Today’s passage marks the end of Elijah’s ministry, and of our current series in Kings. It’s a dramatic story of Elijah’s fiery ascent into heaven, one which has inspired some famous songs and films.
For instance, the lyrics to the song “Swing low sweet chariot” were prompted by this passage. It’s a song that originates in the Deep South of the United States, written by an Afro-American father and daughter named Wallace and Minerva Willis. It was a song designed to lift the spirits and arouse a hope of Heaven. You may also know that the same song has been adopted by fans of the England rugby team since the mid-1980s. Another patriotic English hymn is, of course, Jerusalem – which includes the famous line “O clouds unfold, bring me my chariot of fire” – inspired of course, by this passage in 1 Kings. Chariots of fire is also the name of a famous film from 1981, depicting the 1924 Olympic victory of Eric Liddell, a great athlete and a committed Christian.
But apart from inspiring rousing songs and great films, what else can we learn from today’s passage? Well, it can be divided up into three parts, each of which has something to teach us today. As we progress through 2 Kings 2 we meet:
- Firstly, a devoted disciple
- Secondly, an exalted man of God
- And, thirdly, his Spirit-filled successor.
Let’s briefly look at each in turn…
A devoted disciple
Firstly, then, we meet a devoted disciple. The disciple in question is Elijah’s young apprentice, named Elisha. Elisha had been personally chosen by the Lord to be Elijah’s sidekick, and he was determined not to leave his side. And so, in the first six verses of our reading, Elisha is given three opportunities to stay behind as Elijah travels on. Elijah announces his intention to travel to Bethel, then to Jericho, and then to the river Jordan. Each time Elisha replies: “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” Elisha is determined to stick by Elijah’s side. He is determined to stay close to the most godly man he has ever met, a man full of the Holy Spirit, a man from whom he could learn so much. In the end, it is only God’s miraculous intervention that separates the two of them – and even then Elisha expresses his devotion to his master by calling him “Father” and mourning his departure.
We can learn something from Elisha’s devotion to Elijah. For if Elisha stuck close to a godly prophet like Elijah, how much more should we remain close to Christ, our own Master, Lord and Saviour. Wholehearted Christian devotion to Jesus can take several forms, it can manifest itself in various ways. For example, it can include:
- Daily attentiveness to his Word, as we prayerfully read the Scriptures;
- It also involves trusting in Christ alone, for forgiveness, salvation and a place in the world to come, contrary to all other philosophies, religions and competing worldviews;
- And devotion to Christ include wholehearted obedience to his commands, even when it is uncomfortable, counter-cultural or costly to do so.
We see this type of devotion to Christ modelled by the New Testament apostles. Once, when asked by Jesus whether they would abandon him, they responded with the cry ‘Where else have we to go, for you have the words of eternal life?’ And at the very end of John’s Gospel, the risen Jesus asks the apostle Peter three times if he loves him, and three times Peter answers in the affirmative. So may we all be as devoted to Christ as Elisha was to Elijah.
An exalted Saviour
But as I’ve already mentioned, Elisha and Elijah were eventually separated by a miracle. A we read in verses 11 and 12: “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, ‘My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ And Elisha saw him no more.” It seems that as a reward for his faithful ministry, Elijah was exalted by God – he was taken directly up into Heaven in a whirlwind, accompanied by that famous chariot of fire. Here was a visible demonstration to Elisha that Elijah was highly esteemed by God. It was a public sign that vindicated Elijah’s ministry and represented a divine endorsement of Elijah’s prophetic words and character.
As Christians today, our thoughts should turn to the exaltation of Christ at the end of his earthly ministry. Nearly a thousand year’s after Elijah’s exaltation, Jesus Christ received his own miraculous exaltation when he was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven. The resurrection and ascension of Christ should provide great reassurance to us – reassurance that Jesus was who he said he was, reassurance that his words were indeed God’s words – and reassurance that his death on the cross has successfully secured our salvation. In our mind’s eye, we are to look to the empty tomb whenever we are tempted to doubt Christ’s identity. We are to recall the Ascension whenever we wonder whether Jesus’ words can be trusted. Even more so than Elisha, we follow an exalted Saviour.
A Spirit-filled successor
The third and final figure in our passage I have called the ‘Spirit-filled successor’. Because before Elijah ascended to Heaven, he had asked Elisha a question: “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?” he said. “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. In other words, Elisha was asking to bee Elijah’s Spirit-filled successor. Elisha was asking to be given abundant power by the Holy Spirit once Elijah had gone. He was asking for the power of God to help him succeed Elijah’s as God’s prophet to Israel.
We can be confident that Elisha’s prayer was answered, because he was empowered to perform an identical miracle to one that Elijah had performed. As we heard in verse 13, Elisha “picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He…struck the water with it [and] when he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.” Here was a powerful sign that Elisha was God’s chosen successor to Elijah. The parting of the Jordan River was evidence that God’s Holy Spirit was now empowering and equipping Elisha. Empowering and equipping him to be God’s prophet, to be God’s new spokesperson to Israel. What Elijah had been able to do in God’s strength, now Elisha was also able to do.
As Christians living after Jesus’ ascension, it can be tempting to think that we have been abandoned by the Lord Jesus, left as orphans in the world. But this passage from 2 Kings 2 should teach us otherwise. In particular, it should remind us of Pentecost, when the ascended Lord Jesus began to pour out his Holy Spirit on his Church. You see, if we are Christ’s devoted disciples then we are also his Spirit-filled successors. As the New Testament explains, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to be Christ’s representatives, Christ’s body the world today. The Holy Spirit isn’t given to us to miraculously part the River Mersey, but to empower us to live for Christ today. So just as Elisha asked for a double portion of God’s Spirit to serve him in his day, so we are to pray for the Spirit’s help
- to share our faith when we don’t know what to say.
- to resist temptation when we feel seduced by sin.
- And for the Spirit to fill our hearts with love for our fellow believers, for our neighbours, and for our Lord and Saviour – so let’s pray…