2 Kings 2:1-11

2Ki 2:1-11

1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up [when Jehovah caused Elijah to go up, or ascend] Elijah into heaven [as into heaven] by a whirlwind [in the storm] that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal [Gilgal in Ephraim].

2. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth [literally, "By the life of Jehovah and by the life of thy soul"], I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.

3. And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha [who probably walked a little way before his master, to announce his approach], and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today ["today" is emphatic]? And he said, Yea, I know [rather, I, too, know] it; hold ye your peace [suggesting that the subject was painful both to him and his master].

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 [drew near] to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered [said], 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 [Elisha] said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.

7. And [Now] fifty men of the sons of the prophets went [had gone], and stood [taken their stand opposite. They wished to see whether and how the companions would cross the stream at a point where there was no ford] to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

8. And Elijah took his mantle [his hairy ʾaddèreth , which characterised him as a prophet], and wrapped it together [rolled it up], and smote the waters [a symbolical action like that of Moses smiting the rock, or stretching out his rod over the sea], and they were divided hither and thither [Exodus 14:16 , Exodus 14:21-22 ; Joshua 4:22 , seq.], so that [and] they two went over on dry ground.

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 [as a dying father, Elijah might wish to bless his spiritual son ere his departure ( Gen 27:4 )]. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let [lit., and ( i.e. well, then) let there fall, I pray thee, a portion of two in thy spirit, unto me] a double portion [The expression used in Deu 21:17 of the share of the firstborn son, who by the Mosaic law inherited two parts of his father's property] of thy spirit be upon me.

10. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing [Heb., Thou hast done hard in asking. To grant such a petition was not in Elijah's power, but in God's only]: 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 [rather, Elijah went up in the storm heavenward, or, perhaps into the air. The words must not be taken in too literal a sense. The essential meaning of the passage is this, that God suddenly took Elijah to himself, amid a grand display of his power in and through the. forces of nature].

The Translation of Elijah

When the Lord would take up Elijah," when. There is a great doctrine of Providence there. The life of man is absolutely at the disposal of the Lord that is the doctrine. One might suppose that man would have some choice as to when he would go. Not the least in the world. We might think that man would be permitted to stay a year or two longer he might be engaged in finishing a work which would require that time to complete it. No. Well, says one, I have built the column, and the capital is nearly ready to put on: I shall have it done the day after to-morrow cannot I stay until then? No. "When the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven;" not when Elijah would go, but when the Lord would take him. Is there not an appointed time unto man upon the earth? Let us get out of the practical atheism of imagining that we have anything whatever to do with the length of our life. There is an appointed time to every man. It is true, that on account of our moral depravity we may make ways for ourselves, and determine in some sense our own time: we may be ready with our hands to do things that God has forbidden, but we are referring to the man who wants to be in God's hands only, who says "Not my will, but thine, be done I will go when thou pleasest to-day, tomorrow, a year hence, or half a century to come when thou pleasest." God will know when he wants him, when he is ready to have him home, when the place is fully prepared for him and then he will send for him.

God knows when our work is done; sometimes we think it is done when it is not; we wonder what more there is to do to it, it seems so trifling, as if it were not worth while doing, reminding us of what the great sculptor said to some one who wondered that he was so long over his marble: "I know I am doing but a few things that look like trifles, but trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle." So with us: many a poor life we have seen seems to be doing nothing, and we wonder why it does not go forward into the eternal state. It seems to be just touching things here and there, and to be doing so with a very feeble finger, and yet there is a Purpose that works out our last refinement, waiting about us today with the culmination and perfecting of our character and belongings. We shall not be here a day too long if we put our life into God's keeping. We are not absorbed, we are taken up to heaven: we do not melt into infinite azure or tagger back into everlasting nothingness.

"When the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven." What is heaven? Critics cannot tell us: they have met in council and can make nothing of it. We must die to know. It hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive God's house. "In my Father's house are many mansions." How many? We know not. What is their size? We cannot tell. All these things we have represented by pearls and diamonds, and amethysts and onyxes beautiful and expressive symbols, and then it is only a guess, half attempted. It is best so.

