Prophet Elisha: Life, Icon, Akathist, Prayer

In this article, we study the life of Elisha, the biblical prophet. His father was Safat - a well-off plowman. In the year of the reign of Jehu, Elijah the seer invited him to his office as an assistant (1 Kings 19:21). After the miraculous ascension of the master to heaven, Elisha himself became an independent prophet (2 Kings 2:15).

His authority was valued by the king of Judea, Jehoshaphat, who repeatedly consulted the prophet on the eve of the campaign against Mesha, the Moabite king (II Kings 3:12).

Life of Elisha

The prophet Elisha zealously followed the teachings of his teacher, the prophet Elijah. He prophesied more than 65 years, during the reign of six Israeli rulers (from Ahaz to Joas). Elisha told them truthfully, exposing their disgrace and their propensity for idolatry. The seer rested in old age (about a hundred years): he engaged in prophetic ministry under King Ahab (1 Kings 19:19) - about 900 BC, but reposed under King Joas, in the 30s of the 9th century. BC (about 835).

Akathist to the prophet of God Elisha, believers read with reverence. After all, with his name is connected a lot of miracles - from the fabulous transition of the Jordan to the healing of the infirm and the resurrection of the son of a hospitable Shamanite woman. Known for its curiosities are also the increase in oil on the petition of the poor widow (4 Kings 4: 1-6), the increase in the breadfruits (4 Kings 4: 42-44), the healing of the Syrian general Naaman (2 Kings 5: 1-19 ).

In all the narrations the prophet Elisha is portrayed as a deeply penetrating person, with a strong spirit and faith. In those days there was a rapid development of an ancient institution known as the "prophetic hosts" or schools, which were some kind of mobile religious and educational communities. It was in them that the young generation was trained under the guidance of experienced and famous for their works soothsayers.

The prophet Elisha alone observed the ascension of Elijah to heaven. In his inheritance from him, he received a mantle (mercy), which was considered a visible sign of the heritage of the prophetic spirit. Elisha's name was glorified in literary works. He is praised with the highest praise by Jesus Sirakh, pointing out that he did not shudder before the kings, telling the truth (Sir 48: 12-14).

Punishing children

In regard to Elisha, the children showed impudence, for which they were punished. They mocked him, exclaiming: "Go, bald! Go, baldheaded! "(2 Kings 2: 23-24). According to the judgment of God, preempted by the curse of Elisha, "two she-bearers ran out of the forest and forty-two young men were torn" (2 Kings 2:24).

And yet the Bible does not believe that the cruelty of the seer is the cause of what happened, for, according to the teachings of the divine book, the curse of man is powerless, and God does only the judgment (Numbers 23: 8). Virtually undeserved damnations the Lord does not realize (Proverbs 26: 2).

The prophet Elisha is also mentioned in the New Testament (Luke 4:27). The Orthodox Church commemorates it on June 14 (according to the Julian calendar), the Catholic Church also on June 14.

Elisha in the Koran

Elisha is a biblical prophet who is also present in the Qur'an. Only in this book is he represented by the prophet Al-Yasa, about whom is written in the verses of the Koran 38:48 and 6:86. Together with Veschun Ilyas (Iliyoy), the seer urged the Israeli people to fulfill the laws of the Taurat (Torah) and the Sharia of Moses (Moses).

After the people of Israel did not respond to Ilyas' call, they banished him from the country and began to pay homage to the idol of Baal, Allah cruelly punished them by sending a drought to them. The lost Israelis had to flee from hunger: at that time they ate dead.

The people of Israel survived all the misfortunes that fell on him, and again invited the visionary Ilyas to himself. The inhabitants returned to believing in Allah, but later some of them again moved away from it and began to commit immoral actions. Veshun Ilyas left them and began to prophesy faith among other tribes of Israel.

So, Ilyas settled in the dwelling of a woman who lived with her son Al-Yasa. Al-Yasa at that time was ill with a terrible ailment. Mother asked Ilyas to help his son, who praised Allah for healing. In the end, Allah healed Al-Yasu. After his surprising recovery, the young man followed his savior until the end of his life and learned under his guidance the Taurat.

After the death of Elias, Allah made Al-Yasu a seer and obliged him to call his people to believe in Allah. Unfortunately, the people rejected this dogma. In those days, between the various tribes of Israel, a struggle for power flared up, and Allah sent them disaster in the form of Assyrians.

