We are in 2 Kings this morning. Please turn to 2 Kings, chapter 2, verse 9.
And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken from thee.
And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
Then turn to 2 Kings, chapter 18, verses 1 through 7.
And it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.
He was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
He removed the high places, and brake the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among them that were before him.
For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.
And the Lord was with him; whithersoever he went forth he prospered.
Then turn to 2 Kings, chapter 22, the first two verses.
Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath.
And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
First and Second Kings were originally one book. They cover practically the whole history of the kingly rule of the chosen people of God. In 1 Kings, we begin to see the disruption; in 2 Kings, we find the downfall.
After Solomon died, the kingdom was divided into two: the northern kingdom of Israel, comprising ten tribes, and the southern kingdom of Judah, comprising two tribes.
In each kingdom, we find nineteen kings. In the kingdom of Judah, these nineteen kings were descendants of King David. We purposely leave out Athaliah, because she was the daughter of Ahab. She tried to murder all the sons of David and usurped the throne for a few years. So, in Judah, there was one dynasty.
In the northern kingdom of Israel, we also find nineteen kings, but they were of different dynasties. One would take over the kingdom from another and continue perhaps for three or four generations at most; then another man would rise up and take over the kingdom. These were not of one dynasty, but of a number of dynasties.
In the southern kingdom of Judah, we find some good kings, such as Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah. But in the northern kingdom of Israel, we cannot find any good king. They were all bad.
In God’s mercy, He sent prophets to both kingdoms to testify against Judah and Israel, calling them to return to God, to repent, and to keep the commandments God had given them through Moses. But unfortunately, the people hardened their hearts, and eventually those kingdoms were destroyed.
The northern kingdom was destroyed first, in 721 B.C., by Assyria. But the southern kingdom continued for about another 130 years because God remembered David. He tried to keep a lamp in that nation. Yet eventually, because of their disobedience, even the southern kingdom was destroyed by Babylon, around 588 B.C. That is the history we find in these two books of Kings.
Now, brothers and sisters, as we mentioned last time, we are not merely studying ancient history. These histories are in the Bible; in other words, they are the Word of God, and they are meant for us today. What are we to learn by reading and studying the history of the ancient people of God?
In a spiritual sense, God’s people today—those who are redeemed by the Lord—are the kingdom of God. You remember 1 Peter 2:9:
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.
So, brothers and sisters, in a very real spiritual sense, those redeemed by the Lord are a holy nation. Of course, we have only one King, and our King is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the perfect King.
We are supposed to obey Him, to do His will, and to be a witness and testimony to Him. But unfortunately, through two thousand years of church history, we find that God’s people today, like His chosen people of old, have failed Him again and again. We turn away from our Lord Jesus, drift toward things other than the Lord, and allow the world to come into the church. Eventually, the church goes into apostasy.
But God, in His mercy, does send His servants. He does send revivals from time to time, trying to bring us back to Him. Unfortunately, as a whole, the condition of God’s people is going downward instead of upward.
But thank God, in every age He has reserved for Himself His seven thousand. Elijah complained to God, saying, “I am the only one left for Thee,” but God said, “No, I have My seven thousand.” No matter how the church may drift away from God, in every age God has His seven thousand—those who are faithful to Him by His grace. In these people, God has maintained His testimony throughout the ages. That is a real comfort.
Second Kings begins with the passing of Elijah and the coming into ministry of Elisha. Elisha succeeded Elijah in the prophetic ministry.
The ministry of Elijah was judicial in nature; he brought judgment to the nation. The ministry of Elisha was merciful in nature; he brought life and resurrection to the people. These two aspects must be in prophetic ministry.
On the one hand, a prophetic ministry brings judgment to the people of God. But on the other hand, it brings resurrection and life. We need God’s judgment so that we may repent; but thank God, after we repent, there will be life and resurrection. This is what prophetic ministry ought to be.
From chapters 1 through 13, we find the ministry of Elisha the prophet. In chapter 17, we find the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and the Holy Spirit’s comment concerning its history. In chapters 18 through 20, we find a great revival under King Hezekiah. Then, in chapters 22 through 23, we find another revival under King Josiah. These are the highlights in the second book of Kings.
