Brother Edmund Green’s 56-page study of two of the major Old Testament prophets is a masterly and valuable exercise in concise historical exposition. It has a factual, narrative approach which is never allowed to become bogged down in detail, and is a most readable introduction to the work of these representative men of God. From the outset the author is looking for that “Spirit of Christ” (or Messiah) which Peter tells us was in all the prophets (1 Pet. 1:10-12); and he finds it both in the individual events of the prophets’ lives and in the broad context of their ministries to their contemporaries.
Elisha, especially, is shown to foreshadow that prophet greater than Moses who was to come in later times; and the suggestion is made that, with a “double portion” of Elijah’s spirit upon him, Elisha may be “doubly illustrative of the mission of Jesus, whom John heralded”. Elisha’s mission, Brother Green concludes, “is therefore worthy of greater attention than we have been in the habit of giving it”.
Readers of The Testimony over recent years will know that, in these pages at least, Elisha’s ministry has not been neglected. Indeed, the publication in book form in 1986 of Brother David Wood’s long-running Testimony series, Elisha: the neglected prophet (reviewed May 1986, pp. 141-2, and still available from the author), went a long way towards redressing an unjust balance of neglect of an outstanding servant of God.
Happily this new book is complementary in approach, and students of the prophet’s life can be recommended to read both books without too much fear of serious overlap. For what Brother Green’s book lacks in overtly exhortational content ( a principal feature of Brother Wood’s approach), it makes up for in narrative pace. Ten chapters are sufficient for the author to steer us through the reigns of at least five kings, and still he finds space to take us forward to the Trans-figuration also.
Four valuable appendices allow Brother Green to tackle important topics, which inevitably arise from a study of Elijah and Elisha, without holding up the flow of his text; and these parts of the book alone would have been sufficient justification for publication. “The thematic structure of 2nd Kings” ( with a very useful ‘harmony’ chart), “The historical background to the ministries” (with a detailed chronology), “Assyrian records”, and “Elijah and John the Baptist”—these are all brief but helpful contributions.
And though in the last of these Brother Green refuses to enter into the controversy about the latter-day fulfilment of Elijah’s mission to Israel (“it is no use speculating about what has not been revealed”), he clearly leads us to associate the future revival of Elijah’s ministry with the “day of vengeance of our God”, soon to be revealed at the return of the Lord.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)