Living in Someone's Shadow

Introduction

Good evening and welcome back!

This evening I would like for you turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 2 if you will.

And tonight we are going to be taking a look at the beginning of Elisha’s ministry as THE Prophet of Israel.

And this is very different from him being just A Prophet of Israel.

You could say in a sense that Elisha is about to get a promotion.

And knowing the lives that the prophets had and issues they faced, this may have been a promotion that he really didn’t want.

But he was going to get it anyway, because it’s all about God’s will and God’s plan and not our own.

And of course we know that Elisha was the protegee of Elijah, one of the greatest Prophets in all of history.

However, did you know that the Bible records twice as many miracles being performed by Elisha as it does Elijah.

That’s just a fun nugget of trivia, which is also a confirmation of something we will get to in a little bit, so I won’t spoil the surprise just yet.

But anyway, in 2 Kings we have Elijah and Elisha leading both the King of Israel as well as various groups or schools really of Prophets.

And one thing was always obvious, Elijah was the leader and Elisha was the follower.

That was the order of things and in many ways Elisha was always living in Elijah’s shadow.

And when you say it that way it sounds a little bit derogatory like Elisha wasn’t good enough or something, but that really wasn’t Elisha’s view.

This is because Elisha was perfectly content living and working in Elijah’s shadow.

You know why?

Because Elijah always bared all of the responsibility.

When something went sideways, it was Elijah that took all the heat.

Even when Elisha or one of the other prophets did something that was unpopular or even when they made a mistake, it all came back on Elijah.

So Elisha had gotten pretty comfortable in that role and in his mind he was cruising along doing just fine.

But see, when we are living in the shadow of someone else that stunts our growth and development.

We can only learn so much and grow so much when we are in that “follower” and “student” role.

In fact, one trait that defines good leaders is their ability to develop good leaders.

A leader should always be trying to develop others who can either lead when they gone or can take the leadership skills they have learned and lead somewhere else.

Because remember, or job is to be Kingdom Builders.

And you can’t be a Kingdom Builder if everybody in the Kingdom is in one building.

That is not how it works.

So God will take people and through the mentorship of their leaders, transform them into leaders themselves.

And there is always a time of learning and following but then we have to apply what we have learned.

Which requires us to step out in faith.

To get out of the boat and instead of following behind some other person, taking direction from them, to start following and taking direction directly from the Holy Spirit.

And this is hard, because this is scary.

Because now, you are the one that has moved from just doing the work that the teacher tells you, to one who is responsible for the work getting done.

And you are also the one accountable directly to God for it as well as everyone else when things don’t go picture perfect.

And because of this, some people choose to never step into that role of leadership.

Fear causes them to spend their lives as followers.

But God’s Word tells us . . .

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So, we need to replace that spirit of fear, that is NOT FROM GOD.

And if it is not from God, then WHO IS IT FROM?—The devil.

So, replace the fear with the power of the Holy Ghost, that will activate the love of Christ within us that grounds us and creates a sound mind within us.

And I am not saying that everybody in here needs to be pastoring and leading a church somewhere.

What I am saying though is that everyone in here needs to be looking for ways that they can lead within the church and most importantly, lead others to Christ and build the Kingdom of God.

And this is the lesson that God is about to teach Elisha as well.

So what I want to do is really just get right into the passage tonight and break this down.

Don’t Leave Me!

So, starting in verse 1 the Bible reads . . .

2 Kings 2:1–7 NKJV

And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel. Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!” Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they came to Jericho. Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.

Now, I wanted to read that whole bit there because it shows us exactly what I was talking about with Elisha being happy as a pig in slop living in Elijah’s shadow.

If you will notice, there are three different times that Elijah tells Elisha that God is sending him somewhere and for Elisha to stay put and not go.

First it’s over to Bethel, then down to Jericho, and finally down to the Jordan River.

And all three times Elisha responds the same way, As the Lord Lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!

And the reason for that is because Elisha knows that Elijah is about to leave.

