The Spirit in Elisha’s Life: A Preview of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant
by Gary L. Shultz Jr.
Gary L. Shultz Jr. is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida, an adjunct professor of religion at Liberty University, and a fellow with the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Abstract: In the book of Kings, Elisha is the Spirit-empowered man of God who walks with God, represents God, and shows the way to covenant faithfulness through word and deed. Elisha therefore, serves as a preview of knowing God in the new covenant through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We will see this as we examine the Spirit’s role in Elisha’s life from Kings, particularly in the narrative of Elisha succeeding Elijah (2 Kings 2:1–18), and how Elisha’s Spirit-empowered ministry points forward to the Spirit-empowered ministry of Jesus Christ, the inauguration of the new covenant, and what it means for Jesus’s followers to live in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