For our fellowship this morning, we will concentrate on one prophet and two kings: the prophet Elisha, and the kings Hezekiah and Josiah. Both the prophet and the king represent spiritual leadership.
When we think of life in the Body of Christ, we find that all are equal. We are all members of the Body of Christ, and no member is more important than another member. The eye needs the ear; the hand needs the foot. Though we are all different, so far as life is concerned, we share the same life. There is no difference. We are all equal before God.
So far as God’s grace is concerned, there is no reason why one brother or sister should receive more grace than another, because God gives His grace equally to all. The reason some receive more and some receive less is not because God is partial in dispensing His grace; it is because of our capacity. Some receive more of Him, while some do not seem able to receive as much. But so far as life is concerned, we are all equal before God.
But so far as work is concerned, we are the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, there is not only divine order, but also various positions. Our Lord Jesus is the King, but under Him, He gives the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. These are for the ministry of God’s Word, to perfect the saints.
On the other hand, God raises up elders and deacons for the government of the church: to lead the people, help them, and build them up. So, dear brothers and sisters, when you come to the work of God, you find that there is leadership.
Sometimes God’s people are so democratic that they feel there should be no leaders among God’s people, or that we are all leaders. It is true that when it comes to life, we are all equal. But when God begins to work in His church to build up His church, He does raise up leadership, and we need leadership. If there is no leadership, there is really no building.
Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are raised up by God to perfect the Body of Christ—to perfect God’s people. As God’s people are perfected, matured, and equipped, every member of the Body of Christ begins to function and builds up the Body in love. These people are God’s gifts to the church. They provide spiritual leadership, leading God’s people by the Word of God.
Then, in the church, God raises up elders and deacons. These are people with particular responsibilities, and through them God wants to shepherd and help the people to go on with the Lord. The first group is like the prophets in Old Testament times, because prophets minister God’s Word to His people. The second group is like the kings, concerned more with government, shepherding, and service.
Leadership is very important for the growth of the church. If the leadership is wrong—if leaders are selfish—the whole nation suffers. You see this in the history of Israel and Judah. When you have a bad king, the whole nation comes under a curse. But if, by God’s grace, you have a good king—one who rules for God—the whole nation is blessed.
It is almost inevitable, brothers and sisters: God’s people are sheep. I think everybody loves sheep. They look so lovable, so gentle, so good. And thank God, every child of God is lovable.
But sheep are among the most ignorant animals. If a sheep goes astray, it never knows how to come back—not like a dog or a cat. If a sheep puts its head into the thorns, it is never able to get itself out. It has to be helped.
A sheep does not know its pasture, because it will eat anything before it. A sheep needs a shepherd to choose the pasture. So God’s people are like sheep: they are good, innocent, and ignorant.
That is why, in church history, whenever God raises up the right leadership, God’s people are blessed. But whenever there is bad leadership, God’s people can be led astray very quickly, almost overnight. They simply follow whoever is leading them.
That is why it is so important that God give His church spiritual leadership—leadership that comes from God, not from man; leadership not set up by man or grasped by ambitious people, but ordained by God Himself.
When God gives His church leaders whom He Himself has raised up, and those leaders are truly leading the people in God, God’s people will be blessed. Dear brothers and sisters, we need to ask the Lord and pray that God will raise up spiritual leadership in the church.
As we enter this last phase of the church period, we are at the end of the last days. We are in a day of great apostasy and great falling away. We find many of God’s people being led astray here and there. They are innocent, and we feel for them. But this is the time when we need to pray and ask the Lord to raise up spiritual leadership for His people.
That is why 2 Kings is so important. There we find how God raised up the prophet Elisha in the ministry of God’s Word to His people, and how God raised up King Hezekiah and King Josiah to lead the people back to God. May God do the same today.
Now let us come to Elisha. The very name Elisha means, “God is salvation.” He was the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah. Abel-meholah was in the valley of the Jordan, in the tribe of Manasseh.
We first find him in 1 Kings 19. You remember that God commanded Elijah to go back and anoint Elisha to succeed him as prophet. So Elijah went to Abel-meholah, and there he found Elisha. What was Elisha doing? He was plowing the field with twelve yoke of oxen, and he was with the twelfth.