"When the Lord would take up Elijah" that when is the doctrine of Providence over human life "Elijah went with Elisha to Gilgal." What has that to do with us? A great deal. There is much that is very beautiful and tender in sentiment there. Elijah said, "I will go and visit Gilgal, then I will go to Bethel, and then I will go to Jericho." The great father of the ministry of that day said that he would visit all the schools of the prophets: he would go round to the three great colleges of the prophets of Israel, and have his last look at the young folks, his last prayer with the students, his last burst of holy enthusiasm with the young men who were to succeed him, before he went up by whirlwind or otherwise into heaven. So he went to Gilgal and prayed with the young lads there who were studying the scrolls of Israel, and then to Bethel, and then to Jericho, and so all the tender feelings and recollections revived in his heart. Then he went to Jordan and on to the last scene.

There is something in this we know a little about. We visit places for the last time: we say nothing about why we are doing so, but we think we should like to see the old town, the old schoolhouse, the old mill, the old farm, the old churchyard. Why do impressions come to the mind without explaining themselves: why are we moved by sudden suggestions, the genesis of which we know nothing about, the metaphysics of which puzzle us exceedingly? Yet we are so moved: we cannot tell why we take the journey for the last time, except that we should like to see the old scenes. Is there something coming upon the mind we cannot account for? Thank God we cannot account for everything: if everything could be set down in tables and schedules, life would be much impoverished and weakened. Thank God for the surprises and revelations and mysteries of old things, that come near and go back, and peep and flash and darken. They are God in life, a divine element and force.

And so Elijah goes to Gilgal: it is set down here as if it meant nothing on to Bethel and to Jericho, as if he were a restless kind of spirit, here and there, going on like some fussy old man who does not know where to rest. But there is plan here, purpose, scheme, Providence; and so there is in our travel and in our movements.

"By a whirlwind." There is a lesson here for us: and it is this. That the way of our going, as well as the time, is of the Lord's determination, and not of ours. "When [that is, the time, the appointed time] the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind." He appoints the time, he makes the way, and thou hast nothing to do with it, poor dying man. One says, "I want to die on my birthday;" and God says, "No, perhaps the day after." Another says: "I want to die suddenly;" and God replies, "No, that is not the way: it is in the book, it is all written down in the book: you are to have a lingering death." "I should like to die lingeringly, but quietly," says another man; and God says, "That is not the way in the book: suddenly a bolt shall strike thee: thou shalt go to bed well, and in the morning be in heaven, without pang or spasm or notice given to any one: they shall find thee sleeping on the pillow like a child at rest." Another man says: "I should like to die like a shock of corn fully ripe;" and God says, "No, thou shalt be cut down in the greenness of thy youth, in the immaturity of thy powers." There are others who would like to die in childhood pass away before five, when the eyes are round wonders, and they know nowise of anything when everything round about is mystery and puzzle and enchantment; and God says, "No, you shall die at ninety: it is all focussed, all settled."

What have we to do, therefore? God allows us to express our own wishes and wills, he allows us to say what we would like to have done, and trains us to say, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done." He sends for some in a beautiful chariot made of violets and snowdrops and crocuses, and these are the young folks that go up to heaven in the spring chariot: the vernal coach is sent for them, and they go away so young! They have just left school, just finished the last lesson, and shut it up, and said "Good-bye" to master and governess, and are supposed now to be ready for life; and God says, "Now, come up;" and they go up amid all the sweet modest spring flowers. And others go up in old age, feeling as if they had been forgotten on the earth, allowed to linger and loiter too long, as if God had forgotten them some by long affliction, some by sudden call. We should look upon these as ways of the Lord: not haps and chances and accidents, but as appointments of heaven. If you will get into this way of thinking about Providence, life will be an offering unto the Lord, a perpetual sacrifice.