The Assyrians conquered the territory of Israel and carried away a large number of inhabitants into slavery. Later, the Israelites sometimes submitted to Al-Yasu, and sometimes rebelled against him. Before leaving for another world, Al-Yasa appointed Zulkifl (Ezekiel) as his successor.

Miracles of the Seer Elisha

It is known that the holy prophet Elisha was born in the city of Avell-Mehol (3 Kings 19:16) and was known as the great miracle-worker. Already his very birth was accompanied by miraculous phenomena. In the town of Simon was a golden heifer, which the people of Israel worshiped as a deity and sacrificed. When Elisha was born, she cried so screamingly that even Jerusalemites heard her.

When everyone was surprised at this, a priest said: "The great seer Elisha was born today! He will crush the mighty and destroy the idols! "

Elisha, leading a sinless life, came of age. And then the Lord set him up for a prophetic service. The holy seer Elijah received the command of the Almighty to anoint Elisha in the soothsayers instead of himself.

When Elisha - the prophet of the Old Testament - plowed the field, the holy seer Elijah went up to him, entrusted his flesh to him, and after telling him the will of the Most High, he called him the Veshchun. Then Elijah ordered him to follow him. Elisha hurried after the teacher and served him, studying his knowledge of the mysteries of God.

When it pleased the Lord to take His servant Elijah to heaven in a hurricane on a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2: 1-15), Elijah asked Elisha, "What gift do you desire from the Lord, who I can ask with my prayer for?"

And Elisha wished to receive that gift of divination and the gift of wonderworking, which Elias had, but more than twice! Elisha wanted lost people who dodged Baal, preach the word with prophetic words, assuring their covenants with miracles, so that through such deeds he could turn them back to the true one God.

Elijah said to him: "If you watch me take me to heaven from you, your wish will come true." Then they continued their way and talked among themselves. Suddenly a fiery chariot appeared, and fire horses that pushed them away from one another: in a whirlwind, Elijah flew into the sky. Elisha looked at him and shouted: "My father, my father! The cavalry of Israel and his chariot! "

When the chariot disappeared into the sky, Elisha saw the mantle, which had been lowered from the height of Elijah, which covered him. He took it as a sign of the received special spirit of Elijah. Further, Elisha wished to cross the Jordan River: he struck the water with his mantle, and the river parted, and crossed Elisha barrier on the dry bottom of the river. Prophetic disciples who lived in the Jordan saw this miracle. They were convinced that the Spirit of Elijah settled in Elisha and, coming to him, bowed before him.

Execution of children

Among the people, the prophet Elisha was most famous. Life in fact it is full of various surprises. Once the seer went to the city of Bethel, in which the Israelites lived, who left God and worshiped idols. When he approached the city, the little children playing on the road to different games saw him. They began to laugh at his bald head and yell: "Go, bald! Bald, go! "

The prophet, passing by them, looked back and saw that the children were following him, continuing to scream and mock. Elisha cursed them in the name of God. Suddenly two bears ran out of the forest and forty-two young men were torn. The survivors fled to the city. By this execution, in a righteous judgment, the seer punished those young men for outrage and deprived them of their lives. After reaching adulthood, they would turn into more evil people.

Their parents punished them for worshiping idols. They received a bitter teaching: the upbringing of children must be carried out in the fear of God and with instruction reverent worship of the servants of the Lord.

The illness of the famous governor

What else was the prophet Elisha famous for? We study his life further. Once famous governor Naaman, who served the king of Syria, fell ill with leprosy. It is known that he was famous for his military victories and his courage. He was ill for a long time and could not find doctors who would heal him.

One day, Syrian soldiers from an Israeli country captured a girl and gave her wife Naaman a service. The girl about the holy seer Elisha heard from her father and mother: they told her about the great miracles that were accomplished by his prayers. She told about her mistress.

"Oh, if my master visited the seer Elisha, who lives in Samaria, he would heal him from leprosy," the girl said. Her wife Naamana told her husband, and he visited his king and began to ask that he allow him to make a trip to Israel for healing from the prophet.

