Elijah and Elisha
2 Kings 2:1-14 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
Now Elijah was the preacher, and he was about to leave the earth. I don’t know how Elisha knew, but he did. And he wanted to spend as much time with his preacher as he could. It is amazing how the world today wants to hang out with everyone except the man of God, unless they have problems. Maybe because like the Bible says in John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
We like flirting with the world because we are carnal. And if we run with those less spiritual than us, we don’t feel the conviction that we would if we ran with someone more spiritual than us. A carnal person can bring you down way quicker than you can lift them up. It also says in Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
We are going to do exactly what we are going to do, and we are willing to face the consequences later. Just don’t forget, there will be consequences.
Sin is like a credit card; we can enjoy it now but it is going to cost way more, later than we wanted to pay.
So Elijah and Elisha are going along together and they come to Gilgal. From there they went to Bethel. From there they went to Jericho. They left there and went to Jordan. And every time they went somewhere, there were people trying to discourage Elisha. Trying to get him to quit following the man of God. Trying to get him to quit doing the will of God, and just turn back. But Elisha, like Nehemiah, who sent word back to Sandbalot and Tobiah when they tried to get him to come down from off the wall in Nehemiah 6:3 And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
If you decide to do anything for God, the world, the flesh, and the devil will try to stop you. And they will be subtle about it. “Well you deserve a little break from your service.
You don’t want to be too religious. But it is ok to be too worldly, too wicked, and too liberal? The Bible still says 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and 1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
He called the chariot that took Elijah away the chariot of Israel. What was the chariot of Israel? The chariot was the greatest tool the day had to offer. It was a symbol of strength and power, and might. And when he saw the chariot of fire he knew that God, not weaponry was Israel’s source of power, so he testified of seeing God’s chariot. I can imagine he had a hallelujah fit.
We need to get excited about the power of God, and we need to do everything we can to get it. But I know, it’s too easy to just lay down and quit, isn’t it. If Elisha would have quit, he would never have received a double blessing like he did.
When Elijah died, Elisha cried. He lost his preacher, he lost his councilor, and he lost his best friend, all at once. A part of him died, and it is ok to cry over lost loved ones, but don’t let it stop you from going on. Imagine if Jesus would have quit because of heartache. Did He have heartache? Yet He kept going. And thank God the Father that He did.
The rest of the story: The 50 men that followed Elisha wanted to go to the mountains to see had the whirlwind dropped Elijah anywhere. The preacher said no, but they kept on pushing him until he finally said ok. They wasted three days before finally coming back. Why when you ask the preacher or any man of God anything, do you not do what he says? You are wasting your time and his.
And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
Now Elijah was the preacher, and he was about to leave the earth. I don’t know how Elisha knew, but he did. And he wanted to spend as much time with his preacher as he could. It is amazing how the world today wants to hang out with everyone except the man of God, unless they have problems. Maybe because like the Bible says in John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
We like flirting with the world because we are carnal. And if we run with those less spiritual than us, we don’t feel the conviction that we would if we ran with someone more spiritual than us. A carnal person can bring you down way quicker than you can lift them up. It also says in Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
We are going to do exactly what we are going to do, and we are willing to face the consequences later. Just don’t forget, there will be consequences.
Sin is like a credit card; we can enjoy it now but it is going to cost way more, later than we wanted to pay.
So Elijah and Elisha are going along together and they come to Gilgal. From there they went to Bethel. From there they went to Jericho. They left there and went to Jordan. And every time they went somewhere, there were people trying to discourage Elisha. Trying to get him to quit following the man of God. Trying to get him to quit doing the will of God, and just turn back. But Elisha, like Nehemiah, who sent word back to Sandbalot and Tobiah when they tried to get him to come down from off the wall in Nehemiah 6:3 And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?
If you decide to do anything for God, the world, the flesh, and the devil will try to stop you. And they will be subtle about it. “Well you deserve a little break from your service.
You don’t want to be too religious. But it is ok to be too worldly, too wicked, and too liberal? The Bible still says 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and 1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
He called the chariot that took Elijah away the chariot of Israel. What was the chariot of Israel? The chariot was the greatest tool the day had to offer. It was a symbol of strength and power, and might. And when he saw the chariot of fire he knew that God, not weaponry was Israel’s source of power, so he testified of seeing God’s chariot. I can imagine he had a hallelujah fit.
We need to get excited about the power of God, and we need to do everything we can to get it. But I know, it’s too easy to just lay down and quit, isn’t it. If Elisha would have quit, he would never have received a double blessing like he did.
When Elijah died, Elisha cried. He lost his preacher, he lost his councilor, and he lost his best friend, all at once. A part of him died, and it is ok to cry over lost loved ones, but don’t let it stop you from going on. Imagine if Jesus would have quit because of heartache. Did He have heartache? Yet He kept going. And thank God the Father that He did.
The rest of the story: The 50 men that followed Elisha wanted to go to the mountains to see had the whirlwind dropped Elijah anywhere. The preacher said no, but they kept on pushing him until he finally said ok. They wasted three days before finally coming back. Why when you ask the preacher or any man of God anything, do you not do what he says? You are wasting your time and his.