Passing the mantle

The first task given to Elijah on the road back was to anoint was his replacement! Elijah had been told specifically that he was to anoint Elisha as prophet in his own place. Elisha was not just to be a prophet, but the prophet in the place of Elijah. No one lives forever and someone would have had to take Elijah’s place but no one likes to be reminded of their mortality and to have it implied that their ministry could be over sooner than they think. Whether Elijah thought at the time that he was to immediately relinquish his call or that Elisha would take over when Elijah passed away is unknown but it is likely that he would have been less than impressed with the idea that he was to prepare for his own demise. But it is sign of Elijah’s obedience and his desire to return to the place of God’s favour that he did as God required.

Elijah began his journey to Damascus and on the way he sought out Elisha who was working the fields with his oxen and labourers. As he approached Elisha no greeting was exchanged, no salutation offered and no casual interchange of thoughts or ideas. Instead when he saw Elisha he went over to him, threw his mantle on him and kept on walking! His actions may have seemed a little churlish, surely this passing of the prophetic mantle could have been handled more graciously, shouldn’t there have been a little ceremony, perhaps anointing with oil or something. Or maybe that’s the way we would do things – make a big deal of someone assuming a ministry role to which they have been called and turning it into some sort of celebrity event. It seems that both of the men involved accepted that this was a normal passing of the baton. Elijah’s ministry was coming to an end and it was Elisha that would take the baton for the next leg of the race. Like Elijah, the ministry that God has given to you will one day be passed on to another. It is not your personal possession that you should jealously hang on to but one that is to be entrusted to faithful men and women so that they too can run the race that is before them. Do not hang on to your ministry so tightly that you cannot give it up when God calls you to do so.

After Elisha had received the mantle from Elijah he returned to his family, said goodbye to them and then sacrificed his oxen. Then he ran after Elijah caught him and followed after him. Elisha had been given the prophetic mantle but now he followed Elijah so that he could minister to him. Elisha understood that his first task as a leader in the nation was to serve and the person he was going to serve was Elijah. He followed after Elijah because he could learn from him, yes he would take his place but he was not going to play the part of a usurper, he would wait until God told him to take on the prophetic role, but until then he would serve Elijah. Obviously Elisha had respect for Elijah and recognized him as a man of God who had been mightily used and who would be again. Whatever Elijah thought, Elisha did not expect him to step aside.

It must have been difficult for Elisha to play second fiddle to Elijah when he knew that he was to assume his responsibility. Did he secretly hope for his time to come sooner or did he calmly wait for his turn? The role of ‘leader in waiting’ is a difficult one to fill. Unfortunately many ambitious men and women who have been understudies to strong leaders have become frustrated and acted in ways that are inappropriate. This happens in all walks of life from aspiring political leaders to businessmen and sports people. Often impatient aspirants for the ‘top job’ manipulate and contrive to create a situation where they can rise to the position they desire. Others may be able to humbly bide their time but even then their frustration can show. Elisha did not have these issues, his demeanor was one of humility and patience. He was unruffled and prepared to wait until God called him. He didn’t try to hurry things along, he just did what he needed to do until God called him into greater responsibilities.

Elisha had given up wealth, family, social standing and comfort to follow Elijah. He had been given the mantle and it would not have been unreasonable for him to expect to be given some significant position or role. But this was not to be for some time and until it did happen he was to remain the companion of Elijah. Elisha saw this as an opportunity to serve, to minister to the needs of this man of God. He didn’t seek the limelight, he knew that he could best accomplish God’s purposes by assisting the man who was still the prophet of Israel.

