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2 Kings Chapter 2
Elijah Taken to Heaven
- 2Kings 2:1 And it
came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by
a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
- 2 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.
It seems here that Elisha was
determined not to miss seeing Elijah going into heaven which they
knew was going to happen. Elisha wanted to receive that anointing.
This wasn't a bad thing. The desire to serve God, to walk with God
and constantly live for God is a good thing. I never liked the
saying that a person could be so heavenly minded, he is no earthly
good. I believe one should live and walk in the Holy Spirit as much
as he or she can. Yet with that we know that the more God gives us,
the more responsibility we have.
Elisha was chosen to take Elijah's
place and receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit that Elijah had.
Elisha was diligent and didn't want to miss this.
- 2Kings 2:3 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.
- 4 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.
- 5 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.
- 6 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.
- 7 And fifty men of
the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and
they two stood by Jordan.
I can't blame them for following
Elijah. I would have wanted to see this too. Thanks to Obadiah
spoken of in 1 Kings chapter 18, Jezebel wasn't able to kill all the
prophets like she tried to. That is why we read of them here
following Elijah.
-
2Kings 2:8 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.
The parting of the Jordan happened
before as told to us in the book of Joshua:
- Joshua 3:13 And
it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the
priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the
earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of
Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from
above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
- 14 And it came
to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over
Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before
the people;
- 15 And as they
that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the
priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water,
(for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
- 16 That the
waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap
very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those
that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea,
failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right
against Jericho.
- 17 And the
priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm
on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites
passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan.
God is the God of miracles. God's
miracles is for our good. True miracles from God never lead us into
idolatry or into following false religions or evil. Even though
there is always false miracles at times to deceive, that doesn't
mean God has stopped doing the miraculous even in our day. The only
thing that stops it is our unbelief. God is still a miracle working
God. We shall know the false from the real by their fruits. The
fruits of the Holy Spirit will not give us the glory but God. The
fruits of the Spirit will accompany truth and holiness, not lies.
The fruits of the Holy Spirit will cause us to draw closer to God
not following a person to the point of puffing them up above
everyone else.
- 2Kings 2:9 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.
- 10 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.
- 11 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.
This is the most awesome thing. Elijah
as Enoch many years before him went into heaven without a physical
death. This seems to be a preview of the rapture of the believers in
Christ in the latter days as Jesus comes to raise first those that
died as believers in Him and then to catch up those alive. They all
will be changed into bodies that can never die at that time.
- 1Thessalonians 4:13
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope.
- 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
- 15 For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep.
- 16 For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first:
- 17 Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be
with the Lord.
- 18
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
There is also in Revelation where two
witnesses are come to Israel and prophecy in the latter days during
the great tribulation. Some believe these to be Enoch and Elijah or
Moses and Elijah. We do not know for sure about the two witnesses or
who they are. God knows and that is what counts.
- 1Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ be
preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead?
- 13 But if there be no resurrection
of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
- 14 And if Christ be not risen, then
is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
- 15 Yea, and we are found false
witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up
Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
- 16 For if the dead rise not, then is
not Christ raised:
- 17 And if Christ be not raised, your
faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
- 18 Then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished.
- 19 If in this life only we have hope
in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
- 20 But now is Christ risen from the
dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
- 21 For since by man came death, by
man came also the resurrection of the dead.
- 22 For as in Adam all die, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive.
- 23 But every man in his own order:
Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his
coming.
- 24 Then cometh the end, when he
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he
shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
This we know for sure. Jesus was the first
to rise from the dead in an immortal body. So any that went to
heaven without dying would have still been preserved in their
natural body at least until after the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus
was the firstfruits. He was the one who provided for our resurrection
in a new body that can never die again. The soul and spirit do not
die but only the body. God brings back those resurrected with Him
when He returns to rule the earth. What a glorious hope and a
promise. However I will add that arguing with each other over the
details of these things is not right.
We don't have to fall out with
our brethren whether or not they believe in a pre tribulation,
mid tribulation or post tribulation rapture; just believe it's going
to come in God's timing. I lean toward the pre-trib teaching myself
but to accuse each other of deception or false teaching on this
topic should never be. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord. So
many avoid the study of bible prophecy because of the controversy
and that should not be either. No need. God has all these things under
control.
- 2Kings 2:12 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.
13 He took up also the mantle of
Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of
Jordan;
14 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.
What a wonderful experience. Elisha
succeeds Elijah and received a double portion of the same Holy
Spirit that was upon Elijah. That is why he followed him around for
days and did not leave his side. He wanted more of God and received
what he sought for diligently.
Elisha Succeeds Elijah
-
2Kings 2:15 And when the sons of the
prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The
spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and
bowed themselves to the ground before him.
I'm guessing the bowing was out of respect
for the office in which he now held. They were not worshiping
Elisha. They witnessed all these things
that happened to Elisha. It was a custom in the east to bow before
others as respect not necessarily worship.
- 2 Kings 2:16 And they said unto him, Behold
now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we
pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the
LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into
some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
- 17 And when they urged him till he
was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they
sought three days, but found him not.
- 18 And when they came again to him,
(for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto
you, Go not?
They wanted to make sure Elijah went to
heaven and God didn't drop him off somewhere. They all saw Elijah
leave in the chariot. God never left them without witnesses.
- 2Kings 2:19 And the men of the city
said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is
pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground
barren.
- 20 And he said, Bring me a new
cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
- 21 And he went forth unto the spring
of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the
LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any
more death or barren land.
- 22 So the waters were healed unto
this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
That must have been where song writers
later wrote the song, "Where the Healing Waters Flow." It was an old
song some use to sing.
- 2Kings 2:23 And he went up from
thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came
forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto
him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.
- 24 And he turned back, and looked on
them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth
two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of
them.
- 25 And he went from thence to mount
Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.
These were probably those in their youth
that should have known better, not small children. Older children
were called children even up in their twenties. Whichever it was
though this was not just an innocent making fun of someone that was
bald. They were actually calling him a worthless person. They mocked
him and told him to leave and go up like Elijah did. It was very
disrespectful.
We all need to be careful how we treat
those God sends to preach His word. Not that we accept every
doctrine one teaches. We are to check to see if they speak truth, but
use respect and honor as much as possible. And especially do not use
social media to blast someone over rumors we hear, even over videos
that only show part of what someone says, and we don't hear them in
person. We need to take more caution so that we don't become
backbiters or gossips. DC
2 Kings Chapter 3
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