God had told Elijah to anoint another to be prophet in his stead—“Elisha the son of Shaphat.” 1 Kings 19:16. In obedience to the command, Elijah went to find Elisha. As he journeyed northward, how changed was the scene from what it had been only a short time before! On every hand vegetation was springing up as if to redeem the time of drought and famine.
(SS 116.1)
Elisha’s father was a wealthy farmer whose household had not bowed the knee to Baal. Theirs was a home where God was honored. In the quietude of country life, under the teaching of God and nature and the discipline of useful work, Elisha received training in habits of simplicity and of obedience to his parents and to God that helped to fit him for the high position he was afterward to occupy.
(SS 116.2)
The prophetic call came while he was plowing in the field. He had taken up the work that lay nearest. Of a quiet and gentle spirit, he was nevertheless energetic and steadfast. In humble toil he gained strength of character, constantly increasing in grace and knowledge. While cooperating with his father in home-life duties, he was learning to cooperate with God. By faithfulness in little things, he was preparing for weightier trusts. Day by day he gained a fitness for a higher work. In learning to serve he learned also how to instruct and lead. None can know God’s purpose in His discipline; but all may be certain that faithfulness in little things is the evidence of fitness for greater responsibilities. Only he who in small duties proves himself “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed” (2 Timothy 2:15) can be honored by God with higher service.
(SS 116.3)
Many feel that their lives are useless, that they are doing nothing for the advancement of God’s kingdom. Because they can serve only in little things, they think themselves justified in doing nothing. In this they err. One may be in the active service of God while engaged in ordinary, everyday duties—felling trees, clearing the ground, or following the plow. The mother who trains her children for Christ is as truly working for God as is the minister in the pulpit.
(SS 117.1)
Many long for special talent with which to do a wonderful work, while duties close at hand are lost sight of. Let such ones take up the duties lying directly in their pathway. It is not splendid talents that enable us to render acceptable service, but the conscientious performance of daily duties, the contented spirit, the sincere interest in others. The commonest tasks, wrought with loving faithfulness, are beautiful in God’s sight.
(SS 117.2)
As Elijah passed the field in which Elisha was plowing, he cast upon the young man’s shoulders the mantle of consecration. During the famine the family of Shaphat had become familiar with the work and mission of Elijah, and now the Spirit of God impressed Elisha that God had called him to be the successor of Elijah.
(SS 117.3)
“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.”“Go back again,” was Elijah’s answer, “for what have I done to thee?” 1 Kings 19:20. This was not a repulse, but a test of faith. Elisha must count the cost—to accept or reject the call. If his desires clung to his home and its advantages, he was at liberty to remain there.
(SS 117.4)
But Elisha understood the meaning of the call, and he did not hesitate to obey. Not for any worldly advantage would he forgo the opportunity of becoming God’s messenger or sacrifice the privilege of association with His servant. He “took a 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.” 1 Kings 19:21. Without hesitation he left a home where he was beloved, to attend the prophet in his uncertain life.
(SS 117.5)
Similar to the call that came to Elisha was the answer given by Christ to the young ruler who asked Him, “What good thing must I do, that I may have eternal life?”“If thou wilt be perfect,” Christ replied, “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me.” Matthew 19:16, 21.
(SS 118.1)
Elisha accepted the call, casting no backward glance at the pleasures and comforts he was leaving. The young ruler “went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” Verse 22. His love for his possessions was greater than his love for God. He proved himself unworthy of a place in the Master’s service.
(SS 118.2)
We are not all asked to serve as Elisha served, nor to sell everything we have; but God asks us to give His service first place in our lives, to allow no day to pass without doing something to advance His work. One may be called to a foreign land, another to give means to support gospel work. God accepts the offering of each. It is the consecration of the life and all its interests that is necessary.
(SS 118.3)
To everyone who partakes of His grace the Lord appoints a work for others. We are to say, “Here am I; send me.” See Isaiah 6:8. Whether one is a minister of the Word, a physician, a merchant, farmer, professional man, or mechanic, it is his work to reveal to others the gospel.
(SS 118.4)
No great work was at first required of Elisha; he is spoken of as pouring water on the hands of Elijah. He was willing to do anything the Lord directed, and at every step he continued to prove faithful in little things. With daily strengthening purpose he devoted himself to the mission appointed him by God.
(SS 118.5)
After uniting with Elijah, Elisha was tempted to think of the home that he had left. But he was resolved not to turn back, and through test and trial he proved true to his trust.
(SS 119.1)
Ministry comprehends far more than preaching. It means training young men as Elijah trained Elisha, giving them responsibilities in God’s work—small at first, larger as they gain strength and experience. Ministers of faith and prayer can say, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; ... declare we unto you.” 1 John 1:1-3. Young, inexperienced workers should be trained in connection with experienced servants of God.
