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The work of Elisha, part 2

At the start of the Elisha work, I recognized that this was to be the beginning of the restoration work. Further, in restoring all things, the first eight signs would be the “Elijah” phase within the larger context of Elisha. The last eight signs would go beyond Elijah, where “Elisha” would finish the work that was incomplete under Elijah.

Throughout all of these, however, we needed to “remember the law of Moses My servant” (Malachi 4:4), doing all things according to God’s instructions. We were not merely to follow the letter of the law but the spirit of the law, as the Holy Spirit might direct. In other words, we were not to try to fulfill prophecy in a lawless manner.

Further, just as Elijah was to give way to Elisha, so also was Moses to give way to Joshua, for Moses too fell short of completing the work of bringing the people into the Promised Land. Hence, this greater work was really an Elisha-Joshua work.

Elisha Sign #1

The first sign can be seen as a transition into the main signs. With Elisha, it occurred in 2 Kings 2:14,

¹⁴ He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

When Israel crossed the Jordan at that same location many years earlier, it was their transition into the Promised Land, but their real work still lay ahead. So also do we see this in the case of Elisha. The main thing was that Elisha’s ministry had begun. His crossing marked the start of a new era. There was a shift in the times and seasons that few perceived at the time, but which would have impact upon the entire nation of Israel—and, later, upon Syria as well.

Many great events have small beginnings, missed by news reporters, ignored by most people, and overlooked by inexperienced prophets. None of this matters, of course, because faith—even the size of a mustard seed—catches the attention of heaven itself. Faith has great value in heaven. Heaven waters the smallest seeds of faith until they grow into a mighty tree.

Personally, I think that God does small things secretly in order to escape the notice of faithless men who might otherwise organize to oppose the work of God. This gives the tree time to grow and to take root in the land before the enemies of faith realize what is happening. Opposition is inevitable, but God first strengthens the tree and the one who has planted it so that they may overcome all obstacles and so that the tree may bear fruit.

In our case in 2009, the first sign that we saw also seemed insignificant and unrelated. Our daughter and her fiancé met because both loved to run half-marathons. At one point they decided to run a triathlon that had been organized in the US Virgin Islands. Then they decided that this would be a good opportunity to get married there as well in early May of 2009.

So our entire family (and the groom’s family) flew to the Virgin Islands and stayed at a beach resort called The Palms from May 1-8. As we crossed the water in the Gulf of Mexico, I wondered if we were seeing the first sign of Elisha, who crossed the Jordan. We did nothing dramatic and saw no miracle, but nonetheless, it proved to be the door opener. The miracle was in connecting the word of the Lord to the actual event.

So Audra and Ronnie were married on the beach in the Virgin Islands overlooking the ocean. The wedding also suggested a connection to Jesus’ first miracle-sign at the “wedding in Cana” (John 2:1). Jesus’ miracle there was performed some time between Jesus’ return from the wilderness and the arrest of John the Baptist.

While John was yet doing his preparation work, Jesus did not want to draw attention by performing miracles. But when the guests ran out of wine, Mary came to Him and asked Him to do something. He told her, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Though it was His first sign out of eight that manifested His glory (John 2:11), it was technically done out of season and served more as a door-opener before His real ministry had even begun.

So our own daughter’s wedding in the Virgin Islands might also suggest a connection to the Virgin Mary, whose appeal brought about this first miracle-sign. I discerned these connections at the time and wondered if this was indeed a door opener for the rest of the signs.

This indeed proved to be the case.

Jericho

Elisha’s Jordan crossing was witnessed by the school of the prophets who apparently had been instructed to remain on the western shore of the river while Elijah and Elisha crossed over. They saw the river part when the two prophets crossed the river heading east, and they saw the river part again when Elisha returned to them alone.

By this sign, they knew that “the spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha” (2 Kings 2:15). This proved to them that they had entered into a new era, led by a new prophet. But they still needed some sort of confirmation, for they had not seen Elijah’s ascension. They strongly suggested that Elisha would send 50 men to “search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or in some valley” (2 Kings 2:16).

