Welcome! Today is our final message from the series entitled Broken Vessels. In this series we have studied the lives of a large number of Old Testament Characters, from Adam up to Elisha. Two general observations from this series: First, we have seen a lot of sin. Without fail, people called by God, people for whom God had spectacular plans, have fallen far short of what they were called for. From the absolutely catastrophic sin of Adam, to Noah getting drunk, to the deceptions and favoritism issues of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and on and on – Moses striking the rock in anger, Gideon’s weak “second half,” Saul’s complete abandoning of God, David’s infidelity and murder to cover it up, Solomon’s turning to other gods and the pleasures of this world, and then the long succession of wicked kings in the fractured nations of Israel and Judah, even the prophets failing – for example, Elijah’s meltdown – we have seen a lot of sin.
Now how should we respond? Should we say, everyone sins, so I guess my sin is not that bad? Absolutely not! Romans 1 is clear that sin happens because people choose to suppress the truth that they already know. People choose to not glorify God, and one of the reasons is that they do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. Romans 1 says that God responds by “giving them over” to what they desire to do. He gives them over to their foolish thinking and their shameful lusts. And then they do what just comes naturally. So is our sin “not that bad”? Quite the contrary – our sin separates us from God; it severs a tie that God has with us. And the ultimate price for sin is an eternal severance, an eternal separation from God. What, in all creation, in all imagination, could be more serious, more devastating, than this?
But my second observation is that although we have seen a lot of sin, we have also seen a lot of grace. Even in the Old Testament, there is a lot of grace. It is temporary grace, situational grace, but it is grace. Again and again, God has been patient, slow to punish, giving every opportunity for repentance. Even for Adam and Eve, when the penalty was death, it was deferred death. God could have ended it right then. This was grace. But there was a cost for grace – the shedding of blood. For Adam and Eve it was blood shed to make them skins to wear. For Abraham, it was an animal in place of his son Isaac, whom he loved. But there we had a huge hint as to what the shedding of blood, the price of grace, would ultimately come down to. When the Law was given to Moses and the Israelites, sacrifice of innocent animals was an essential condition. Grace has always had the price of blood. Grace must be this way, or God could not be both merciful and just. But in recent weeks, as we have studied the history of the divided kingdom, looking at wicked king after wicked king, looking at the people turning increasingly to false gods, performing detestable acts for these “gods” including child sacrifice and sexual perversion, the time for Israel to repent was coming to a close. It was just a matter of time until the warnings God gave in Deuteronomy would come to pass, and the people would lose their promised land and be hauled as captive slaves to foreign kings and live as slaves in foreign lands. It happens at the end of 2 Kings, the very book we have most recently been studying.
Today, in what I think is a fitting close to this series, we will look at selected incidents in the life of Elisha. And perhaps more than we have previously, I want to look at the scriptures not just historically but symbolically. In fact, it is hard for me to look at Elisha any other way. Why is this? The best way I can explain it is to use a word analogy much like the old SAT used to have. Let’s see if you can figure it out:
Elijah is to John the Baptist as Elisha is to …
Jesus! Yes, in many ways Elisha is a Christ figure. I want to explore this today. We pick up the story right after Elisha has seen Elijah go up to heaven in a whirlwind. After crying out, “My father, my father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel,” Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, and striking the waters of the Jordan River, observed God part the river for him. Elisha went across to a company of prophets who were watching and waiting.
The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. – 2 Kings 2:15
Because Elisha saw Elijah taken up in the whirlwind, it says earlier in the chapter that he would get what he asked for, namely a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (really, God’s spirit) on his life. Elisha was greater than Elijah. Looking at our parallel of John the Baptist and Jesus, of course Jesus was also greater than John, not by a factor of two, but by a factor of infinity. John the Baptist knew this, which is why when Jesus wanted to be baptized by him John protested, saying, “Look, in comparison to You, I’m not even worthy to be your slave, untying your sandals!”
In fact, this entire event, the parting of the Jordan, is highly symbolic of baptism; in particular, of Jesus’ baptism. In Jesus’ case, the Holy Spirit came in the form like a dove, and the result of the miracle was the people were persuaded that God’s Spirit rested on Jesus. In the same way, the result of Elisha’s parting the Jordan is that people were persuaded that God’s Spirit rested on Elisha. And it is not just what people were persuaded by, but what really happened in both cases – God’s Spirit really did rest on Jesus, and His Spirit really did manifest itself through Elisha. Isn’t that powerful?
