Life Out of Death

From: Elijah and Elisha By: William Woldridge Fereday

• 4 min. read • grade level: 7

We have now reached the end of the gracious ministry of Elisha, with all its instructive lessons for the men of his own day, and for us also. “And Elisha died, and they buried him.” But a remarkable thing happened a little later. “The bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet” (2 Ki. 13:20-21²⁰And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. ²¹And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. (2 Kings 13:20‑21)).

How wonderful are the ways of God! Contact with the dead prophet restored life to the dead. Even so will it be with Israel at the end. In one of His many characters the Lord Jesus is the Prophet like unto Moses, unto whom Israel should have hearkened when He came amongst them in grace (Deut. 18:18-19¹⁸I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. ¹⁹And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him. (Deuteronomy 18:18‑19)). Both Peter in Acts 3:22 23, and Stephen in Acts 7:37³⁷This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. (Acts 7:37), urged this upon the people after His departure. National scattering and death have come upon them as the fruit of their rejection of Him. But Israel will yet come into contact with the Prophet like unto Moses. In the tremendous crisis which seems near at hand, compared with which the Moabite invasion was a trivial matter, Israel will be led into touch with the Christ who died. National revival will be the result, likened over and over again in Scripture to life from the dead (Ezek. 37:1-14¹The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, ²And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. ³And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. ⁴Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. ⁵Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: ⁶And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. ⁷So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. ⁸And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. ⁹Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. ¹⁰So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. ¹¹Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. ¹²Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, ¹⁴And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:1‑14); Dan. 12:1-2¹And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. ²And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:1‑2); Hosea 6:1-2¹Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. ²After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. (Hosea 6:1‑2); Rom. 11:15¹⁵For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Romans 11:15)).

Upon the same principle has God dealt with us who now believe in the Saviour. Contact with Him as the One who was slain has brought life to us who once were dead in trespasses and sins. It is labour in vain to proclaim Him to the spiritually dead as the pattern Man and the model Preacher, whose teaching all should follow. Nothing of this will meet the sinner’s need. Expiation is wrought by blood alone, and life—eternal life—can only be our portion as the fruit of death. This is what the Lord taught in the synagogue in Capernaum, and which many, even of His disciples, declared was “a hard saying” (John 6:60⁶⁰Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (John 6:60)). The saying is no less hard for carnal religionists of the twentieth century, but the true believer delights to say, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20²⁰I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)).

But we may carry the lesson still further. If Christ has through death become fruitful in life to others; in the same way may Christians become fruitful also. So the Lord Himself tells us in John 12:24²⁴Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. (John 12:24), “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” The language here is purposely abstract. In its first application the reference is to the Lord Himself, but in its more general application it refers to Christians also. We are all grains of wheat, and if God’s garner is to be filled at the end, every grain must be fruitful and multiply. After the pattern of the parent plant each grain must fall into the ground and die. He leads the way in the path that all should follow.

It is the practical application of death to ourselves. In God’s account we have all died with Christ, and our life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3³For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)). This has to be practically applied daily if we would be fruitful for God. We see this exemplified in the devoted apostle. Hear him in 2 Corinthians 4:11¹¹For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (2 Corinthians 4:11): “We which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” The result for others comes out in the following verse: “So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” In so far as the man Paul was put out of sight, and Christ manifested in his words and ways, blessing followed for those to whom he spoke. How is it with us? Are we spiritually fruitful? Are other grains of wheat being produced as the result of our presence in the world! Alas! how many heads must be bowed in shame when such questions are raised! Personal obtrusiveness in preaching, and fleshly indulgence in living, renders so much of our testimony null and void. God ever has had use, and still has use, for those who are willing to hide themselves in death that Christ may be magnified. Life out of death is the great lesson of the ages taught everywhere in the Word of God. May both reader and writer learn the lesson well.

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