Elijah said unto Elisha, "I am going to Bethel, I am going to Jericho, I am going to Jordan." What is the lesson there? That the close of a man's life is often known to himself and to others without the subject ever being mentioned directly in words. Ah, the little mockeries and cheateries we have amongst one another, the innocent frauds and the pious deceptions! Well, well, he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.

Elijah did not say to Elisha, "I am going to die," or "I am going to heaven," but, "I am going to Bethel stand there." And Elisha said, "No, no, I won't." Elisha did not say, "I know the meaning of this;" no, but he says, "I will not leave thee." And Elijah said, "I am going to Jericho stand there." "No, no, I won't do that: I shall not leave thee." Why? There was nothing said, except that he was going to Gilgal, to Bethel, to Jericho, to Jordan was that all? We never tell the "all": we always have something in reserve: we know that something is going to happen, and we put it into that form of words. You know what we say to one another in view of the great event: we say, "If anything should happen to me" a form of words we understand. We do not seem to be able to say plainly and with frankness, "Now, if I should die next week------" No, but we say, "We do not know what may happen, and in the event of anything happening to me------" We do not like to mention the monster, and to point a long plain finger into the pit. so we say, "If anything should happen to me in the event of anything happening to me going to Gilgal, and to Bethel, and to Jericho, and to Jordan, and------" The rest is silence.

That is the way in the chamber of affliction. We say, "If the wind would only get round out of the east and into the southwest, perhaps we should get you up a little." Never and we know it. And our friend, unwilling to break our heart, says, "I have been thinking that if the weather were milder, I might perhaps be able to get out a little." Never and the suffering one knows it: not knows it as an arithmetical and prosaic thing that can be stated in words, but knows it impressionably and conjecturally, miles away from language so that no lie is told; nothing of the sort, but a hope that is too remote to be real is expressed, and a kindness that wants to heal the suffering round about is uttered. Thus touch is not made to the quick; this man says he is going to Gilgal, and he knows he is going to heaven; he says he is going to Bethel, as if it were nothing only going to pray with the young ones there. He says he is going to Jericho, as if he is going to stop there he knows perfectly well he will only be there one night; he is a pilgrim with a staff in his hand and cannot linger. He says he is going to Jordan, and he knows perfectly well that he will never come back over Jordan, but all the time he never says anything about it.

So we let our friends down easily, and prepare them for great events by doing certain intermediate things. We seldom say plainly, "I am going to heaven," but we say, "I am going to Jordan, to Jericho, to Bethel, to Gilgal" or contrariwise, as the course may lie and, thank heaven! there are some things that are to be gathered from tone and from look and from hint, that are not to be put into vulgar words. Are you ready in the interpretation of signs? Who wants (it may be right for the doctor) even the doctor to say roundly and bluntly out, "This is death"? No; the gentle man has learned some form of words that conveys the impression without exactly thrusting the rapier through the heart. So he can hint so clearly too clearly! he can indicate from remote points: he need not put it so as to be cruel, he may mention Gilgal and Bethel, and Jericho and Jordan and we know the rest. And yet there be some people so blind, and so dull of hearing, and so inapt that things have to be thrust upon them as with blows and hammers and great thunders and noises. They have no quick eye, no quick hearing, they do not comprehend a thing readily, otherwise we should be sparing some of our friends a little more: we should see the rounding of the shoulder and the stooping of the gait, and the dimming of the eye and the enfeeblement of the hand that used to be strong: and we should hear that the voice had not its old silver ring, and pitch and music, and we should take steps accordingly without seeming to do so, without any ostentation of care: we should modify our behaviour and adapt our great strength to the on-coming weakness of those who are going from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, to Jordan to the eternal land.

