LIFE AS SEEN IN THE MINISTRIES OF ELIJAH AND ELISHA (1)
[p. 41] LIFE AS SEEN IN THE MINISTRIES OF ELIJAH AND ELISHA (1)
1 Kings 17: 17 - 24; 2 Kings 4: 17 - 37
JT What is in mind is the need of life — life in the young — not life and death, but death and life. On the principle of faith we have to come to death in order to live. These passages are much the same and yet dissimilar. The first has reference to the confirmation of the Lord’s testimony in those who render it, and in the second the effect is inward. We have the mother — the saints viewed in that light collectively. The child is brought back to life and delivered to the mother. She is the objective in the miracle. She would be a different woman in the house from what she had been. She had been great spiritually, but now she would be greater. She “went out” with her son brought back to life. It is a question of what she is. It was a new experience for her, and hence a wholly new feature in her formation. The need of life is what we learn from these passages. Men of God keep God before us. We see how they are confirmed in their testimony, and on the other hand, how the saints are confirmed and brought back into the realm of life.
Ques Would baptism be suggested here in regard to death?
JT Baptism is a figure of death and burial. “If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection”, Romans 6: 5.
Ques What is the difference in your mind between Elijah and Elisha?
JT Elijah is in the house. Whilst it is a household matter in both cases. Elisha had left the house, but Elijah had not. It is the mistress of the house who is before us in Elijah’s case, she had no husband. She was in a critical position, and Elijah comes in with the light of [p. 42] God in regard to the meal and the oil. There is the continuance of what was already there — the barrel of meal and a cruse of oil. Then the son falls sick; the sickness was observable, but it was not diagnosed, although it should have been. Those responsible are to observe what happens, and to see what causes this sickness in the young. Here there was a gradual ebbing out of life in the child, in spite of the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil. In spite of much light and testimony, so to speak, the sickness is not arrested. There seems to be a want of understanding as to how the thing is to be met in both cases. Ministers are apt to overlook this side of the truth — they are occupied with externals, and the bringing to life is sometimes foreign to them. Elijah was very concerned — for the ministers are to take the matter to heart. There was no breath left in the child, and evidently no power to arrest the sickness, which was a very solemn thing both for Elijah and the mistress of the house; see verse 18. Elijah was in a very awkward position in the eyes of those to whom he ministered. When trouble arises, very often the servant’s position is not clear and he has to accept reproach.
Ques Who is the mistress of the house?
JT If we think of the assembly from a maternal point of view, the young go in and out among us, and we discern them and feel that we are responsible as to them. The mother is the nearest to the young. The paternal side is not in evidence. The thought seems to be that these things happen and all the saints are brought into it. The full thought of the mother is “Jerusalem above” — Sarah is the great type of this. She was concerned about her son, about influences and weaning. She is more in line than Abraham. So it should be the great concern for all of us as much as for the ministers, but they, too are responsible. Elijah is great, and yet he does not arrest the sickness, or take the initiative. It is the mother.
Ques Why does she speak of iniquity?
JT In verse 18 she says, “What have I to do with [p. 43] thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son?” Something unjudged comes to light in these circumstances. She must have been calling her own iniquity to remembrance. If there are some of the saints dying morally, there must be something wrong among us. To get the maternal idea we must go back to Sarah — she is a type of the assembly morally elevated. The young are frequently allowed to move along on the level of the world, and there is no effort to check it. The barrel of meal was there and the cruse of oil, and yet there was this severe sickness. Spiritually we know what it is — life ebbing out, not sudden death, but no power to arrest it. It is left with us to discern. Whatever scripture is read, it bears on those who read it or who hear it. So this chapter bears on us here this afternoon. There is a searching character about it. The ministry had not had a deep and spiritual effect on the woman. Her mind is clouded and she talks of her iniquity. There must have been some there; and she blames the man of God. It was all contrary to the spirit of the man in her house, for she had already said that he was a man of God.
