>> Speaker A: Hey, faithful listeners, welcome to the Bible Explained podcast. We're going to be in 2 Kings, chapter 2 today and talking about one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament. This is where Elijah gets taken up to heaven by a whirlwind. Stay tuned for all that. Well, faithful listeners, if you haven't gotten a chance to listen to part three of our Escape from the IFB denomination, I recommend that you do. It is listed in the description of this episode.
And while you're at it, go over to YouTube and subscribe to my channel, because I'm building that up. Finally, now that I have the new computer, I am able to actually edit videos, which is fantastic. So that is what I am dedicated to working on this year, is building up the YouTube channel finally. Anyway, faithful listeners, we're going to be reading 2 Kings 2:1 - 18 today, and this is a very famous story of Elijah being taken up into heaven. So
let's read this. I'll be reading, as I usually do, from the web. When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up, uh, by whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me as far as Bethel. Elisha said, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to
Bethel. The sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, do you know that Yahweh will take away your Master from over you today? He said, yes, I know it. Hold your peace. Elijah said to him, Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho. He said, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.
So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha and said to him, do you know that Yahweh will take away your Master from over you today? He said, yes, I know it. Hold your peace. Elijah said to him, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan. He said, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not
leave you. Then they Both went on. 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, and they both stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the waters. And they were divided here and there so that they both went over on dry ground. When they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I should do. For you, before I am taken from you, Elisha said, please let a double portion of your spirit be on me. He said, you have asked a hard
thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be so for you. But if not, it will not be so. As they continued on and talked, Behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it, and he cried, my father. My father. The chariots of Israel and its horsemen. He saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. He also took up Elijah's mantle that had fell from him
and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took Elijah's mantle that had fallen from him and struck the waters and said, where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah? When he had struck the waters, they were divided apart, and Elisha went over. When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho facing him, saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. They came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They said to him, see, now there are with your servants 50 strong
men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps Yahweh's spirit has taken him up and put him on some mountain or into some valley. He said, don't send them. When they urged him until he was ashamed, he. He said, send them. Therefore they sent 50 men, and they searched for three days, but didn't find him. They came back to him while he stayed at Jericho. And he said to them, didn't I tell you, don't go m so this is the
chapter of the Bible where we get that song. Swing low, sweet chariot I, uh, looked. Over Jordan, and what did I see? Coming for to carry me home A, um, band of angels coming after me. Coming for to carry me home Swing low sweet chariot uh, Coming for to carry me home Swing low sweet chariot uh, Coming for to carry me home. >> Speaker A: I could keep going, but I'm not going to.
Oh, man, that was fun. It says in verse one, when Yahweh was about to take Elijah up by whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. You'll remember that Elijah was the prophet of Israel, and Elisha was the one who was apprenticing under Elijah. That story is found in 1 Kings 19, 16 - 20. And here's God in verse 16 telling Elijah to go anoint Elisha as the new prophet. God says, anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi king over Israel and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to
succeed you as prophet. And then jumping down to verse 19, it says, so Elijah went from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat. He was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen and he himself was driving the 12th pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. So that was the sign that Elisha was now the apprentice of Elijah. And Elisha did the right thing. He gave up farming and became Elijah's right hand man, basically.
But going back to 2nd Kings, chapter 2, it says in verse 1, when, when Yahweh was about to take Elijah up, uh, by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. So this was common knowledge that God was going to take Elijah up by whirlwind. And I didn't really realize this, that it was public knowledge until I read it and researched it for you guys. I kind of never realized that. I always sort of thought that it was the secret thing
that only Elijah and Elijah Elisha knew about. But no, pretty much everybody knew the prophecy that God was going to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind. So this was common knowledge. So Elijah knows that he is about to be transported into heaven and he is called by God at this point in time to travel somewhere. And Elijah, it seems like, doesn't know exactly where he's supposed to go until
he gets there. So it says that they traveled from Gilgal and Elijah said to Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Bethel. Elisha says, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel together. So Elisha wanted to travel with Elijah to the very end. Even though not much is talked about regarding the relationship between Elijah and Elisha, it seems that these two were quite close because Elisha was a younger man who was
apprenticing with Elijah. And you can imagine they really built a strong relationship with each other. So Elisha felt this deep connection with Elijah and wanted to be with him until the very end, even if the trip was long and irritating. So Elijah says, save yourself the trip, just stay here. And Elisha says, no, I'm going to travel with you. I'm going to see this through to the end. So they get to Bethel, and the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel come out to find
Elisha. And they said to him, did you know that Yahweh is Going to take your master from over you today. So all these prophets come out and they find Elisha, and they're like, did you hear. Did you hear the prophecy that Elijah is going to be taken up into whirlwind today and you're not going to see him anymore? Did you hear about that? And Elisha's like, yes, I did. Shut up. That's basically what he says. He's like, yes, I heard about it. Hold your peace. Which is the kind way to say shut up.