"And it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went------" to pay these last visits. We know what is coming upon us without putting it into so many words. I wish we were gifted in the interpretation of silence. "And Elijah said unto Elisha" the last must come "Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee." What is the lesson here? That the cessation of our individual life should not put an end to our interest in those we are leaving behind. Have no faith in that man's Christianity who cares nothing for posterity, nothing for those who shall come after him, who says, "My day is done: I am going: the world must take care of itself." That is not in the Bible, not in God, not in Christ. Elijah says, "Ask what I shall do for thee." Heaven is so near, yet he is still thinking about the earth: he is going to join the angels, and yet wanting to do something for the poor creatures yet to linger upon the earth for ten or twenty years. O bold man, bold, bold Elijah! "Ask what I shall do for thee." Why, what could he do? He had no money to leave, what could he do? No estates to dispart and distribute, what could he do? Can a poor man do something can a man who has no will to make yet will a great deal? It would seem so. "What can I do for thee, child, before going?" I know what you can do: put out those poor bony hands and put them upon his head and say, "God bless the lad." That will do. "What can I do for thee?" Leave me a blessing, leave me one of your old letters, let me have your old Bible: utter one more prayer for me, mention me in the last prayer, let the last sigh mean poor me me me. Aye, we can help one another in that way. "Ask what I shall do for thee," I like memorials, last letters, last words the last time I saw him, the last time he spoke to me, the last time I heard him preach, the last time I gripped his hand, the last time we travelled together. I like this "last time" to be full of tender memories, and as we do not know when the last time may be, let every time have in it some grace of its' own, some flower grown in Paradise.

"Ask what I shall do for thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." That man was fit to go to heaven from our point of view. A double portion of thy spirit the meaning being this: in ancient times, when property was given out, the eldest had a double portion, and the younger might share and share alike. Elisha said, "Let me be the eldest: we have been to all these schools, Gilgal, and Bethel, and Jericho, the three centres of education, we have seen all these sons of the prophets, and they have all wanted thee to bless them now let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." Ask for wisdom, not for riches; for a large heart, not for a large estate seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Now, what is your supreme prayer? What do you want your father, mother, friend, to leave you? Let them leave you a good example, let them leave you a noble testimony on behalf of the truth, let them leave you an unsullied character, and then they will leave you an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. If they were able to bequeath the stars, you could spend them all, and be a spendthrift, and a pauper at the last; but if you have the wealth of their example, the pith of their character, the substance of their mind, the inmost and best qualities of their souls, that is an indestructible property. "Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." Now, Elijah said, "Thou hast asked a hard thing." That is right always ask the hardest things: it would have been nothing to have given something outside of him that is easily done. But "a double portion of thy spirit," as if he had asked for himself twice over, as if he who had sent him upon the earth would allow him to go into heaven and leave his spirit behind him. "Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless------" O bless God for the neverthelesses in Scripture, for those rugged turnings on the road behind which you find all you want! "Nevertheless nevertheless " what was that nevertheless? Look at it "If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so." Is there any meaning in that? Infinite meaning. Anything for today? Most certainly. "If thou see me." But how could he see him if he did not watch? Ah, that is the whole doctrine. Look, expect, watch: keep your eyes open, fixed, intense look as if you wanted the blessing, and you will get it. That is the great law, that our power is in proportion to our insight: if a man can see well, he will have power; if he cannot see, he will be artificial, and have no gigantic strength, no real might an automaton moving upon wires invisible, but not a giant recruiting himself from within himself, because of the indwelling God that is in his heart.