In Romans 7 I am learning to analyse what I am internally, but here it is a young person, and nothing of his character is recorded. The sickness is not diagnosed, but it should be diagnosed in our meeting here this afternoon. We should know what is current amongst us, and how it continues and causes death in a moral sense. Young people lose response to God in His things and die. We all need to be exercised about this. Are we taking notice of these things? We are apt to blame the wrong person, not taking it home to ourselves. We are apt to say it is the boy’s fault, and the thing is allowed to drift without any effort to check it. The mother appeals to the prophet here, who is placed in a very serious light in her eyes; he represents the ministry at the moment. It is the maternal side in both these cases that is prominent. There is no father here — there [p. 44] is in 2 Kings 4, but no appearance of spirituality with him. Eventually Elijah knows what to do to meet the case. He says, “Give me thy son”. He takes him entirely out of her bosom. We may take part in the meeting, but our young may be brought up entirely on natural lines. Elijah proceeds to meet the situation on right lines. He takes the child over — there is a change of position. He removes him from her bosom, he takes him out of his natural setting. It means that the minister brings the sick young christian into the realm of divine love. Love never fails. There is no edification but by love — love edifies. Viewed from a spiritual standpoint, there must have been the allowance of worldliness in the household. Children are brought up on natural lines and we tolerate it, and fail to see that they are slowly dying. This boy was brought up on the mother’s natural bosom — she would probably bear much from him and would make great allowances and excuses for him, whereas God has a right to him. Elijah takes him up into an elevated position. It is a question of where he abides. John’s gospel brings this out — they say, “Rabbi ... where abidest thou?” and they abide with Him that day. This is a principle. We need to be taught in the right place. Dorcas was put in the upper chamber as dead, and brought back to life there. That position was necessary, but there were weeping widows there whom Peter put out. It is a moral elevation corresponding with Acts 1 — the upper room. When the child was restored, Elijah brought him from his upper chamber to “the house”, as if his chamber were not part of the house — it was elevated. And then he can present her son to the mother living. He is now to live on another principle. The woman is now satisfied that Elijah is a man of God. “Now by this I know”, she says, “that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth”. The testimony becomes discredited unless there is life. The apostle says “they shall proceed no further”, 2 Timothy 3: 9. Imitators can go no further as life is [p. 45] active. The woman is satisfied that the word of Elijah is truth. It can now be seen. What a different house it is! At Pentecost everyone heard in his own tongue the wonderful works of God — the moral connection is the upper chamber (Acts 1). The Spirit of God was present and His power was there in a living way.
A low moral state in our homes would bring about the situation described here. Our homes affect the assembly in this way and bring the testimony into discredit, and the ministers also. The cruse of oil and the barrel of meal were there for a whole year, but they did not prevent death in this lad. What is before us may help us as to worldliness in our houses. If it is so, we shall proceed on the lines that Elijah did. The first thing is to detach the young from the natural. Sarah weaned her son, and Samuel was a weaned child as brought to the house of God. Elijah took the child from the mother’s bosom to where he himself abode. It suggests that the children are to be in a new environment entirely. Then Elijah cried to Jehovah and in his prayer in verse 20 he does not seem to be clear why Jehovah had done this, but he stretches himself on the child and prays again. He identifies himself completely with the child, and this he does three times. It is a figure of the Spirit of Christ, identifying Himself with us in death. “One died for all, then all have died”, 2 Corinthians 5: 14. He then says, “Let this child’s soul come into him again”. He does not admit that soul and body are definitely separated. He prays as if the soul were very near at hand, but it is life out of death. Jehovah does exactly what the prophet asks Him to do. That is very encouraging to those who minister — your prayer exactly covers the case. The great feature of Elijah’s ministry was prayer — his prayers were very definite. He was a man who knew how to express himself rightly in regard to a matter. In the account of his prayer that it should not rain, as given in the New Testament, we are merely told that he prayed and it did not rain, and he prayed again and God sent rain, but in [p. 46] the book of the Kings we get his deep exercise. He puts his face between his knees on mount Carmel. What a profound exercise! He represents the need of taking things thoroughly to heart and making them our own.
Ques Would it seem that Elijah acquainted himself with the conditions before he prayed?