Now, probably in his mind he’s thinking that Elijah is going to die and at this point he is thinking, “my teacher and mentor is going to die,” and he is also thinking, “what am I going to do?”

So he is freaking out just a bit.

And we can tell he is freaking out a bit because in both Bethel and Jericho they are met by the prophets from the schools in those towns; I call them a gaggle of geese because they seem to always be squawking, but what do they tell Elisha?

Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?

And what does Elisha tell them? Yes, I know, keep silent!

Or in the BE (Buford Edwards—unauthorized of course) translation, “Yes, I know what’s going to happen, shut up, I don’t want to talk about it!”

And it’s also almost like Elisha thinks that if he stays by Elijah’s side that God won’t take him.

Which I guess is somewhat of a fear response as well as a grief response also.

So, we have this entire crazy dynamic going on where Elisha knows he is going to have to take over and the kicker is, Elijah is not even going to be around to ask questions to or get advice from.

It would be like God calling me somewhere where there is no technology whatsoever so you couldn’t get in touch with me in any way or form and then you having to take over the church and do it all.

Could you do it?—Yes, as long as God was in it.

Would you want to do it?—Probably not.

But, why would you not want to do it? —Most likely fear.

And neither did Elisha.

The Double Portion

But guess what? He knew he was going to have to do it.

Because his choice was either do it, or be disobedient to God.

And guess what, when God calls you to do it, whatever it is—and we aren’t talking about taking over the church when I’m called to Mars.

We are talking about the calling that God has called you to step into so you can lead others.

When God calls you to it, your choices are either do it, or be disobedient to God.

It is no different.

Remember what Jesus says . . .

Luke 9:23 NKJV

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

And I know that these same verses are in Matthew and Mark, but I love how Luke puts it because he makes it crystal clear that it is a daily choice to follow Jesus and that daily choice means picking up that cross—that calling—and following Him!

Every single day of our lives.

Not just on Sunday.

Not just on Wednesday.

Not just in the winter.

Not just in the summer.

24/7 is our calling.

It’s not a part-time job, it is full-time commitment.

But one problem is we let our wants and desires override God’s calling.

That’s why we don’t end with just Luke 9:23, Jesus goes on . . .

Luke 9:24–25 NKJV

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

We need to not be deceived by the enemy into thinking that that things we have here is all there is.

The best we are ever going to have.

These things are just that things.

Our lifestyles are just lifestyles.

This blink of an eye that we call life is nothing compared to eternity.

But so many get hung up in their own lives they forget about the life that Jesus saved them from and the life that He is calling them into.

And if we want to be His disciples, His followers, then we have to live the life that He has called us into.

But we become afraid and the we start making excuses as to why we “can’t.”

And when we are convinced that we “can’t,” then we “won’t.”

So instead we need to be wise like Elisha in this next portion of Scripture . . .

The first thing . . .

2 Kings 2:7–8 NKJV

And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

And I read that because it will be important in a few minutes.

And “mantle” by the way here in the NKJV is his cloak, his outer garment.

And what has happened is that Elijah and Elisha have went through Bethel, they have went through Jericho and are now a the Jordan River and need to get across.

So Elijah takes off his cloak, he rolls it up, and strikes the water with it.

And what happens? The water parts and they walk across on dry ground.

Ain’t God good?

Even in the simplest of things, God provides a way.

God provides a solution.

And in this instance it is the same solution that he provided to the Israelites when they were at the Red Sea.

And the same solution he provided Joshua when God parted the Jordan then when they crossed over to enter the Promised Land for the first time.

And in each of those times, God used that as a confirmation of His calling, first on Moses and then on Joshua to lead the people.

And God is about to do it again for Elisha, but we haven’t gotten there yet.

And one other thing before we move on, the cloak of a prophet is also a symbol of their authority and anointing by God.

It would be kind of like the cloaks the Jedi wore in Star Wars, but the force behind the prophets is a real force.

It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit to call down fire from heaven and to part the waters.

