The Miracles of Elisha

This week’s Come Follow Me reading covers the life of Elisha, the prophet who followed Elijah and performed many miracles. The manual says this: “You might also compare the miracles Elisha performed with miracles that Jesus Christ performed. What do these miracles teach you about the Savior and His prophets?” The first miracle that Elisha performed after Elijah left was to part the Jordan River, just as Elijah had done: “And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over” (2 Kings 2:14). This showed that through the power of God he could control the waters, just as the Savior did: “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39). Another miracle that Elisha performed also involved water. The water in a certain city was bad, and the men of the city came to Elisha looking for help. He told them, “Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake” (2 Kings 2:20-22). So he turned bitter water into good-tasting water. This reminds me of the Savior’s miracle at Cana when they ran out of wine at the wedding feast. He told them, “Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:7-10). He turned the water into wine, changing the taste and substance of the water just like Elisha had done.

Other miracles of Elisha likewise remind us of the Savior’s miracles. A widow who had no money and only a small amount of oil sought help from Elisha. He said to her, “Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full” (2 Kings 4:3-4). She did this and the small quantity of oil was miraculously multiplied to fill all of the pots. This is similar to the multiplying of the loaves and fishes: “And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full” (Matthew 14:20). Both Elisha and the Savior took a substance used for food that was small and were able to multiply it to something much bigger. In another miracle Elisha raised the boy of the Shunammite woman from the dead: “And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes” (2 Kings 4:32-35). This reminds us of the times that the Savior raised people from the dead, such as He did for the son of the widow at Nain: “And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother” (Luke 7:14-15). Both Elisha and the Savior showed they had power over death, and both raised a beloved son from the dead and delivered him to his mother.

One of Elisha’s most famous miracles was how He healed Naaman from leprosy. Elisha gave him these instructions, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.” Naaman eventually did this, and “his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (2 Kings 5:10, 14). The Savior said to ten lepers who came to Him: “Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:14). In both miracles, the lepers were asked to go do something, and as they did it they were cleansed from their leprosy. Elisha and the Savior both performed incredible miracles, showing that they had power over the elements, over the human body, and over death itself. Elisha’s life was a forerunner to that of the Savior’s, and his great works pointed to the even greater works that the Savior would perform in mortality.