It may be that you are waiting to rise to a position of influence. You have faithfully served other leaders and assisted them to accomplish their goals, and of course they received all the credit. But you know that God has prepared works for you to do, if only some of these old stagers would just move out of the way. This is especially difficult for the young. Youth brings its own impatience and in these days of fast foods, microwaves, drive through eating and instant nearly everything there is no need to delay the gratification of any desire. We know what we want and we want it now! If God has placed you second or below on the totem pole in whatever sphere of ministry he has called you to – whether that is pulpit ministry, the business world, education, government or some other endeavour – it is so that you can serve those in leadership. It can be frustrating and you may be right in assuming you know better than those who lead you and could in fact do a better job but until God prepares the way for you to take the top spot he wants you to stay where you are, humbly ministering to those who have gone before. Not all of us are called to be leaders in every endeavour we commit to, some are – but not all. Some are happy to remain followers and that is entirely in accord with what God wants, but there are those who are called to be leaders and they are required to remain in a place of service until God elevates them to the place of leadership. And he will only do that once they have learnt how to serve.

Oh, By the Way

Elijah’s chief complaint was that he had been left alone to complete an overwhelming task. He had done his best but it wasn’t enough, and now those he had publicly opposed had threatened to kill him. God had listened to his complaint without comment and finally given him some new directions. He was to be given the opportunity to be restored, all he needed to do was to go back the way he came and follow God’s latest instructions. And oh, by the way God added, there are 7000 people in Israel who have not given up their faith and who remained faithful. Elijah’s excuse was taken away. He was not alone, there were 7000 others!

People in ministry often have a sense of being alone. There is no one else to help, no one understands, you are struggling against overwhelming odds with no or little support. Just as in Elijah’s day, God does not leave you alone, there are always others who have the same passions and determination you do and God is more than willing to connect you with them. But that won’t happen as long as you sit in your caves, feeling sorry for yourself and finding ways to justify your disobedience. Elijah needed to honestly consider his position and acknowledge this before God and then take the necessary steps to get back on track. So long as he refused to do this he was going to remain where he was in a state of spiritual depression.

Ministry is sometimes a lonely calling, more often than not you will be following a voice that only you have heard and sometimes that means others will not understand why you do the things you do. You cannot experience someone else’s passion or enthusiasm, and they can’t experience yours; this is something that you must have firsthand. It is only as you remain centred in the will of God by obediently following his every direction that you can be certain to avoid those times of absolute frustration and disappointment. God will provide you with those who will share your journey, but it is only as you fully commit yourself to that journey that those fellow travelers will emerge. Too often Christians follow a populist plan seeking to be the friend to all and accepted by everyone. By trying not to offend any and include all they become weak and powerless. Like a ship without a rudder they lose direction. In seeking those to travel or work with it is important to find those that share the same dreams and visions you have, to form a cohesive group rather than an inclusive one. The effort invested in including everybody dissipates the energy available to achieve the goals God has given to you.

Elijah jumped to the conclusion that he alone was left, he didn’t believe that God had others that were working behind the scenes as he took the up-front position, but he had. One of those was the man who was going to take his place, Elisha. There were no doubt many prophets still faithful to God in Israel and ordinary people who were daily crying out to God about the injustice in the land. But Elijah assumed that the work was all for him to do and he was too tired to continue. God may have called you to a specific ministry and you may have a prominent part in it but it is not your task alone. Just as for Elijah, God has many others that you might not even know who are faithfully working toward the same ends as you are and they are just waiting for some leadership and encouragement from you to rise up and accept the challenge.

If you are feeling tired, dispirited and alone ask God to lead you to those others who will share your load. The work you have done will not be forgotten, God will honour your labour and give reward for the work you have done, but he wants you to continue, so get up, leave your cave and get back on track.best but it wasn’t enough, and now those he had publicly opposed had threatened to kill him. God had listened to his complaint without comment and finally given him some new directions. He was to be given the opportunity to be restored, all he needed to do was to go back the way he came and follow God’s latest instructions. And oh, by the way God added, there are 7000 people in Israel who have not given up their faith and who remained faithful. Elijah’s excuse was taken away. He was not alone, there were 7000 others!

