Elijah & Elisha

"Testimony against evil, and consequent suffering, mark the history of Elijah. Power, and grace in using it for others, mark that of Elisha. Both are seen in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose shadows, of course, they were. In one aspect of His history on earth, we see the suffering, driven, persecuted Witness; the world hating Him, because He testified that its works were evil; in another we see the powerful, gracious, ready friend of others, all that had sorrows or necessities getting healing and blessing from Him.” -JGB, Short Meditations on Elijah

Marc Chagall's mosaic, "The Prophet Elijah"  Nice, France, 1970

“Though having the same objectives in view as Elijah, Elisha’s manner in reaching them was somewhat different. In keeping with this contrasting background [i.e., wealthy rather than poorer], he was more at home in cities and was often in the company of kings. Also whereas Elijah had been more a man of moods, either strongly courageous or despairing to the point of death, Elisha was self-controlled and even-tempered. Elisha never staged dramatic contests nor sulked in a desert. It may be, too, that Elisha was more interested in the needs of people, for many of his miracles were for the purpose of aiding and giving relief to persons in difficulty." Leon J. Wood, The Prophets of Israel

Significantly, Elijah is taken to Heaven in the whirlwind, not the chariot of fire:

"And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. " 2 Kings 2:11

Why did I think the method of transportation was a chariot?  Perhaps, the chariot just makes more sense to a human used to being transported by concrete things, but God's chosen method was a whirlwind.

I feel sorry for Elisha at this point.  There are many aspects of these prophets that I can relate to.  Earlier, I understood Elijah's sense of "needing to be there for God," the sense that he had that he was the only one left and the only one working on the behalf of God in that context.  It's understandable how he begins to view himself as critical, irreplacable, yet none of us is.  We flatter ourselves when we think that God needs our specific skill set, personality, or placement to get His things done.  It's not that God doesn't value us---He does.   We are His children and precious to Him.  But, He doesn't NEED us to complete his plans.

I think this is where man has gone wrong from the beginning in viewing God.  He doesn't need us to sacrifice animals or to go through religious rituals to make Him behave in certain ways.  Although He chooses to involve us in His providential ways, it is because of His delight, not his necessity.  From the beginning, people have tried to manipulate God through ritual to provide rain, bless the harvest, keep us from sickness, along with an  endless host of physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  He hears our needs.  He weighs them.  Yet, His action is not bound to them as in a "closed circuit."  God is an open circuit, He operates outside of any dependence on anything.

All the same, it's so very human and tempting for us to think of ourselves as Elijah did---to feel the weight of His plans on us, or perhaps to feel the weight of our own self expectations and fears in addition  to anything God has for us.  Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he commented that his yoke was easy and his burden light.  God's burdens are not so heavy as our own man-created ones.

In this scene, Elisha's desire to keep Elijah near him resonates with me as well.   I have always felt a sense of this in my life--partially because I've had three sisters before me that I have been chasing or observing in one way or another--while they have been busy setting out with their own lives.   Elisha is not emotionally ready for Elijah to depart.  I was not ready for my older sisters to depart, and certainly, later, completely unready for my father to depart.  I feel the chasm between Elijah and Elisha dearly.    

And yet, in both stories, there is no arguing with the facts that it was God's will for both Elisha and I to set out without them.  Hate that!  For me, it is a sense that I was not ready.  Maybe I would never have been ready....not sure.  I'm intrigued that Elisha senses that Elijah will be  taken from him and doesn't want to talk about it:

"The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know it; keep quiet." 2 Kings 2:5

*He thinks that Elijah & Elisha travel around the day of Elijah's departure as a kind of final passing of the baton among the prophets, that they would know that Elijah was going on and Elisha would continue his ministry.

Bob Deffinbaugh fleshes out some of the more confusing and compelling aspects of this

Marc Chagall, 1956 lithography
I love the lines in this, esp. of the horses

passage.  Notably:

*He views Elisha as faithful servant in his determination to follow Elijah and not be separated  
from him. Then he slips in this great interjection here on servant-leadership:

"Good leaders begin as good servants; good leaders continue to be servants—servant-leaders." -DB

worth pondering...

*When Elisha asks for a double portion,  Deffinbaugh view this as a humble request---he viewed Elijah as twice the man he was and thus he needed twice the spirit.

*He feels we are all transported to Heaven by angels and references the words used to describe Elisha's death and also the parable of the rich man and poor man that Jesus told which references angels transporting Lazarus to Abraham's side.

Perhaps the strongest piece of his commentary was his point-by-point comparison of Ahaziah's final days and Elijah's.  I also liked the way he contrasted Elijah's earlier self-imposed desire to depart during his deep depression with the what that the Lord chose for him to go.  He's right---God's timing and way is superior--always.  '

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In the Biblical Illustrator, J. Parker fleshes out our human tendency to avoid death and God's absolute control over the course of our lives:

"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.” 

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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.” 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 scene 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.

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So we let our friends down easily, and prepare them for great events by doing certain intermediate things. Elijah says, “Ask what I shall do for thee.” 
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"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."

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. 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. 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! -J. Parker, D. D.

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Matthew Henry's comment on Elijah & Elisha:

"We should do all the spiritual good we can one to another, and get all we can one by another, while we are together, because we are to be together but a little while."

"Note, Those that are going to heaven themselves ought to be concerned for those they leave behind them on earth, and to leave with them their experiences, testimonies, counsels, and prayers."  2 Peter 1:15.  -MH

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 2 Peter 1:12-15

"He takes away superiors from our head, inferiors from our feet, equals from our arms; let us therefore carefully do the duty of every relation, that we may reflect upon it with comfort when it comes to be dissolved."  -MH