"If thou see me." And Elisha said, "I will see thee, if it be possible; I will keep my eye upon thee." And did God ever disappoint the eyes that were turned upwards? Did he ever say, "The morning shall not shine upon those who look towards the east"? Never. And so if you look into the perfect law of liberty look into the Bible, you will find it always new, always a revelation, always something fresh May bringing its own flowers, June her own coronal ever, August its own largess of vine and wheat "If thou see me." Is there any counterpart to that in the New Testament? There is: O wonderful counterpart "If thou see me, thou shalt have it, if not, it shall not be so." "And he led them" that greater he "led them out as far as to Bethany." And he ascended, and they watched him and saw him, and a cloud received him up out of their sight. They watched, they saw, they returned to Jerusalem, and were endued with power from on high. That is God's law, that the watching man gets everything, the man who is nearest and looks keenest gets all and sees all and it is right. The mountain gets the first gleam of the sun, and then the light gets down into the valleys by-and-by. Have you ever seen that beautiful sight of the mountain getting the first kiss, the first glance, the first visitation? It is a sight to make a man religious, to make him quiet with a quietness that is akin to prayer. The sun is nowhere visible in himself but a light is there, and I have seen that light brightening over the great snowy peaks, like camps of giants that have been sleeping there all night: and down yonder, night, dying night, lingering night, solemn night fog and cloud and raw damp, and up there heaven. And then down, down, down all these bits and beams and rays of light shooting into the fog and cloud, and chasing them away, and last of all the little town yonder waking up and saying, "It is morning." Morning? Poor little hamlet, it has been morning an hour or more up there. Aye, the mountains first and the chimneys a long way off; the high peaks first and then your little hamlets by-and-by.

And so and so these great rocks of God are watching men: Elisha was a watching spirit: those who see Christ taken up are endued with power from on high. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; look, and ye shall see; knock, and it shall be opened. Sir Isaac Newton, was once asked why he was so much greater than other workers in his particular science. He said, "I do not know, except that I, perhaps, pay more attention than they do?" Just consider. What is attention? We think anybody can attend. Hardly a man in a hundred can attend to anything. Attention, the power of attention, keen, interested, agonising, persistent, night-long, day-long attention, seems to be a gift of God. Attention look, expect, watch, and if you do so, you will have a double portion of the Spirit; if not, it shall not be so. The sluggard gets nothing, the shut eyes see not the morning when it cometh, the slumberer's closed vision cannot see the first sparklings and scintillations of the coming day. Lord, open our eyes, that we may see!

Selected Note

And here ends all the direct information which is vouchsafed to us of the life and work of this great prophet. Truly, he "stood up as a fire, and his word burnt as a lamp" ( Sir 48:1 ).... The deep impression which Elijah had made on his nation only renders more remarkable the departure which the image conveyed by the later references to him evinces, from that so sharply presented in the records of his actual life. With the exception of the eulogiums contained in the catalogues of worthies in the book of Jesus the son of Sirach (48) and 1Ma 2:58 , and the passing allusion in Luke 9:54 , none of these later references allude to his works of destruction or of portent. They all set forth a very different side of his character to that brought out in the historical narrative. They speak of his being a man of like passions with ourselves ( Jam 5:17 ); of his kindness to the widow of Sarepta ( Luk 4:25 ); of his "restoring all things" ( Mat 17:11 ); "turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just (Malachi 4:5-6 ; Luk 1:17 ).... It will be sufficient to call attention to the great differences which may exist between the popular and contemporary view of an eminent character, and the real settled judgment formed in the progress of time, when the excitement of his more brilliant but more evanescent deeds has passed away. Precious indeed are the scattered hints and faint touches which enable us thus to soften the harsh outlines or the discordant colouring of the earlier picture. In the present instance they are peculiarly so. That wild figure, that stern voice, those deeds of blood, which stand out in such startling relief from the pages of the old records of Elijah, are seen by us all silvered over with the "white and glistering" light of the Mountain of Transfiguration. When he last stood on the soil of his native Gilead [see the considerations adduced by Stanley ( S. and P. ) in favour of the mountain of the Transfiguration being on the east of Jordan], he was destitute, afflicted, tormented, wandering about "in sheepskins and goatskins, in deserts and mountains, and dens and caves of the earth." But these things have passed away into the distance, and with them has receded the fiery zeal, the destructive wrath, which accompanied them. Under that heavenly light they fall back into their proper proportions, and Ahab and Jezebel, Baal and Ashtaroth are forgotten, as we listen to the Prophet talking to our Lord talking of that event which was to be the consummation of all that he had suffered and striven for "talking of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem."