No, check that. He was bowing down, just like the others. They bowed down so close to the ground, that Nabi could almost taste the dirt. So thick was the Lord's Spirit.
Nabi could hear Sageh starting to speak. The young man sure had a lot of guts. "Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley."
That's right. Nabi had forgotten in the midst of the presence of the Lord, but now he remembered. Elijah wasn't with Elisha. Where was he?
They wanted to know were Elijah was. They wanted to go and find him, but Elisha knew that they could search every corner of this world for all their days, and they would not find any remnant of Elijah. This was the moment he had been dreading. Everyone expecting Elijah, only to get him.
Oddly, now that the moment was upon him, he felt calm. Strangely in authority, or acting in authority not his own.
The group of men, sons of the prophets mostly, men who had know Yahweh their whole lives, looked at him expectantly.
"No." The stunned look in their eyes fueled him. Elijah was with God. There was no point. "You shall not send them."
The group of respectful, almost awe-filled men exploded at him in rage. On and on they went, their accusations and anger stomping down the authority he had previously been feeling. Now he felt ashamed. They didn't stop until their constant barrage of guilt broke his resolve, and he gave into their demand.
Nabi hobbled. His group had been scouring a rocky hill, when Nabi had tripped and fallen. His ankle was swollen and sore, but it seemed to be getting better. However, due to his injury, his search party had returned to camp days before the others.
Nabi took over as lookout for the returning search parties because of his injury. Each day, each group, he expected to see their joy at finding Elijah. Instead, he got to see each group trickle back to camp with their heads down low and a guilty look on their faces, until the last group arrived back at camp. Where they all faced Elisha's, "Didn't I say to you, 'Do not go?'"
Based on 2 Kings 2:15-18
What irritates me here, is just moments before, these men had seen the anointing on Elisha, but immediately they question his authority. Not only that, they made him feel guilty, ashamed that he was resisting what he knew to be a pointless search.
What continues to irritate me here is that Elisha had just received a whopping dose of the Lord's anointing, and wasn't sticking to his guns. He'd seen Elijah taken to Heaven, and received his cloak and a double portion of his anointing, yet he gave into their guilt trip.
What really irritates me here is knowing that I've done both those things myself. I've been the person to pressure, and I've been the person to give in despite knowing better.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
Yes, I know that God has commanded me, and given me the authority. I know all that...but they just come up against me, and well, who am I to stand against them?
Don't ever let anyone deter you from what you know is right. That's called peer pressure, and what Elisha experienced was a classic case. Everyone warns you about peer pressure as a kid and teenager, but what about when you become an adult? That type of manipulation doesn't just go away. In fact, it gets kicked up to a whole new level of awful as an adult.
"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17
When you know you are called to walk in God's power, and you don't do it, it's sin. It's fear. It's being led astray. When you have all you need, and ignore Him. When you give into other people's stupidity. When you are among the voices clobbering someone's soul. When you become anything less then the mighty warrior God has called you to be, it is sin.
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." 1 Corinthians 16:13
Fortunately, we have a forgiving Savior, who gives us a million second chances. I can't tell you all the time when I should have been strong, and belly flopped instead, but thank's to God's support in me, I get stronger each day. Don't let the times you've messed up hold you back. Stand firm in God. Stand firm in what you know to be true. Stand firm in your calling. Act like the men and women who call on His name. Stand tall and walk in your calling!
V. Joy Palmer
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