JT He was deeply concerned. He grasped the bearing of it on his own ministry. What strikes one is the procedure — how accurate it was! It showed how right his exercise was that Jehovah answered him exactly as he prayed. It is an encouragement to those who minister that they should pray in intelligent detail. Very likely it was because Elijah did not pray for the child before that the sickness came upon him! He appeared to take no notice of the child before. We are wholly cast upon God for our children. The children of all the saints should be on our hearts. There are great possibilities for our children if they are detached from the natural. It is a household matter, but also a ministerial matter. Want of moral elevation was the trouble here. No doubt it made a great impression on that child to come to life on the prophet’s bed. He might say to his mother, Why was I not restored on your bed? To bring life out of death we need to be more before God in prayer. The father in Mark 9 brings his child to the Lord. The disciples were as little able to help as those around. We are cast upon God for our children. It is a household matter, but also collective and ministerial — perhaps the ministry has been faulty.
Ques Is the mother able to help the son now?
JT The effect on the mother is mentioned here. She says, “Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of Jehovah in thy mouth is truth”. It is a question of God, His word and the truth. There is a great deal of attention paid to the bodies and minds of the children, but the point is their souls.
In 2 Kings 4 the child of the Shunammite was given miraculously, so that he is already viewed as from God.
[p. 47] He is born in due time. There was growth — there was something of God there, but the trouble was his head. It represents what children learn. Where excessive education is allowed in relation to the children of those in fellowship, it damages them. The boy knows where the trouble lies. He went out to his father and said, “My head, my head!” The father was not able to help him, but fathers ought to be exercised about their sons as to their education, for the schools are full of poison. The question is, are you giving them a high education so that they shall make a mark in this world, or only just sufficient to meet ordinary needs, to make a living? As soon as you seek to put them on a high level of education, they are specially exposed to poison. In this same chapter we find there is death in the pot. With ‘higher’ education the point is largely flattery. Here it is a Colossian case that is in mind. In the previous passage, (verses 1 - 7), it is more Romans. Here the boy went to his father, which was right, but his father was not able to help him. The Shunammite, like many a godly mother, had concern for her son, but if there is one eye on the world and another on the assembly, the mixture is deadening. The mother nurses him as a mother would. He sat on her knees till noon, and at noon, when his strength ought to have been at its greatest, he dies; there was no power to retard the hand of death. It comes in largely in connection with mental powers. Perhaps the boy does not know, but the father ought to have known. So the mother goes to the man of God, and even he does not know about it. He says, “the Lord hath hid it from me”. He immediately sends Gehazi with his staff, as if experience could help in the matter, but it is not experience that is needed, it is the power of life, and Elisha is remiss here. She caught him by the feet, which indicates her deep exercise, it was so urgent, but Gehazi did not understand. Elisha thought his staff would do, but he had to go back with her. She had the right thought in laying the child on his bed, but she had lacked [p. 48] in some sense. She is mentioned as a great woman, but evidently she was remiss in the care of her child. Gehazi said, “The child is not awaked”; so Elisha goes in and closes the door. He had the idea of the exclusion of everything that would be a hindrance — everything unspiritual. Elisha went further than Elijah in identifying himself with the faculties of the person. Eyes on his eyes, mouth upon his mouth — it is the thought of correspondence with Christ. He walked to and fro in the house. That means the whole house is to be affected, whether the believer’s house or the assembly is involved. It is the effect of the movement of the representative of God. The damage done in this case takes the form of educational influence. It is the head. In the first incident, the case at Zarephath, the inference is that the mother made allowances for her son’s natural proclivities. He was not detached from her. There the prophet stretched himself upon the child, but here Elisha puts his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands, identifying himself with these faculties so that he might be brought back to be like the prophet — in type, like Christ. I am concerned to convey the idea that the child is no longer to be under the influence of the natural. Romans 7 deals with what we are internally, leading to the clarification of the function of the mind. “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. There is correspondence to Christ in that way — you take account of everything as He would. There is that faculty which normally comes under the renewing power of the Spirit. This enables us to enter on Colossians, which teaches us headship — Christ is Head of the assembly by right of His own Person, it is not given to Him in that sense. In Ephesians He is given to be Head over all things to the assembly.