Apparently, they were skeptical that Elijah had really gone to heaven. Elisha refused at first, but when they continued to press him and shame him, he gave in to their request and waited for them in nearby Jericho. The men “searched for three days but did not find him” (2 Kings 2:17). These 50 men seem to represent Pentecost, rather than Jubilee, seeing their inability to believe the instruction of Elisha. Under Pentecost, men tend to tell God what they think He ought to do, rather than to submit themselves to His will by faith, which comes by hearing.

As for the timing of Elijah’s ascension, the traditional date was the 40^th day of the Pentecost cycle. The Pentecost cycle was a 50-day cycle (inclusive) or 7 weeks (exclusive reckoning) from the wave-sheaf offering (Leviticus 23:16). For this reason, the feast was called the feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22).

A thousand years later, it came to be known by the Greek word, Pentecost, “fiftieth day.”

Elisha Sign #2

Elisha’s second sign is found in 2 Kings 2:19-22,

¹⁹ Then the men of the city [Jericho] said to Elisha, “behold now, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.” ²⁰ He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. ²¹ He went out to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “thus says the Lord, ‘I have purified these waters; there shall not be from there death or unfruitfulness any longer’.” ²² So the waters have been purified to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.

The city of Jericho had been destroyed by Joshua some centuries earlier. Joshua had also laid a curse upon the city and upon anyone who might rebuild it (Joshua 6:26). The “city of palm trees,” as it was called, had been partially rebuilt—probably without walls—as early as the days of Othniel, the first judge in Israel (Judges 3:13). It was not until the days of King Ahab that the walls and gates of Jericho were rebuilt by Hiel the Bethelite (1 Kings 16:34), bringing upon himself the curse of Joshua.

King Ahab, of course, was the contemporary of Elijah and Elisha. Hence, Elisha found accommodations in Jericho while awaiting the return of the 50 men in their unsuccessful search for Elijah.

Perhaps Joshua’s curse had made the land unfruitful around Jericho. It is doubtful if Jericho could have been such an important city prior to its destruction, if the surrounding land had been so unproductive due to bitter (salty) water. Whatever the case, Elisha removed the curse from the land and purified its water—using salt as the point of faith.

This reminds us of the time when Moses made the waters sweet at Marah, which means “bitter.” The story is found in Exodus 15:23-25. On that occasion, Moses was instructed to put a tree into the water to heal the waters. The tree spiritually represented the cross, which turns our heart bitterness into sweetness. In the case of Elisha, the curse of bitterness was healed with salt.

The Salt Covenant

Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth.” In the law’s instructions, salt was to be placed on all of the sacrifices. Leviticus 2:13 says,

¹³ Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the Covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings, you shall offer salt.

This practice was a type and shadow of the New Covenant, which was always a factor in any true sacrifice. While they may have thought of salt in Old Covenant terms, we know that it was the New Covenant, because when Jesus became our true Sacrifice, He was the Mediator of the New Covenant.

In other words, we should never think of Christ’s death as a mere act of murder. It was a Covenant act, and we who are the salt of the earth, we who have been crucified with Christ, are called to preserve the truth of the New Covenant in our relationship with other parts of the body. In those days, men made salt covenants by exchanging some grains of salt to put into each man’s pouch that he carried with him. The idea was that if you could find the original grains of salt and return them, only then could you break this covenant. We are thus in a salt covenant with others in the body of Christ, and this binds us together in unity.

Jesus explained the meaning of the law of salt in Mark 9:49, 50,

⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.

To be “salted with fire” refers to the sacrifice that was burned or cooked with fire and also salted. We ourselves are “living sacrifices,” as Paul says in Romans 12:1. The salt means “be at peace with one another,” suggesting the peace offerings in the law. Those peace offerings bring reconciliation, even as the sin offerings bring justification. Enemies are reconciled; sinners are justified. These are two distinct features. The salt signifies peace or reconciliation.

Hence, we preach not only how to be justified by faith, but also the reconciliation of all things. Anything less signifies some possibility that “the salt becomes unsalty.” So let us truly be the salt of the earth, so that the gospel of Christ and His sacrificial act for the sin of the world attracts the unbelievers by its good flavor.

This is part of the work of Elisha in preparing the way for Christ’s second coming.