One of the themes we will see today is that Jesus does everything greater, supersized, you could say. In fact, I think there is a three-level hierarchy: first, the miracle of Elisha, second, the miracle of Jesus done while He was on Earth, and third, I think that again and again there is an even greater miracle Jesus has done for which Jesus’ miracle on Earth was only a type or foreshadowing.
What would that be here? I think of how in both Elisha’s miracle and Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit only rested on the one person. The witnesses saw the miracle but they did not themselves experience the Holy Spirit. But the greatest miracle, now that Jesus has died and been raised from the dead, is that the Holy Spirit rests on all who are reborn believers in Jesus. This is a much greater miracle; the others are only foreshadowings of it.
Let’s continue on with our passage.
The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive." "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. – 2 Kings 2:19-20
Now the “men of the city” are the prophets, and of what city are they? Jericho. Jericho the cursed. Joshua had said hundreds of years ago prophetically that those who tried to rebuild it would lose their sons. This had in fact already happened, as we saw several weeks ago. So Jericho was rebuilt, but it had a serious problem – bad water. It seems to have affected all life, including plants, which would not mature or survive to the point of providing food.
Now what does Elisha ask for? A new bowl (or jar), with salt. Both are rich with symbolism, when interpreted through the New Testament. What does a new bowl remind you of? New wineskins. In the New Testament this symbolic for born-again believers, those who have put their faith in Christ to save them. Jesus in the gospels says that you should only put new wine (God’s Spirit) in new wineskins (born-again believers). 2nd Corinthians also describes us as jars (or bowls) of clay.
And what about the salt? In the New Testament, what is salt symbolic of? In Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that His disciples are to be the salt of the earth. To be salty is to be one who preserves, by bringing the gospel to those who are perishing. So salt in a new bowl on the one hand is simply salt in a new bowl, but on the other, it is symbolic, foreshadowing of a much greater reality – born again believers active in living and sharing the gospel with the lost world around them.
Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the Lord says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'" And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. – 2 Kings 2:21-22
So the salt in the new bowl healed the water, and with it, the land. So symbolic! You and I are salt in new bowls, too. And this is what God desires to do through us. Note that throwing a handful of salt into a giant reservoir of water cannot possibly – in and of itself – heal anything. As it says in the passage, God healed the water. The bowl and salt were instruments, highly symbolic instruments, of His healing. But God healed the water. In the same way, we, as salt in new bowls (or new wineskins) don’t save anyone. God does the saving. We are simply the instruments.
Now, there is another powerful way to look at this event. There is an early miracle of Jesus that is symbolically very similar to this miracle which is also an early miracle for Elisha. What is it? The turning of the water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. What was the problem? They had run out of wine, the “good” water, and only had left plain water, “bad” water. Jesus turned it into “good” water, apparently, the real good stuff, probably meaning of better taste and higher alcohol content than the daily low-alcohol wine people often drank instead of water, in part because it was safer. My point here is not to promote the consumption of alcohol – in moderation, that is an individual decision that you have freedom in Christ to make. My point is that there is a strong parallel between this miracle and that of Elisha’s.
And again, even Jesus’ miracle of water into wine is a foreshadowing. Of what? Of the living water. From Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman:
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" – John 4:11-12
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." – John 4:13-14
If you are a believer, you have this living water – water welling up to eternal life! The other miracles, again, are only foreshadowings of this far greater reality.
Let us now look at another miracle God did through Elisha.
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil." – 2 Kings 4:1-2
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. – 2 Kings 4:3-5
When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." – 2 Kings 4:6-7
I love this miracle on so many levels! Elisha shows God’s heart of care and concern – God cares about our problems! He is not distant or uncaring, but the ultimate loving Father. Now, this woman is not an important person by the world’s standards, but that does not keep Elisha (and ultimately, God) from caring about her and her situation. I love Elisha’s wording – that of a humble servant – “How can I help you?” It is in the same way that Jesus was humble and served the least among us. I also love what God has the woman do – it requires faith, and a public faith at that. It is one thing to get your own jars for some crazy scheme that might or might not work, but it is something else altogether to tell all your neighbors and get them involved. Even though they did not see the miracle as it happened (she shut the door so as to prevent a riot, no doubt), there is no question they found out afterwards. I also love how Elisha is not present when the miracle happens – he tells her what to do, but she is on her own when it is time to do it. This also builds her faith.