So far as prophetic ministry is concerned, first of all, you find that it is a sovereign choice of God. Our Lord Jesus said in John 15:16:
Ye did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide.
Prophetic ministry is God’s sovereign choice. It is not something we decide to do and then ask God to approve. God, in His sovereignty, chooses whom He wants to choose. There is nothing for anyone to boast in or grasp after.
But why, out of the many young people in Israel, did God choose Elisha? On the one hand, everything is based on God’s sovereign choice. But on the other hand, we must ask why God chooses one person and not another for prophetic ministry. God must have seen something in that young man that made him different.
What was he doing? He was plowing the field—ordinary work. Yet he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. Usually, one sees a man plowing with one yoke of oxen. On the one hand, this shows that Elisha must have come from a well-to-do family, because a well-to-do family could have twelve yoke of oxen.
If you come from such a family, probably you would not plow anymore. You would hire others to do it while you enjoyed yourself. But not this young man. Though he came from a rich family and could have hired others, he himself was plowing with the twelve yoke of oxen. In other words, this young man was diligent—very diligent.
I think it was D. L. Moody who said that God would never use a lazy person. He even said that God would never save a lazy person, because that person would be too lazy to believe in the Lord Jesus.
God saw in that young man the character of diligence, and because there was character there, God chose him. Not only was he diligent, but he did not work half-heartedly. He put all twelve yoke of oxen to work. His whole heart was in the work. That was the kind of person God would like to use.
When Elijah came to him, he did not say a word. He simply put his mantle—the prophet’s mantle—upon him. Elisha immediately ran after Elijah.
He said, “Let me go and kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee.” Elijah replied, “Go back again; for what have I done to thee?” Elisha went back, killed the oxen, used the implements to boil the flesh, gave it to the people to eat, and then left and followed Elijah.
How could this happen so suddenly? It shows us that, while this young man was busy plowing the field, his heart had been exercised before the Lord for some time. It was not an accident. His heart had been exercised for the interests of God in the nation of Israel. He must have been praying, burdened before God, and waiting upon God.
He was waiting to be called; he was ready. But he did not go out on his own. He waited until God called him into that ministry. Yet he did not wait at home idly. While waiting for the call, he diligently applied himself with all his heart to whatever God had put into his hand at that moment.
That is why, when Elijah put the mantle upon him, Elisha responded immediately. His heart was ready. He burned the bridge behind him and wholeheartedly followed Elijah.
Brothers and sisters, is our heart being exercised before God? When our hand is on the plow and we are plowing the field, do we put ourselves wholeheartedly into the work God has put into our hands at the moment?
Is our whole interest merely to gain a hundredfold harvest from the field? Or, while we are plowing, are we exercised with the interests of God upon this earth today? Is our heart burdened by God’s kingdom, always waiting upon God, ready to do whatever He may call us to do?
In other words, we are not serving the world; we are serving God. Even when our hands are on the plow, our hearts are with God. When the time comes, are we ready to respond, to burn the bridge behind us?
If we have a heart and a burden for the Lord’s work, do we simply step out on our own and say, “Now I am burdened; therefore I have to do it. I cannot wait anymore”? No. We must wait for God’s call in His time. But when that time comes, do not hesitate. Burn the bridge and follow the Lord.
Thirdly, Elisha responded by ministering to Elijah. In 1 Kings 19:21, we are told that Elisha ministered to Elijah. What does it mean to minister to Elijah?
If you go to 2 Kings 3, you find that Elisha “poured water on the hands of Elijah.” Today, we may not understand what that means. But if you go to India, you probably will. When people eat with their hands, someone may pour water over their hands afterward so they can wash. In other words, it is the work of a servant.
Elisha was called to be a prophet. We might expect him immediately to open his mouth and prophesy. But instead, he poured water on the hands of Elijah. He did the work of a servant.
Do you think that was beneath his dignity? He ought to have been prophesying, but we do not find him prophesying. We find him serving Elijah as an apprentice, as a disciple.
This is how spiritual leadership is raised up. If God is to raise you up as a leader, you first have to learn to be a learner. Before you can lead, you must be discipled to Christ.
