told him that Jeremiah was created and “set apart” before he was born to be a prophet. What a stunning verse: he was called before he was created; set apart before he was even born! God had a plan for Jeremiah just as He has a plan for all of us.

Why did God choose Jeremiah? What was there about this man that set him apart from all others? We aren’t told. God didn’t explain it to Jeremiah and as far as we know Jeremiah never figured it out. God has a sovereign will that makes complete sense to Him, even if it doesn’t to us. Our part is to respect God’s sovereignty, not deny it or frustrate it. We don’t have to understand it to hear it and obey it. Jesus said this:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)

Notice Jesus said His sheep “listen” to His voice; we don’t always understand completely what He’s saying! We listen and we follow in faith. We should never worry about God’s sovereignty as it concerns us and our destiny:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

When it came to serving God, Jesus never failed. And neither will you if go with God’s flow for your life!

2. Jeremiah’s excuse, 1:6

“Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”

Like most excuses God hears from any of His children, Jeremiah’s was just as pathetic. Since when is a 20 year old a child? To Jeremiah, he was highly unfit to be a prophet. He came from a small village, born to a humble priest. But in a humorous turn, Hilkiah named his son “Jeremiah,” which literally means “Whom Jah [God] Appoints.” He certainly lived up to his name! God appointed Jeremiah to be a prophet. He didn’t ask Jeremiah or check with him to make sure he had the proper education and credentials! Clearly it is God who does the calling, not any man or organization.

Jeremiah, though he felt under prepared, would come to learn a valuable lesson: our sufficiency is NOT in ourselves but in God:

Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5)

3. Jeremiah’s Commission, 1:7

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.”

Though Jeremiah felt inadequate and inexperienced, God knew his man better than he knew himself. Rarely does any of us have an accurate picture of ourselves; God does and it’s His opinion that counts. Verse 7 is a rebuke, make no mistake about it. Jeremiah has ONE master and ONE purpose in his life: to go where he is sent and to speak what God wants him to speak.

Jeremiah’s mission was clear, but he needed some encouragement:

Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. (vs. 8)

When anybody declares the unadulterated Word of God, they will face opposition from all quarters. Jeremiah had much to fear, but God would be with him through it all. It is better to obey God and face trouble in this world than to cave into the demands of this world and face a disappointed God! At a young age, Jeremiah learned a lesson he would carry with him for a lifetime: God’s is always with those who serve Him.

So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)

There is no way the darkness of this world can overtake any believer while the light of God’s presence is in him!

4. Jeremiah’s equipment, 1:9

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth.”

Whom God calls, God equips! This divine touch, which the prophet Isaiah also experienced, serves as a kind foreshadow of the tongues of fire that touched the believers gathered in the Upper Room in Acts. His “touch” and His “words” are vitally connected. With a divine command comes a divine enabling! Jeremiah needed power as all believers need power in order to fulfill God’s purpose for them.

God put His Words in Jeremiah’s mouth, which is very poetic way of saying God would simply speak through His prophet. Now, that sounds great, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to become a preacher if God personally said, “I will put my words in your mouth?” As they say, however, the Word of God is a double-edged sword, and in Jeremiah’s case, more so! God’s Words in Jeremiah’s mouth were almost exclusively words of doom, gloom, and destruction. Through most of Jeremiah’s ministry, God’s Word was hard to speak and even harder to hear.

5. Jeremiah’s work, 1:10

“See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Gloomier words cannot be found anywhere: uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. That is not an encouraging message to give or hear. Yet, this was Jeremiah’s message from God. Yes, sometimes God’s Word is a big pill to swallow. Sometimes God’s Word is difficult and seemingly not very helpful or positive. It is, nonetheless, God’s Word.

In Jeremiah’s case, destructive work had to be performed before the constructive work could begin: build and plant. A garden must be weeded before it can be seeded! Sin always has to be be dealt with and put away before godly character can be established in a person. This is as true in the case of a nation as it is of the individual. God is about judge Jerusalem because they had been rejecting Him for years and years. God would restore them in time, but first, they had to be broken. It is the good and pure heart that produces good fruit. Jeremiah could preach and preach, sowing the Word everywhere, but if there were no pure hearts to receive it, no good fruit could be produced. This was the situation in Jerusalem. Hearts were not ready to receive the “good” Word of God. Those hard, dry hearts needed to be tilled up like fallow ground, cleaned out and made ready to receive what God wanted to give. In short, the people needed to be either broken or destroyed before God would be able to do anything in His people.