Does this remind you of any miracles of Jesus? What it reminds me of are the times Jesus orchestrates the miraculous catch of fish. With Jesus’ miracles and with Elisha’s there is this sudden filling to overflowing, an overabundance that should not be possible. The miracles are similar also in how Peter and the other disciples could not just stand by and be passive, but had to participate. They had to go where Jesus said to go and put down their nets where Jesus said to do it. Faith was required to do these things just as it was for this widow. Now, I don’t know how many jars the woman came up with, but I suspect Jesus’ miracle was greater in quantity, and in my mind, in quality as well. To me, there is something even more impressive about controlling living things to jump in a net. And for all I know, these fish were not pre-existent before the miracle. I would love to know – don’t you wish you could ask someone how the fishing was at the lake after the miracle?
But this too is symbolic of a greater miracle. Jesus said, “Follow Me, and from now on you will be fishers of men.” So how’s the fishing been going? Are the fish biting? Well, I don’t know how many Christian believers there are in the world today, but I am sure it is at least in the hundreds of millions, if not over a billion. A good number of these were born into Christian families, but that does not lessen the miracle. Being born into a Christian family doesn’t make you a Christian. Only God’s Spirit brings a person to a point of repentance and asking God to take over the reins of his or her life. So are the nets overflowing? Hundreds of millions of salvations in just this latest generation sure sounds like overflowing to me.
Now, 2 Kings goes on to tell about Elisha going to Shunem, where he met a “well-to-do” woman who gave him a meal. As time went on, she would feed him whenever he visited, and she had her husband make a small room for him to stay there. Elisha – expressing God’s kindness towards her – told her that she would have a child, and the prophecy came true. Years later, the child one day suddenly cried out “My head! My head!” and died a little while later. I don’t have time to go into the details, but the woman set out on a journey to bring back Elisha and eventually did so. Here is what happened:
When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. – 2 Kings 4:32-35
I love that little detail about the sneezing. The parallels to Jesus here are pretty obvious. Jesus also raised people from the dead – Jairus’ daughter, for one, and Lazarus, for another. Jesus’ miracle with Lazarus seems to be greater – he was dead for four days. And Jesus’ miracles were also greater in terms of how little effort was required on Jesus part – no laying on the body, no multiple attempts, but a simple calling, and both Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus arose.
But the greatest miracle, of which these two are again only foreshadowings, is the fact that all believers are in fact “born again.” In the process, we “die,” and the new “us” is born. And in yet another level, those of us who die before the Lord returns will be brought back to physical life as well. Jesus has overcome death – He has overcome His own death, and through this, He overcomes the death of all who follow Him. Both of these greater truths are captured in Colossians 3:3-4, which says,
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. – Col. 3:3-4
Here is another miracle of Elisha:
A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said. – 2 Kings 4:42
"How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: 'They will eat and have some left over.' " Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. – 2 Kings 4:43-44
Sound familiar? Of course! Even the details of the questioning servant and the fact that there is some left over are similar. But Jesus’ miracle was greater – He fed 5000 men with only 5 loaves and 2 fish. I am a “mathy” guy, so I have to compute the numbers. Just counting the men and the bread, Elisha’s ratio is 100/20, or 5 to one. In contrast, Jesus’ ratio is 5000/5, or 1000 to one.
But, once again, Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 was symbolic of a greater miracle – remember “This is My Body. This is My Blood. Do this in remembrance of Me”? How many are fed eternally, spiritually speaking, on one man? What is the ratio here? A billion to one?
Another miracle of Elisha:
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. – 2 Kings 5:1
Naaman’s wife learns of the prophet Elisha from a servant girl, an Israelite taken captive. Naaman learns of Elisha and asks his king for permission to go to Israel. The king agrees and sends a letter with Naaman to the king of Israel. Naaman goes with many gifts, and the king of Israel receives him but has a ridiculous meltdown – a long tradition of these kings, to act like a child. But Elisha hears of it and sends for Naaman.
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." – 2 Kings 5:9-10
Naaman was angry about the prescription – he expected Elisha to cure him on the spot. Instead, Elisha tells him to do something strange and doesn’t even go out to meet him himself! But his servants calm him down and …
So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. – 2 Kings 5:14
This too is an interesting miracle – interesting in part because what Naaman was told to do and how he was told to do it forced him to deal not only with faith (it seems pretty foolish to dip into the river, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, seven times in all, with apparently no effect until the end), but also with his pride and anger. But he did so, and how important that he did it, for without it, he would have lived the rest of his life as a leper.
