Elijah and Elisha: Living for God’s Testimony — Elisha’s Operating

Today we will finish our review of Elijah and Elisha: Living for God’s Testimony, by Titus Chu.

Chapter 10: Elisha’s Operation (1)

    In the Old Testament principle, Elijah cared for God’s testimony by using power and authority to get people to leave their idols and acknowledge Jehovah as God. In the New Testament principle, Elisha cared for the content and substance of God’s testimony by showing “God is salvation” in every situation. This chapter covers five stories where Elisha displayed the fine humanity of Christ to care for man’s needs:

1. Fixing our spiritual environment (healing Jericho’s water)
2. Learning to cover older brothers, not expose them (the children mocking Elisha’s baldness)
3. Not getting involved in things beyond our portion (no help given to God’s testimony) (the three kings at war and the valley full of trenches)
4. Our needs being taken care of by the wonderful Spirit poured into other vessels (the borrowed jar of oil)
5. Being so pure and content (the woman from Shunem)

Chapter 11: Elisha’s Operation (2)

This chapter touches five stories that show a progression of our experience of resurrection (or, our need to experience resurrection!) in the church life:

1. Resurrection conquers death when someone so closely cares about a person, not about authority (the Shunammite’s son)
2. The poison in the pot: The fine humanity of Christ overcomes poison introduced by a naive brother in a famine situation (the poison in the pot)
3. Such an exercise produces enough fresh resurrection to nourish the whole church life (the barley loaves)
4. Like Naaman, we must realize we are still sinners, continually washing in the Jordan to be clean (curing Naaman’s leprosy)
5. Resurrection makes our borrowed instruments usable and experiential. The church may now be enlarged (the borrowed axe)
   

Chapter 12: Elisha’s Operation (3)

    The stories covered in this chapter have much to do with fighting. We must realize God’s kingdom involves real fighting. These stories show us:

1. We must show love toward our enemies (feeding and releasing the blind Aramean army)
2. The Lord may measure severe famine to us, and He will not bring us victory until we are “defeated” (the second Aramean invasion)
3. Sometimes, Gentiles will be used to protect God’s people in times of sovereign trial (sojourning among the Philistines)
4. Elisha submitted to the Lord’s sovereignty, even knowing how much harm would be experienced (anointing Hazael)
5. The one time Elisha became mad was because the king did not show adequate zeal for the land (Joash and the arrows)

Fighting is not just to defeat an enemy. It is to gain the land. We should be full of desire to gain our land, our local church, for God and His testimony.