The Two Great Masters

                                               Tales Of Two Masters

                There lived two masters among the prophets, of the Old testament, in the holy book; the latter served the former-Elijah and Elisha. In the book of 2kings 2:2…and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, ”Now stay here; the Lord has ordered me to go to Bethel.” First, I observe there’s a tendency great men exhibit which is an inability to release the best to their followers until after loyalty had been tested. Elijah wasn’t an exception. God specifically instructed him to anoint Elisha for the future challenge of paving way for righteousness. He was a rich, successful farmer when Elijah called him but yet he was obedient to the heavenly call. To do away with ministerial distractions that might arise later, he got rid of his business by killing the animals and shared the meats among the people, and followed Elijah. 1kings 19:19-21.

                …And on the way. Good and Spiritual leaders are often on the way and followers are expected to follow without waned interest and will. If we follow and are discipled by Spirit-filled Leaders, we will reach a desired haven and surmount difficulties. But was Elijah’s interest not in Elisha? Was he unwilling to hand over the mantle to Elijah? Or why did he ask Elisha to stay or tarry at a particular place? Simply put, he was testing his loyalty and interest. May I not fail when my loyalty is tested in Jesus name. Had Elisha accepted that offer, he would have operated as a mediocre prophet far from Elijah, below expected capacity. As followers I suggest we should adhere to Our Leader’s instructions but we should never succumb to any advice that can relegate us from a destined divine status. Like Elisha, I come to advice you “don’t stay there! There is always a greater level: Of spirituality, of anointing, of encounters, of studying the word and prayer, of miracles, of help, of diverse operations in the kingdom, etc. “ Leaders sometimes under estimate the level which followers could attain but never under estimate yourself especially when you’re to take over certain monumental position. You can be at your best.

                At this juncture, suffice me to explain their adventure (Gilgal – Bethel – Jericho - River Jordan.) 2kings 2:1-7. Starting from Gilgal, we will explain each of these places using the principle of first mention.

                  Gilgal – Bethel – Jericho – Jordan’s  Adventures

                The word Gilgal means circle of stones. The first encounter with Gilgal in the scriptures can be found in the book of Joshua 5:2-4, 9. (Then the LORD told Joshua, “make some knives out of flint and circumcise the Israelites. So Joshua did as the LORD had commanded and circumcised the Israelites at a place called “Circumcision hill”), 9 The LORD said to Joshua, “ Today I have removed from you the disgrace of being slaves in Egypt.” That is why the place is named Gilgal, the name it still has.

                Considering 2king 2:1-2 where Elijah and Elisha were coming from Gilgal, a place of encounter where the fore-skin was removed, and great disgrace taken away. As man Elijah was to be taken away from the earth, his mortal flesh was to take up the immortal, and the corruptible was to become incorruptible.  He probably knew the task of Elisha as the incumbent Prophet but yet told him to stay a little farther place from Gilgal while he travelled to Bethel.

               Bethel was first mentioned in Gen. 28:19 “He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.” Jacob gave Bethel this name because of his great encounter with the divine there. As a result, this place was highly regarded to be sacred; it seems Elijah always had it as routine to get there. Though it was desecrated when Jeroboam placed gold calves there (1kings 12:28-29), and had a declined reputation due to further scandalous acts of instituting pagan religious festivals, offering of pagan sacrifices, and appointment of priests (1kings 12:31-33); yet, it was still regarded sacred- for a group of prophets sited school for training prophets there (2kings 2:3). So for Elisha, when Elijah spoke of reaching Bethel, he was talking of a better place. Elisha probably thought “who knows whether my master would be taken up there?” The conclusion of Elisha was “wherever you go, I go.”

              After Bethel, the next destination was Jericho. In Joshua 5:10, NLT, Gilgal was referred to as a plain of Jericho. Simply put, to reach Jericho, you first arrive at a plain called Gilgal. In the scriptures, Jericho was a place of significant events both beneficial and detrimental. Let’s navigate through few of these events:

              Jericho’s gates were tightly shut so that no one was allowed to go in or out. (Joshua 6:1) The Israelites eventually captured it. But to capture Jericho, detailed instructions had to given by God and followed by Joshua and the Israelites. Also everything in Jericho were to be destroyed. To seal this victory up, a curse had to be placed on it (Joshua 6:26). Everything done at Jericho was monumental and consequential. The King who ignorantly acted against the pronouncement on Jericho suffered the effect (1kings 16:34). Jericho later became a popular city Jesus pass during his tour and some great miracles were performed there. Geographically, River Jordan crossing is said to be near Jericho. For Elisha, Jordan represented a place of fulfillment, and the river Jordan represents a space for the miraculous. Why? The parting of River Jordan was the last miracle Elijah performed before ascension and the first miracle Elisha performed. This was a great fraction pointer that Elisha had double portion of Elijah’s spirit – His miracles started where Elijah’s ended.

            As life progresses, we’re expected to make progress and not settle for the less. When I say this, I did not mean discontentment. We should be contented with where we are on the way to where we expect to reach: godliness with contentment is of great gain (1Timothy 6:6). The ultimate aim of this great journey with the master was to receive double portion of his Spirit- a very hard thing to come by (2Kings 2:9-10) If Elijah said something is a hard thing to do, then there isn’t need for any more argument. He was a rugged, powerful prophet whose activities completely contradicted the laws of nature; but he did not say it was impossible For with God nothing shall be impossible (Matt. 19:26, Luke 1:37) Nevertheless, if this would happen, then Elisha must “see” Anything you can see would happen in as much as you believe it. God has nothing called impossibility in his agenda, He seeks people who will see great things and work for them. Elijah subjected Elisha to three stages of life every Christian needs to attain to get a hard thing done: Bethel – Jericho - River Jordan. Elijah knew the crave of Elisha but was not powerful enough to grant it but he knew what Elisha must do to get his earnest desire. Only God could grant such a great request but if we can pass through these three stages of life successfully, we can be sure of answers to what we see.