And it is the same power that enables every single believer to step into the calling of God on their lives, IF they would just accept it.

IF, they would just submit to Him!

And when we make that decision that we WILL give God our everything, then let’s be like Elisha here . . .

2 Kings 2:9 NKJV

And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”

So Elijah, probably sensing that the time was getting near—now that’s just my interpretation of the text—asks Elisha, what do you need?

What can I do for Elisha?

How can I help you be more prepared.

And, what does he ask for? Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me!

In other words, he is telling Elijah that all he wants is a double-dose of the Holy Ghost on him.

Whatever anointing that Elijah has on his life, Elisha wants twice as much.

And by him asking this, we can see Elisha start to step out of the shadow of Elijah and into his own ministry.

But what is often lost in translation is that Elisha was not asking for Elijah’s anointing.

Elisha is asking for the anointing that the Holy Spirit has for him, but just in a double portion.

And people will get all messed up here.

They will see someone and say “Lord give me a double portion of THEIR anointing.”

And that doesn’t work.

Someone else’s anointing is not meant for you, it’s meant for them and as long as that is your mindset you will always be in the shadow of someone else.

Also, if you are wanting someone else’s anointing than guess what, you are coveting what they have and thus breaking one of the 10 Commandments.

And God is not going to give you something in violation of His Commandments.

And another thing, when you start down that road of covetness, you also start down that road of jealously.

So, instead of asking for a double-dose of someone else’s anointing, ask God to give you a double-dose of the anointing He has for YOU.

And also, when you are asking for that double-portion, you are asking God to bless you as a firstborn child.

The double-blessing that Elisha is asking for is a Jewish principal of the firstborn child being entitled to a double portion of the family inheritance.

And don’t worry, there is plenty of Holy Ghost to double bless every single one of us, so don’t think by you asking you are taking away from someone else.

So Elijah makes a deal with Elisha . . .

2 Kings 2:10 NKJV

So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”

Hard, because Elijah doesn’t control the anointing, that’s done by God and God alone, so who is he to say.

But he prophesies over Elisha and tells him, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be for you; but if not, it shall not be so.

Fair enough, best we can hope for.

And of course we know what happens next . . .

2 Kings 2:11 NKJV

Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

Man what a sight that would have been.

Out of nowhere a chariot of fire appears, horse of fire appear and a tornado comes and grabs up Elijah and he is gone.

God knows how to make an appearance.

And God know to confirm anything and everything so that there is no question about what just happened.

The Confirmation

And Elisha was blown away.

2 Kings 2:12 NKJV

And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces.

Probably standing there jaw on the ground.

And as quickly as Elijah came into Elisha’s life, he was gone.

In an instant-in a flash, and that was it.

Now what is Elisha going to do?

He’s in a little shock and he’s looking around and what does he find laying on the ground . . .

2 Kings 2:13 NKJV

He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

Elijah’s cloak.

Elijah’s symbol of authority.

And Elisha takes the cloak and goes down to the bank of the river.

And he is thinking—I wonder if I have what Elijah had?

I wonder if I have the power to do this job?

I wonder if God is with me on this?

I wonder if I can do it?

So . . .

2 Kings 2:14 NKJV

Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

He hits that water with that cloak, cries out to God—show yourself God!

And that water divides and just like his teacher and mentor he walks across on dry ground, confirming God’s calling on His life.

When Elisha hit that water and crossed over there were no more questions, he knew that God was with him.

And he knew what he needed to do from there.

And from that moment on Elisha was the Prophet of Israel.

He had stepped out of Elijah’s shadow and into God’s light.

2 Kings 2:15 NKJV

Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.

Altar/Challenge

And tonight I am going to ask you, are you ready to step out of the shadow and into the light?

Are you ready to step into God’s calling?

Are you ready to lead?

Are you ready to strike the water with your cloak and cry out to God tonight?

Are you ready for Him to part the Red Sea for you and make a way for you?

Are you ready?

If you are then come, our altars are open.