2 Kings 13: 20-21, “And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”
This account of the dead man coming back to life is probably one of the most interesting stories within our Bible. Can you just imagine this man being thrown into Elisha’s sepulcher? Can you imagine what those men thought that threw him in there?! Talk about a heart attack! They throw this dead guy into a sepulcher cause he’s dead, and he comes jumping back out running after them!
How could this have happened? How can a dead man touch another dead man’s bones and come back to life? Well, this wasn’t just any ole dead man’s bones. These were the bones of one of the greatest prophets that ever lived. They were the bones of Elisha, the prophet with the double portion of the anointing! You see, Elisha didn’t just have some little portion of the anointing upon his life. No, he had way more than that. He had a bone touching anointing! Even after he was dead and in the grave; even after his flesh had rotted off and went back to the dust of the earth, his bones were still anointed! In other words, the anointing on his life was so mighty that it literally soaked him through and through. It had completely saturated him.
Let’s look though at how Elisha got this bone touching anointing upon his life. When you read 2 Kings, chapters one and two, you find out that Elisha had teamed up with Elijah, a mighty prophet of God who was used mightily in signs and wonders. In chapter two, it is revealed that Elijah is getting ready to go up to heaven in a whirlwind. As the two of them go on their journey, they stop at three of the schools of the prophets. First at Gilgal, secondly at Bethel and then finally, thirdly at Jericho. At each one, Elijah tried to get Elisha to stay behind, but Elisha was determined to stay with Elijah.
Let me just interject right here something that is of the utmost importance for you if you intend on living and moving under the deeper anointings of God, such as this bone touching anointing that I am writing about. And that is: Sometimes it is not the eloquence of a speaker nor of the learned abilities of a man that impress God, but rather the sheer determination to go after God with such passion and zeal that nothing can deter your faith!
Now, finally at Jericho, Elisha’s persistence paid off. After they had crossed the Jordan River on dry ground, Elijah turns to Elisha and says, “What can I do for you? What do you want from me before I go?” And Elisha said, “I want a double portion of thy spirit!” Elijah then said, “You have asked a hard thing of me, but nonetheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, if shall be so unto thee”. Then, all of a sudden, while they were still talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire swept down from heaven and picked up Elijah. And when it did, guess who saw it? Elisha! Elisha then bent down, picked up the mantle of Elijah that had been dropped to him, walked back over to the Jordan River and called out, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he had done this, the waters parted hither and thither and he walked over on dry ground!
But do not think it strange my friend that this anointing was placed upon Elisha in this manner. For, may I tell you that there is an unction from God and there is a bone touching anointing from God that He seeks to place within every Spirit-filled believer on this earth?! But, do you know why some don’t get it? They stand afar off! They’re afraid that somebody is going to lay hands on them. They’re afraid that if they get prayed for, they might fall out in the Spirit or get too emotional. So, they just stand afar off.
But if you will study out the rest of chapter 2 in the Book of 2 Kings, you will find that is exactly what fifty sons of the prophets did. They stood afar off and just viewed this incident with Elijah and Elisha. But guess what? They didn’t get a double portion either! They didn’t get a bone touching anointing!
It’s not enough to just come to church. It’s not enough to just sit back and watch everybody else getting the blessings! My friend, when all you are doing is standing afar off, all you will do is hear about the blessings. You may see the glory on someone else, but you won’t experience it. You may see the double portion on someone else, but you won’t experience it! It will never touch you because you are standing afar off. It is time to quit standing afar off and to get in where the glory of God is. It’s time to cross the Jordan River! It’s time to get to the other side. It’s time to worship God like you’ve never worshipped Him before. And when the chariot of fire comes your way, you’ll get what you need from God! A bone touching anointing!
If an old dead prophet's bones had enough anointing left on them to raise a dead man, surely there has to be some men and women alive today with a little bit of that same anointing on their lives!
Elisha had so much of God in him that he had a bone touch. Now, some of us have a head touch. We know about God. And some of us have a flesh touch. We can feel God on us. But I’m not writing about some little anointing that just causes your body to feel the effects. No, I am writing about an anointing that will saturate you. That will turn you into a different man, a different woman! I’m talking about an anointing that will change your life. An anointing that will make you think different, talk different and act different! I’m talking about a bone touching, bone shaking, bone stirring anointing!
Do you know what a bone touching anointing means to us? It means having the power of God so real in us that when we touch people, they can be made whole! An anointing so powerful that we can actually become a point of contact for God’s power to flow through us. That’s what Elisha’s bones did. When that dead man came in contact with Elisha’s bones, he immediately came back to life! God grant it in our own lives!
There is a bone touching, Holy Ghost anointing that the church is supposed to have that many do not have, nor ever have had it. Do you know why I say that? Because we have sat back for too long and waited on someone else to pray for the sick, for someone else to have the faith to believe, for someone else to demonstrate the power of God in action. But this is not God’s will! It is not His will for His church to be some weak anemic powerless structure. His will is for us to be mightily anointed. For us to have the same type of anointing that Elisha had! A bone touching anointing that saturates us!
I pray God give us some men and women who are so anointed that when they come in contact with those that are dead in their trespasses, they will be convicted of their sins and will find life in Christ Jesus! Amen.