God gave His people every chance. Jeremiah preached for decades, warning them to get right. And he wasn’t alone; other prophets were preaching the same message! Sadly, the die had been cast. Hard hearts make for deaf ears. But God did His part in making sure Jeremiah would proclaim His Word.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5)

ELIJAH: THE RE-ANIMATOR

Published July 17, 2010 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Tags: 1 Kings, Elijah, Prophet, widow's son raised

Elijah restores the widow's son

1 Kings 17:17—24

So far in our in study of Elijah’s life, we have witnessed God’s gracious provision. The Lord kept the prophet safe when the King of Israel was out to get him. The Lord kept the prophet well fed during a terrible drought that ravaged the whole nation of Israel. The Lord’s care for Elijah was so great that it actually overflowed and impacted the life of a lonely, poor widow; she and her family were blessed on account of Elijah.

You may never know how God’s care for you affects the lives of those around you. His blessings are so abundant that your life cannot contain them all! This is just one way a child of God may be a blessing at his place of work or to the rest of his family.

There were, according to Jesus Himself, many widows in the days of Elijah, but the man of God was sent to just one of them—

I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. (Luke 4:25)

What was Jesus’ point? He was illustrating that salvation is through the grace of God; God is delighted to lift up the lowly and despised and to exalt them to a seat in the heavenlies with His Son. What God did for this widow was a singularly marvelous work, not only in supplying her whole household with food for the duration of the drought, but also in the raising of her son from dead.

It is wonderful to live in the grace and blessing of God. But it is by no means easy. You may be the recipient of great blessings from God, but that doesn’t mean you are exempt from pain and tragedy, as this story illustrates.

1. Another trial, verse, 17, 18

Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

If these verses teaches us one thing it is simply this: God’s presence is no guarantee hard times will never come. Elijah was a man who lived and walked in God’s presence. Scholars believe that Elijah had been staying with this widow for almost a year before the boy became sick. Apparently the sickness was lingering until it finally took his life. We may well imagine how Elijah prayed for the boy to recover, yet recovery was not part of God’s plan.

The comment of the young lad’s mother is often misunderstood, leading many to conclude that she was crying out in angry bitterness to the prophet; that she was blaming him for the death of her son. But her response in faith later seems to indicate this may not have been the case. She clearly saw the hand of the Lord in this terrible situation and she clearly recognized her position in God. She was a sinner, and it seems as though the death of her son revived some memories of her past; bad memories, full of regret and embarrassment.

Very often tragedy does this to us. For example, when we get into financial difficulties all of a sudden nothing in our life is right; we never made a right decision, and we have a warped view of our situation. This is how this woman was reacting. But she did recognize that God had something to do with this.

2. A special request, verse 19

“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.

Elijah was calm in the face of the widow’s anguish. It was not that he was uncaring it was that he was a man of faith, and all believers need to remember this—

We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

We can’t risk basing our faith on what we see because what we see is a mere fraction of reality. There is a spiritual realm completely hidden from us; we are incapable of seeing what is going on round about us. This is why we need to live by faith; faith in God’s Word; faith in what He has promised to us. Regardless of what we see, God’s promises are settled.

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89, KJV)

Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. (Psalm 119:89, tNIV)

Nothing can shake God’s Word! A true child of God will always act and react differently than someone without faith. What is it that looms on your horizon? Do you see a tragedy? Or do you see God? Do you see the precipice or the possibility? It all has to do with your perspective.

Elijah’s perspective was spiritual, and so he faced a very difficult situation with a calm spirit, taking the corpse of the boy his upper room. This would have been a kind of small, humble, attic room, converted into a guest room for the prophet. There was nothing special about this room, other than it was out of the way and it was private. What Elijah did illustrates what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:6—

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

God wants us to pray in secret! Most of us are quite adept at doing other things in secret, but if we want God’s undivided attention, then He deserves ours.