The king allowed him to go and gave him a letter to the ruler of Israel, Joram. Naaman took with him gifts for Elisha - ten changes in rich clothes, ten talents of silver and six thousand gold coins. Soon he arrived in Israel and gave a letter to King Joram, in which his king wrote: "From my message that you receive, find out that I sent my Naaman servant to you, so that you can cleanse him of leprosy."

The Israeli sovereign, having studied the letter of the ruler of Syria, was saddened greatly and, raking his clothes, said: "Am I the Lord who alone can revitalize and kill, that he sent me his leper to me to heal him from leprosy? Apparently, he is looking for an excuse to start a war against me! "

The seer Elisha learned that the king was upset and tore his clothes. He sent people to tell the governor: "Why are you upset and why did you tear your clothes? Let Naaman come and see that there is a seer of God in Israel! "

Naaman came to the house of Eliseev and stopped near him with horses and chariots. The Prophet through the servant informed him: "Go into the Jordan seven times, and your body will be cleansed. It will be the same as it was before. "

Naaman was offended when he heard such words of the prophet, and left, crying: "I hoped that he would come to me and, standing in front of me, will call the name of his Lord, touch my leprous body and cleanse him, and he tells me to swim in the Jordan !! The Damascus, Farfar and Avan rivers are not better than the Jordan and all Israeli waters? Could I not bathe and heal in them? "

And Naaman returned from Samaria in great anger. On the way the servants asked him to listen to the command of the seer of God and said at the same time: "If Elisha had ordered you to do something more difficult, would not you have fulfilled his command? But he only told you to plunge into the Jordan for purification, and you do not want to do it either. "

Naaman listened to his servants, went to the Jordan River and plunged into it seven times, as the seer of God commanded him, and at that instant his body was purified. He returned to Elisha with those who accompanied him and, standing before him, said: "Now I believe that only in Israel there is a God. Therefore, receive from your servant the gifts that I have brought to you. "

Naaman offered silver, clothes and gold to the seer. But Saint Elisey said to him: "The Almighty who I serve is alive, and I will not take anything from you." Naaman began to persuade the prophet to accept what he had brought, but he was unshakable. Then Naaman asked the saint: "Let me take as many of your land to your servant as my two mules can take." Delivering it home, I will build the altar of Israel to the Lord God, for your slave will no longer offer sacrifices to other gods, but only to the One True God. "

The seer allowed him to take what he wanted and let him go in peace. When Naaman retired, the servant of Elisha Gehazi began to meditate: "This is my servant who rendered great service to Naaman the Syrian, and did not take a single gift from his hands. I'll catch up with him and ask for anything. "

And, having risen, hurried after Naaman. The governor saw Gehazi, descended from the chariot and greeted him. Gehazi said to him: "My master sent me to tell you that two disciples of prophets came down to him from Ephraim Mountain today. He asks you to give them two changes of clothes and a talent for silver. " Naaman suggested that he take two talents and ordered the silver to be packed in two sacks. He gave Gehazi his servants to carry gifts, and also handed him two clothes.

Gehazi came home at sunset, hid the one taken into the dwelling, and he went to his master. God's seer Elisha asked him: "Where did you come from, Gehazi?" He answered him: "Your slave did not go anywhere."

Then Elisha said: "Did not my heart follow you and see how that man descended from the chariot and came to you, and how did you take his clothes and silver? Do not I know that you want to buy vineyards and olive trees for yourself, silver, sheep, servants and servants? For this, Naaman's leprosy will stick to your offspring and to you forever. "

And Gehazi went out from Elisha white as snow: he was immediately covered with leprosy.

The Acts of Elisha

Do you know that the Akathist to the prophet Elisha works miracles? After all, there were other miraculous prophetic gifts and deeds of Elisha, which are described in detail in the books of Kings. He prophesied about the seven-year famine that raged on the land of Israel (II Kings 8:10). He predicted the death of Venadad, the Syrian king, and reported the transfer to the hands of Hazael of the kingdom of Syria. It was Elisha who anointed the kingdom of Jehu, one of the kings of Israel, and then prompted him to destroy the idolatrous God-hating house of Ahaus, all the wise men of the Baal and priest.

When Joas (the grandson of Jehu) reigned, the prophet Elisha, being already an old man, was greatly ill. The king of Israel, Joash, visited him and, sobbing over it, said: "Father, Father, Israel's chariot and his horses!"

