Death And burial forms the end of most people’s biographies. Of only a few could it be said that there was some extraordinary sequel to the ending of their life. One might think back to Joseph whose bones were retained throughout the declining fortunes of the Israelites in Egypt, taken across the wilderness journeyings by Moses, and subsequently buried in Shecheman event sufficiently important to merit an observation about Joseph’s faith in Hebrews 11. Looking forward from Elisha’s time, of course, there is the supreme example of Jesus, for whom a glorious resurrection followed his crucifixion and burial; but this is not quite in the same category, since the incident we are to consider here, as with Joseph, happened without the knowledge of the dead prophet. He sleeps, still awaiting the call of the Master to life at the day of his return.
We do not know how long Elisha had actually been dead days, weeks, or even months; but “at the spring of the year” ( resurrection time for nature, making it a very appropriate season for such a miracle) a dead man who was hurriedly cast onto the corpse of Elisha came to life again. It seems that it was the custom to commence raiding parties in the spring. This was not a custom limited to Moab or other pagan countries on Israel’s border, because we read in 2 Samuel 11:1 that “it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah”. Perhaps it seems strange to us that there should be a ‘war season’, but the Scriptures do say that there is “a time of war” as well as a time for peace (Eccl. 3:8).
Moab, as we recall from the record in 2 Kings 3, had been very severely dealt with by the combined armies of Israel, Judah and Edom. Although the battle seems to have had a devastating effect on Moab, there had, by this time, been sufficient recovery for them to make armed raids into the territory of Israel, presumably across the Jordan north of the Dead (Salt) Sea.
During one such raid an unknown man was being buried, when the enemy came upon the scene unexpectedly. What was to be done? There would be no time for ritual or ceremony, and the corpse was placed (or possibly even thrown) hastily into the sepulchre of Elisha. The idea of an open grave seems repugnant to Western ideas, and we might prefer to visualise the type of burial-cave that one is shown on a visit to the Mount of Olives where Haggai and other prophets are supposedly laid to rest—or even to think of some type of mausoleum, like ‘Rachel’s tomb’ near Bethlehem. But the record actually states that they were lowering the body and that it touched the bones of Elisha. In any event, what was to follow is much more important than how it was physically possible for the dead man to ‘touch’ Elisha’s bones, for “he revived, and stood up on his feet” (2 Kgs. 13:21).
What an amazing resurrection! even though it was just a revival to a further spell of mortality and not a resurrection to receive life eternal as Jesus’s rising again was to be, and for which we look in faith.
This makes a trio of such ‘revivals’ in this epoch of miracle: one in the ministry of Elijah, and two (including this) in (or as a sequel to) the ministry of Elisha. (There were to be three such revivals also in the ministry of Jesus: Jairus’s daughter, the widow’s son at Nain, and Lazarus.) Was the point of this unusual miracle once more to reinforce the power of God and the impotence of Baal, or Rimmon, or Chemosh? Was it to reassure the remaining faithful in Israel who would now feel bereft of spiritual leadership by the death of Elisha?
If it accomplished both of these aims then it would continue to do what all the ministry and miracles of Elisha had been directed towards. But it did something more: it put the seal of God’s approval on the long service of Elisha. An unknown man received an unexpected lease of life by his contact with the dead prophet.
Could it not also be said that we ourselves, having become associated with the death of Jesus, have been brought to newness of life by him? We were unable to help ourselves, being dead in trespasses and sins, but have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ I know that our Saviour and Redeemer is not now a dead prophet, and that it was because he died and then conquered death that life can come to us. But the parallel remains which should make us grateful, as this unknown soldier must have been, that, through circumstances over which he had no control, he was blessed with a renewal of that precious commodity: life!
This was, of course, the final miracle in the career of our ‘brother’ Elisha. (Can we not now use such an affectionate term of one that we have come to know a little better by our studies? He is now less of the “neglected prophet” that I have suggested by the title of this study, because we have walked in our imagination with him for so long.) The day when he will awake from the dead cannot now be long delayed, and God knows his resting-place as surely now—after all these centuries—as He did when He performed a miracle in bringing to life that anonymous man so long ago. What a comfort this is to those who mourn, for they sorrow not as those without hope, for “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Ps. 116:15).
God, unlike any man, knew where Moses was buried when He wished him to appear on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt. 17:3), and where the bodies of certain saints lay at rest when they appeared briefly after the resurrection of Christ (Mt 27:52). God knows full well where all His people are, whether dead or alive; and when they are to be raised, or caught away, their location will be no problem to the Almighty. Elisha will be one of the “many. . . that sleep in the dust of the earth (who) shall awake” (Dan. 12:2). What a joy it will be to learn more of this remarkable man, if we are privileged to be reckoned faithful alongside him at that great day!
The work goes on
But, as we noted earlier, the sun did not finally go down on the prophets with the death of Elisha, for in the next chapter (2 Kgs. 14) we read of the service of Jonah the son of Amittai, who ministered in the same area before becoming the ‘reluctant missionary’ to that Gentile city of Nineveh. We may trace a startling similarity here. Elijah the herald, the dramatic and lonely prophet whose ministry came to an abrupt end, is reflected in part by John the Baptist. Elisha must, therefore, be seen as a type of Christ himself, to be followed by Peter and Paul and others whose ministry took them first to their own people, and then (after the death and resurrection of Jesus) to Gentiles.
They needed the same dramatic about-face as did Jonah one by the vision of the sheet let down from heaven full of unclean beasts (Acts 10), the other by an encounter with the risen Christ on the Damascus road (Acts 9) to result in him (a Hebrew of the Hebrews) becoming, in time, the great Apostle to the Gentiles. But we must not be here sidetracked into a study of the man from Gath-hepher in Galilee, just a few miles fron Nazareth.
Conclusion
It is not my intention to review, by way of conclusion, all the miracles of the life of Elisha. I can only suggest his life is an exhortation in itself and hope that I have stimulated some to take a closer look at his life by this devotional exposition. I am sure I have missed some ‘gems’, even though I have searched quite widely in the words and works of those who have studied this great prophet in earlier years and in our own time. (I should be glad to hear from any who have discovered something else of interest about Elisha.)1 Meanwhile, the prophet sleeps, and of him who served his own generation so faithfully it may be said that, like Abel, “he being dead yet speaketh” through the inspired Word.
As a type of Christ, both in his earthly ministry and in giving us glimpses of the “powers of the world to come”, Elisha remains a fascinating study and example. In his witness to the omnipotence of God in a dark time, and the comfort he must have brought to the faithful in those days, Elisha still has a lot to teach us in similar days of decline and ungodliness.
From the fields of Abel-meholah, through the hills and valleys of Israel and over its borders, in the company of kings or with simple town and country folk, we have companied with this great servant of God, witnessing his testimony and the miracles which God did by him. We have, in our minds, suffered the privations of his trials and hunger, thrilled to witness new life from his prayers, and seen healing and happiness come to the afflicted. We have entered into the steadfast faith in the Lord which shines through the prophet’s long service. Perhaps, too, our eyes have been opened to see that they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kgs. 6:16). Shortly Elisha will stand again in the land, awakened from his long sleep, to receive from the one he foreshadowed, even Jesus himself, the prize of eternal life. By the mercy of God may it also be our privilege and joy to stand with him in that day. Amen.
Reference
1. Will any reader who wishes to take up the offer to write please note the author’s address: “The Driftway”, Rectory Lane, Stevenage, Herts. SG1 4BX.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One