The question arises; did Elijah know what God was going to do? For that matter, what was in the widow’s mind when she handed her dead son over to him? Did they suspect the boy would be raised to life? When we consider when this story took place in history, we must realize that there was no precedent for such an occurrence. In the entire Bible, only nine individuals were ever raised to life, and this boy was the very first.

Elijah raised the son of the Zarephath widow from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-22).
Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman from the dead (2 Kings 4:32-35).
A man was raised from the dead when his body touched Elisha’s bones (2 Kings 13:20, 21).
Many saints rose from the dead at the resurrection of Jesus (Matt. 27:50-53).
Jesus rose from the dead (Matt. 28:5-8; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5, 6).
Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead (Luke 7:11-15).
Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead (Luke 8:41, 42, 49-55).
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44).
Peter raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41).
Eutychus was raised from the dead by Paul (Acts 20:9, 10).

So, neither the prophet nor the widow had anything to “hang their faith on.” They both seemed to believe something would happen, though.

3. Powerful prayer and strange actions, verses 20, 21

Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

The first thing that must be noted is that Elijah was not angry with God nor blaming God for the death of the boy, he was simply stating something he believed in because he had witnessed it: the sovereignty of God. Even though it is phrased as a question, it was really a statement of belief. Life and death are in the hands of God. Elijah was acknowledging what we all know. The boy was dead, and it seemed as though this was the Lord’s will.

But that didn’t stop Elijah from asking God to revive the boy. Elijah’s prayer was brief but to the point. Regardless of what he saw with his eyes, and the fact that nobody had ever been raised to life before, Elijah asked God for exactly what he wanted.

All too often our prayers are like rambling requisitions that go on and on, unfocused and dull because we don’t know what we are praying for. This must surely be the main reason why Christians feel like God doesn’t hear their prayers; He hears them, He just doesn’t understand them! Before we pray, we must settle in our hearts and minds what we need. We must know God’s Word and pray according to it. God’s character is revealed in His Word and when we know it, we know God, and will always ask according to His will.

Not only did Elijah pray, but he also did a very strange thing: he stretched himself out over the boy three times. Why did he do that? What Elijah did was full of symbolism. First, as it applies to the Church, there is a great principle at work here. Today, the Church must be in full contact with its Head, Jesus Christ. Right now, large segments of the Church are not in contact with Christ and are spiritually dead. When the Church is out of contact with Jesus, it does bizarre things; it makes unscriptural decisions; it wanders in spiritual wasteland; the blind leading the blind.

Secondly, on a personal level, when Elijah prayed he prayed with his whole being, mind, soul, spirit, and body. His whole being was concentrated on reviving the boy. A lot of people pray for spiritual revival, but they don’t go beyond their words; they don’t stretch so much as their little finger to revive one soul in the ditch of sin, even if that soul is their own. In stretching himself out over the boy, Elijah gave himself wholly to the work at hand. Paul did exactly the same thing when he raised Eutychus to life—

Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!”

Prayer must be more than words.

4. Confession of faith, verse 24

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

When Elijah brought the boy down stairs to his mother she uttered a great confession of faith in God and in God’s man, Elijah. But this is a curious thing. The miracle of provision—the miraculously materializing flour and olive oil that never ran out—apparently didn’t do it for this woman! She needed something more to tip the scales in Elijah’s favor, and God provided it: the death and reviving of her son. It was that tragedy and subsequent miracle that finally convinced this immature believer that Elijah was a man from God and that God could be taken at His Word.

Out of the deepest trials of life often come the greatest blessings from God. Faith that is tested is faith that is vindicated, and of all the blessings a believer may receive, the vindication of his faith must surely one of the most encouraging.