The seer asked him to take arrows and bow, open the eastern window to look towards Syria, and pull the bowstring. The king fulfilled his request. The seer of God, placing his hands on the king, said: "Let the arrow go to Syria." And the sovereign let the arrow go.

The seer said: "This arrow is the arrow of God's salvation, and you will conquer Syria." And again he commanded Joash to take arrows and an arrow in his hand. The king took it. Then the seer said to him: "Strike the earth with an arrow." Joas struck three times and froze. The seer Elisha was angry with him, saying: "If you had struck five or six times, you would have won a complete victory over Syria. Now you can only defeat her three times. "

So, prophesying to Joas, Saint Elisseh was reposed and was buried with reverence.

Miracles of Elisha after death

Many good deeds were done by the prophet Elisha. His prayer could send even heavy rain to the earth. It is known that the seer Elisha not only worked miracles during his lifetime, but also revealed himself as a miracle-worker after his death. A year after he moved to a different world, the city was burying one dead person. There appeared at that moment a mob of Moabites who raided Israel.

People who carried the deceased, from afar noticed the enemies and left the corpse in a nearby cave. It was that cave in which the ashes of the seer Elisha rested. The dead man touched the bones of the soothsayer and instantly came to life: he left the cave and hurried to the city.

So after death, the Lord glorified his servant. The day of the prophet Elisha, people celebrate with reverence. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel in his saints.

Icon

What can help the miraculous icon of the prophet Elisha? She will protect the asking person from all tribulations and troubles, illnesses, help him to gain spiritual strength and peace of mind.

Eliseevsky church

The church of Elisha the Prophet is located near St. Petersburg on the shore of Lake Sidozero, near a holiday village with the same name. Previously, on the site of this village was placed Yakovlevskoe tract.

The temple of the prophet Elisha was created in 1899. It is built of wood, but it has the forms of an eclectic Russian style typical of stone architecture. The temple was closed in the late 1930s. Today it is completely abandoned and does not function.

In general, the temple of the holy prophet Elisha is famous and is considered a significant object of the Podporozhsky ring. Tourists talk about it as a hard-to-get, although in fact from a holiday village to it to go only forty minutes.

This building is very beautiful and unusual. At the same time, it is gradually being destroyed and, apparently, does not appear on the list of cultural objects that are to be restored.

History of the church of Elisha

It is known that the church of the seer Elisha was consecrated 13 (according to a new style 26) June 1899 in the village of Sidozero, Olonets province. This building appeared not accidentally. His unique dedication is due to the fact that the temple was erected at the burial site of a certain monk Elisha. The folk legend referred to him as the monk of the nearby Yablonskaya desert - a small monastery, located on the Yablonsky peninsula, in the middle of Svir.

According to legend, in the Time of Troubles, when the Poles fell on the Yablonskaya desert, Elisha escaped in the woods on the right bank of the Svir River. He settled on the coast of Sidosaurus. Local residents at the end of the XIX century told about the "monastic path", which the seer went from Sidozer to his ruined monastery. Here, on Sidozer, Elisha also reposed.

An impressive cross was placed on his grave. Local residents have long revered Yeliseyev's grave, the icon of the prophet Elisha was in everyone's home. In 1870, in memory of the end of the epidemic among rural cattle, it was decided every year on June 14 to celebrate the day of the memory of the visionary Elisha. At the same time, a chapel was erected from the tree above the burial. Every year the number of pilgrims who visited this holy place increased, and at the end of the 19th century people decided to erect a special church here.

Why were the children cursed?

What happened when the prophet Elisha and the children met on the desert road? Why did the man of God curse the children? Let's take a look at this difficult question.

1. In the original text 4 Kings. 2:24 the word "forest" can be translated as "grove" or "grove". At that time in those places there were many oak forests and groves, and the animals were not destroyed yet. Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that the bears could wander wherever they like.
2. The seer cursed not small children. After all, the original uses the word "small", which can be translated as "smaller", "younger", and "children" can be translated as "boy", "boy", "servant", "slave". In fact, we see here not babies, but a crowd of embittered teenagers. But they were not just ridiculed by the seer. They called him bald and urged to ascend to heaven. Evil teenagers demanded of Elisha, mocking him, so that he ascended to heaven, as his teacher Elijah recently did. This was not only a disregard for the prophet, but also directly to God.

We hope that this article has helped you to study the life of the seer Elisha.