Elisha

It is interesting how Elijah is somehow more famous than Elisha, yet Elisha has way more miracles recorded than his mentor Elijah.  Some of the podcasters this week mentioned that Elisha asked for a double portion of the spirit (2 Kings 2:9), and so the writers of 2 Kings recorded twice as many miracles performed by Elisha than Elijah. Despite that, Elisha seems to get second billing under his mentor Elijah.  I think the difference is that Elisha learned from Elijah's mistakes.  Last week I talked about how Elijah challenged the priests of Baal to a contest which he won in the most spectacular way possible.  Then afterward he was disconsolate and wanted to die because his showy miracle didn't bring about the change of heart he wanted to see in Israel's leaders. Remember that while Elijah was struggling, the Lord made his presence known, not in the wind or the earthquake, but in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12).  Elijah chose Elisha after that experience.  Did he choose Elisha because he had a quieter, less showy personality more likely to listen to the still small voice, or did he teach Elisha what he had learned? Either way, Elisha mostly did quieter kinds of miracles, though no less spectacular. Still, since there were no big showdowns in front of hundreds, Elisha's fame never spread like Elijah's did.

So what kind of miracles did Elisha perform?  While Elijah was all about calling down fire on people, not only on the priests of Baal, but also on the leaders of the delegations of 50 later on (2 Kings 1),  Elisha never called down fire on anyone or anything. He never directly attacked anything.  He did curse the youths who mocked him (2 Kings 2: 24) but the curse was carried out by bears, who "tear" them, not necesarily killing them. He helped armies win battles by prophesying troop movements and instructing leaders how deceive their enemies, but the outcomes were mostly passive--the armies were frightened by the water that looked like blood (2 Kings 3:22), or were scared away by the sound of a rushing wind (2 Kings 7:6) etc. Once he cursed an army with blindness, but then he just led them to the capital and then restored their sight (2 Kings 6:20). Many of his miracles were performed to help individuals.  He blessed the Shunammite woman that was infertile, and then later raised the resulting child from the dead (2 Kings 4).  He helped the man who lost the borrowed ax head (2 Kings 6:6) and miraculously helped people get the food they needed several times.  His most famous miracle, the one with the potential of garnishing for him the most praise of men, was the healing of Naaman (2 Kings 5).  In that story, Elisha deliberately minimizes his role in the story.  He doesn't go down to meet Naaman in person and doesn't accept the huge reward Naaman offers after he is healed. 

In his meekness in power, Elisha may be the Old Testament prophet that is most like Jesus.  Many of the kinds of miracles Elisha performed, Jesus also performed.  I guess it is fitting, therefore, that Elisha's name means el=God, isha=Savior=Jesus, or God is Jesus.