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Elisha the Prophet
Elisha the Prophet
Elisha followed Elijah as the prophet of God among Israel. He in fact was given a 'double portion of Elijah's spirit' (2Kings 2.9-10). His life was indeed filled with more miraculous signs than Elijah's. He parted the waters of the Jordan river (2:14), purified the water of Jericho (2:22), filled the dry stream bed with water (3:20), multiplied the widow's oil was (4:6), raised the Shunammite's son from death (4:18f), purified the deadly stew (4:38f), healed Naaman of leprosy (ch. 5), struck Gehazi with leprosy (5:15f), made an axe head float on water (6:6), captured the great Syrian army without a human fight (6:8f), and ended the Syrian army's siege against Samaria (7:6). The death and burial of Elisha is recorded in simple words: "So Elisha died, and they buried him" (2Kings 13:20). Then one more miracle happened when a dead man was thrown into the grave of Elisha: "As soon as his body touched the bones of Elisha, the dead man[NOT Elisha!] revived and stood on his feet" (13:21). Elisha was unique among the prophets of Israel in all this.
According to The New Bible Dictionary: "His ministry, if we date it from his call, extended through the reigns of Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz and Jehoash, a period of more than 50 years." (Logos edition). Ahab reigned from 874 to 852 BC and Jehoash reigned 837 to 800 BC. Elisha served God throughout most of the 800's BC. That appears to make Elisha 80 some years old when he died.
One of the pivotal things that he did was to anoint Jehu to be king over Israel (842-815 BC). This brought about the destruction of the family of Ahab who had brought so much trouble to Israel with the introduction of Baal worship. This destruction included the death of both Ahab and Jezebel. Jehu then 'wiped out Baal from Israel' (2Kings 10:28). It is recorded that Jehu did NOT turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam and the golden calf worship (2Kings. 10:29). It also states that he "was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart" (2Kings 10:31). While the dynasty of Jehu was not whole hearted in the worship of Yahweh, they did end the battle in Israel between Baal and the LORD.
In effect the prophets of Elijah and Elisha led the spiritual war between the worship of Baal and the worship of the LORD. Through both of these prophets, with such great signs and miracles, God showed the He alone was God. He was shown to be GOD over all the earth. He was proven to be the God that controlled both kings and nature. These two prophets truly were men of their time. Through their great faith and courage they changed the very course of the history of Israel. These were the times that tried men's souls - and Elijah and Elisha proved faithful.
The only mention of Elisha in the New Testament is when Jesus mentions that Elisha healed Naaman of leprosy (Luke 4:27).