And maybe, you know, Elisha was very sad. You can tell here he, uh, really didn't want Elijah to leave. He was sad. And so him having to hear it from all of these prophets over and over and over again, everywhere they go, is probably irritating to him. So he says, yeah, I heard about it. So then Elijah says to Elisha, please wait here in Bethel, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho. And Elisha says, no, as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So together they
travel to, uh, Jericho. And you guys remember that Jericho, it was a rubble heap for many years until. I don't remember, was it King Ahab? I don't remember what Israeli king ended up fixing up Jericho, but it might have been Ahab. I can't remember. But one of the Israelite kings ended up fixing Jericho and rebuilding it, even though God had specifically said not to rebuild Jericho, otherwise there'd be, like, a curse on the family of the person who rebuilt it, which actually ended up
happening. That was a prophecy that, um, took place. But regardless, Jericho was rebuilt, and now it's a city. So Elijah and Elisha travel there to the city of Jericho. And so the prophets who are living in Jericho come to Elisha, and they say to him, hey, did you hear? Did you hear that your, uh, your master is going to be taken away up into a whirlwind today? And he's like, yes, I heard about it. Shut up.
So then Elijah, once they're in Jericho, he says once again to Elisha, he's like, Yahweh has sent me to the Jordan. You wait here. So Elijah keeps trying to get Elisha to not travel with him for obvious reasons. You know, like, that's just human nature to not want to, um, inconvenience somebody. So Elijah's like, I'm fine going by myself. I know I'm going to be taken away today. And maybe, you know, it's very possible that Elijah didn't quite understand how he was
going to be taken away. He could have thought that he was going to die that day. You know, even though he knew that God was going to send a whirlwind to take him, perhaps he didn't quite understand what that meant. Maybe he did. Maybe God told him the full details. But maybe Elijah truly believed he was going to die by a whirlwind, like a tornado or something like that. I don't know. It doesn't specifically say that. That is me throwing in
my 2 cents. It could be Elijah knew every detail and Elisha knew every detail. But based upon Elisha's, uh, response when he actually sees Elijah get taken away, it kind of seems like Elisha was not quite sure what was going to happen. However, whether Elijah knew or not, we don't know. But regardless, he was not scared to face whatever God had for him alone, which is really commendable. He kept telling Elisha, no, I don't need you to come with me. I really don't. I am
fine. I am going to be with God today, no matter how it happens. And I'm okay. I'm okay to possibly die alone. And that just shows more about how much faith Elijah had in God, that he was not scared to go and meet what was about to come to him. I mean, would we have that same amount of faith if God said the same thing to us? Would we be able to willingly walk into that and have faith and be able to do it alone? It's a question to ponder.
So Elijah now knows that he is supposed to go over to the Jordan, and Elisha says, no, I will follow you. I will not leave you. So now that they're at the Jordan, it says there's other prophets with them. 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, and they both
stood by the Jordan. So because of what was going to happen to Elijah was so well known, these prophets end up following Elijah probably out of curiosity, maybe also because they liked Elijah and wanted to say their goodbyes. It could be that as well. But Elijah kind of drew a crowd of prophets. So they get to the Jordan river, and it says that Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up. Now, that was the fur that the prophets would
wear. It was called a mantle, and it distinguished them from other people. So Elijah takes this mantle, he rolls it up into a roll, and he strikes the water with it. And this is the third time we see God parting waters. God had parted the waters, obviously, with the Red Sea. When Moses, uh, took the Israelites across out of Egypt, that was the first time and the most famous time, the second time was with Joshua.
God parted the Jordan river for Joshua and for the Israelites to pass over when they were supposed to go into the promised land. And now God is parting the Jordan river again, but only for Elijah and Elisha to cross it. And it says they crossed it on dry ground. Now, why did God do this? Maybe to show his power to Elisha, who is about to be the next prophet of Israel. Maybe also to show Elisha how to get back the same way so that he's not, like, trapped on the other side of the
Jordan. I don't know. But God did this personal miracle for Elijah and Elisha parting the Jordan River. So it says in verse nine, when they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I should do for you before I am taken from you. And this could have been out of affection that he had for Elisha. Or maybe he knew Elisha's determination and wanted to do something for him before he was taken away. So Elisha says, please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.