Don’t fear the inevitable testing of your faith. Recall the experience of Job. At his lowest point, he looked and looked for God and it seemed as though God had all but deserted him. In spite of how he felt, Job held fast to what faith he had and uttered one of the most moving confessions of faith ever–

When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. (Job 23:9, 10)

(c) 2010 WitzEnd

Isaiah’s Transforming Vision

Published June 25, 2008 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Calling, Isaiah, Old Testament, Prophet, Vision

A Study of Isaiah 6

There is some controversy as to the correct place of chapter 6 within the chronology of Isaiah’s life and ministry. There are those who suppose that chronologically the Book of Isaiah really begins with verse 6, and that the prophet’s ministry began at the death of King Uzziah. My own view is that this was not the beginning of Isaiah’s work as a prophet. In Isaiah 1:1 we read that he prophesied during Uzziah’s reign:

The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The vision we read about in chapter 6 came to Isaiah while he was already engaged in the ministry as a prophet. This vision is what Ross Price referred to as a “transforming vision…that deepened his spiritual life and insights.” This is a perfect example of a man of God, working for God, and growing spiritually at the same time. This should be an encouragement to any believer who feels inadequate in doing the work of the Lord. Whom God calls, He enables. We wish that enabling would take place before we start about the work, but often God wants us to step out in faith, realizing our own weaknesses and shortcomings as we serve Him. When we need Him, He comes to us, as He did to Isaiah.

1. Some background information

Chapter six opens with a funeral; the funeral for a truly great king, King Uzziah. Some commentators believe that Uzziah was the last great king the southern kingdom of Judah ever had and that at his death, the glory of the Lord was no longer to be seen.

In his 52 years on the throne, Uzziah did a number of remarkable things: he subjugated the Philistines, the Arabians and the Ammonites. Under his rule, the nation experienced God’s blessing in the form of great prosperity. Delitzsch wrote, “The national glory of Israel died out too with King Uzziah and has never recovered to this day.”

As great as he was, however, Uzziah was under a death sentence because of something that happened in 2 Chronicles 26:16-21.

But then the strength and success went to his head. Arrogant and proud, he fell. One day, contemptuous of God, he walked into The Temple of God like he owned it and took over, burning incense on the Incense Altar. The priest Azariah, backed up by eighty brave priests of God, tried to prevent him. They confronted Uzziah: “You must not, you cannot do this, Uzziah—only the Aaronite priests, especially consecrated for the work, are permitted to burn incense. Get out of God’s Temple; you are unfaithful and a disgrace!”

But Uzziah, censer in hand, was already in the middle of doing it and angrily rebuffed the priests. He lost his temper; angry words were exchanged—and then, even as they quarreled, a skin disease appeared on his forehead. As soon as they saw it, the chief priest Azariah and the other priests got him out of there as fast as they could. He hurried out—he knew that God then and there had given him the disease. Uzziah had his skin disease for the rest of his life and had to live in quarantine; he was not permitted to set foot in The Temple of God. His son Jotham, who managed the royal palace, took over the government of the country. (The Message)

It was a time of national crisis. There was the appearance of outward prosperity, but inward there was much corruption. The king spent the final days of his life in seclusion. The young prophet must have been disillusioned and the future of the empire loomed large in the mind of both the people and the prophet. It was during this very bleak time that God stepped in and gave Isaiah the vision that would take the prophet far above the wreckage of his earthly hope; Isaiah was given a glimpse of the unspeakable glories of God and of Heaven, and what he saw would change his life and his message. From now on, Isaiah would realize that the hope of earth rested in God Himself.

2. The Woe of Condemnation, verse 5

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

We are told in various places in Scripture (Exodus 33:20; Matthew 5:8, for example) that only the holy see God and live. The fact that the prophet saw God and lived to write about indicates the estimation God had of His prophet. But, at the same time, there was work to be done on Isaiah’s heart.

G.W. Grogan observed,

The theme of divine holiness is of towering importance to Isaiah. This man of God could never forget the disclosure of transcendent purity he encountered…

When we come face to face with the absolute holiness of God, regardless of what He thinks of us, we can’t help but come face to face with our utter unholiness. When in the presence of God, we realize we are nothing. In the Hebrew Isaiah’s statement is slightly different: I am struck dumb. What can one who is nothing say in the presence of One in whom is everything? The light of the glory of God reveals the inner man, which is given expression through speech. Isaiah saw his true self and couldn’t join in the heavenly chorus of “Holy, holy, holy” until the Lord cleansed him.