After all, leadership is not sitting on high and giving commands. Leadership is to be the servant of all. Therefore, the spirit of servanthood has to be developed.
This was true of the twelve apostles and of our Lord Jesus. The Lord called the twelve apostles, but they were to be with Him, learning of Him. They were not merely to learn the skill of preaching; they had to learn to know the Lord, to learn His character, how He lived, and how He acted.
Brothers and sisters, this is what we need. We need to learn of Him, to learn His character, and to let His character characterize us. Then we are able to minister life to people.
Elisha ministered to Elijah for a period, until God was calling Elijah up. One day Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “No, I will go with you.”
After they arrived at Bethel, Elijah said, “Stay here; I am going to Jericho.” Elisha said, “No, I am going with you to Jericho.” Then at Jericho, Elijah said, “Stay here; I am going over to the Jordan.” Elisha said, “No, I am going with you.”
They traveled all the way across the Jordan. Then Elijah said, “I am leaving you. What do you want? You may ask.” And Elisha said, “Give me a double portion of your spirit.”
What was the spirit of Elijah? The spirit of Elijah was the spirit of jealousy—the jealousy of God, being jealous for God. That was the spirit of Elijah.
We especially see Elijah’s spirit at the time of his disappointment. When we are watching ourselves, we put up a front. Nobody really knows our spirit. The more civilized we are, the more we hide ourselves. We do not allow people to know our real person.
But when we are in disappointment and despair, the façade comes down and our real person comes out. When did Elijah’s real person and spirit come out? When he was disappointed. He fled to Mount Sinai, and God said, “Elijah, why art thou here?” Elijah answered, “Lord, I have been very jealous for Thee.”
He was jealous for God’s rights, and yet the whole nation was against him. They wanted to kill him. The spirit of Elijah is a spirit of jealousy.
There is nothing wrong with the word jealousy. Today, jealousy has a bad connotation, but jealousy itself is not wrong. If you are jealous for the right thing, that is the best thing. Our God is a jealous God, and we need the jealousy of God. We need to be jealous for God.
We should be so jealous that we do not want to see anything of God’s rights deprived. We want God to be God. We want God to have everything He deserves to have. That is jealousy for God.
Elijah was so jealous for God that his very life was in danger. Then Elisha came and said, “Give me a double portion of your spirit.” This young man was not ambitious for himself.
There is nothing wrong with ambition in itself. Some people think Christians should not be ambitious. But Paul said, in effect, “I am ambitious that I may please God in all things.” Elisha wanted a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
In other words, Elisha wanted to be so jealous for God that he was willing to take double trials and double afflictions. It is costly.
In order to receive that double portion of Elijah’s spirit, he had to travel from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, and to Jordan. Gilgal means the rolling away—the rolling away of the shame of Egypt, the rolling away of the flesh, where the flesh is completely dealt with.
If we desire a double portion of the spirit of Elijah, the first thing we need is for the flesh to be completely rolled away. Then we need to go to Bethel, the house of God. We need to see positively what the house of God really is, and there we will live under an open heaven.
From there we go to Jericho, where there is spiritual conflict and where we experience the victory of Christ. From there we cross the Jordan, being conformed to His death. Then, when we come back, we are able to minister life wherever we go.
In the first thirteen chapters of 2 Kings, Elisha performed, if we may say so, fourteen miracles. People have different opinions about the number, but that is all right. It shows how God used that man.
In all these miracles, Elisha brought life and resurrection to the people. He opened the waters of Jordan, healed the waters of Jericho, brought water into the desert for the three kings so that they would not die, multiplied the oil in the widow’s vessels, restored the life of the Shunammite woman’s son, healed the poison in the pot, and multiplied the barley loaves to feed a hundred people.
He healed the leprosy of Naaman, opened the eyes of his servant to see God’s horses and chariots surrounding the city, proclaimed victory over Syria, and even after he died, a dead body that touched his bones was resurrected.
In other words, his was a ministry of resurrection life. Dear brothers and sisters, how we need such a ministry. We need a ministry of judgment, but we also need a ministry of life—of resurrection life. Ministry is to impart the life of Christ to God’s people.
