Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Like I said, we'll be in First Kings Chapter 19. We're in the final three verses here, 19, 20, and 21. And so we come to this short passage tonight. As often as we do too much to be able to start beginning in Chapter 20 where we meet Ben-Hadad and that relationship there, and that carries on throughout all of chapter 20, all kind of one major story and section, you might say, within 1 Kings. So we only get three verses tonight, but don't get too excited about that. As you know, often it doesn't matter how many verses we get, it's how long we spend looking at those verses. So I don't think it's gonna be any less minutes than you are, than we normally spend. So, I mean, we could find ourselves starting in chapter 20 tonight, but I think that... is a huge shift in the narrative as I said. So we'll stop at verse 21. But before we start we need to remember what precedes exactly before this. That big covenant meeting of Elijah as he met the Lord there at Mount Sinai at the Mountain of God. Elijah went there not in crisis but as the covenant prosecutor, the prophet standing before God, the God of the covenant on the mountain of the covenant and he is appealing to God against Israel as we saw quite clearly in Romans chapter 12 as Paul recalls this event and he explains that does God reject the people for whom He foreknew? And what is, do you know what it says of Elijah? And he turns to this how he appeals to God against Israel. And his appeal is they have killed the prophets, they have demolished your altars and I alone am left and they seek my life. And Paul responds in verse four and says, but what is God's reply to him? The promise here at the end of that chapter is that I have kept myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And so what does God say here in this passage is God is saving and preserving a remnant amongst the people of Israel. And Paul focuses on the grace which is shown by God to Israel through this preservation of the 7,000, that remnant. But also what he says there in verse 5, that so too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. So Paul applies this principle that there is still those who remain. This remnant who are still chosen by grace, that is not up to their biological descendants, but still God preserves them. But we need to understand that in amongst this 7,000 that there is another portion. There's not only the 7,000 which are speaking. The population of Israel at this point is not only 7,000, but it's far more and higher. It also means that there's a remnant of a larger part that he is going to preserve, that he will leave 7,000. So that means that something is going to happen to the people that are not a part of this 7,000. The remnant is a part of a whole. that there's more than just the 7,000. And God shows this grace to this 7,000 that he preserves, that he chooses by grace, chosen by grace, but he also promises judgment on those who did bow their knee to Baal. We will look more at this on Sunday morning, but in Exodus chapter 20 verse 7, the third commandment, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he will not hold them guiltless who takes the name of the Lord God in vain. And so we hear this promise that here God is going to preserve those who do not profane God's name, but He also will not hold them guiltless who use the Lord's name in vain. And so a part of this, the next portion of this scripture is not really about the 7,000 that God is going to remain as the remnant, but the next portion is God's judgment coming upon those who did bow the knee to Baal. And you see this clearly as the Lord spoke to Elijah in verse 15 and 18. chapter 19 as the Lord commands Elijah to be able to go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive you shall anoint Hazael the king of Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimshi, and you shall anoint him to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat, of Abel, Meholah, and you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed the knee to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed So here we see that Elijah is instructed to be able to anoint three people, Ezekiel to be king over Syria, Jehu to be king over Israel, and Elisha to be prophet in Elijah's place. So we see here this judgment coming upon those people that are not part of the 7,000, this judgment. And that is the next really big portion that we are going to look at in 1 and 2 Kings. Now we didn't talk about this in detail last time, but what we see here is God's hand of providence at work in establishing and setting up for this judgment that is coming. Specifically what's interesting here is that you see not only that Elijah finds his replacement in Elisha, not only that you see Jehu being appointed as king over Israel, but even Elijah's job is to anoint a king to a pagan foreign nation of Hazael. And so you see this interesting dynamic of God's providence in even anointing the kings over who will bring judgment on the nation of Israel. Paul calls leaders of other nations, even the nations in which Paul, and Paul is writing to Romans, not friends of Christians. But he explains that here they're appointed by God, and he calls them God's servants. In Romans chapter 13, that what you do is good that you receive his approval. For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. So even the Roman officials, again, not friends of Christians, Paul instructs and tells us they're God's servants, carrying out the wrongdoer. Again, wrongdoing is not then instructed by how the nation defines