People in ministry often have a sense of being alone. There is no one else to help, no one understands, you are struggling against overwhelming odds with no or little support. Just as in Elijah’s day, God does not leave you alone, there are always others who have the same passions and determination you do and God is more than willing to connect you with them. But that won’t happen as long as you sit in your caves, feeling sorry for yourself and finding ways to justify your disobedience. Elijah needed to honestly consider his position and acknowledge this before God and then take the necessary steps to get back on track. So long as he refused to do this he was going to remain where he was in a state of spiritual depression.

Ministry is sometimes a lonely calling, more often than not you will be following a voice that only you have heard and sometimes that means others will not understand why you do the things you do. You cannot experience someone else’s passion or enthusiasm, and they can’t experience yours; this is something that you must have firsthand. It is only as you remain centred in the will of God by obediently following his every direction that you can be certain to avoid those times of absolute frustration and disappointment. God will provide you with those who will share your journey, but it is only as you fully commit yourself to that journey that those fellow travelers will emerge. Too often Christians follow a populist plan seeking to be the friend to all and accepted by everyone. By trying not to offend any and include all they become weak and powerless. Like a ship without a rudder they lose direction. In seeking those to travel or work with it is important to find those that share the same dreams and visions you have, to form a cohesive group rather than an inclusive one. The effort invested in including everybody dissipates the energy available to achieve the goals God has given to you.

Elijah jumped to the conclusion that he alone was left, he didn’t believe that God had others that were working behind the scenes as he took the up-front position, but he had. One of those was the man who was going to take his place, Elisha. There were no doubt many prophets still faithful to God in Israel and ordinary people who were daily crying out to God about the injustice in the land. But Elijah assumed that the work was all for him to do and he was too tired to continue. God may have called you to a specific ministry and you may have a prominent part in it but it is not your task alone. Just as for Elijah, God has many others that you might not even know who are faithfully working toward the same ends as you are and they are just waiting for some leadership and encouragement from you to rise up and accept the challenge.

If you are feeling tired, dispirited and alone ask God to lead you to those others who will share your load. The work you have done will not be forgotten, God will honour your labour and give reward for the work you have done, but he wants you to continue, so get up, leave your cave and get back on track.

Go back the way you came!

‘Go back the way you came’. These were Elijah’s new marching orders. Twice God had asked Elijah what he was doing hiding in a cave a long way from where he should have been, and twice Elijah had tried to justify himself. It seems that God had had enough of these attempts of Elijah to dodge the question so he told him to go back down the mountain. Specifically Elijah was told to go to the wilderness of Damascus. Elijah spent a lot of time in the wilderness, sometimes at God’s direction and at others by his own choice. This time God instructed him specifically where to go and it was to the wilderness of Damascus. Damascus was the capital of Syria a nation that was frequently at war with Israel and on the way he would pass those places from which he had recently run. This may not have been the news Elijah was waiting for but nevertheless he obeyed.

God’s words conveyed both a rebuke but also an opportunity for restoration. The ministry to which Elijah had been specifically called was to be handed over to others but there was still work for him to do. In order for Elijah to be restored to his place of service he needed to go back the way he came. There was no other way, he could not find an alternative route, it was by way of the wilderness and the destination was Damascus. Elijah had left his ministry; he had run from a threat issued by Queen Jezebel and was now hiding in a cave in the land of Judah a long way from where he should have been but God was offering him a way back. There was work for him to do but first he needed to obey.

Have you become worn out, disillusioned, frustrated or disappointed at the results of doing the things you have committed to? Do you feel like giving up and finding a cave to hide in? Are you already in that cave? Are you no longer impressed by the supernatural displays of God that you once found inspiring? Perhaps you just want retire from ministry and leave it all to someone else. No matter what your personal circumstances God still has work for you to do. No matter how great you consider your failure to be, or the hurdles that you face, the God of all grace who commands the very forces of nature will sustain you and bring you safe to the place of his calling.