Healing of leprosy – again this is also done by Jesus. Again, Jesus did this miracle more than one. Recall that Jesus once healed ten lepers. So again, this was an amplification of Elisha’s miracle. Unlike Elisha’s miracle, Jesus’ miracle seemingly required no action on the part of the lepers. His only specification was that they show themselves to a priest to get official “clean bills of health” and, by doing this, to witness of Jesus’ power to the priests of Israel. I’m sure that was a pretty interesting day at the Temple! I doubt they had ten “cleansed leper” forms on hand, ready for the situation. Prior to Jesus healing lepers, when was the last time anyone was healed of leprosy? Yes, Elisha’s healing!
Is there an even greater story here? Does these healings symbolize anything? Absolutely! We are healed from the curse and the effects of sin. Our situation was every bit as incurable as that of the lepers. And just as lepers were forbidden in Jesus’ day to mingle with the healthy, how they even had to shout ahead, “unclean, unclean,” sin separates us from God – not because God is vindictive, or just tough, but because a Holy God cannot be a Holy God and abide sin. And so, because of the cross, Jesus has healed us! We are “positionally” healed now, and we are being healed as a process as well, as we learn to love Him more and follow Him with more and more of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. And we too should “go and show ourselves,” not to bring glory to ourselves, but to God, who heals.
There is more to the story – Naaman tries to offer Elisha a gift as thanks, but Elisha refuses. Naaman then asks to bring back some Israeli dirt so he can make sacrifices to the Lord. He also explains that when his master the king worships a false god, he will be expected to be there at his side. Speaking to Elisha, he asks for the Lord to forgive him for this.
Now worshiping the Lord in a pagan way on Israeli soil and standing by the side of someone who worships a false god – how do you think that will go over with Elisha? Surprise, Elisha tells him to go in peace. This is a nice picture of grace and also a reminder that the Law of Moses did not apply to outsiders – it had a limited scope in location and a limited scope in time – it was and is now fulfilled in Christ.
There is even more to the story – Elisha’s servant Gehazi decides on his own to get some of that treasure being offered by Naaman. (He thinks Elisha was “too easy on him.” – there is no sign of a desire for personal wealth here, but rather for Elisha’s house.) Gehazi goes to Naaman and implies that Elisha has sent him to ask for something. Naaman agrees. When Gehazi returns, Elisha asks where he has been, and Gehazi lies. Elisha then pronounces Naaman’s leprosy on Gehazi, and it comes to pass. I don’t have time to really develop this, but the seriousness of the sin is that Gehazi’s actions tarnished Elisha’s reputation with Naaman, and through this, damaged God’s reputation with the people Naaman was going back to. It was a serious sin, with serious effects.
But now I want to move on – I have two more miracles of Elisha to discuss. Here is the first:
The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live." And he said, "Go." – 2 Kings 6:1-2
Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied. And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!" – 2 Kings 6:3-5
The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it. – 2 Kings 6:6-7
So did Jesus make anything float? How about Himself? How about Peter? Even that phrasing about “reaching out the hand and taking” is similar in the two miracles. Of course what Jesus reached out to take was a floundering Peter. But I think it is pretty obvious that this is a greater miracle than making a hunk of iron float. Is there an even greater miracle? Certainly! Read the Book of Acts. Look at the history of the Church since then. Again and again, because of Jesus, God has made normal things (think of us as hunks of iron) do impossible things (as impossible as iron floating). Through his Spiritual gifts and in other ways, God has enabled us to do impossible things – things that are impossible in our own strength. Even when we tell someone the good news of the gospel and they respond by putting their faith in Christ, we have done an impossible thing. The salvation was as surely a work of God as making the axhead – or Peter – float.
Now I have one more miracle to discuss. But the passage I am going to read starts with something that makes it sound like there shouldn’t be any more miracles: it starts, “Elisha died and was buried.” Let’s read on:
Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. – 2 Kings 13:20-21
I love this miracle – it is so “Raiders of the Lost Ark”-ish. Imagine Harrison Ford being killed, and thrown into the tomb, and then coming back to life. Wouldn’t that be great? Well, except for the Harrison Ford part, that is what happened. Now why would God do that? Because it is symbolic – it is foreshadowing – God is saying, “Hey guys! Wait until you see what – that is, Who – is going to come!”
So is there a greater miracle? How can someone who has already died bring others back to life? Well, that is exactly what Jesus has done. This is the gospel message! Jesus died, and then He brought Himself back to life. But He doesn’t stop there – He brings back to life (and not just life, but a much better life, a life without sickness, or pain, an eternal life) all who have put their faith in Him. How blessed we are to live in a time where we can see the fulfillment of Elisha’s life in Jesus.