right and wrong, but as God's servant, they carry out that as God's responsibility of what God requires is right and wrong. So here has a eel. A king of a foreign nation is God's servant to be able to be a judgment upon the people of Israel for how they worship Baal. And so you see this interesting dynamic of God's providence in this. You see this quite clearly in the book of Habakkuk, where here Habakkuk cries out and the Chaldeans, the Babylonians have been raised up by God to be able to judge and destroy God's people for their false worship and their false practices. And God will eventually judge the Babylonians and Chaldeans for their wrongdoing as well. And so we see God's providence in amongst all of this situation and Elijah anointing Hazael and Jehu and Elisha. So why is that important for us? I mean, it's always important for us, but particularly even in an election year, that we're reminded that God places his servants on the thrones of this world to be able to carry out his means and his work. When we think about the ballots which are cast, which then affect who are placed in the oval office, that the ballots are the secondary causes in which God uses to be able to carry out his providence, that he has ordained that shall come to pass. And so it's an encouraging thing when we think about God's servants being used by God for his purposes. It's encouraging for us to know, even as a eel who is a pagan king bringing judgment upon the people of God for their false worship. We need to understand then that God is not then worried about spoiler alerts. Specifically here, we know exactly what is gonna happen. God has instructed us and told us right here in these chapters at the end of chapter 19, what is gonna happen. We know what's coming. Hazael of Syria, Jehu in Israel, Elisha, all bearing the sword. The God ordains these three judges to be able to carry out and use the power of the sword to be able to judge God's people for their violation of their covenant. We'll see Hazael and Jehu and second Kings. But what we see here in this passage at the very end of chapter 19 is then Elisha. We're introduced to him, and Elisha is one of these people that bears the sword for God to carry out this judgment. If anyone escapes Hazael or Jehu, Elisha is the one who is going to wield the sword against them. And so we see this in the beginning of chapter 19. So he departed from there, Elijah departs from there, and he finds Elisha the son of Shaphat. Now Elijah goes and finds, Elijah goes and finds Elisha. Now this is gonna be very confusing, but we'll see, bear with me. Hopefully you understand what I'm saying, even if I say the wrong word. Now we're not told specifically how Elijah knows who Elisha is, where to be able to find him. We find out where he lives. He's told there in verse 16 where he lives, but we're not told specifically what then sets Elisha apart. But here Elijah goes out and finds Elisha. Elijah goes out and finds Elisha. But we see the obedience then of Elijah going straight forth after God commands him to be able to carry this out. Now Elisha, the son of Shavuot, Now this is an interesting name, mainly because it's always good to be able to keep a record of names right in case someone's having a baby, you want to recommend a name, Shafat. But here, Shafat is the same root word where we get the root word for to judge, judgment. So Elisha is the son of judgment. And so, but even not merely just Elisha is the son of judgment, Elisha actually means that God is salvation. Elijah means that Yahweh is God, but here Elisha means God is salvation. God is salvation through judgment, through the son of judgment. And we also must remember the names are important. When you think about this in this time, Here you have all this nation of Israel that seemingly is bowing the knee to Baal. There are 7,000 that God has preserved who are not bowing the knee to Baal. But here you have a family. You're assuming then that Shaphat and his wife are believers in this time that have not bowed the knee to Baal. So you have three people that we know of now. Obadiah is another one, a hundred prophets there. We start to see these thousands being filled in. But here, when Shaphat and his wife seek to be able to name, what do they name their son? God is salvation. So we see even in times of trials and tribulation, we see the faithful still hold fast to what God has promised. And they look forward to God saving them. But also when we even think about Ahab's children, the opposite is true, that sometimes that people name their children and they have the opposite effect. Ahab has three children that we know of. We know that his family household is a lot larger than this. Jehu comes and wipes them out, 70,000 and 7,000, 70 and more. But Uzziah, his son, Yahweh has grasped, has taken hold. He has short reign with a tragic end. Jehoram, Yahweh is exalted. This is Ahab, the one who has set up all these Baal houses of worship. He calls his son, Yahweh is exalted. A strange name to be able to think about. Now it's true, Yahweh is exalted, even through the judgment of Ahab's household. And Haliah, his daughter, Yahweh is exalted as well. Queen who usurped the throne of Judah, ruthless attempt to be able to destroy the Davidic line, but yet still Yahweh is exalted in what she does. They have great names and they live up to their names, but also notice even the hypocrisy of Ahab and Jezebel as they name their children, typical politics that externally there might be saying and doing the right things. But really in their heart of hearts, do they really believe that Yahweh is