2 Kings 6: 1-7

A Police car pulled up in front of grandma Bessie’s house and grandpa got out. The Policeman explained that the elderly gentleman had got lost in the park and couldn’t find his way home. “Morris” said grandma, “You’ve been going to the Park for 30 years, how come you got lost today? Leaning close to grandma, he whispered “I wasn’t lost I got too tired to walk home.”

He ran out of steam, he had  to find an alternative way to get home.

Things were going well for Elisha, he had an amazing ministry, he had received the mantle from Elijah, the prophetic anointing and was full of the Holy Spirit, miracles and people being healed were a regular occurrence. He had compassion for people: like the widow the wife of one of the prophets, since her husband’s death she had been reduced to poverty, her creditor had come to take her two children as slaves.  Elisha instructing the widow to collect as many empty jars as she could and pour from her jar of oil fill the jars. A miracle occurred, the jar never emptied and produced enough oil to release her from the creditor and more than enough to live on. Elijah helped her on several more situations Elisha a very caring man. 

In our reading the number of prophets had grown, so much so that the place where they lived was too small.

Elisha gave permission for some of the men to build a bigger house. We read that they were felling the trees by the Jordon, when one of the men lost his axe head it fell off into the water. He knew where it had fallen in, but he was alarmed and dismayed as this axe didn’t belong to him, so he told Elisha.

The tool would be looked upon as valuable, the means to make things from wood.

So its loss would be costly to replace, and the man probably couldn’t afford to replace it.

The man was left with the handle that was no use to him.

The combination of the axe head and its’ handle becoming one.

This was like Elijah and Elisha, Elijah had chosen Elisha to take up the prophetic authority to succeed him. Elisha had said that he would never leave his side. When they reached the Jordon River, Elijah with his mantle struck the water and the water parted, they walked together across on dry ground.

Elijah asked Elisha what he could do for him, before he left him to go to heaven. Elisha asked for a double portion of his spirit. Elijah’s reply, “You will receive it if you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don’t see me, you won’t receive it.” 2 Kings 2; 10      He did see Elijah taken up into heaven and he received his prophetic authority and they parted.

When Elisha heard the man’s dilemma, he took a stick and threw it on to the water above where the axe head had fallen in, the iron axe head came up to the surface, it’s a picture of Jesus’ Baptism – the stick- the cross, the axe head falling and rising Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The man collected it out of the water and he no doubt attached it to the handle.

Elijah will return and take up his prophetic authority in Rev 11 it is thought that he is one of the 2 witnesses. Matthew 11: 13. Malachi 4: 5. The other person his name not mentioned in Revelation, but the point I’m making  the handle and the axe head coming back together in that he will fulfil his calling.

Holy Spirit is not inherited

Since Pentecost the Holy Spirit is not inherited from another person; we receive the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus. God had faith in Jesus to be our Saviour. Jesus had faith in the Holy Spirit to continue his ministry teaching, guiding his disciples and us.

If like the man if we find ourselves in a crisis losing sight of what the Lord’s gift to us in ministry.

We may have gone through a time where it’s been hard going, the enemy has tried to distract us or hinder our work and we may have lost the sharp edge our ministry, the LORD will restore us through his love and grace .

Timothy was reminded by Paul to rekindle the gift that he had received from the laying on of his hands. He wouldn’t have written this if Timothy’s gift of evangelism was being used by him, maybe, his sharp cutting edge of being bold had been undermined by his youthful shyness or the constant arguments coming from the Jewish coverts who were still under law.

So like Timothy we can have a fresh start and like the axe head rising up coming to the surface to fulfil its’ work, and once again be a sharp cutting tool for God.

Through the Holy Spirit’s ministry we can expect miracles, especially finding a person who is lost and needs our help to find God.