2 Kings 4:24 “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.”
We see in the verse above that Elisha, upon arriving at the house of the woman whose child died, shut the door and prayed. Fair enough because he didn’t know what to do! After praying, Elisha knew what God wanted him to do. This is to show us that God does this to keep us dependent and reliant upon Him. Our actions should be directed by the Lord.
Then Elisha stretched himself out on the boy – mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. A simple question comes immediately to mind.: Why God would want Elisha to do that? Do you know the answer? I believe that God wanted to teach both Elisha and us today, an important lesson. And that lesson is one of the most important themes of the New Testament – IDENTIFICATION. I believe that God wanted Elisha to fully identify with this boy in his death – mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. No gimmicks, no laying of hands. There were no shortcuts – Elisha had to totally identify with this boy in his death… that was God’s message after Elisha prayed.
I believe God asked Elisha to do this as a glimpse of a far greater identification that would occur hundreds of years later. This time, it would be for all humanity who are spiritually dead needing spiritual life. This time, it is our Lord Jesus Christ Who is God, needs to fully identify with humanity in order to bring the dead to life. But that mission would mean His own death on the cross!
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