exalted, as they seek to be able to exalt Baal? And so Elijah comes and meets Elisha, the son of judgment. God is salvation. And what's he doing? He's plowing. You see this in the end of verse 19. He departs, he finds Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with seven yoke of oxen in front of him, 12 yoke of oxen in front of him, and there was the 12th. Elijah was with the twelfth, and Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. So Elijah had run with Ahab with the chariots beside him, but now Elisha has his yoke and oxen, so not a chariot with horses but a yoke and oxen, and Elijah pulls beside him and he places his cloak upon him. Now, it's hard for us to be able to fathom this if I was to come up and throw a cloak on you or a jacket or something. It might be a bit strange. We don't necessarily have an equivalent what this means. But uniforms or jerseys, I guess, is the closest physical equivalent that we would have here. That if you throw someone a jersey and you're playing on my team, you're filling this position, you give them a uniform, you're part of this army, you're part of this crew, whatever that might be. But here, the garment is one of authority, of power. In years past, think of judges' robes, kings' robes or cloaks, brides' veils. To be able to wear a veil is to the symbolic nature of that of being a bride. And so here, the symbolic placing of a cloak upon Elisha is carried out exactly what God had instructed Elijah to be able to do, to be able to go and find his replacement in Elisha. Very symbolic of this office or position that he holds as the prophet. And so Elijah comes and places his prophetic cloak on him. And you even see this in 2 Kings when he goes up to the water and he uses his cloak as a power. With Moses, you might say that the staff is the position of power which carries that authority, that power. The staff is not magical. It's the Lord working through the ordinary mean of the staff. And so to this, cloak is the means of which God is using. So specifically in your place, in your position that you hold as covenant prosecutor, as covenant prophet, here Elisha carries that on. Delrath Davids points to an older commentary by a man called Wallace, and he points out this unique situation that Elisha is called. That here, Elisha is merely doing his day job. He's plowing the field like he would any other day. There's nothing really special about this. It's a regular day working in the field of oxen. And yet this is how then God calls him to this high calling of being the prophet for his people. Old Raph David points out several of these to expand the list, but what is Moses doing when he's called by God to be the prophet, to be able to go forth and ask Pharaoh to be able to let his people go? Well, he's keeping the flock for his father-in-law, Jethro. What's David doing when he was summoned then by his brothers to be able to come and stand before Samuel to be anointed as king? Well, he's merely doing his day job, been a shepherd and watching over the flock. What's Matthew doing as the Lord calls him? He's collecting taxes. What's Peter doing and his brother and James and John? They're doing their day job, they're fishing. What's Paul doing as he's on the road to Damascus? He's doing his day job, he's doing what he's regularly called to be able to do, to be able to persecute the church We often hear, don't quit your day job, but here, the absolutely opposite is true, that here a place before him is quit your day job, given to Elisha. You must understand the weight of this, that here Elisha is finally plowing his field, preparing to be able to sow a field. He was doing this, he was here for the long run. Rain had finally come, finally watered the ground. Now he was gonna be able to grow his bumper crop. After years of drought, he was finally gonna be able to grow his harvest. His big break was about to come, yet God calls him into ministry. Again, we're not told how Elijah knew Elisha or the other way around. But I'm sure if they had any form of newspapers or any type of a way to be able to communicate, I'm sure that Elisha would have heard about the battle of Yahweh and Baal, about the prophets and what they did and how they cried out. And maybe even the newspapers might have been able to flip it at some way that here Elijah has good luck on this day. Elijah had wiped out 450 prophets of Baal and then this next day the newspaper writes about this big storm that has come and waters that have come upon the earth after three and a half years of no rain at all. And I'm sure again the newspapers would have twisted it and said Baal has finally answered our prayers. The next days the headlines would have been about how Jezebel had threatened and made an oath to be able to destroy Elijah from the face of the earth so that, and now the next day after that the newspaper would have said Elijah after his big showdown has now vanished off the face of the earth. Where is he? I might have ran some interviews with the widow of Zarephath and asked about his time there. I have no doubt that Elisha knew exactly who Elijah was. and specifically the role and the responsibilities of a prophet. And as he's called from his day job to be able to go and be a prophet, it was no small task. He had luxury before him. And Elisha is called to be the next Elijah. So what do we see in verse 20? We see him respond, and he left his oxen and ran after Elijah. and said, let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you. And Elijah turns and says to him, go back again for what have I done for you? What we see immediately