A/N: This is a tribute and expression of honor to another of my Old Testament heroes. I know Elijah gets (and deserves) a lot of credit as the man who ousted Baal, but I thought that his successor, Elisha, could use a little moral support, too. More people should pay attention to 2 Kings where he did his work.
There once was a prophet named Elisha.
He was a servant of the One True God.
He ministered under the prophet Elijah
And took his mantle when he ascended into Heaven.
Elisha the mighty prophet of God
Asked for twice the power of Elijah,
Not to make him more grand or famous,
But to truly take Elijah's place as Israel's leader.
Through Elisha, God performed more miracles
Than any other man of God before the time of Jesus.
This righteous man had a commanding presence
Which made God's people bow with respect.
But he was also a fair diplomat
Who understood of peace through peace, not war.
When Elisha was around, people remembered
That the Spirit of the Lord was always watching them.
The miracles of Elisha were manifold,
And recorded in scripture for all to take note of.
With nothing more than a bowl of salt,
He purified the water of Jericho.
He laid a curse on children who mocked him,
And she-bears came and tore their lives away.
He helped a poor widow of a prophet
By telling her to get bottles for her olive oil.
In filling more bottles with precious oil,
She could pay her debt and still make a living.
The man of God foretold the birth
Of a son to a doubting rich woman,
And when the sun's heat killed the boy,
God's power through him brought him back to life.
His feeding of one hundred people
With only twenty loaves of bread and some grain
Was a foreshadowing of a day when a greater man
Would feed even more people with even less food.
He stopped a Syrian army from attacking Israel
By striking the soldiers blind with the light of the Lord,
But instead of destroying them, he gave them a feast
And then let them go in peace.
Elisha would not accept reward
For any of the good deeds he did,
And when his servant got him a reward behind his back,
He cursed that servant and his descendants with leprosy
That would last forever.
Elisha, man and prophet of the Almighty God,
Is known for his supernatural deeds in God's name.
Not much else is known about this man
Who gave up his life for the Creator of all.
But what does it matter who else Elisha was?
What matters is that he was God's special servant,
And that his devotion to the will of the Lord
Set an example for all people, friends and enemies of Him.
The world needs more people like Elisha
Who can show the true power of our Lord,
In an age when scoffing and skepticism
Are at their worst stage ever.
For who would believe in the supernatural
Without knowledge of Elisha and God in the Bible?