“What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” (1 Kings 17:18, NKJV)
The last while a large number of teachings have taken on the form of a bit of a detour, in order for us to understand the meaning of anointing and unity, but it is important that we return to the main theme under discussion. We are currently discussing the unfolding of the spirit of Elijah WITHIN us, and in the process we are growing in our understanding of how mantles come into being and how they empower believers to do that which God has called them for. We follow Elijah as prototype in order to understand the process of mantle formation, and the authority which springs forth from it.
In the teaching of Day 1028 we left Elijah’s trail at the section of Scripture that deals with the miracle of the flour and the oil: “The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.” (1 Kings 17:16). After that we looked at the typological meaning of flour and oil, and ended up discussing the notion of dying to self, anointing and unity in the Body of Christ.
If one realises that the old covenant is given to us in the new covenant as a tool for teaching and encouragement (2 Tim. 3:16), and specifically, as Rom. 15: 4 states, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope”, it is important that we spend some time mapping out Elijah’s history in order for us to understand our mantles better, as they are based on the template of Elijah’s original mantle.
The story is as follows: “Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, ‘What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?’ And he said to her, ‘Give me your son.’ So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?’ And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.’ Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives!’ Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.’” (1 Kings 17:17-24).
Elijah is now prototypically logged into the anointing of the Christ (which, in our terms, corresponds to the “baptism in Christ” – “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Gal. 3:27). To be clothed with Christ means to wear a mantle (of anointing). Selah.
From this it follows that his anointing will do what the Anointed’s anointing was intended for: “’The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.’ And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.” (Isa. 61:1-4).
These “assignments” are indeed also your mandate as anointed one within Christ the Anointed! A mantle is not there for your own pleasure or status – it is that which empowers you to reconcile the world with God on all levels and within all domains.
Elijah was sent to the widow and her son to deal with something within himself, and if he was obedient, it would also set them free. This is the basis on which righteousness operates. Here we learn a very important facet of spiritual mantles – it brings about a reaction in society that is often not pleasant for the person or those around him. The world opposes the change that God wants to bring about through him/her (2 Tim. 3:12), and even if they benefit from it, they are considered a “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17), akin to how Ahab later accused Elijah.
The Bride is called to bring about ructions: “but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven’” (Heb. 12:26). This has already been prophetically promised in the Old Testament in Hag. 2:6-7: “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.” The Bride brings about these ruction, not in order to judge the world, but to operate as a measure of righteousness which shakes the world into realising whether they fall short or miss the mark (the definition of sin). This is what brings about the gospel of glory.
Take note of what is for instance said of Noah in Heb. 11:7: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Without Noah having spoken a word of condemnation, and by just walking in faith, doing that which God had asked him to do, in other words walking within his calling, THIS condemned the world.
It is also one of the most important aims of the spirit of Elijah: “to turn … the disobedient to the wisdom of the just” (Luke 1:17). This is the task of the anointed as the Bride of Christ. Through establishing righteousness in the heavens and on the earth, the new dispensation of God’s rule is anchored: “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God … Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet. 3:11-13). Godly rule is anchored in righteousness, nothing else: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne …” (Ps 98:14).
See then how beautifully Isa. 9:7 explains this in terms of not only Jesus sitting on the throne, but every person within Christ who are also sitting on the throne (Eph. 2:6): “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isa. 16:5 also frames it aptly: “In mercy the throne will be established; and One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.”
That one is the Bride of Christ.
Throughout the ages Christians have clothed themselves with a cloak of perverted righteousness, which one could also term self-righteousness, that is largely based on their norms, values, ethics and a general sense of what is right and acceptable. This is not true righteousness, as the Message-translation of Phil. 3:9 makes very clear: “some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ–God’s righteousness”. Believers easily forget about James 4:12: “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
The example of true righteousness comes from Jesus: “for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” (John 12:47).
Back to Elijah and the widow’s deceased son. Because we are reading the story in typological terms, we have to see that Elijah’s potential mantle of fatherhood is tested in terms of this fatherless son; one needs to figure out if it becomes manifest or not.
The son is dead, we read, and one feels that this is a way in which God sets up Elijah. One could also argue with relative certainty what Jesus had said about the blind son: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.” (John 9:3). Often in the Gospels we find that Jesus refers to those who have died as merely sleeping! We find the beautiful examples of the girl who had died, of whom Jesus says: “He said to them, ‘Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.’” (Matt. 9:24). Also, of his friend Lazarus: “’Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.” (John 11:11-13).
Paul also uses this metaphor in Eph. 5:14: “Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’” This is an immensely important articulation: even if you are saved, even if you are baptised with water, Spirit and fire, thus, even if you are born again, you are still sleeping in the first or second dimension, or rather: you are still dead, in some way. You need to wake up IN CHRIST! Rom 13:11 states it beautifully: “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Our salvation is nearer? The Amplified refers to it as the “salvation (final deliverance)”. Elijah must go to the upper room so that the gate of his unfolding salvation in Christ can be opened. This is the third dimension – the Apostolic Bible Polyglot translates the upper room from Strong as “a higher part of the house, that is, apartment in the third story”! For this reason Elijah extends himself over the child three times, after which he wakes up.
The history of spiritual fatherhood is beautifully explained by Jesus in John 5:24-25: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.”
The widow then testifies: “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.” The ABP translates the word word here as “rhema”! Elijah arose within his identity in Christ, accompanied the spiritual son from death to life in the third dimension, and thus made manifest his Godly calling as spiritual father.
- Selah: Were you spiritually fathered, and are you a father to spiritual sons?
- Read: 4-12.
- Memorise: 12:2-3 (what glorious synchronicity!)