So as we wrap up this series on Broken Vessels, I want you to do what we have done here today – focus not on your brokenness, or even on how God still uses broken vessels, but on Christ. All of Scripture ultimately points to Him. Yes, in ourselves we are broken vessels, but in Christ we are new jars, jars of clay, filled with salt. We serve a God who brings provision, healing, rebirth, and the power to do the impossible – if we live not in our broken lives but in our new lives in Him.
Now how should we respond? Should we say, everyone sins, so I guess my sin is not that bad? Absolutely not! Romans 1 is clear that sin happens because people choose to suppress the truth that they already know. People choose to not glorify God, and one of the reasons is that they do not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. Romans 1 says that God responds by “giving them over” to what they desire to do. He gives them over to their foolish thinking and their shameful lusts. And then they do what just comes naturally. So is our sin “not that bad”? Quite the contrary – our sin separates us from God; it severs a tie that God has with us. And the ultimate price for sin is an eternal severance, an eternal separation from God. What, in all creation, in all imagination, could be more serious, more devastating, than this?
But my second observation is that although we have seen a lot of sin, we have also seen a lot of grace. Even in the Old Testament, there is a lot of grace. It is temporary grace, situational grace, but it is grace. Again and again, God has been patient, slow to punish, giving every opportunity for repentance. Even for Adam and Eve, when the penalty was death, it was deferred death. God could have ended it right then. This was grace. But there was a cost for grace – the shedding of blood. For Adam and Eve it was blood shed to make them skins to wear. For Abraham, it was an animal in place of his son Isaac, whom he loved. But there we had a huge hint as to what the shedding of blood, the price of grace, would ultimately come down to. When the Law was given to Moses and the Israelites, sacrifice of innocent animals was an essential condition. Grace has always had the price of blood. Grace must be this way, or God could not be both merciful and just. But in recent weeks, as we have studied the history of the divided kingdom, looking at wicked king after wicked king, looking at the people turning increasingly to false gods, performing detestable acts for these “gods” including child sacrifice and sexual perversion, the time for Israel to repent was coming to a close. It was just a matter of time until the warnings God gave in Deuteronomy would come to pass, and the people would lose their promised land and be hauled as captive slaves to foreign kings and live as slaves in foreign lands. It happens at the end of 2 Kings, the very book we have most recently been studying.
Today, in what I think is a fitting close to this series, we will look at selected incidents in the life of Elisha. And perhaps more than we have previously, I want to look at the scriptures not just historically but symbolically. In fact, it is hard for me to look at Elisha any other way. Why is this? The best way I can explain it is to use a word analogy much like the old SAT used to have. Let’s see if you can figure it out:
Elijah is to John the Baptist as Elisha is to …
Jesus! Yes, in many ways Elisha is a Christ figure. I want to explore this today. We pick up the story right after Elisha has seen Elijah go up to heaven in a whirlwind. After crying out, “My father, my father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel,” Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, and striking the waters of the Jordan River, observed God part the river for him. Elisha went across to a company of prophets who were watching and waiting.
The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. – 2 Kings 2:15
Because Elisha saw Elijah taken up in the whirlwind, it says earlier in the chapter that he would get what he asked for, namely a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (really, God’s spirit) on his life. Elisha was greater than Elijah. Looking at our parallel of John the Baptist and Jesus, of course Jesus was also greater than John, not by a factor of two, but by a factor of infinity. John the Baptist knew this, which is why when Jesus wanted to be baptized by him John protested, saying, “Look, in comparison to You, I’m not even worthy to be your slave, untying your sandals!”
In fact, this entire event, the parting of the Jordan, is highly symbolic of baptism; in particular, of Jesus’ baptism. In Jesus’ case, the Holy Spirit came in the form like a dove, and the result of the miracle was the people were persuaded that God’s Spirit rested on Jesus. In the same way, the result of Elisha’s parting the Jordan is that people were persuaded that God’s Spirit rested on Elisha. And it is not just what people were persuaded by, but what really happened in both cases – God’s Spirit really did rest on Jesus, and His Spirit really did manifest itself through Elisha. Isn’t that powerful?
One of the themes we will see today is that Jesus does everything greater, supersized, you could say. In fact, I think there is a three-level hierarchy: first, the miracle of Elisha, second, the miracle of Jesus done while He was on Earth, and third, I think that again and again there is an even greater miracle Jesus has done for which Jesus’ miracle on Earth was only a type or foreshadowing.
