1 Kings 19:20
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
Elisha was at work behind his oxen at the plow when he was called, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah to ask for a brief farewell with his father and mother before following him.
The casting of the mantle upon him was God's call for him to become Elijah's successor in the prophetic office and to be consecrated to opening the mysteries of the kingdom of God to the people.
Elijah's answer to go back again was not a rejection but a test that left the decision with Elisha to count the cost for himself.
Accepting meant willingly leaving a wealthy and beloved home with its security and comforts, breaking with ordinary work and worldly ties, and following without hesitation or turning back.
The Lord still calls men and youth directly from ordinary work and the plow to leave former pursuits and carry His message, and He Himself directs them to their field, methods, and training.
Call and Its Setting
Elijah's casting of his mantle upon Elisha was God's call for him to become Elijah's successor in the prophetic office. The mantle represented consecration to a solemn prophetic work, the work of opening the mysteries of the kingdom of God to the people. Elisha was called to leave his work with the oxen and come from the plough to that consecrated service.
He was called while working as a farmer, following his oxen at the plow in the field. He left a wealthy and beloved home, with its security, affection, and comforts, for an uncertain life of service. His ordinary duties at home and in the field, faithfully done, were compatible with active service for God and were preparation for it.
He left the oxen and ran after Elijah. He asked to kiss his father and his mother in a brief farewell before following him, and then intended to follow him. The call came from the Lord, not from human ownership or mere invitation, and Elisha understood it as from God and not merely because Elijah invited him.
Elijah's Reply Tested Resolve
Elijah's words to go back again were not a rejection but a test that left the decision with Elisha. The mantle cast upon him was God's call to become Elijah's successor, and after asking leave to kiss his father and mother farewell he had to decide for himself whether to accept that call or remain at home. The test required him to count the cost, for he was free to stay if his heart clung to home and its advantages.
He could not follow merely because Elijah had invited him but needed to know for himself that God had called him, trusting that God would make his work known in due time. He was ready to accept without hesitation and without turning back. He valued the privilege of becoming God's messenger and serving alongside Elijah more than any worldly advantage, giving up the security and affection of home to enter that service.
Cost of Following God
Answering the call meant leaving ordinary work with the oxen and the plow and breaking worldly ties for solemn, consecrated service. Elijah's mantle represented consecration to that solemn work, and Elisha was called from the plow to it, leaving the oxen in the field to follow Elijah after asking first to bid his father and mother farewell. The same readiness to leave ordinary work and follow when called is urged of all who have surrendered their will to God.
Elisha understood the call as from God and chose to follow, giving up the security and affection of home to serve as God's messenger. He willingly left a wealthy and beloved home with its comforts for an uncertain life of service, without looking back. That leaving included accepting humble duties under Elijah and learning submission and service before being prepared for greater responsibility.
Following God's call requires knowing for oneself that God has called rather than following merely because another invited, trusting that God will make the work known in due time. It requires willingness to give up everything that would stand in the way of gaining His favor, and to stand ready to respond and be sent to proclaim the truth whatever the sacrifice. God still takes people from the plow and sends them to proclaim the truth. Elisha's readiness to leave behind what he had known stands in contrast to the young ruler's unwillingness to give up his possessions for Christ.
Seeking eternal life involves the experiences represented by the altar and the plough, as illustrated by Elisha leaving his work with the oxen to respond to Elijah's call.
Training for Future Service
The verse belongs to the call and early training that prepared Elisha under God's direction to succeed Elijah and guide Israel through careful, patient instruction. His willingness to serve began at once in leaving his work to follow, taking up humble personal service to the prophet as the school in which he learned submission and service before he was fitted for greater responsibility. He willingly left a wealthy and beloved home for an uncertain life of service, accepting lowly duties under Elijah as his preparation to lead.
Humble labor at the plow was itself part of that training for God's work, showing how ordinary duties can prepare a person for service. The call found him following the oxen at the plow in the field, proving that common work at home or in the field is compatible with active service for God and may be its preparation. Israel's greatest men could thus be trained in useful work, for manual labor is honorable. God is to place people in their work rather than their choosing their own position, and carelessness or indifference in small daily duties leaves a person unfit for greater service.
Elijah's giving Elisha opportunity to follow and learn is the pattern for experienced workers to give younger workers opportunity to learn how to share the truth. Ministers are to teach younger men and women coworkers how to teach the truth, calling and training them directly from ordinary labor. They are to entrust them with responsibilities that grow as they gain strength and experience, instead of carrying every burden themselves.
That same spirituality seen in the schools of the prophets must be recovered and brought into present schools. It is education of youth according to the high and holy principles Christ has given in His Word, with teachers intimately acquainted with the Bible and the Bible alone as counselor. The truths of the Bible are to be earnestly studied, received into the heart, searched and understood, and carried out in daily life. When rightly brought before the mind and thoughtfully dwelt upon, those truths give sanctification through belief of the truth, make learners strong in the Lord, and awaken desire for what is infinitely higher than worldly amusement. As learners draw near to God and become partakers of the divine nature, earth-born amusements sink into nothingness, minds take a higher turn, and beholding the character of Jesus they strive to be like Him.
God Still Calls Workers
The Lord still calls people directly from ordinary occupations to leave their former work, follow Him, and carry His message and teach Bible truth. That call reaches youth and those in humble positions, taking them even from the plow and common labor into His service. As Elisha left his oxen to follow Elijah after a brief farewell to his parents, so God now calls workers from the field and trains them through experienced servants, giving growing responsibilities as they gain strength.
He Himself directs those He calls to their field of labor, their methods of work, and the education they need. Their service belongs to Him, and the call to follow Him is not a reason to bind themselves for years to one group or branch of work under human supervision or claim of ownership. The call comes from the Lord, and the Lord instructs the workers for service.
Those thus called, though humble and unlearned, can begin simply and quietly by reading and explaining Scripture, and their efforts can succeed. They must stand ready to respond when called, leaving ordinary work in the field to follow God and be sent to proclaim the truth, whatever the sacrifice.
The same call to leave the plow and share in God's work will be repeated when a great work must be done in a short time. The Lord will take men from the plow, the fields, and other kinds of work to have a part in the closing work and to give the world its final warning message. Young men taken from the plow and fields and sent to preach the truth in Jesus are a parable of what should happen and will happen, when men of faith are called and sent to proclaim the warning message.
Elisha's leaving his oxen and work in the field to follow Elijah and receive consecration to the prophetic office is the pattern for William Miller leaving his farm and plow when God called him. As Elisha left his plow to open to the people the mysteries of the kingdom of God, so Miller left his farm to proclaim the prophecies, the mysteries of God's kingdom, and the second advent of Christ.