Elijah was to go back the way he came but he had to anoint others to carry out the ministry that was his to fulfill. There were other things for Elijah to do, but the task of eliminating the false worship from Israel and destroying the hold of King Ahab was to be given to others. Elijah was told to do three specific things. He was to anoint Hazael as king of Aram; Jehu was to be set apart as king of Israel and Elisha was to be anointed as prophet in his own place. God intended to remove idolatry from Israel and also to blot out the sin of Ahab and his family. He had called Elijah for this purpose but unfortunately he had stopped short of the mark. In the language recently become popular he had ‘cut and run’ from the contest. But God would not leave his work undone; others would be called to take Elijah’s place.

The first person named by God was Hazael a servant of the king of Syria, Ben-Hadad. Hazael later murdered his master and ruled Syria in his place. The second person was Jehu a soldier in the army of King Jehoram. Jehu assassinated Jehoram and reigned in his place. These two men were to carry on the work of Elijah. Hazael fought against Israel and started breaking up its territories while Jehu eradicated the worship of Baal and exterminated the descendants of Ahab. Elisha was busy plowing his fields when Elijah reached him and there is nothing to indicate he had any particular significance prior to being set aside for this prophetic ministry. God’s choice of men is interesting in that none of those mentioned were, at the time people of significance or in positions of power. Even more remarkable is that Hazael was a bloodthirsty pagan who murdered the rightful king in order to rule in his place. And yet this is the man that God chose to fulfill his plans.

We should never be surprised by the choices that God makes in using people to accomplish his purposes. He seldom acts in a manner that we would find predictable. If we are looking for leaders or agents of change we will probably have a list of criteria that needs to be fulfilled which will include a position of influence, power, wealth and networking ability. Physical attractiveness, high intellect and a charismatic personality will also be high on that list. But God does not see as we see. He knows the people he has chosen to complete his plans and they are determined well ahead of time. God has chosen you to implement his plans and his choice is not based on your own talent or personal ability. His choice is sovereign and is determined by his grace alone. If you are put in a place where you have the opportunity to bring change it is because he has set you apart for this task and he is depending on to rise to the challenge. If you find the task difficult and you elect to ‘cut and run’ God will raise up others in your place, and you may have to watch on from sidelines.

There is always a way back to the place of God’s choosing, he is always ready to provide new opportunities of service and blessing. Elijah was not forgotten, and neither will you, even if you are currently hiding in a cave far from where you are expected to be. So when you hear God’s voice be ready to go back the way you came.

When God asks twice

Sometimes it seems that Elijah was a little slow on the uptake! When he was in the desert he had to be told twice by an angel to get up, now God had to ask him twice why he was there on the mountain.

After Elijah had come to the mouth of his cave to answer God he retreated inside. And then God’s voice came again. How long was it between the two interviews? We don’t know it may have been immediate or there may have been an interval for Elijah to think about what he had said but in any event God’s voice came to him again. This time Elijah was told to go and stand on the mountain before the Lord. When he got there God was putting on something of a light and fire display! There was a hurricane, followed by an earthquake and then fire. But these were just displays, God was not in them. Some considerable period, perhaps even days passed by as these events unfolded and at some point Elijah returned to the cave but when a gentle breeze came back the entrance.

As he stood with his prophetic cloak wrapped around him there he heard again the voice of God. What did he think when he heard that same question “what are you doing here Elijah?” He must have been either thick skinned, incredibly stubborn or convinced of the rightness of his actions because he answered God in exactly the same way as he had before: ‘I’ve done my best, I did everything I could for you and your people, even killed the false prophets and all I get in return is death threats. There is no one left but me, and they want to kill me”.

God had demonstrated to Elijah his awesome power, he had shown him that he was in control of the elements of the universe, there was nothing outside of his scope. God was not trying to impress Elijah; he was giving him an assurance that he was the God who lives and in his hand was contained the future of the world and its nations. Perhaps Elijah didn’t need to be convinced about God’s power, he had already witnessed that, what he was really ticked off about was that God had allowed Ahab and Jezebel to live and carry on as before. If God was so powerful why didn’t he do something about it? Surely he could destroy these pagans along with their idol worship, why should Jezebel be allowed to get away with her death threats and vindictive behaviour?