I will not have time to go into both kings. Perhaps I will speak of one and leave the other for 2 Chronicles. Let us consider Hezekiah.
Hezekiah came to the throne when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned for twenty-nine years. The Bible says that Hezekiah followed the Lord and did everything that David his father did, without turning to the right or to the left.
In the Old Testament, especially in the history of the kings, God measured every king by David, because David was the king. David represents the king after God’s own heart—a man who would do all God’s will. That is what a king after God’s heart is.
Some kings did not measure up in any way. They were bad. Other kings did some things that David did, but not all things. A few did everything David did because their hearts were perfect toward God, as David’s heart was perfect. Hezekiah was one of them.
Among the Jewish people, three kings are considered most honorable. David was one, and Hezekiah was another. He followed the Lord with all his heart. He did everything David did. He measured up to God’s standard.
Do you know that God has a standard by which He measures everything today? God measures ministry, life, work—everything—with one standard: the One greater than David, our Lord Jesus.
In leadership, He uses the Lord Jesus as the measuring rod to see how much we measure up to His leadership. Do we do what He does and what He has done, or do we deviate from Him in some way? How God’s heart would be pleased if He found leadership measuring up to the Son of David, the Lord of David.
Hezekiah also trusted the Lord. In his fourteenth year, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, took the cities of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem. He made unreasonable demands. Under such circumstances, Hezekiah trusted the Lord with his whole heart. He cried to the Lord, and the Lord delivered him.
Brothers and sisters, we need that kind of trust in the Lord.
Then, in the prime of his years, when he was thirty-nine years old, Hezekiah was sick unto death. God sent Isaiah to him, saying, “Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.”
Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and wept. He said, “God, remember how I have walked before Thee with a perfect heart. I have done everything for Thee, and now, in the prime of my years, I am dying.”
Because he wept before God, God was touched. God sent Isaiah back and said, “I have heard thy prayer. I will give thee fifteen more years. On the third day thou shalt go up into the house of the Lord.”
Hezekiah asked for a sign, and Isaiah asked whether he wanted the shadow on the dial to go forward ten degrees or backward ten degrees. Hezekiah chose backward, and the shadow went back ten degrees. Hezekiah was healed. How he trusted and believed in God.
But unfortunately, his heart was not humbled by all that God had done. Instead, he began to be proud. During those fifteen years, two terrible things happened.
First, the king of Babylon and the king of Assyria were enemies. When the king of Babylon heard that Hezekiah had been healed, he sent emissaries to congratulate him. Hezekiah was so proud of his country, riches, and wealth that he was enticed by the emissaries. They were spies, and he showed them all the things in his kingdom.
Because of this, God told him that the whole nation and everything he had would be taken into captivity.
Second, during those fifteen years, he had a son, Manasseh. That son was one of the worst kings, and because of his sins God determined to destroy the nation of Judah.
Dear brothers and sisters, there is a great lesson for us. If the Lord says that your time is up, go gladly.
If you try to persuade God, God can be persuaded. Our God is so soft-hearted that He can be persuaded, but it may not be good for you. Better submit yourself unto God, because everything He has ordained for you is best for you—and for Him too.
Thank God, He raised up Hezekiah as a spiritual leader. Under his leadership, the nation did return to God, at least temporarily. God also gave him Isaiah to help him in the work of restoration.
But unfortunately, at the very end, Hezekiah fell into pride. That is a great lesson for leaders. All leaders are exposed to the danger of pride. If God does not use you, you have nothing to be proud of; you may be jealous of others, and that is your danger. But if God uses you, others may be jealous of you, while you may become proud.
Pride comes before a fall. May the Lord have mercy upon us. On the one hand, may God raise up spiritual leadership; on the other hand, may those leaders always remain humble before Him.
Dear Heavenly Father, we commit these words into Thy hands and pray that Thou wouldst make them living words of life to us. Lord, we pray that Thou wouldst raise up spiritual leadership in the church, and that Thou wouldst keep the leaders humble before Thee.
We look forward to the day when Thou shalt return and establish Thy kingdom upon this earth, and righteousness shall reign over the whole earth. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.