They said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.
The recognition of spiritual superiority
This is clearly an instance, not of the flunkey spirit, but of justifiable deference, a commendable acknowledgment of spiritual superiority. In the religious world, as in other spheres, some men are meant to lead and others to follow. Yes, but every man can select his own hero. Worship he must, but it is not necessary that he should become an idolater. He can determine for himself who or what shall be the object of his veneration and regard. No man is compelled to cast the pearl of admiration at the feet of swine. Hence to know the true status and quality of men it is sufficient to inquire at what shrine they prostrate themselves. To know the ideals he cherishes, the names he reveres, the heroes he admires, is to know a man at the most vital and central point. Where, then, does this test place these sons of the prophets that were at Jericho? It gives them the loftiest position; it stamps them as spirits of the wisest and noblest type.
1. How do we compare with these sons of the prophets which were at Jericho? What qualities do we require in men as the condition of our deferential regard? Is it enough that a man is of so-called royal descent? That by the accident of birth he occupies a throne and is called a king? How do we define these terms “royalty” and “kingship”? “Fine feathers” do not “make fine birds.” Neither do the trappings of kingly office constitute royalty and entitle their possessor to the loyal devotion of the people. There is a royalty of mere blood and lineage which may be, and frequently is, associated with vice and vulgar display and crass selfishness and intolerant pride. On the other hand, there is an aristocracy of the spirit, a royalty of soul, that comes not by a birth of blood, but by regeneration of the Spirit, and that displays itself in all sweet and gracious and noble living. To which of these do we Fay homage?
2. There is a further application of this thought on which we may dwell. It is sometimes said, “Oh, but we must have respect for the cloth.” What cloth? If “cloth” be the badge of authority, if the possession of it constitutes a man’s claim to special deference and regard, then how strangely is Elisha’s first and mightiest credential overlooked here. For he comes carrying in his hand the well-known mantle of the great man who has just ascended. But these sons of the prophets do not appear to have noticed it. We do not read, “Now when the sons of the prophets saw the mantle of Elijah in the hand of Elisha . . . they bowed themselves . . . “ Their homage was rendered on totally different ground. They saw that “the spirit of Elijah” did “rest on Elisha.” “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.” In the administration of the Kingdom of God on earth there is, of necessity, a law of succession. There is but one unchangeable priesthood. Every other servant of Jehovah, however great and apparently indispensable, is presently withdrawn from the busy sphere. But he leaves behind him his mantle. He does not take with him the source of power. So the Spirit of the Lord moves with sovereign freedom, alighting upon whom He will “The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisa.” Why Elisha? In almost every feature he is a striking contrast to his predecessor. “And when the sons of the prophets which were at Jericho saw . . . they said.” Then Elisha’s qualification for the high position was self-evident. It could be perceived and appraised by the onlooker. (H. Davenport.)
Elijah’s legacy
I. It was a legacy bequeathed with difficulty. There is a great, general truth underlying these words. It is a hard thing to communicate moral qualities It is easy to cause another to possess your material wealth; it is not so easy to enrich him mentally, morally, or spiritually. This is the experience of every good parent. You want to make men of your children. It is no easy task. What patience, what wisdom, what grace are needed to do it. Yet thank God it is a work in which many succeed. But, again, when Elijah said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing”--he meant, I think, that the request was beyond him. He could not give his servant what he sought. He might give him his mantle, and by doing so symbolise the transference of his office, but he could not give him his power. He could teach him--could from the resources of his own experience give him many a hint that was sure to be useful when he should fill his master’s place--but the power--the spiritual force--required, and required as the chief thing--that he could not cause him to inherit. So is it with us in whatever capacity we act for the good of others. We draw a distinct line between our work, what we can do, and what is beyond us--as possible only with One higher than we. We can plough the fields and sow the seed, but we cannot quicken it. We can preach and teach, but we cannot change the heart.
II. Elijah’s legacy was bequeathed with great willingness. When Elisha said, “Let me have a double portion of thy spirit,” Elijah’s first thought was, “You ask what is very hard to give”; but his second thought was, “Well, but I am after all pleased with your request. Now, I don’t say that I can give you this; but still what I cannot do I am sure the God whom I serve will do. Yes; it is a good desire, and if thou art faithful unto the end it shall be done unto thee.” There is surely an important lesson to be learned by us here. We ought not to do only the good that is of easy achievement. It will, indeed, be well for us if we always do what we can, yet the danger is to suppose that all we can do is what we can do with ease. We should remember that there is little value in the life that copes not with difficulties.
III. Elijah’s legacy was bequeathed because asked, “I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” From the promptness in which the request was made it is apparent that this was the blessing his heart was set upon obtaining. When the heart is fully resolved the tongue does not hesitate. His master confesses that it was a hard thing to grant; but if he had not asked it would have been impossible to endow him with such a blessing. It is the seeing soul that is enriched, not because God would enrich only the few, but His blessing can only enter the open receptive spirit. We have not because we ask not, or because we ask amiss. The thing I ask is great, but the greatness of my faith is commensurate, and, lo! the promise is spoken--“It shall be so unto thee,” and after the voice the heavens open and the blessing comes down. Let Elisha’s case encourage us to ask for what we need.
