Elijah the Mentor

Scripture — 1 Kings 19:15-16, 21

Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. . . .” Then [Elisha] set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Devotion

In last Thursday’s Life for Leaders devotion, we saw that one of the ways Moses didn’t do it alone was by implementing a succession plan as he was nearing death. The Lord appointed Joshua as Moses’s successor and Moses publicly endorsed Joshua’s leadership. Also, during the last months of his life, Moses shared some of his leadership tasks with Joshua, thus preparing the younger man for his future leadership.

We find a similar story in the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings. Here, the main characters are the prophet Elijah and a younger prophet-in-training named Elisha.

After Elijah led a miraculous, victorious battle with the prophets of Baal, his life was threatened by the evil queen Jezebel (1 Kings 18:20-19:3). So Elijah escaped into the wilderness where he asked the Lord to take his life. But God had other plans for Elijah, plans that began with his making a 40-day trek to “Horeb, the mount of God” (19:8). There, while hiding in a cave, God was revealed to Elijah in “a sound of sheer silence” (19:12). The Lord gave Elijah new instructions, which involved anointing several future leaders, including “Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place” (19:16). Elijah was to identify and authorize his prophetic replacement.

Elijah traveled to where Elisha was plowing a field and “threw his mantle over him” as a sign of the authority being invested in Elisha (1 Kings 19:19). Elisha, in response, said goodbye to his family, offered his farm equipment and animals in sacrifice to God, and “set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant” (19:21). Though Elijah had momentarily given his prophetic mantle to Elisha, the older prophet wasn’t done with his own prophetic career, however. With Elisha accompanying him as his servant, Elijah continued to prophesy for several years until, finally, he was taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). After this, Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah full-time, both literally and figuratively, as he began his prophetic service.

Unfortunately, we know very little about the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. We do know that Elisha was persistently loyal to Elijah, following him all the way to Elijah’s last moment on earth. Reading between the lines, it’s easy to imagine many of the ways Elijah influenced Elisha. What we see here, though only from a distance, is a relationship we might describe as mentoring. Not only did Elijah teach Elisha many things, but also and perhaps even more importantly, the two men shared life together. They walked together for several years before Elisha assumed Elijah’s role as God’s chief prophet.

The example of Elijah reaffirms what we learned from the life of Moses. Part of not doing it alone is recognizing that our time of leadership will come to an end. We need to invest our lives in those who will carry on after us. Moses did this with Joshua. Elijah did this with Elisha. But mentoring is not limited to relationships in which one person prepares another for a specific job. We can also experience what might be called “life mentoring,” where two people come together to discover how to live more fully and fruitfully as disciples of Jesus.

As we think about what it means for us to not do life and leadership alone, we ought to consider seriously our own need for mentoring relationships. When we are younger, we can benefit greatly from a relationship with a more mature mentor who comes alongside us, sharing life with us, asking thoughtful questions of us, and helping us become the person God intends for us to be. When we are older, we need to be open to the possibility that God wants us to mentor others, often someone who is younger than we are. When we offer to walk alongside another person, that is a great gift for that person, to be sure. It is also a gift to those who will benefit from the mentee’s life and leadership. Plus, scientific research shows that mentoring others is a gift to the mentor, contributing to brain health and a sense of purpose that is essential for flourishing in later life.

Max De Pree (l) and Walter Wright, Jr. (r)

For over two decades, the De Pree Center has been committed to nurturing mentoring relationships. Max De Pree, after whom the center was named, was a beloved mentor of many, including Walter Wright Jr., former Executive Director of the center. Recently, my colleague Meryl Herr, our Director of Research and Resources, has listened deeply to experienced mentors talk about their best practices as well as to those who would like to receive mentoring. Meryl is in the process of developing resources based on her research and, as always, on biblical truth. You can see one prototype here and an insightful article here. In future Life for Leaders devotions I’ll let you know about the progress of our mentoring work and how you can participate. I’m excited about what Meryl and our team are creating.

For now, let me suggest that you reflect upon your own life in light of the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. If you’re in an “Elisha time of life,” do you have an Elijah? Are you being mentored by someone? If you’re in an “Elijah season of life,” do you have at least one Elisha? Are you mentoring someone? An essential part of not doing it alone is developing mentoring relationships marked by open sharing of life, learning, and leadership.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Prophet Elisha’s Attention to Ordinary Work (2 Kings 2-6).

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