In killing and boiling his oxen, Elisha was destroying everything that might tempt him to return to his old life so he would be completely focused on moving forward with Elijah.Įlijah was “taken up to God,” which is why when Jews celebrate a traditional Passover Seder, they leave an empty chair for Elijah. In casting his cloak on Elisha, Elijah was signifying his desire to have him as his student or protégé. Their meeting may seem strange, but no stranger than fishermen dropping their nets and leaving everything to follow the One who was to come. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.” And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. “So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. The prophets’ meeting is recorded in 1 Kings 19:19-21 ESV: God let him know there were others, and he was not completely alone. Elijah talked about feeling alone among the prophets in a land that had forsaken God. After this, God spoke to Elijah and, among other things, told him to anoint Elisha to become a prophet in his place. Instead, God told him to sleep, then sent food and water by an angel, and Elijah slept some more. Not long after this, with Jezebel threatening to end his life, Elijah sat down exhausted under a broom tree and asked God to let him die. When he called on the Living God of Israel, fire consumed not only the sacrifice but also the wood, the stones, the dust, and the water from the filled trench. When it was Elijah’s turn, he asked all the servants to soak the bull, soak the altar, and even dig a trench around the sacrifice and fill it with water. ![]() Of course, there was no answer from Baal. ![]() They made a great show of performing their rituals and shouting to Baal, asking for fire to rain down and consume the sacrifice. He challenged them to call down fire from Baal to burn up a sacrificial bull. Elijah is best known for his showdown with the false prophets of Baal.
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