What would that be here? I think of how in both Elisha’s miracle and Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit only rested on the one person. The witnesses saw the miracle but they did not themselves experience the Holy Spirit. But the greatest miracle, now that Jesus has died and been raised from the dead, is that the Holy Spirit rests on all who are reborn believers in Jesus. This is a much greater miracle; the others are only foreshadowings of it.
Let’s continue on with our passage.
The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive." "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. – 2 Kings 2:19-20
Now the “men of the city” are the prophets, and of what city are they? Jericho. Jericho the cursed. Joshua had said hundreds of years ago prophetically that those who tried to rebuild it would lose their sons. This had in fact already happened, as we saw several weeks ago. So Jericho was rebuilt, but it had a serious problem – bad water. It seems to have affected all life, including plants, which would not mature or survive to the point of providing food.
Now what does Elisha ask for? A new bowl (or jar), with salt. Both are rich with symbolism, when interpreted through the New Testament. What does a new bowl remind you of? New wineskins. In the New Testament this symbolic for born-again believers, those who have put their faith in Christ to save them. Jesus in the gospels says that you should only put new wine (God’s Spirit) in new wineskins (born-again believers). 2nd Corinthians also describes us as jars (or bowls) of clay.
And what about the salt? In the New Testament, what is salt symbolic of? In Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that His disciples are to be the salt of the earth. To be salty is to be one who preserves, by bringing the gospel to those who are perishing. So salt in a new bowl on the one hand is simply salt in a new bowl, but on the other, it is symbolic, foreshadowing of a much greater reality – born again believers active in living and sharing the gospel with the lost world around them.
Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the Lord says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'" And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. – 2 Kings 2:21-22
So the salt in the new bowl healed the water, and with it, the land. So symbolic! You and I are salt in new bowls, too. And this is what God desires to do through us. Note that throwing a handful of salt into a giant reservoir of water cannot possibly – in and of itself – heal anything. As it says in the passage, God healed the water. The bowl and salt were instruments, highly symbolic instruments, of His healing. But God healed the water. In the same way, we, as salt in new bowls (or new wineskins) don’t save anyone. God does the saving. We are simply the instruments.
Now, there is another powerful way to look at this event. There is an early miracle of Jesus that is symbolically very similar to this miracle which is also an early miracle for Elisha. What is it? The turning of the water into wine at the wedding feast at Cana. What was the problem? They had run out of wine, the “good” water, and only had left plain water, “bad” water. Jesus turned it into “good” water, apparently, the real good stuff, probably meaning of better taste and higher alcohol content than the daily low-alcohol wine people often drank instead of water, in part because it was safer. My point here is not to promote the consumption of alcohol – in moderation, that is an individual decision that you have freedom in Christ to make. My point is that there is a strong parallel between this miracle and that of Elisha’s.
And again, even Jesus’ miracle of water into wine is a foreshadowing. Of what? Of the living water. From Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman:
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?" – John 4:11-12
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." – John 4:13-14
If you are a believer, you have this living water – water welling up to eternal life! The other miracles, again, are only foreshadowings of this far greater reality.
Let us now look at another miracle God did through Elisha.
The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil." – 2 Kings 4:1-2
Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. – 2 Kings 4:3-5
When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left." – 2 Kings 4:6-7
I love this miracle on so many levels! Elisha shows God’s heart of care and concern – God cares about our problems! He is not distant or uncaring, but the ultimate loving Father. Now, this woman is not an important person by the world’s standards, but that does not keep Elisha (and ultimately, God) from caring about her and her situation. I love Elisha’s wording – that of a humble servant – “How can I help you?” It is in the same way that Jesus was humble and served the least among us. I also love what God has the woman do – it requires faith, and a public faith at that. It is one thing to get your own jars for some crazy scheme that might or might not work, but it is something else altogether to tell all your neighbors and get them involved. Even though they did not see the miracle as it happened (she shut the door so as to prevent a riot, no doubt), there is no question they found out afterwards. I also love how Elisha is not present when the miracle happens – he tells her what to do, but she is on her own when it is time to do it. This also builds her faith.
Does this remind you of any miracles of Jesus? What it reminds me of are the times Jesus orchestrates the miraculous catch of fish. With Jesus’ miracles and with Elisha’s there is this sudden filling to overflowing, an overabundance that should not be possible. The miracles are similar also in how Peter and the other disciples could not just stand by and be passive, but had to participate. They had to go where Jesus said to go and put down their nets where Jesus said to do it. Faith was required to do these things just as it was for this widow. Now, I don’t know how many jars the woman came up with, but I suspect Jesus’ miracle was greater in quantity, and in my mind, in quality as well. To me, there is something even more impressive about controlling living things to jump in a net. And for all I know, these fish were not pre-existent before the miracle. I would love to know – don’t you wish you could ask someone how the fishing was at the lake after the miracle?
