Plows for a mantle.
In the story of Elijah we read that after he had the encounter with the Baal priests he had to flee from his life. Elijah was a great man of God that did eight miracles. Three times he called fire down from heaven when they wanted to take him to Ahab. He multiplied the oil for the widow and her son. He stopped the rain for three years and said it would not rain. Then he met with the Baal priests and called fire down again on the sacrifice that they made. He mocked the Ball priests and their effort to call down fire.
He challenged all of Israel to turn their hearts back to God if he is the God that answers by fire alone. After the Ball priests failed, he stopped them, then he had them throw water on the sacrifice a few times so that they could not doubt that it was God sending fire down on the alter. Then he called on God and God consumed the sacrifice on the altar. After that he too the Ball priest and had them all killed.
Jezebel, Ahab’s wife heard of it and threatened to kill him before the next day was over. So he fled to a cave and there God met with him. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him, fed him and had him walk until he met with Elisha.
Here is where our story starts:
1Kings 19:19-21 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who wasplowingwithtwelve yokeof oxenbefore him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and thenI will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
As soon as Elijah encounters Elisha, he finds him plowing his father’s field. This was hard work as he was plowing a field that had been in a drought for three years. What I like about this story is that Elisha did not give up when it got hard. When it made no sense to keep doing what he was doing, he persisted because he was after a harvest. Maybe this was what attracted the Prophet to him. We know he cared for his father because he asked Elijah if he could say goodbye first.
Elijah does not speak a word. He does not ask Elisha if he is ready to do an exchange. He simply throws his mantle over Elisha. We are at a season where God knows that it is time to exchange the plow for the mantle. He is not asking your permission. When the time has come to be called to a higher calling, God executes his plan. The choice is yours if you want to receive the mantle or if you want to keep plowing. When you take up the mantle you leave the hard work behind. The plow causes you to work while the Mantle causes God to work. The plowing come first. Plowing happens when the drought is upon you but the mantle comes when the rain is returning. If you were faithful during the dry season, you will be faithful during the season of abundance.
Next thing Elisha does is he kills the oxen, the very thing that would secure a success in this season, and give it to the people. Many people will struggle to kill the thing that guarantee success to pursue what is the unknown of God. Having a mantle doesn’t mean you know how to carry it, it simply means you have qualified to be raised up in walking in it. This mantle will release the super natural where you would be the one controlling the natural. The mantle give you power to live free from the ordinary and qualifies you for the extra ordinary. You too will now multiply food and oil, see into the supernatural and declare things that has not happened yet.
Elisha would do twice as many miracles. He would be able to ask for more than anyone before him. This season doesn’t start by doing the miraculous but by serving the one that gave you his mantle. You will also learn what it is to serve and to stay focused. The supernatural demands obedience and sacrifice. The natural demanded commitment. Hard work for little rewards. Ploughing the thing that is under the curse.
The new dimension doesn’t require a commitment, it requires a surrender. Elisha you are used to driving the cattle. They work at your every bid. Now that you take on the mantel you will learn what it is to live by His demand.