03.01. Elisha's Appearance: 2Ki_2:19-22

Chapter 1 Elisha’s Appearance

2 Kings 2:19-22 The inspired prophet Micah, foretelling a blessed period yet to come, which is styled "the last days," says of it, in Micah 4:4, that then men "shall sit, every one under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid." What a touching representation of peaceful privacy and delightful repose is given by this single sentence of prophecy! The period, indeed, which it describes, was very "far off" to the prophet himself; and even at our Lord’s incarnation it had only begun to dawn; for the New Testament still speaks of it as "the last days." Nevertheless, from the earliest ages of the Old Testament, there were blessed periods of shorter and longer tranquility, in which the delightful preludes of that eagerly desired "last time," were conspicuously displayed. The patriarchal age immediately after the flood, strikes us as a prophetic type of the great gospel year of jubilee. Childlike simplicity and confidence characterized the intercourse which prevailed between the Almighty and the saints of that period: the thunders of Sinai were not yet heard, and the terrors of the law had not yet begun to constrain the children of the promise. But they were constrained by love, arising from the kindness and condescension of Him, who now graciously rejoiced again in the habitable parts of His earth, and whose delights were with the sons of men, Proverbs 8:31. In the tents of an Abraham, and in the grove of Mamre, a spirit reigned, similar to that at Emmaus, where the two disciples sat familiarly at table with the Man who was God in the highest; or like that which was manifested at Bethany with Lazarus and his much favored sisters. A similar period, transcendently peaceful and benign, smiled upon Israel, when Elisha appeared. To that happy, enlightened period, we propose to direct our present meditations. May the Spirit of the Lord, the only Interpreter of the sacred oracles, graciously be with us, direct our observations, and instruct us to find much profit and delight in what has thus been written aforetime for that purpose!

"And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the land barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake."

Here then we are again returned to those times and scenes of wonders, wherein so many sources of consolation and encouragement were recently opened to us, in the achievements of Elijah the Tishbite, and in the occurrences of his eventful life. The very country is not unknown to us. We seem acquainted and at home in it; and the eye scarcely alights upon a district, a mountain, a valley, or a hamlet, that is not associated in our minds with some important and beneficial recollection of our previous spiritual excursions. On this stage a new history will now unfold to us a variety of most important incidents; the history of Elisha, the man of God. May this glorious narrative accomplish the design of Him, who caused its insertion in his word, and become to us who believe, a spring of manifold refreshment, a well of deep and lasting consolation in seasons of distress! Our considerations will be, at present, but preparatory; and will concern, I. The character of Elisha’s mission; and, II. His first prophetic appearance.