Often when things go wrong for us we are less concerned with the fact that God is powerful than we are that he lets things happen to us that are just not fair. God is our provider but we suffer financially, he is our healer but we get sick, he is our victory banner but we get beaten up in spiritual battles. And all the time we have been obedient and faithful – it’s just not fair. If God is so big why does he let this stuff happen?  Perhaps that’s what Elijah felt up there in his cave, he didn’t want a fire and light show – he wanted to know why God had let him down. The problem was that instead of acknowledging his own failings Elijah sought to justify himself. But still God spoke to him, this time in the quietness that usually follows the storm, and this time Elijah listened.

God doesn’t need the spectacular to speak to us. He doesn’t need noise, commotion or sensation to achieve his purposes. He wants to speak to us in quietness, when we are still before him. Elijah had witnessed and indeed participated in the spectacular events on Mt Carmel, but they had produced no change of heart in Ahab. The spectacular demonstrations on Horeb had not changed Elijah’s disposition either. God wanted to communicate to him in the quietness and the gentle breeze stood in stark contrast to the tumult that preceded it.

God’s voice came to Elijah after the gentle breeze had got his attention. The same question was asked ‘what are you doing here, Elijah?’ and the same answer was given – one of self-justification. God had graciously provided for him, spoken to him, protected him and revealed his power and still Elijah sought to justify himself. It seems that God done nearly everything possible to get Elijah to willingly bend his will and change his heart, but he just didn’t want to. No amount of logic was going to work, no demonstration of power, no miraculous provision, no act of grace. At every turn Elijah proclaimed the rightness of his actions and protested against the unfairness of the circumstances he found himself in. He just didn’t want to listen, he didn’t want to see, he was going to be obstinate.

It may be that you have come to the point where you want to give up. God has called us to a particular ministry or vocation but it just hasn’t worked out. You may even have decided that the Christian life is just not for you – I mean what’s the point, you deny yourself all sorts of pleasures that you see others enjoying, for what? Are you any more blessed, are you better off, is your marriage any better or your kids more obedient? What’s the point? God may have demonstrated his great love to you in many ways, there may not have been earthquakes, tempests and fire but there will have been other demonstrations of his grace. He may have provided for you – perhaps a job, a family, a home, good friends or even some miracle of healing. But that’s not enough. God may have come to you in the quietness of the moment and spoken to you in a still small voice but you have not listened. It is not because you can’t, but because you won’t. You have convinced yourself that you are right and nothing will change your view.

When God asked him why he was where he was Elijah justified himself. I am here because people want to kill me; in fact it’s your fault because I only did what you wanted and now look what’s happened. All too frequently when we are challenged about our shortcomings we look for someone to blame and often that blame eventually extends to God.

Have we ever blamed God because of the circumstances we find ourselves in? Is God made responsible for the fact that we are treated badly, suffer financial pain or a family breakdown? Do we ever try to justify our actions by referring to the unfairness of the world and all that it contains? When God asks us a direct question it is not because he doesn’t know the answer. When he asked Jacob what his name was, it wasn’t because he didn’t know, when he questioned Elijah and Adam he already knew the answer but he wanted each of these people to do was accept their own responsibility.

Inevitably you and I will make wrong choices; we may make them with the best of intentions and just get it wrong. On the other hand we may deliberately act in such a way that separates us from God. Whenever this happens, God in his grace will come to us and ask us to take responsibility for the choices we have made. We may confess our failing, accept his grace and forgiveness and be restored or we can stubbornly insist that it was all someone else’s fault and remain alienated from God. That too is our choice.

In order for Elijah to be restored he needed to acknowledge his failure and ask God to redirect his footsteps. When God asked him where he was, perhaps he should have answered ‘I’m tired and disillusioned, I’ve done my best but I don’t understand what’s gone wrong. Please forgive me for running when I should have stayed, if you restore me I will, with your grace and mercy return and complete the unfinished business I have left to do’.