Picking up Elijah’s Mantle

by Terry Wane Benton

Elijah did what he could to keep truth alive in a generation of Israelites that forgot God’s law and were into the latest fads and popular religions of their day. Baal had become the sensation, and God’s order had become boring in the eyes of the Israelites. Elijah seemed like an old out-of-step-with-the-times fuddidud of a preacher. He was certainly not popular, but He was teaching the needed truth of God. The flashy, stimulating gatherings were with the exotic shows of Baal worshippers, and when you don’t hunger for the word of God, it can seem bland in comparison.

When Elijah was taken up, his mantle fell to the ground (II Kings 2:13). Would anyone be willing to pick up that mantle and speak the unpopular truth of God? You had to know that people wouldn't like you, and you would be rejected even by those you thought would encourage you. Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah because he loved God and loved God’s people enough to do the unpopular work. Someone needed to pick up that mantle and carry forward God’s truth. The children needed the truth and might be open even if their parents are not so alert. Future generations need God’s truth in a world that turns to hate and evil continually. Elisha had the faith.

Do we have the faith to pick up the mantle of Jesus and His apostles amid this crooked generation? Will you leave that mantle on the ground and just hope someone else will pick it up? Why not you? God is expecting each of us to pick up the mantle of Jesus and shine in a dark world (Philippians 2:12f). The world does not need us to join their rally. The world needs to see us upholding a far greater cause than theirs.

Whose mantle are you wearing?