Job had a similar experience. God Himself declared that Job was “perfect and upright,” yet we read this in Job 42:5-6,

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

In the KJV, Job says that he “abhors himself.” The light of God’s presence reveals things about ourselves we don’t like. Even Paul, after he encountered the risen Lord, he no longer saw himself as a self-righteous Pharisee, but as a sinner, lost and in need of salvation.

Isaiah, having seen what true worship is, became painfully aware of the imperfection of his devotion and the condition of his people. The leprous condition of their king was merely a picture of the true spiritual condition their own leprous lives.

3. The Lo of cleansing, verse 7

With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

To continue serving God after the death of Uzziah, Isaiah needed to be cleansed. It is the God of burning holiness Himself who did the work. Isaiah did nothing, except receive what God had provided. Some believe the burning coal was symbolic of Jesus Christ.

There is an interesting parallel between what happened to Isaiah and what happened to the believers gathered on the Day of Pentecost. In that instance, they were all touched by the Holy Spirit, evidenced by a flame settling on each person. Here, one of the seraphims touched a burning coal to the prophet’s lips, making him fit to carry on his ministry. Price makes this observation, “Calvary provided a Pentecost for every uncleansed believer.” Indeed, pardon and purity are part and parcel of what God does for us through Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul one time came face to face with his own wretched condition, even while preaching the Gospel:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)

Like Isaiah, Paul needed something only God could provide. Paul’s cry of desperation came, not as a lost sinner, but as a mighty man of God! The great lesson of Isaiah and Paul is this: living for God can only be accomplished by divine grace.

4. The Go of commission, verse 9

He said, “Go and tell this people…

Before we get to Isaiah’s call, we read a very interesting thing in verse 8:

“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

Many Christians have never felt as though they had been called of God to do anything. Even with a world of lost sinners dying all around them, so many believers have never felt “the call” to do anything about it! Of note is that Isaiah’s call didn’t come until after he had been cleansed by God. This is significant. Of course, he had been serving God prior to this, we would call him “born again,” yet he had not experienced this deeper relationship with God. He had never been made suitable for the task God had in mind for him. This is, I think, a great need within the church today. Our pews are full of people who have professed Christ and are serving Him, yet they have never experienced a total cleansing because they have never experienced this deeper relationship. Those who gathered in the Upper Room experienced it, Isaiah experienced it. God can and does bless His Word, even when it is given out by those flirting with sin. But imagine how much more effective our work for Him would be if we allowed Him to touch our lips with his supernatural fiery coals!

Of special note, as well, is the the fact the entire Trinity is involved in this cleansing of Isaiah. Notice the “we.” Isaiah heard the call, he responded, and was made fit for the new work to which God was call him.

Verse 9 begins the strange commission. At first reading, Isaiah’s message sounds harsh and mean. But God is not mean; His Word is light that reveals the hardness of man’s hearts, the blindness of man’s eyes, and the deafness of man’s ears. The light of God’s Word reveals the exact state a man is in. Isaiah is being called by God to take the light of God to a people in darkness. In reading God’s message to His people, is it any wonder why Isaiah needed to be cleansed and made fit? One can preach about the love of God after having experienced it, but one cannot preach repentance and holiness until one has been cleaned from the inside out, as Isaiah had been.

Conclusion

Isaiah’s commission would not be an easy one. Like our Lord, Isaiah suffered for the sake of his message. In frustration, the prophet cried out, “Who has believed our report?” (53:1) and “I spread my hands all the day unto a rebellious people” (65:2). His was a lonely life, and a life filled with great sorrow, as he watch the nation he served and loved going down under God’s judgment because of the stubbornness of the people’s hearts. Isaiah was to become the messenger of doom to an obdurate people, and only a small fraction of the population would be saved. Isaiah couldn’t do what he did for all those years had he not been made fit but the Spirit of God. He preached, he witnessed, he suffered, he died. Yet the seed Isaiah scattered in tears still bears a harvest to this very day.

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Isaiah’s Transforming Vision

A Study of Isaiah 6

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