Nowhere else in Scripture will you find a prophetic call mediated through another human being or another prophet. (Don’t mention Joshua to me; he wasn’t a prophet. Yes, his predecessor was a prophet, one called directly by God. But Joshua was chosen by Moses to succeed him not as prophet but as general.) By its very nature, the office of prophet is a special office. Priests are ordained by other men; kings are chosen by the people and anointed by prophets; but prophets have a direct mandate from God that directs them in their business. So do you see the honor here? Elijah is so great that he was allowed to personally call his successor. So was Elisha a prophet from man and through man? He was not from man; it was God who gave Elisha’s name to Elijah, God who insisted that Elijah find Elisha and anoint him. It was God’s idea to call Elisha. But Elisha was indeed a prophet through man. Elijah was uniquely privileged to be the agent who informed Elisha that he was going to be the next Elijah. Why is this account included here? What does it tell us about God? It is included to show us that God is so kind and merciful to His servants. Elijah saw the progress of sin in the OT church, and he decided that he was the only one. God’s usual mode of working was to call multiple prophets at the same time but in different regions of Israel — thus, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah all served overlapping careers. But rather than simply addressing the problem Elijah identified through another prophet working far away, God suspended His usual policy and gave Elijah a unique privilege.
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Caleb Nelson grew up in Ft. Collins, CO. Born into a Christian home, where he eventually became the eldest of 11 children, he has been a lifelong Presbyterian. He professed faith at the age of six, and was homeschooled through high school. He then attended Patrick Henry College...
