Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 2:1–8, “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.”
Elijah was the great prophet sent to warn Israel of their sin before they finally slipped away from the memory of their relationship with the true God of heaven. After Ahab they had fallen so badly into sin that they were just like any of the other nations without knowing the Lord God. However, once Ahab was dead Elijah had finished his job and the Lord was ready to call him away to heaven so that he could rest from the huge task of fighting all the evil forces that had taken control of Israel. By that time, Elisha was following Elijah as a trainee prophet and he wanted to spend as much time as he could with Elijah so that he would receive the best possible preparation that he could. The Lord already knew how Elijah would finish his life but no one else knew. On the other hand, Elisha was dedicated to serving Elijah and learning from him for as long as he could. At that stage, everyone understood that Elijah was very close to the end of his life. Elijah asked Elisha to wait while he went further but this was just to test Elisha’s perseverance and Elisha understood this test so he remained with his Moses (Moses trained Joshua to take his place and Elijah was doing the same thing with Elisha). A few more people tried to keep Elisha from following Elijah to the very end but Elisha wouldn’t turn back. After all, the Lord told Elijah to call Elisha and Elisha heard the Lord’s call so he was determined to keep faith with the promise that he made to the Lord when Elijah called him. Elisha knew that this call was special because Elijah wrapped his prophet’s coat around Elisha’s shoulders when he let Elisha know that the Lord was calling him. Elisha persevered in spite of many temptations to leave Elijah and take things easy. When the two men came to the Jordan River, Elijah struck the water with the his coat and the water parted to let them go through.
No comments:
Post a Comment