Archive for the ‘Elisha’ Tag
I Kings 19: 19-21: “So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.”
“Elijah found Elisha by Divine direction, not in the schools of the prophets, but in the field; not reading, or praying, or sacrificing, but ploughing. Idleness is no man’s honour, nor is husbandry any man’s disgrace. An honest calling in the world, does not put us out of the way of our heavenly calling, any more than it did Elisha. His heart was touched by the Holy Spirit, and he was ready to leave all to attend Elijah. It is in a day of power that Christ’s subjects are made willing; nor would any come to Christ unless they were thus drawn. It was a discouraging time for prophets to set out in. A man that had consulted with flesh and blood, would not be fond of Elijah’s mantle; yet Elisha cheerfully leaves all to accompany him. When the Saviour said to one and to another, Follow me, the dearest friends and most profitable occupations were cheerfully left, and the most arduous duties done from love to his name. May we, in like manner, feel the energy of his grace working in us mightily, and by unreserved submission at once, may we make our calling and election sure.”
—Matthew Henry Commentary
“I have one desire now—to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.”
–Elisabeth Elliot
“Be reckless immediately, fling it all out on Him. You do not know when His voice will come, but whenever the realization of God comes in the faintest way imaginable, recklessly abandon. It is only by abandon that you recognize Him. You will only realize His voice more clearly by recklessness.”
–Oswald Chambers
Scribes and Prophets
God Knows What He Is Doing
Elisha Plowing
This is from the blog Bulletins from Baxter:
When Elijah draped his mantle over the shoulders of Elisha, Elisha startled Elijah as much as Elijah startled Elisha!
By now Elijah might have been expected to be shockproof. He had battled victoriously with the 400 prophets of Baal and he had fled a woman’s wrath. The Juniper Tree Experience was fresh behind him. But there God had laid three unusual duties upon him. One –anoint a new king in Syria and another in Israel and “Anoint Elisha to be prophet in your place.”
When Elijah reached the farm where Elisha was plowing, he went out into the field and in a very significant but simple ceremony, he draped his old leather mantle over the shoulder of Elisha. Elisha immediately grasped the significance –he had been chosen to succeed Elijah.
What surprises God has in store for those who minister in his service. I don’t know what Elijah thought would happen there that day, but he seemed a bit surprised that his action was taken so seriously.
Elisha wanted only to go and say his goodbyes. Elijah cried, “Go back again, for what have I done to you.”
Elisha did an astounding thing: he killed the oxen he was using to plow. He boiled their flesh for food WITH THE YOKES BEING THE FIREWOOD! Then he fed the gathered people. Even Simon Peter did not burn his boat! He just left it. Elisha built immediate finality into his decision.
That’s the key to Elisha’s coming success, he made a one-hundred-percent-decision when he surrendered to God’s plans for him. It is no wonder he later received a “double portion of Elijah’s spirit.” BL
Scribes and Prophets
Why did the Prophet Elisha curse the “youths” for making fun of his baldness (2 Kings 2:23-24)?
The Architect of The Matrix
Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
24 April 2005
I have just been rereading the dream that I had on 16 September 2004. In that dream, after I had spoken to President Bush, I walked into another room. This room had many windows. Last night, Wes and I saw the last half of The Matrix Reloaded. There is a scene where Neo walks into this room with many TV monitors and he talks to the architect of the Matrix. This room with many TV monitors could also be called a room with many windows—windows open to the world, the Matrix. When you look out a window, you see landscapes, people, buildings, etc. When you see a TV monitor, you see landscapes, people, buildings—whatever the TV is monitoring.
Surveillance is a form of power and control. Aspects of our American culture would be called a surveillance culture. England has many surveillance cameras in its cities: cameras to monitor street traffic, cameras inside buildings for security reasons, cameras everywhere—more so than the United States. We have satellites orbiting the earth monitoring weather patterns, troop movements, using GPS for mapping different parts of the world.
Back to The Matrix Reloaded. The architect was in a position of power because he could see through these many windows (TV monitors) and see what was happening all over the Matrix. The architect was in a position of control. Before Neo could save Zion, he had to confront the architect and the architect would answer the questions that Neo had concerning the Matrix and why Neo was created. Neo was created to save Zion.
Back to the dream of 16 September 2004. The room with many windows was a room of power and authority. You might be right in calling it the war room—the room where the big, strategic decisions are made. I was the only one in that room. If a room has many windows—windows looking in every direction—a man could see in all directions (a man could see all things).
In a field of battle, if a soldier can see the enemy before the enemy can see him—this would be an advantage. If a general of an army has certain intelligence about the enemy and the enemy does not know this—this would be an advantage. If the President of the United States knows that a certain foreign government is going to be toppled before it happens, he won’t be caught off guard.
To see through a glass darkly is one thing; to see through a window clearly is quite another. To see five hundred miles ahead of everybody else on the planet would appear to be an advantage to somebody. Either people would call you a prophet or people would call you nuts.
A room with many windows. I once visited a lighthouse on the coast of Oregon back in 2000. When you climbed the spiral staircase and reached the top of the lighthouse, you could see in all directions. The Lord is my light and my high tower.
II Kings 6: 11-12: “Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.”
.
.
Here is the dream of 16 September 2004:
“Last night I had a dream where I saw President George W. Bush sitting in a chair and his eyes were red because he had been weeping. I walked up to him, he stood up and smiled at me and we shook hands. We spoke to each other for a short while and then I walked into another room in the house where we were in. This room had many windows. I was alone in this room and I began to weep bitter tears because President Bush’s wife had passed away. I saw the number 67 and I believe it meant that she (Laura Bush) died at the age of sixty-seven. When I awoke, I was very agitated in my spirit.”
[I am not sure what the number 67 means.]
Another interpretation of the above dream: when Laura Bush passes away, that is when the number 67 comes into play.
The Road 