Delegation of Responsibility: Elijah and Elisha

“When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.” 2 Kings 2:9 (NIV)

You do not have to do it all yourself. Pick the right people, train them well and cede control.

Elijah was an effective but very lonely prophet. He did the work of the Lord single handed and thought that he was the only faithful of the Lord left after others were executed. The Lord assured him that he still had seven thousand faithful people left. Among those, he was asked to anoint Elisha to succeed him. He was also asked to anoint Jehu as the next king of Israel as God’s internal instrument to punish those who worshipped other gods, and to anoint Hazael as King of the enemy state of Aram to serve as God’s external instrument to punish the nation of Israel for their  unfaithfulness. (1 Kings 19:13-18)

Elijah was faithful to the Lord and he anointed Elisha as his successor (1 Kings 19:19-21, 2 Kings 2:1-15). However, he did not get to anoint Jehu and Hazael. This was delegated to Elisha. For the anointing of Elisha, Elijah threw his cloak around him. Later after training Elisha, Elijah was taken up to heaven. He left his cloak with Elisha who also got a double portion of his spirit to enable him to carry on God’s work; including what Elijah had been tasked to do.

Elijah was also faithful to the Lord. He anointed Hazael King of Aram (2 kings 8:7-15). However he delegated the anointing of Jehu to a fellow prophet (2 kings 9:1-13).

What does this teach us? It is good to train others so that they become as good or better than ourselves, then we become dispensable leaving no vacuum unfilled.

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No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.-- Andrew Carnegie

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