in chapter 20 is that here he leaves his oxen and runs after Elijah. Here Elisha is presented with this huge life-changing task, a life-changing moment. And he asks that he might be able to go and say goodbye to his father, Shaphat, and his mother. And Elijah responds and says, well, go back. What have I done for you? Now, we must be able to see this connection here. Jesus uses a similar story in the words of the Gospels. Look in Luke's account. There's also an account in Matthew as well. But Luke here gives three people that are going to be able to seek to be able to follow Jesus. The first and the third ask to be able to follow Jesus. The second is told by Jesus to be able to follow him. In Luke chapter 9, verse 57, the first person comes along the road and someone says to Jesus, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus says to him, foxes have holes and birds have of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. The first person comes up and says, I'm going to follow you wherever you go. And Jesus says, well, I don't have a home to go to. I don't have a place to lie my head. The second person comes up and Jesus actually calls out to him and says, follow me. But this person responds and says, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus says to him, leave the dead and bury, leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as far as you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. You hear he's commanded to be able to go follow me. He says, well, let me go bury. And Jesus says, well, let the dead bury the dead. You go pray, proclaim the gospel. Certain person, another says, I will follow you, Lord. But let me first say farewell to those at my home. Does that sound familiar to that of Elisha? Jesus says to him, no one puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. So it was a sin for him to want to tell his parents So what we see, I think, is a different response here given by Jesus. Specifically, the response of Elijah when he's responding to Elisha is Elisha turns around and says, go back for what have I done for you? And here Elijah has called him, and Elisha knows no responsibility to what Elijah says. responsible only to God and to God alone. Whereas the answer where Jesus, if Jesus is to ask the question, what have I done for you? The answer is drastically different. Jesus has created you, sustained you, protected you, provided for you, called you. It's not merely a man calling you, it is Christ Jesus the Lord calling you. That he's created and sustained you. Elijah, as a man, does not deserve direct obedience, yet Christ, as God, does. And Elijah's job was not to change Elisha and make him to be able to follow the call. But Jesus has a drastically different job. And he calls whom the Father has given to him, and he will by no means let them be cast out of his sight. But also we need to understand here that here there's a temporal nature in which Elisha is saying that I will follow you after I go and say goodbye. He leaves his oxen, he comes to Elijah, and then he says, let me go kiss my parents goodbye, and then I will come and follow you. So Elisha specifically sees the temporal nature, not merely let me just go say goodbye to my family. He intends to be able to come back. But the call, as Paul spells out in Philippians chapter 3, as he says he doesn't consider to be able to make it on his own, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward for what lies ahead. So we need to be able to see this in Elisha's response. Is he forgetting what's lying behind him? Is he honoring his parents? Or is he merely just using them as an excuse? But does he seek to be able to strain forward for what lies ahead? And I think we see Elisha do that clearly. that Paul says he presses on towards the prize, the upward call of God and Christ Jesus. Let those who are mature think this way. And if anyone you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. So we see this even in his response as he leaves his oxen, a very important thing as we'll see very shortly. He runs after Elijah. He asks to be able to kiss his father and his mother. And then he says, then I will follow you. Specifically in this promise is a promise to be able to return. He intends to follow Elijah and not to be able to delay. Maybe his home was merely around the corner. Maybe his parents were helping him with the harvest and they're right there. What we need to be able to see is Elisha's response and his dedication. He goes all in. You see this clearly in verse 21. And he returned from following him and he 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. And he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. That here, Elisha goes all in. 12 oxen, 24 oxen in total. It's no small task. He has no intention of coming back. Some people might say, what a waste. Why not sell them? Why not donate them? Why not just keep them just in case this side gig of being a prophet doesn't work out? But Elisha's not in this halfway. He sees this high and holy calling to be a prophet is a great task. He sees the importance of this call. He doesn't take it lightly. What his response is, is worship. And also generosity, this is a peace offering. You see this in Leviticus chapter 3 specifically and again in Leviticus chapter 7. Specifically what this is, this peace offering is one of those rare offerings where you make a sacrifice, you sacrifice a portion of the animal, you burn that fat and then you share it not only with the priest but also with all the people, a community of people. One of the only offerings they actually do