March 18 Daily Discovery
March 18 Daily Discovery - Read 2 Kings Chapter 2
This passage below is from the King James Version (ekjv.org).
Remarks from the Berean Fellowship follow the passage below.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.
[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?
[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.
[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.
The Son Becomes a Father
When God would call a prophet they would receive a vision of His glory. They would see and/or hear from God directly.
These God-called prophets have the ability to ordain assistants. These were referred to as "sons". They shared in the authority and power of their fathers as long as their "fathers" lived. We know that Elijah had many "sons", but Elisha was evidently his firstborn "son".
This pattern continues into the new testament or the new covenant, but the names of the roles are changed. The new testament relationship is apostles as the fathers and prophets as the sons. Apostles could transfer the gifts of the Spirit through the laying on of their hands and prayer to ordain a son or a prophet. Note that only apostles could do this. Prophets themselves could not do this. This is why the era of the apostles ceased with the death of the last apostle.
When the ordaining apostle died, the sons that he had ordained would no longer have the spiritual gifts that had been endured upon them.
It was known by Elijah and all of his "sons" that God was going to be taking him up via a whirlwind. They were all anticipating this. But perhaps only Elijah himself (and maybe Elisha) knew that this time, God was not going to drop him off someplace else, He was going to take him to heaven instead.
The Son's Request
Elisha the son has a request for elijah the father. He asks him for a double portion of his spirit. This was a good request. Paul told new testament believers to desire spiritual gifts, and especially prophesying. That would be a gift that would greatly benefit the early church that did not have the new testament written scriptures yet.
The Singular Requirement
Elijah knew that Elisha was asking for something that he could not himself give him. He knew that he would have to have a direct call from God for this, which is why he tells him, "You've asked for a hard thing, and there's only one way you're going to get, it you need to see me when I'm taken up." If Elisha was to see when God took Elijah up, then Elisha himself would have a vision of the glory of God personally. That would give him the full power of a father rather than the half power of a son.
The Spirit's Reward
Elisha sees the glory of God, and the mantle of Elijah falls to the earth. Elisha grabs it and goes and slaps it on the edge of the Jordan River and the river parts. Concerning the double portion of the Spirit, we have exactly twice the numbers of miracles assigned to Elisha as there were to Elijah.
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