God is There -- To Be Your Savior

In the Old Testament, the ministries of Elijah and Elisha serve as a stark, contrasting type of the Old and New Covenants.

Elijah ("God is"), the Tishbite came from Tesheb, a city in Naphtali, which means "struggle" in Hebrew. Elisha (God saves) Elijah's successor came from Abel-Meholah (Dance in the meadows), a city in Issachar, which means "reward" in Hebrew.

How do you see God the Father in your life? Is He a powerful God who just is, or do you see God as Savior? The writer of Hebrews clearly stated that faith means incorporating God in both was:

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11: 6)

Elijah is a picture of the Law, a man who boasted in his own efforts, slaying the prophets of Baal and ushering in a sacrifice in which the Lord God was glorified (1 Kings 18), yet at the first sign of trouble, threatened with death by the evil queen Jezebel, Elijah fled for his life, only to collapse under a tree and beg God to end his life (1 Kings 19: 4)

Right away, God supplied him for a forty day journey to Mount Horeb, the same mountain range where the Israelites received the Ten Commandments. There, Elijah declares:

"And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19: 10)

Elijah, who knew and believed that God is, still prided himself on his own efforts, claiming that he was the only one fighting for God. Yet the Lord corrected him:

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." (1 Kings 19: 18)

God then commissioned Elijah to anoint two kings and his successor Elisha, but the first prophet only anointed Elisha before his departure by fiery chariot into heaven (2 Kings 2: 10)

Elisha, a type of our Lord and Savior and all who trust in Him, received a double portion of God's Holy Spirit (2 Kings 9, 12). He divided the River Jordan with the mantle of his predecessor (2 Kings 2: 14). He healed filthy water with a cruse of salt (2 Kings 2: 19-22). With one curse, Elisha summoned two she-bears to wipe out a horde of mocking children who despised his standing (2 Kings 2: 23-25)

Beloved, when you see the Lord not just as being there, but being there for you as your Savior, you will walk in the fullness of His spirit, going about and going good wherever you go and walking in victory over every enemy (Acts 10: 38; Romans 8: 37)

God is there, to be your Savior. Trust in Him, and overcome in all things!