Elijah and Elisha proceeded to Jericho, which means “a place called pleasant.” Yet this city was now barren, dry, utterly lifeless, with no trees, no pastures, no fruit. Everything had withered because a stream of poison had infiltrated Jericho’s water supply. This city represents dead, dry Christianity, a church Jesus describes in this way: “you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1, NKJV).
Elijah had established a school of prophets in Jericho, and when he and Elisha visited, some of the young, upstart prophets approached Elisha, asking, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” (2 Kings 2:5). Elisha quickly cut them off, telling them, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”
This generation of prophets would be sent out across Judah and Israel to minister, but something was missing in them: the power, anointing, and authority of the Holy Spirit. Elijah suggested Elisha stay and teach these prophets, but Elisha refused. He knew that if he pastored these ministers, they would remain enamored with Elijah’s powerful ministry and constantly barrage Elisha with questions about him. “How many hours a day did your master pray? What methods did he use? What doctrines did he preach?” These young ministers would spend all their energies trying to be just like Elijah, hoping to recreate his miracles, yet without the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.
The church today has fallen into the same snare. We study past movements and revivals, looking for keys, trying to discover methods to bring down fire from heaven. For years and years, the church has been crying for an old-fashioned, Holy Ghost revival. This all stems from a desire to see God recreate something he did in the past.
Elisha knew he could not impact anyone in this dead, dry church until he received his own touch from God. He could not rely on Elijah’s great works. His response to Elijah was essentially, “I respect the faith of my forefathers, the spiritual giants of the past. But I know the Lord wants to do a new thing. And I must have a touch from him greater than anything seen before.”