TYPOLOGY OF ELISHA

KEY VERSE: Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

 

  Jesus identifies himself with three characteristics: the Way, the Truth, and the Life, or: a traveled road, what is ultimately true, and with vitality, respectively. Then “the life” is explained: “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.”

  The Father is on His throne in Heaven wherein there is eternal life. To obtain eternal vitality, it is through Jesus and Jesus alone. Consequently, “the Way” is the road traveled to immortality, and “the Truth” is the “straight gate” in which to enter into eternal life.

  Complementing the key verse is this passage:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Mat 7:13-14)

  The highway to Heaven is narrow, and truth to enter therein is ultimate. Not forgetting that cherubim guard Paradise on Earth, they guard Paradise in Heaven as well to keep the unworthy from entering in. Angels prevent improper entry into Heaven and check the “credentials” of those who attempt entry. The credential to enter-in is that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and by his Name, there is salvation from eternal death (Acts 2:21).

  In an earlier commentary, I discussed that Elijah was a type of Christ, and that the Jews believed Elijah was Jesus as Elijah never died. Now consider Elisha; he received Elijah’s mantle (1 Kings 19:19). As Elijah is a type of Jesus (the Word; John 1), Elisha is a type of Holy Ghost.

  A mantle is a long cape that covers the wearer from the shoulders down. It is a sign of authority. Remember that Adam and Eve who had no authority as they made for themselves aprons of fig leaves, gained authority (and salvation) when God covered them with a cloak of skin.

  Elijah’s authority was passed along to Elisha. Elijah never died; he lived on in Heaven and on Earth through Elisha, and people accepted Elisha’s authority! “The Comforter” is the Holy Ghost (John 14:26). That specific “substance” is the Holy Spirit of God who experienced death on the Holy Cross in the Flesh of God. Only the KJV delineates between “Holy Spirit” and “Holy Ghost” (John 7:39). The “Holy Spirit” is the Spirit of God before He experienced death, and the “Holy Ghost” is God’s Spirit after experiencing death.

  Think on that as you would the Man, Jesus. He was the Son of Man until he experienced death, then he was the Son of God.

  The mantle of Jesus fell on the Holy Ghost upon Jesus’s death: The centurion recognized what death does, “And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.” The centurion saw the Son of Man (“this man,” he said) transfigured into the Son of God by experiencing death. What he did not see was the Holy Spirit of God transforming into the Holy Ghost of the “Man”, Jesus.

  Jesus, after forty days, ascended into Heaven and out of site (Acts 1:9). His ascension was much like Elijah’s. Some of his last words were, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (Acts 1:8) in answer to the question, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus implied that his Holy Ghost would restore Israel just as Elijah had not but Elisha would! That is exactly what Elisha did!

And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him, and recovered the cities of Israel. (2 Kings 13:25)

  That was just as Elisha instructed Joash to do.

  It should be obvious that Elisha represents the Holy Ghost of Jesus because he succeeded Elijah who was a type of Jesus. Upon Elisha’s departure from life, Joash said about him the same words said about Elijah upon his translation from this world. Elisha’s “Spirit” was the same as the Spirit in Elijah.

  Elisha asked Elijah to give him a “double portion” of the Spirit that he had (2 Kings 2:9). That was a bequest for Power from the Almighty. Elijah was a prophet who used words. He knew what God intended for Israel and told them the Plan. He spoked the word of God and was the “mouth” of God who John describes as Jesus.

  On the other hand, Elisha spoke little. He worked miracles. His miracles were “the double-portion” that he had asked for. His potency was so intense that after his death, a dead man was laid against his body, and the man was restored to life! (2 Kings 13:20-21).

  The Holy Spirit is the Power of God – His vitality – which is referred to as “virtue going out” out of Jesus (as in Mark 5:30). When the Holy Ghost departed from Jesus, he died from a loss of virtue to provide vitality to those who believed the truth! Elisha had a double portion of virtue in that he had the Power to work miracles. Jesus’s Holy Ghost worked the greatest miracle of them all; he delivered all the sins of mankind to Hell so that none should perish! Elisha’s “Spirit” was still alive in the tomb, and he lost virtue to resurrect the dead man.

  Elisha was “the Comforter” type because he kept Israel safe, and restored her vitality. Israel has yet to be saved, but thanks to Elisha taking on their sins, in the end, it will be!

  Israel was not saved, but safe in that the Syrians were only struck three times rather than more, which would have destroyed them. Just as Elisha kept the people safe as a type of Holy Ghost, only the Name, Jesus, can save (Acts 4:12). In the end, Jesus will save Israel, and in the end, he will save Christians. Elisha kept Israel safe from Baal and King Hazael of Syria, and the Holy Ghost keeps Christians safe from sin and the Evil One!

  In Acts 1, Jesus ascends. In Acts 2, the Holy Ghost descends. That is reminiscent of Elijah ascending and the mantle falling on Elisha. Not only that but Elisha, as did the Holy Ghost, made Israel of one accord, as Baal was sent to the scrap-pile for a while.

  Elijah was a speaker of words, and he represents “the Truth.” Elisha was a worker of miracles, and he represents “the Way” to life. At the Creation, the Father thought it, the Son spoke it, and the Holy Spirit empowered it. When Israel was restored, God willed it, Elijah spoke it, and Elisha worked the miracles that restored life into a dead nation! In the end, that’s what Jesus will do to God’s Plan through the Power of the Holy Ghost!

  Always ask when reading the Old Testament, “What has this got to do with Jesus?” and you’ll find that it always does. You can’t just read the Bible; it must be contemplated. Contemplation provides instruction to our weak minds through the Holy Ghost of Jesus, if indeed, he dwells within our souls.