#492 It's a Hard Thing You Ask

When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind,Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”

But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”

4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”

And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”

“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”

6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”

And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

11 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. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”

“No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”

17 But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

Healing of the Water

19 The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”

20 “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’” 22 And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.

Elisha Is Jeered

23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria. 2 Kings 2

Stay here, you don't have to come with me, but Simon Peter, do you love me? Of course I do, I will never leave you, I will die beside you. There is a difference between a noble idea and a call from God. No one can keep you from what God ordains, no person or ideology can replace His Spirit, so why are you here? I am leaving now, so you don't have to continue if you are here for me, if you are looking to me, then you may look no further. He tells him 3 times, but 3 times he is determined. We may not will ourselves into such places, for it is natural to leave off when told, so there must needs be a higher call. For what we may say with grit and determination, the pride of human effort, though meant as well as we might wish, such becomes sorrow as the rooster crows. At every place along their way, wherever the sons of the prophets might be found, they confirmed your master would be leaving. What does this mean for me? Elijah splits the Jordan so they can pass, that same Spirit Who was with Moses, the Ark with Joshua, now rests on Elijah. We do not come to that side by natural means. Flesh and blood does not reveal to us what we are about to see. Elijah ask his student what he can do for him before he goes. Elisha ask for a double portion of his spirit. This puzzled me for a while, did he want to be twice the man that Elijah was? Some suggest that, except, as pious as Elijah was, there is no rebuke of greed or of a thirst for power, but only the deferment of the action to God's will, you ask a difficult thing. Elijah cannot give this to him, it has to come from the Lord, and it is not a greedy pleasure or a puffed up heart. He is asking to follow in those foot steps, to continue as the prophet of Israel, the first born, the inheritor always receives a double portion. He will become that minister to this place, upholding the honor of God. This is a marvelous glimpse to the resurrection and the rapture, for Elijah, like Enoch, will not see death. He will not be separated from his spirit. If the student sees him ascend, then he may be sure that he has received that which the apostles were promised, that comforter. God does not leave us alone, for He is faithful to give us prophets, then preachers and teachers, and each other. The Word of God is with us even when and if our human partners are not, but the Spirit is with us always. That same Spirit that was with Elijah bears witness of Elisha to the 50 prophets. There is still a witness in Israel.

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Romans 8:11

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

The other prophets are not sure of what they had just seen, for men are not honored like this every day. Elisha tells them not to look, for there is no use in it, but they persist as if maybe God had dropped him. It is interesting to look back a bit, and see that Elisha rent his clothes, for though he saw the promise and knew it was coming, it still brought unspeakable pain. This was his spiritual father, his teacher, and think of the 11 that were left, watching Christ ascend to where they could not go yet. It is so much easier to follow than lead, but bad leaders don't know this. He did not ask where Elijah was, for he knew he had been taken away, but he asked, where is the God of Elijah, and the waters parted. 

The people of Jericho came to Elisha, for the land they lived in was well situated and watered, but the water was bad and the land unproductive. He performs the miracle that brings back life to the water, spring up oh well, as when the spirit touches the heart and quickens it unto life. Out of a wicked heart comes evil, but out of a changed heart comes fruits worthy of repentance. That is the water I want to drink, the river of life that can change the well of my heart so that it flows and makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. So that they thirst no more. 

As Elisha goes from there to Bethel, he is followed by some boys, as gangs are not a new thing, but whether Crypts or Bloods it does not say. They jeer at him, some translations have it go up and this get out of here baldy. His teacher is gone, and they probably had some material respect of him, but Elisha is just his protégé. What have you done that you wear Elijah's mantle, he was a hairy man and you do not look like him, go up like he did and be gone with you. Do not trouble us like he did. It is like they have heard, yet want to test it for themselves, and boys in packs together always feed off each other. They attack his person, his looks, that which is not his shame, for it is not what he has done or made. So many parents will get angry at what happens next, I should not have to worry about my boy getting shot when he breaks in to someone's home, the problem is guns. I should not have to worry about my boy getting bitten by the dog as he runs from the police. We do our children little service when we provide only food, shelter and clothes, but no rules or discipline. They feel strong as a group, like those in recent years scream of  democracy, they are the majority if that is what makes right. Elisha turns and looks at them, then curses them in the name of the Lord. It is an open thing apparently, for it does not give particulars, like let God deal between me and you. Two she bears come out and maul 42 of the brats, and I bet most of their parents would want to sue the prophet, but those aren't his bears. Teach your children about sin, about a Holy God with a just nature. Let them see that their being alive is grace, each time they have treated others thus and yet still live is chance unto repentance. Why do your children cry out about respect when they haven't any of their own. Stop and love your children, you cannot justify them before God, your words and opinions won't matter. 

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3: 1-5

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  Ephesians 6: 1-4