this. But specifically, as a peace offering, a part of that category underneath a peace offering is a vow offering. And if you sacrifice for his offering as a vow offering or a free will offering, he shall be eaten on the day he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall be accepted. not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, for he who eats it shall bear his iniquity." And specifically what we see here is Elisha making a vow offering to be able to carry out his duties as a prophet, vowing before God that he will carry this task out. Again, this is a huge step for Elisha. It's not merely just, you know, putting it aside and let's see how this goes. A huge step. who must truly believe what his name means, that God is my salvation." Philip Ryken points this out here in his commentary, Elisha had plenty of everything to leave behind. At the very least he owned a yoke of oxen and farm equipment, but the scripture says that he was plowing with twelve oxen in front of him, and that he was with the twelfth. The implication is that these oxen belonged to Elisha, or perhaps his father. Needless to say, a farmer who has a dozen tractors has a big piece of land. At very least, Elisha was a very wealthy man. He was set for life. With 24 oxen in the family stables and 11 servants to help drive them, Elisha was more than a farmhand. He was an heir to a country estate. And we have no idea how old Elisha is. The fact that Shaphat is still alive, that he goes and wants to be able to say goodbye to his father, often means that he's quite young. It's often that the fathers actually don't last very long, that eventually they die after working so hard, that widows are often left in the country. And so on the very generous scale, Elisha is 20 or 30. but it's probably more likely that he's underneath that age. In 2 Kings 2, verse 12, it's actually that he, Elisha calls Elijah father. So he's old enough to be able to work the farm equipment, but he was also old enough to be able to find this relationship with Elijah as he calls him his father. This relationship of a son and a father going through to be able to carry this out. And so he gives up so much Literally quitting his day job to be able to carry out this call of a prophet. Now we're not all called in the same way that Elisha was called. Christ does call us to follow him. And when he does, he requires all. Mark chapter 10, verse 21, verse 22, 23. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, you lack one thing. Jesus Christ lovingly says to this person, there's one thing you lack. Sell all that you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. The same gauntlet is placed before this person. But yet this man is disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. He could not part with his possessions to be able to follow Christ. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. You know, Elisha is that prime example of a man who does sacrifice all, give all unto God to be able to carry out this calling. How often we think of the following part, but when we think about following Christ, we often think about it in little divides of our heart, not in every part of our life. The great call is to be able to serve God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We serve God with all that He has given to us. Even the mature days of life, think not merely just of Elisha going to be able to serve God, but even Elijah carrying this out, promising to be able to mentor Elisha to be able to carry this duties out. Elijah has done his part for the nation, for God. He could clearly just say, I'm done and I'm hanging my cloak up. I'm over it. But he seeks to be able to carry this out. to be able to serve God by helping equip Elisha, the next generation, who will do double what Elijah does, this double portion, that we always need to be able to see this next generation being passed the baton, passing it on to the next. Not only Elisha hears the call to be able to go serve God for all of his life, Elijah is calling, seeking to be able to do what God has called him to do in the end of his life. Not to retire, but to disciple. This is Paul's instruction to those in Crete, to Titus particularly, but he says, but for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good. And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be sober, self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, they urge younger men to be self-controlled." So Paul instructs here the older and the younger men in the congregation, older men and older women, to teach, to teach sound doctrines, to teach what is good. Now again, notice he doesn't, he adds two letters there that are very important. Older, not old. We often think that old is a different category, the category above us. But here, those who are older, those who are mature in the faith are to be able to instruct and carry out that responsibility of training up that next generation to be able to do that. That it costs a lot to be able to follow Jesus. And just think about that for Elijah. He's given a lot already and now God's going to ask him to give more to be able to disciple young Elisha. Thank you for listening to this sermon from Seven Springs Presbyterian Church. If you want to learn more about us, please find us on Facebook or visit us at sevenspringspresbyterian.com. Seven Springs Presbyterian Church began in 1874 and is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America located in Glade Spring, Virginia. Please join us for worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. for His glory and His gospel.