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Elijah and Elisha
Our Bible reading this week transitioned from the prophetic ministry of Elijah to that of Elisha. I don’t know about you, but I always get the “E-s” mixed up, so here’s an exercise that I’ve long wanted to do:
Elijah
1. Appears on the scene suddenly in the reign of Ahab – 1 Kgs 17:1
2. Declares a 3.5 year drought – 1 Kgs 17:1; Jas 5:17
3. Fed by ravens at Brook Cherith – 1 Kgs 17:4-6
4. Multiplies oil for widow of Zarephath; stays with her – 1 Kgs 17:8-16
5. Raises widows’ son from the dead – 1 Kgs 17:17-24
6. Sends Obadiah to tell Ahab to meet with him – 1 Kgs 18:1-16
7. Ahab calls him the “troubler of Israel” – 1 Kgs 18:17
8. Defeats prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt. Carmel – 1 Kgs 18
9. Flight from Jezebel to Horeb; wants to die – 1 Kgs 19
10. Calls Elisha to follow him – 1 Kgs 19:19-21
11. Confronts Ahab over murder of Naboth – 1 Kgs 21:17-24
12. Confronts Ahaziah’s messengers seeking counsel at Ekron – 2 Kgs 1
13. Calls down fire on those sent by Ahaziah to arrest him – 2 Kgs 1
14. Final journey with Elisha; parts the Jordan River – 2 Kgs 2:1-8
15. Ascends to heaven in chariot of fire, whirlwind – 2 Kgs 2:11
16. Appears on mount of transfiguration with Moses, Jesus – Mt 17
Elisha
1. Slaughters oxen for the people before following Elijah – 1 Kgs 19:19-21
2. Requests double portion of Elijah’s spirit – 2 Kgs 2:9-10
3. Parts the Jordan River with Elijah’s mantle – 2 Kgs 2:14
4. Reluctantly agrees to search party for Elijah’s body – 2 Kgs 2:16-18
5. Purifies water of city with salt – 2 Kgs 2:19-22
6. Curses youths who disrespected him with bear attack – 2 Kgs 2:23-25
7. Prophesied victory for Jehoram/Jehoshaphat over Moab – 2 Kgs 3:11-27
8. Multiplies oil in borrowed vessels for widow – 2 Kgs 4:1-7
9. Prophesies son for Shunammite; raises him from dead – 2 Kgs 4:8-37
10. Purified poisoned stew with flour – 2 Kgs 4:38-41
11. Multiplies bread for 100 men to eat – 2 Kgs 4:42-44
12. Heals Naaman’s leprosy – 2 Kgs 5:1-19
13. Curses Gehazi with leprosy for his greed, lying – 2 Kgs 5:20-27
14. Makes borrowed axe head to float – 2 Kgs 6:1-7
15. Shows servant horses/chariots of fire protecting him – 2 Kgs 6:16-17
16. Blinds Syrian army; has them fed and released – 2 Kgs 6:8-23
17. Joram threatens to execute during siege of Samaria – 2 Kgs 6:24-33
18. Prophesies of abundance of food on following day – 2 Kgs 7:1
19. Prophesies that Hazael will murder Ben-Hadad – 2 Kgs 8:7-15
20. Directed young prophet to anoint Jehu king – 2 Kgs 9:1-13
21. Rebukes Joash in last words regarding Syrians – 2 Kgs 13:14-19
22. Bones revive man being laid in Elisha’s tomb – 2 Kgs 13:20-21
These two men were prophetic giants. Elijah is the quintessential prophet, the mold in which John the Baptist was cast (Lk 1:17; Mk 9:11-13; Mt 17:10-13). God raised them up and gave them astounding miraculous powers in the days when Israel began its fatal decline.
Yet they were human: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours …” (Jas 5:17). Elijah was both courageous and despondent. Elisha seems sterner, a no-nonsense figure that looms large among the generation he served. Even so, they could not force Israel into a right heart, and the nation could not be saved from its headlong plunge into self-destruction.
