II. IN HIS MINISTRY ELISHA BEHAVING HIMSELF
AS GOD’S REPRESENTATIVE ON THE EARTH
In his ministry Elisha the prophet, as the man of God, behaved himself as God’s representative, as the acting God, on the earth. As believers in Christ, we can be the same.
Elisha, as a disciple of Elijah, eventually gained Elijah’s spirit, but he was absolutely different from Elijah. In typology Elijah typifies the Old Testament economy and Elisha typifies the New Testament economy.
When we read the historical books, we need to have a view that covers the entire Bible from the first page to the last. Paul was one who knew the Old Testament and was able to interpret it. The book of Romans is an explanation of the Old Testament verse that says, "The righteous shall have life and live by faith" (Rom. 1:17; Hab. 2:4). Paul wrote a book of sixteen chapters to define what it means to have life through faith. The first four chapters are judicial, telling us that God justifies us based on Christ’s redemption through our faith (3:24, 28). This has nothing to do with life. However, God’s justification by grace leads to life (5:18). Justification issues in regeneration, the receiving of the divine life, which is God Himself. This life is working within us to make us kings to reign (v. 17). After chapter four, every chapter of Romans is organic. By this organic life we, the justified sinners, are made living members of the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ in chapter twelve is expressed organically in different localities in chapter sixteen.
I received most of this light through Brother Nee. He was the most balanced person in knowing the Bible. Through him I picked up the principle of studying the Bible in the way of life.
The Bible has been studied, interpreted, and expounded by thousands throughout the last twenty centuries. Brother Nee studied all the interpretations and passed them on to me. This is why the preface of the Recovery Version of the New Testament says that the footnotes contain "the `crystallization’ of the understanding of the divine revelation which the saints everywhere have attained to in the past two thousand years." If we pay attention to all the notes, we will understand the Bible through all the teachers in the past.
(Life-Study of 1 & 2 Kings, Chapter 14, by Witness Lee)
