Lesson 9 – Elisha Assisted Elijah
Read 1 Kings 19:19-21 https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1KI.19.ESV
From 1 Kings 19:21 - Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.

Elijah obeyed God, climbing down Mt. Horeb and immediately setting out to find Elisha, who would come after him as the prophet for God’s children, the Israelites. He found Elisha plowing a field with twelve pairs of yoked oxen; Elisha was in charge of the twelfth pair. Elijah walked up to him and threw his cloak over Elisha.

Elisha knew what this meant. He had been chosen by the Lord to follow and serve Elijah, and to take over as God’s prophet after God took Elijah to Heaven.

Elisha asked Elijah, “Please, let me kiss my mother and father good-bye; then I will follow you.”

Elijah replied, “Go ahead, but do not forget what I have just done.”

Elisha went back to the field, sacrificed his two oxen, made a fire with the plow and tackle, and then boiled the meat. He and his family enjoyed a farewell meal together. Then Elisha left home and followed Elijah, becoming his right-hand man.

In the first book in the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, we find how Jesus called His first disciples. Walking along the shores of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers doing their regular work: fishing, throwing their nets into the lake.

Jesus called to them: “Come with Me. I will make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I will show you how to catch people instead of fish.”

The brothers did not ask questions, but at once dropped their nets and followed Jesus. As Jesus and these new disciples continued to walk along the shore, they saw two other brothers sitting in a boat with their father, mending their fishnets. Jesus made the same offer to them, and they were just as quick to follow Jesus, leaving their boat and father.


In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, “Anyone who comes to Me but refuses to let go of your father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters – and even your own life – cannot be My disciple” (from Luke 14:26). This does not mean we desert our families whom God has given us, but we make Jesus and His call on our life our first priority.

Today God gives us mentors too – other believers in the faithful church. This was one of the greatest reasons Jesus left us here on earth. First, when we are young, we learn from those who are older in faith than we are. Then, as we grow in faith, we become the same kind of mentor to others.

*Whom has God given you as a mentor? What did you learn from the other person?
*Whom has God asked you to mentor in the faith?