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1 Kings 19:15-16,19-21
Sunday Between June 26 and July 2 (Proper 8) C (First Lesson) June 28, 1998
1 Kings 19:15-16
The Lord said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus.
When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. [16] Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi
king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as
prophet.
1 Kings 19:19-21
So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke
of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his
cloak around him. [20] Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss
my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you."
"Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"
[21] So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He
burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate.
Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.
(NIV)
1 Kings 19:14-18 (God’s answer to Elijah)
God repeated the question, What doest thou here? Then he complained of his discouragement; and whither should God’s prophets go with their complaints of that kind, but to their Master? The Lord gave him an answer. He declares that the wicked house of Ahab shall be rooted out, that the people of Israel shall be punished for their sins; and he shows that Elijah was not left alone as he had supposed, and also that a helper should at once be raised up for him. Thus all his complaints are answered and provided for. God’s faithful ones are often his hidden ones, Psalms 83:3, and the visible church is scarcely to be seen: the wheat is lost in chaff, and the gold in dross, till the sifting, refining, separating day comes. The Lord knows them that are his, though we do not; he sees in secret. When we come to heaven we shall miss many whom we thought to have met there; we shall meet many whom we little thought to have met there. God’s love often proves larger than man’s charity, and far more extended.
1 Kings 19:19-21 (The call of Elisha)
Elijah found Elisha by Divine direction, not in the schools of the prophets, but in the field; not reading, or praying, or sacrificing, but ploughing. Idleness is no man’s honour, nor is husbandry any man’s disgrace. An honest calling in the world, does not put us out of the way of our heavenly calling, any more than it did Elisha. His heart was touched by the Holy Spirit, and he was ready to leave all to attend Elijah. It is in a day of power that Christ’s subjects are made willing; nor would any come to Christ unless they were thus drawn. It was a discouraging time for prophets to set out in. A man that had consulted with flesh and blood, would not be fond of Elijah’s mantle; yet Elisha cheerfully leaves all to accompany him. When the Saviour said to one and to another, Follow me, the dearest friends and most profitable occupations were cheerfully left, and the most arduous duties done from love to his name. May we, in like manner, feel the energy of his grace working in us mightily, and by unreserved submission at once, may we make our calling and election sure.
(Matthew Henry Concise Commentary)