(SS 119.2)
God has honored young men by choosing them for His service, and they should be faithful, obedient, and willing to sacrifice. If they submit to God’s discipline, choosing His servants as their counselors, they will develop into high-principled, steadfast men whom God can entrust with responsibilities.
(SS 119.3)
As the gospel is proclaimed in its purity, men will be called from the plow and from common commercial business vocations and will be educated in connection with men of experience. As they learn to labor effectively, they will proclaim the truth with power. Through wonderful workings of providence, mountains of difficulty will be cast into the sea. The message that means so much to the dwellers on earth will be heard and understood. Onward and still onward the work will advance until the whole earth shall have been warned, and then shall the end come.
(SS 119.4)
For several years Elijah and Elisha labored together. Elijah had been God’s instrument for the overthrow of gigantic evils. The idolatry by which Ahab and the heathen Jezebel had seduced the nation had been given a decided check. Baal’s prophets had been slain. Israel had been deeply stirred, and many were returning to the worship of God. Elisha, by careful, patient instruction, must guide Israel in safe paths. His association with Elijah, the greatest prophet since Moses, prepared him for the work he was soon to take up alone.
(SS 119.5)
During these years Elijah from time to time was called to meet flagrant evils with stern rebuke. When Ahab seized Naboth’s vineyard, the voice of Elijah prophesied his doom and the doom of all his house. And when Ahaziah turned from the living God to Baalzebub, Elijah’s voice was heard in earnest protest.
(SS 120.1)
The schools of the prophets, established by Samuel, had fallen into decay during Israel’s apostasy. Elijah reestablished them, making provision for young men to gain an education that would lead them to magnify the law and make it honorable. Three schools are mentioned in the record—Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. Just before Elijah was taken to heaven, he and Elisha visited these centers of training. The lessons that the prophet of God had given on former visits, he now repeated. Especially did he instruct them concerning maintaining their allegiance to the God of heaven. He also impressed on their minds the importance of letting simplicity mark every feature of their education. Only in this way could they receive the mold of heaven and work in the ways of the Lord.
(SS 120.2)
Elijah was cheered as he saw what was being accomplished by these schools. The reformation was not complete, but he could see a verification of the word of the Lord, “Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, ... all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal.” 1 Kings 19:18.
(SS 120.3)
As Elisha accompanied the prophet from school to school, his faith and resolution were once more tested. He was invited by the prophet to turn back: “Tarry here, I pray thee,” Elijah said, “for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel.” 2 Kings 2:2. But Elisha had learned not to become discouraged, and now he would not be parted from his master, so long as opportunity remained for gaining a further fitting up for service.
(SS 120.4)
Unknown to Elijah, the revelation that he was to be translated had been made known to his disciples in the schools of the prophets and to Elisha. And now the servant of the man of God kept close beside him. As often as the invitation to turn back was given, his answer was, “I will not leave thee.” Verse 2.
(SS 121.1)
“And the two of them went on ... . And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters [of the Jordan River], and they were divided hither and thither, so that the two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.” Verses 6-9.
(SS 121.2)
That which Elisha craved was a large measure of the Spirit that God had bestowed on the one about to be honored with translation. He knew that nothing but the Spirit which had rested on Elijah could fit him to fill the place in Israel to which God had called him, and so he asked, “Let a double portion of thy Spirit be upon me.” Verse 9.
(SS 121.3)
In response Elijah said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:10, 11.
(SS 121.4)
Elijah was a type of the saints who will be living at the time of the second advent of Christ and who will be “changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,” without tasting death. 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52. As a representative of those who shall be thus translated, Elijah was permitted to stand with Moses by the side of the Saviour on the mount of transfiguration. The disciples saw Jesus clothed with the light of heaven; they heard the “voice out of the cloud” (Luke 9:35), acknowledging Him as the Son of God. They saw Moses, representing those who will be raised from the dead at the second advent. And there also stood Elijah, representing those who at the close of earth’s history will be changed from mortal to immortal, translated to heaven without seeing death.
(SS 121.5)
In the desert, in loneliness and discouragement, Elijah had prayed that he might die. But there was yet a great work for Elijah to do; and when his work was done, he was not to perish in discouragement and solitude. Not for him the descent into the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to the presence of His glory.
(SS 122.1)
“And Elisha ... saw him no more: and ... he took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; and he took the mantle ... and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.”
(SS 122.2)
“And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.” 2 Kings 2:12-15.
(SS 122.3)
When the Lord sees fit to remove from His work those to whom He has given wisdom, He strengthens their successors, if they will look to Him for aid and will walk in His ways. They may be even wiser than their predecessors, for they may profit by their experience.
(SS 122.4)
Henceforth Elisha stood in Elijah’s place. Faithful in that which was least, he was to prove himself faithful also in much.
(SS 122.5)