Our Scripture Reference is taking from the book of 2 Kings 2: 1-15, in our discussion we shall be looking at the third experience of Elisha the great prophet of Israel as he journey with the master Elijah, a type of Christ (Holy Spirit).
Verse 4-5: “And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knoweth thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.”
Elisha had a good time in Bethel experiencing deeper fellowship with God and sweet fellowship with the sons of the prophets that were present at Bethel. And, interestingly, he had opportunity to stay back in Bethel to engage in teaching the sons of the prophets some of his spiritual experiences and revelations he had with Elijah’s ministry of power and restoration. He would have become an internationally recognized teacher of God’s word with deep revelations about God. But he refused to settle down again with this beautiful experience and chose not to build a tabernacle around it. Rather, he pressed further with Elijah in their journey into the fullness of Christ.
How many Christians today have settled down to a little in-part revelation of Christ and built empire around it? Some believers, by God’s grace and mercy, received divine revelation of some scriptural truths through the help of the Holy Spirit such as faith, salvation, holiness, prosperity, evangelism, Holy Spirit and His gifts, healings and miracles, prayer, etc. These scriptural truths are Spirit-revealed by nature and they are for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the Body of Christ. But sadly, many have taken their God-given revelation about Christ and built a tabernacle (ministry) around it as their callings. They built big money-making empires around God’s little light or revelation and raised such great followers that they could not go further with the Holy Spirit to fullness of Christ. The devil, the master deceiver, has deceived them into believing that they have reached the depth of Christ. But Elisha yearned for more and pressed on with Elijah’s prophetic ministry into further knowledge of the Lord in Jericho. May the Lord help us to learn a great lesson here.
Leaving Bethel, the prophets came into Jericho. This is another spiritual experience for Elisha and God’s people. The sixth chapter of the book of Joshua shows us the miraculous defeat of Jericho by the children of Israel under the leadership of Joshua. Jericho was a highly fortified city with great walls around it as thick as to contain constructions of houses on the top of it. Notwithstanding, the walls fell down before Israel. In fact, they sank into the ground flat when God’s people shouted by divine instruction at the sound of the priest’s trumpets.(Joshua 6:1-6).
What does Jericho stand for in spiritual understanding? Jericho, in a sense, denotes the miraculous; the ability to secure divine interventions and breakthroughs; the workings of miracles; the manifestation of the supernatural.
God in His graciousness and mercifulness does show us His miraculous dimension of life at times to demonstrate His loving-kindness to us. Oh the depth of Christ! Having walked in the spiritual experiences of circumcision (separation) at Gilgal and God’s revelation (fellowship of the Holy spirit) at Bethel, Elisha is brought into another in-part experience in the Lord at Jericho, a place of the miraculous manifestations. Interestingly, the first miracle that Elisha performed (after dividing river Jordan when Elijah was taken) was the healing of the barren land of Jericho.
It was a divine empowerment experience at this Jericho stage of the journey with the greater prophet.
If we seek the Lord for divine empowerment, He will endow us with the power from on high. But how many of God’s people have settled down with the miraculous and built tabernacle around it with a great following seeking only miracles but not Christ, the giver of miracle. Elisha had opportunity to stay back and enjoy the miraculous while it lasted at Jericho.
He had the chance to back off amicably from Elijah the great prophet and raise a ministry with the sons of the prophets at Jericho by demonstrating miracles at the expense of God’s fullness reserved for him. Rather, he chose to press on with the greater prophet into the fullness of God’s purpose for his life. Let us not be distracted by the miraculous but move on with the Holy Spirit into God’s full purpose for our lives.
May the Lord open our spiritual eyes to see the fullness of Christ awaiting us in Jesus name. Amen.