But this too is symbolic of a greater miracle. Jesus said, “Follow Me, and from now on you will be fishers of men.” So how’s the fishing been going? Are the fish biting? Well, I don’t know how many Christian believers there are in the world today, but I am sure it is at least in the hundreds of millions, if not over a billion. A good number of these were born into Christian families, but that does not lessen the miracle. Being born into a Christian family doesn’t make you a Christian. Only God’s Spirit brings a person to a point of repentance and asking God to take over the reins of his or her life. So are the nets overflowing? Hundreds of millions of salvations in just this latest generation sure sounds like overflowing to me.
Now, 2 Kings goes on to tell about Elisha going to Shunem, where he met a “well-to-do” woman who gave him a meal. As time went on, she would feed him whenever he visited, and she had her husband make a small room for him to stay there. Elisha – expressing God’s kindness towards her – told her that she would have a child, and the prophecy came true. Years later, the child one day suddenly cried out “My head! My head!” and died a little while later. I don’t have time to go into the details, but the woman set out on a journey to bring back Elisha and eventually did so. Here is what happened:
When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. – 2 Kings 4:32-35
I love that little detail about the sneezing. The parallels to Jesus here are pretty obvious. Jesus also raised people from the dead – Jairus’ daughter, for one, and Lazarus, for another. Jesus’ miracle with Lazarus seems to be greater – he was dead for four days. And Jesus’ miracles were also greater in terms of how little effort was required on Jesus part – no laying on the body, no multiple attempts, but a simple calling, and both Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus arose.
But the greatest miracle, of which these two are again only foreshadowings, is the fact that all believers are in fact “born again.” In the process, we “die,” and the new “us” is born. And in yet another level, those of us who die before the Lord returns will be brought back to physical life as well. Jesus has overcome death – He has overcome His own death, and through this, He overcomes the death of all who follow Him. Both of these greater truths are captured in Colossians 3:3-4, which says,
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. – Col. 3:3-4
Here is another miracle of Elisha:
A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said. – 2 Kings 4:42
"How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: 'They will eat and have some left over.' " Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord. – 2 Kings 4:43-44
Sound familiar? Of course! Even the details of the questioning servant and the fact that there is some left over are similar. But Jesus’ miracle was greater – He fed 5000 men with only 5 loaves and 2 fish. I am a “mathy” guy, so I have to compute the numbers. Just counting the men and the bread, Elisha’s ratio is 100/20, or 5 to one. In contrast, Jesus’ ratio is 5000/5, or 1000 to one.
But, once again, Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 was symbolic of a greater miracle – remember “This is My Body. This is My Blood. Do this in remembrance of Me”? How many are fed eternally, spiritually speaking, on one man? What is the ratio here? A billion to one?
Another miracle of Elisha:
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. – 2 Kings 5:1
Naaman’s wife learns of the prophet Elisha from a servant girl, an Israelite taken captive. Naaman learns of Elisha and asks his king for permission to go to Israel. The king agrees and sends a letter with Naaman to the king of Israel. Naaman goes with many gifts, and the king of Israel receives him but has a ridiculous meltdown – a long tradition of these kings, to act like a child. But Elisha hears of it and sends for Naaman.
So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." – 2 Kings 5:9-10
Naaman was angry about the prescription – he expected Elisha to cure him on the spot. Instead, Elisha tells him to do something strange and doesn’t even go out to meet him himself! But his servants calm him down and …
So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. – 2 Kings 5:14
This too is an interesting miracle – interesting in part because what Naaman was told to do and how he was told to do it forced him to deal not only with faith (it seems pretty foolish to dip into the river, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, and then do it again, seven times in all, with apparently no effect until the end), but also with his pride and anger. But he did so, and how important that he did it, for without it, he would have lived the rest of his life as a leper.
Healing of leprosy – again this is also done by Jesus. Again, Jesus did this miracle more than one. Recall that Jesus once healed ten lepers. So again, this was an amplification of Elisha’s miracle. Unlike Elisha’s miracle, Jesus’ miracle seemingly required no action on the part of the lepers. His only specification was that they show themselves to a priest to get official “clean bills of health” and, by doing this, to witness of Jesus’ power to the priests of Israel. I’m sure that was a pretty interesting day at the Temple! I doubt they had ten “cleansed leper” forms on hand, ready for the situation. Prior to Jesus healing lepers, when was the last time anyone was healed of leprosy? Yes, Elisha’s healing!
