Elisha was a faithful follower and companion to of Elijah. He was witness to many of the miracles performed by Elijah. The Lord instructed Elijah to anoint Elisha as a Prophet. The very cloak or mantle worn by Elijah was placed upon the shoulders of Elisha and became symbolic of transferring authority from one person to another. This symbolic “Mantle of Authority” has been passed down throughout the last two dispensations by Elijah. Elijah appeared to Jesus and Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration and again to the Prophet Joseph on April 3, 1836 at the Kirtland Temple (D&C 110:13-16). This mantle of authority which involves the “Sealing Keys” and holds the very power of God to bind on earth and to bind in heaven has been passed down and placed upon the shoulder of each of the living prophet of God.
Armed with the authority to act in God’s name Elisha duplicated many of the miracles of Elijah. Even as Elijah struck the waters of the River Jordan and both Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry ground, after Elijah was carried away to heaven in a whirlwind, did Elisha strike the waters of the River Jordan and returned to Jericho. The waters at Jericho had become bitter and threatened the ability of the land to be fruitful. Elisha threw a bowl of salt into the spring of water and it was permanently healed to this very day and is called “Elisha’s Spring” in Jericho. From Jericho to Bethel is a journey of only twelve mile. The problem is that Jericho is 1200 feet below sea level while Bethel is 2800 feet above sea level. While climbing this 4000 foot journey over twelve miles, a group of 42 teenage boys [not children] were believed by some scholars to be sent by the elders of Bethel to discourage Elisha from coming to Bethel. These teenage boys began to mock and scorn Elisha as a Prophet by saying, “Go up [away] thou bald head, go up [away] thou bald head. The number 42 in Hebrew is like the number 13 in our culture as a sign of bad luck.[1] The issue was one respecting the Lord’s prophet. Elisha cursed them for not respecting the Lord’s anointed. Two she bears came out of the wilderness and did not kill them but “tare” or mauled them.
The kings of Judah, Israel and Edom went to war against the king of Moab. Eisha provided water for them and their armies and animals. He also promised them the Lord would deliver Moab into their hands which the Lord did.
Much like the “School of the Prophets” in Kirtland, Ohio there was a group of men who belonged to a society called the “Community of the Prophets” or “Sons of the Prophets.” Were they actual prophets themselves? No, this title was similar to being a member of the “Daughters of Utah Pioneers.” The “Sons of the Prophets” were persecuted by Ahab and Jezebel and were supported of Elijah, Obadiah, and Elisha. A widow of one of the “Sons of the Prophets,” appealed to Elisha to save her children from being sold as slaves. It was a law throughout the Middle east that if you owed a debt and you couldn’t pay your children and wife as well as yourself were sold to pay your debt. When the widow told Elisha that all she had was a jar of oil in the house, he instructed her to gather together all of the earthen pots and vessels from her neighbors that she could. She was to fill all the pots from the one little jar she had. Her faith was sufficient to fill all the vessels which she sold and paid off her dead husband’s debt. This was similar to the miracle of Elijah blessing the cruise of oil for the widow woman from Zarephath.
Shunem is a village located five miles south of Mt Tabor or about 65 miles due north of Jerusalem. The word “great” means wealthy. There was a very wealthy woman who built a room on the side of her house for the Prophet Elisha when he passed by that way. Elisha promised this very elderly childless woman that she would conceive and bear a son. It was like unto Sarah and Elizabeth and Hannah. They all conceived after being promised by the Lord’s anointed that they would bear children. This elderly woman did give birth to a son. When the child was old old enough to be sent into the field to his father the child complained of a headache and later died in his mother’s arms. She immediately rode a donkey from Shunem to Mt Carmel a distance of 35 miles. She explained to Elisha the death of the child where upon Elijah sent his servant with a staff to lay upon the child’s face to revive him. It did not work. Elisha himself went and prayed mightily to the Lord and laid upon the child and the child came back from the dead.
Like unto the Savior feeding the five thousand on one occasion and four thousand on another Elisha commands his servants to set before the people twenty loaves of barley and a few fresh ears of grain. More than a hundred ate and there was some left over.
Maybe the best known miracle of Elisha was the curing of leprosy of Naaman, a Syrian general. A captured Israeli girl alerted her mistress, the wife of Naaman, that there was a prophet in Israel who could cure him. The scriptures report that Naaman brought 750 pounds of silver and six thousand shekels of gold which would have weighed 150 pounds as financial compensation for being healed. To Naaman’s great indignation Elisha would not even meet with him but sent a servant to tell him to wash seven times in the River Jordan. Naaman’s pride almost prevented him from being healed. When confronted with the statement, “Had [he] bid thee to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?” Where after Naaman dipped himself seven times in the River Jordan and was healed. There is a sad part of this story which involved Gehazi, the servant of Elisha. Contrary to Elisha’s will, Gehazi chased after Naaman and asked for two talents of silver which Naaman gave him. When confronted with his deceit Gehazi lied and was cursed with leprosy as his punishment.
In addition to having an axe head float to the surface, there were other miracles performed by Elisha such as blinding the eyes of all the Syrian soldiers that came to conquer Israel. This is when Elisha made that famous statement, “Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” (2 Kings 6:16). The famine waxed sore in the land so that a quart of dove’s dung sold for five pieces of silver and a donkey’s head for a pound of silver. There were those who practiced cannibalism to survive the famine.
In 2 Kings 13:14-20 we read of the final days of Elisha the Prophet. The King of Israel came to the death-bed of Elisha and asked him for help in fighting Syria. The king was told to shoot an arrow through the window towards Syria. He was then told to strike the ground with the arrows. The king struck the ground three time and Elisha told him that he should have struck the ground five or six times. Nevertheless, the king was promised that his armies would conquer the armies of Syria in three distinct battles, but had he struck the ground five times he would have conquered the entire nation of Syria. Elisha subsequently died.
[1] The number 42 is used several times in the Bible to indicate bad circumstances. See 2 Kings 10:14 Revelation 11:2 and 13:5.