1 Kings 19:19

ELIJAH CASTS HIS MANTLE UPON ELISHA

"So he departed thence and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed over unto him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again; for what have I done to thee? And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him."

"Plowing with twelve yoke of oxen" (1 Kings 19:19). This indicates that Elisha's father was a man of wealth, having either twelve sons, or one son and eleven servants who were tilling his fields. The fact that Elisha ran after Elijah indicated his WILLINGNESS to accept the challenge of following the prophet, but, as he said to Elijah, he wished to bid the family a formal farewell.

"Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother" (1 Kings 19:20). Some have compared this with the request of that would-be-disciples of Jesus who said, "Suffer me first to go and bury my father" (Luke 9:61-62), but there is no resemblance between the two events. Elisha merely wished to have a farewell banquet with his friends and family, but that disciple mentioned in Luke was proposing that he would follow Jesus at some indefinite future time when he had remained at home until his father died, and after that, he would follow Christ.

"Go back again; for what have I done to thee" (1 Kings 19:20). Keil interpreted these words to mean, "This was Elijah's permission for Elisha to return to his father and mother. The words can only mean that, `I have not wanted to put any constraint upon thee, but I leave it to thy free will to decide in favor of the prophetic calling.'"[20]

"Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him" (1 Kings 19:21). The farewell party was no great delay, perhaps a day or two. There were countless occasions in that intimate relationship between these two great prophets when Elijah could have anointed him, and most certainly did do so, as God had commanded. As for the anointing of Hazael and Jehu, Elijah probably instructed his erstwhile servant Elisha to accomplish that; and thus Elijah did it also, as one is said to do what he induces others to do.

Although the translation of Elijah when God took him up into heaven is not related until 2 Kings 2, we have the practical end of Elijah's prophetic career here.

As noted earlier, we are face to face with the supernatural throughout the narrative of the three chapters just concluded. And we wish to affirm our conviction that all of the wonders mentioned here are authentic actions of the eternal and omnipotent God, and that these unique actions were necessary in the circumstances, necessary to God's preservation of that faithful remnant of the children of the patriarchs through whom the Christ would be born.

No one, absolutely NO ONE, who does not believe in the supernatural can ever hope to be a Christian (Hebrews 11:6)! This makes belief in the supernatural the great issue of our times - and of all times.

Dr. Robert Flynt, President of the University of Scotland, once said: "The one great question regards the supernatural; in the final analysis, all other questions fade into the cosmic background." Is there anything higher in all of this universe than a human being? God pity the fool who is able to give that question a negative answer!