Is there an even greater story here? Does these healings symbolize anything? Absolutely! We are healed from the curse and the effects of sin. Our situation was every bit as incurable as that of the lepers. And just as lepers were forbidden in Jesus’ day to mingle with the healthy, how they even had to shout ahead, “unclean, unclean,” sin separates us from God – not because God is vindictive, or just tough, but because a Holy God cannot be a Holy God and abide sin. And so, because of the cross, Jesus has healed us! We are “positionally” healed now, and we are being healed as a process as well, as we learn to love Him more and follow Him with more and more of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. And we too should “go and show ourselves,” not to bring glory to ourselves, but to God, who heals.
There is more to the story – Naaman tries to offer Elisha a gift as thanks, but Elisha refuses. Naaman then asks to bring back some Israeli dirt so he can make sacrifices to the Lord. He also explains that when his master the king worships a false god, he will be expected to be there at his side. Speaking to Elisha, he asks for the Lord to forgive him for this.
Now worshiping the Lord in a pagan way on Israeli soil and standing by the side of someone who worships a false god – how do you think that will go over with Elisha? Surprise, Elisha tells him to go in peace. This is a nice picture of grace and also a reminder that the Law of Moses did not apply to outsiders – it had a limited scope in location and a limited scope in time – it was and is now fulfilled in Christ.
There is even more to the story – Elisha’s servant Gehazi decides on his own to get some of that treasure being offered by Naaman. (He thinks Elisha was “too easy on him.” – there is no sign of a desire for personal wealth here, but rather for Elisha’s house.) Gehazi goes to Naaman and implies that Elisha has sent him to ask for something. Naaman agrees. When Gehazi returns, Elisha asks where he has been, and Gehazi lies. Elisha then pronounces Naaman’s leprosy on Gehazi, and it comes to pass. I don’t have time to really develop this, but the seriousness of the sin is that Gehazi’s actions tarnished Elisha’s reputation with Naaman, and through this, damaged God’s reputation with the people Naaman was going back to. It was a serious sin, with serious effects.
But now I want to move on – I have two more miracles of Elisha to discuss. Here is the first:
The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live." And he said, "Go." – 2 Kings 6:1-2
Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied. And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!" – 2 Kings 6:3-5
The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it. – 2 Kings 6:6-7
So did Jesus make anything float? How about Himself? How about Peter? Even that phrasing about “reaching out the hand and taking” is similar in the two miracles. Of course what Jesus reached out to take was a floundering Peter. But I think it is pretty obvious that this is a greater miracle than making a hunk of iron float. Is there an even greater miracle? Certainly! Read the Book of Acts. Look at the history of the Church since then. Again and again, because of Jesus, God has made normal things (think of us as hunks of iron) do impossible things (as impossible as iron floating). Through his Spiritual gifts and in other ways, God has enabled us to do impossible things – things that are impossible in our own strength. Even when we tell someone the good news of the gospel and they respond by putting their faith in Christ, we have done an impossible thing. The salvation was as surely a work of God as making the axhead – or Peter – float.
Now I have one more miracle to discuss. But the passage I am going to read starts with something that makes it sound like there shouldn’t be any more miracles: it starts, “Elisha died and was buried.” Let’s read on:
Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. – 2 Kings 13:20-21
I love this miracle – it is so “Raiders of the Lost Ark”-ish. Imagine Harrison Ford being killed, and thrown into the tomb, and then coming back to life. Wouldn’t that be great? Well, except for the Harrison Ford part, that is what happened. Now why would God do that? Because it is symbolic – it is foreshadowing – God is saying, “Hey guys! Wait until you see what – that is, Who – is going to come!”
So is there a greater miracle? How can someone who has already died bring others back to life? Well, that is exactly what Jesus has done. This is the gospel message! Jesus died, and then He brought Himself back to life. But He doesn’t stop there – He brings back to life (and not just life, but a much better life, a life without sickness, or pain, an eternal life) all who have put their faith in Him. How blessed we are to live in a time where we can see the fulfillment of Elisha’s life in Jesus.
So as we wrap up this series on Broken Vessels, I want you to do what we have done here today – focus not on your brokenness, or even on how God still uses broken vessels, but on Christ. All of Scripture ultimately points to Him. Yes, in ourselves we are broken vessels, but in Christ we are new jars, jars of clay, filled with salt. We serve a God who brings provision, healing, rebirth, and the power to do the impossible – if we live not in our broken lives but in our new lives in Him.
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