Many have focused on the relationship between Elijah and Elisha when speaking about father/son relationships. The fact that Elisha refused to leave Elijah’s side, and that he cried out, “My Father, My Father” when Elijah was taken into heaven by the whirlwind, have caused many to focus on the sonship of Elisha. His willingness to serve as a son gained him the double portion anointing. However very few people, if any, focus on Elijah’s fatherhood.
We know that Elisha served Elijah for several years, even though the Bible only makes a brief mention of them together. In 1 Kings 19 we see Elijah casting his mantle upon Elisha. However we do not hear any more of them together until 2 Kings 2 when we see them just prior to Elijah being taken in the whirlwind. Elijah alone is mentioned in 1 Kings 21 and in 2 Kings 1, but Elisha is not mentioned with him. We assume from scripture telling us that Elisha ministered to Elijah, and the description of Elisha as the man who poured water on the hands of Elijah, that they were together constantly. I mention it only to point out the scriptural pattern of the servant, though present being left out of the narrative. This is important when looking at Elijah’s fatherhood.
At the end of his time on Earth we read about the interaction between Elijah and Elisha. We see in 2 Kings 2 that three times Elijah tries to get Elisha to stay behind while he went ahead, and three times Elisha refused. It was after they crossed the Jordan that Elijah finally makes the statement to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.” We know that the request Elisha made was for the double portion. The thought that causes me to ask the question about Elijah’s fatherhood comes from his reply to the request. He says, “Thou hast asked a hard thing:” The word translated “hard” also means grievous, cruel, hurtful, and stiff necked. It is almost as if Elijah despises the request; feeling that such a request is hurtful and cruel; causing him to grieve. After all such a request could only be made by a stiff necked individual. Perhaps Elijah thought, “I thought you stayed with me because you cared, but now I see you had ulterior motives.” This then begs the question, why would Elijah be upset by such a request? Especially when in reality of the picture of father/son relationships that so many preach from this passage, Elisha shouldn’t have had to ask. He should have already been entitled to the double portion. Knowing his time was coming, Elijah should have offered it, laid his hands on him and blessed him, as fathers had done for centuries. But Elijah did not do this.
The question then becomes, Why? I believe it is because while Elisha saw Elijah as a father, Elijah never saw Elisha as a son. To him, Elisha was only a servant. As a result he felt no obligation to him, he felt no tie to him. For Elijah, he was just there to do his bidding and help his ministry. Elisha was to fix his meals and pour water on his hands. And when Elijah was ready to move on, he would simply abandon his servant. This was Elijah’s pattern. Few people focus on the fact that Elisha was not his first servant. 1 Kings 18:43-44 we learn that Elijah had another “servant”. While on Mount Carmel, Elijah sends his servant to look for the rain cloud. He then sends his servant with a message for Ahab. Until this point there has been no mention of this servant. How long had he been with the prophet? We do not know, because as I mentioned earlier, often the servant was left out of the narrative. It is possible that the servant was with Elijah when he made his first recorded proclamation that it would not rain in 1 Kings 17? What about when he fled to Cherith to be fed by Ravens? Was the servant with him when he asked the widow woman for a cake, or when he stretched himself over her dead son? Was he with him when Elijah stood before Ahab? How many years did this servant serve Elijah? And what did he give up? Did he leave his family, his business, his land, his inheritance? Truthfully we don’t know. But what we do know is that when Elijah was ready to move on, he abandoned this servant ( 1 Kings 19:3).
Elijah was without doubt a man of God, but his role as spiritual father is questionable. He had no desire to be a father, which is probably why he never married and never had children. Elijah was concerned about one thing and one thing only, and that was his thing. He treated those that ministered to him as servants, not sons. Their relationship was a servant/master relationship. He used those who served him to support his ministry, with no intent or thought of investing back into them. A father does not use his sons to build his kingdom, but rather builds his kingdom so that he can bless his sons. A true father/son relationship is one where a father with all that is in him desires to bestow blessing on his sons. In a true father/son relationship, a son need not ask, or beg, for a blessing, because the father, knowing the son’s heart, has offered it freely.