IV. Elijah’s legacy was bequeathed as the result of faithful service. A condition was attached to the bestowment of the blessing asked, “If thou see me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” (A. Scott.)
The true succession
The succession of Elisha was one marked by the sharpest and boldest contrasts.
I. In his origin. Elijah came from the mountainous country of Gilead. He was the wild man of the mountains. Elisha was called from the peaceful scenes of agricultural life.
II. The appearance of the men. This was totally unlike. Learn, that succession does not consist in dress; that a great man’s successors are those who carry forward his work, not those who ape his appearance. The true succession is one of character, and not one of clothes.
III. In their manner of life, so it should be always in the sphere of religion. There are other and better ways of succeeding to our Puritan forefathers than by singing Rouse’s version, adopting the nasal tone, sitting in cold meeting-houses, and listening to forty-headed sermons. But how slow some good people are to distinguish between religion and its accidental dress!
IV. The particular form of their work for God. Elijah’s was destruction; Elisha’s was construction. The first act of Elijah was to smite the land with a terrible curse. The first act of Elisha was to bless Jericho with the gift of good water. Lessons taught by the contrasts which I have mentioned:
1. The little stress which the Divine Arrayer and Architect places upon external sameness. We discover this Divine indifference far below the human level, and in the lowest spheres of life. The two blades of grass which grow at your feet are not exactly alike. They have their generic likeness, but they also have their points of difference. So with the roses. Each has its own style, its own peculiar blush. So with the noble pines which stand high up upon nature’s battlements waving their majestic plumes. Each one of them stands up an individual giant, itself in girth, itself in height, itself in beauty. Men come forth from the Divine Hand as unique, as peculiar, as are the roses or the planets. Each has his own beauty; each has his own orbit; each bears the stamp of the day in which he lives. Take an old Roman coin, and compare it with one which comes forth clearly cut from our own mint. What a difference between them! Yet both are precious metal, both are coin. So is it with the man whom God forms and equips for His work. He lays stress only upon the soul, only upon the spirit of a man.
2. The variety and flexibility of means and methods allowed in the kingdom of God. From the necessity of the ease, great flexibility and variety of method must be allowed to those who work for God. Because the generations change, knowledge increases, the line of battle shifts. He would be little better than a fool who should now preach to men in the style of the great divines of two centuries ago. As well might the soldier of to-day take the battle-axe, and go forth to the battlefield where the Minie whistles, and the shell shrieks, and the cannon-ball jumps miles at the touch of powder. And then as to Christian activity. Good men are afraid of many of its new forms. They shake their heads; as much as to question whether a soul, reached by the Gospel through the instrumentality of a layman, is after all much advantaged. Why, out yonder on the Western fields, the farmer harvests in one day with his reaping machine as much grain as he could do in a whole month with the old sickle. And he is not sorry; not sorry that he can cultivate five hundred acres instead of five. So, in these latter days, through the diversity of operations, the reaping power of the Gospel is multiplied a thousandfold. And yet men shake their heads. “This irregular preaching of the Gospel,” they exclaim. “Are we not going a little too fast? After all, hadn’t we better leave the world harvest to the priests and their orthodox sickles?” That God’s great work in this world always proceeds from that which is negative to that which is positive; from conversion to edification, from destruction to construction. In the Divine economy, threatening, correction, repression, destruction, mark only the first stage, the incipiency of the work. They are only ordered for the sake of an end outside of and beyond themselves. And this, the Divine method, we should follow.
1. In our working for others. We must lead the penitent forward into the life of positive righteousness, or we never form the “new man.” A man is like a vessel. He is formed to contain, and will surely be filled either with the good or with the bad. You cannot count on a vacuum in human nature; and, if you could, the world would get no benefit from it, and God would abhor it. You have not therefore Saved a man, if you have but emptied him of that which is bad.
2. This truth has also application to our own religious life. Christianity, piety, are more than negation, and our religion, if it is long to satisfy us, must have its positive side. Inanity is well-nigh as bad as foulness, and it would be to the shame of your manhood and your Saviour if you stopped with it. Take some aims worthy of a new life. Begin on something positive in the way of goodness.
3. The proper use of the great and good men who have gone before us. This is to take up their work, and to carry it forward; not, perhaps, just as they did, but as the Divine Providence intimates, and as we are best fitted to do it. (T. T. Mitchell,D. D.)
Possessing the spirit of another
Said the late Dr. Gordon: “Imagine one without genius and devoid of the artist’s training sitting down before Raphael’s famous picture of “The Transfiguration,” and attempting to reproduce it. How crude and mechanical and lifeless his work would be! But if such a thing were possible as that the spirit of Raphael should enter into the man, and obtain the mastery of his mind and eye and hand, it would be entirely possible that he should paint this masterpiece, for it would simply be Raphael producing Raphael. This is the solution of our imitation of Christ. To be filled with the Spirit is the secret of becoming like our Lord.
A holy succession
A good man died a little time since, and when his body had been carried to the grave, the little funeral party returned to the house; and the minister after a few words of kindly comfort was taking his departure, the eldest son called him aside for the moment and said, “There is a place empty in the church. My father is gone, will you take me instead? I want to fill up the gap: I want to be baptized for the dead.” (Helps for Speakers.)
