Elisha and Jonah

1 Kings 19: 19-21: The Call of Elisha
19 So Elijah went up from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowering 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 plowering 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.

Compare this to Jonah:
Jonah 1:1-3
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.


Our College and Career class is doing an Old Testament Survey and we are currently reading about the Divided Israel and the prophets. Though I've read about Elijah and Elisha, I was particularly struck by the passage in 1 Kings, especially when read in comparison with the passage with Jonah. I know that this comparison really isn't fair. I mean, it's Elisha who asked for and received a double-portion of Elijah's ministry. While that is true, Elisha and Jonah had two very different reaction's to the call on their lives.

1) Our reactions matter: God used both men, but it took a lot to get Jonah to cooperate. I mean, being swallowed by a "great fish" really is the giant, glowing billboard on the Spiritual road of life: "JONAH YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY." And as much as I'd like to pretend that I'm more like Elisha, in reality, my heart is too often like Jonah's when God calls me to do something. Jonah struggled much more than he had to because he decided to run from God's call rather than standing up to answer it.

2) Burn your old life: Elisha didn't just leave his old life; he didn't give himself an option of going back. HE BURNED HIS OXEN AND EQUIPMENT. There are few things as dramatic as that. Many times we keep the things that God has called us from, keeping us from fully committing to what He wants for us.

3) God accomplishes His will regardless, but it's better to cooperate: Reading about Elisha's life is like reading about a superstar. He had such an awesome ministry! So many miracles. I flinch when I read Jonah's story. Not only does he initially run away from God's call, he has a poor attitude when he sees what God is doing. Jonah's story ends with a tongue-lashing from God on Jonah's poor attitude regarding God's compassion (the same compassion that perserved his life!). We might not like the call (really, being a prophet in the Old Testament is a tough job), but God's purposes are so much greater than our own.