So Elisha already knows that he is going to receive Elijah's ministry. That was pretty obvious. God had told Elijah to anoint Elisha as the next prophet of Israel. But Elisha wants to inherit Elijah's particular ministry and even more of Elijah's ministry. I mean, ultimately, Elisha here could have probably asked for anything, but he asked for something good for God's spirit to be on him the same way that it was on Elijah.
And Elijah even recognizes that this is a very difficult thing that Elisha has asked for. Why is it difficult? Because, I mean, look at Elijah's life. He was very depressed, even though he had this great ministry as being a prophet. And he, uh, worked side by side with God doing a lot of interesting things. And God used Elijah very great. It was a really hard life for Elijah. He had to move wherever God called him. He
couldn't really set down roots anywhere. He was constantly being targeted, and his life was always on the line. Just like in the last chapter, we talked about where the king tried to kill Elijah multiple times. Elijah's life was always on the line. And on top of that, Elijah saw the spiritual darkness of Israel very clearly. And that was probably what bothered Elijah the most, was that they just refused to turn to Yahweh, even though Yahweh was constantly showing His miracles to the Israelites.
So Elijah says to Elisha, this is a hard thing you've asked for, but you will get it if you See me get taken from you. So if God allows your eyes to be open, then you will actually get what you have asked for. So it says they continued on and were talking. They were probably saying their goodbyes, maybe wondering how God was going to take Elijah, maybe, uh, talking about Elijah's ministry. Who knows what they were talking about? But while they talked, behold, a chariot of fire and
horses of fire separated them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha, uh, saw it. So this chariot of fire comes down, separates Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah then is carried off by this whirlwind into heaven. And this is the part that was somewhat more private, right? Because even though everybody knew that Elijah was going to be taken up by a whirlwind, they didn't quite understand how. And they didn't understand that he was going to be taken up into heaven.
They just knew that God was somehow going to take Elijah somewhere. So the people didn't quite understand what was going to happen to Elijah. As we're about to see. And that was the whole private part of this, something that only Elisha's eyes were allowed to see. And God allowed Elisha to see this because He had dedicated Elisha to take over for Elijah. Now that Elijah is gone, it says, Elisha saw it. And he cried, my father, my father. The chariots of
Israel and its horsemen. So he gives, um, Elijah this very beautiful eulogy. Basically, he says, my father, my father. So basically, Elijah was like a father to him. And he calls him the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. That would mean that Elijah was like the strength of Israel, because a chariot was something used in battle. And that was what Elijah kind of was. He was a warrior, in a sense, for Israel's spirituality. So Elisha is so upset, it says he saw him no more. So he was
waiting. It seems like. he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. So out of mourning for what happened to Elijah, and Elijah had dropped his mantle, which now belongs to Elisha, which was kind of providence. Um, I suppose he takes up Elijah's mantle that fell from him. He went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan, and he takes Elijah's mantle that fell from him, and he struck the waters. And as he strikes the waters, he yells out, um, where is Yahweh,
the God of Elijah? And I don't necessarily think that this was Elisha questioning where God is, but more so asking God to now rest on him, if that makes sense. Because he's saying, I Now have to do what Elijah did. So God, come here. Where are you? I need you in order to part this water and do all of the other things that I have to do. So it says when he struck the water, it says the water divided apart. And Elisha went over. So this is now the fourth time that God has parted the waters
for somebody. It says that when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho facing him, saw him m coming through the waters maybe, they said, oh, the spirit of Elijah now rests on Elisha. So that the prophets could see it. They were like, well, Elisha now has the spirit of God. They came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They said, see, now there are with us 50 strong men. Please let them go and seek your Master. Perhaps Yahweh's spirit has
taken him up and put him on some mountain or into some valley. So the prophets are like, well, we could probably go find Elijah. Maybe God didn't take him very far. Maybe he's nearby on some mountain or in some valley. We can go look for him. Let's go look for him and we'll bring him back so that you don't have to be lonely. And Elisha is like, no, don't. Don't do that. Because Elisha knew what had happened to Elijah. The prophets only
knew that Elijah was going to be taken away. They didn't exactly know how, they didn't exactly know where. And so they say, well, he's probably still on this earth somewhere, so why don't we go try to find him? Because who would think that somebody just gets taken up into heaven without dying? Like, nobody would think that. Of course, they have the human reaction that he's still alive somewhere on this earth. They just don't exactly know where. But Elisha knew the truth. He knew that
Elijah was in heaven. And Elijah is only one of two people recorded in scripture that God basically transported up into heaven. And they did not die. The first being Enoch, who is talked about in the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis. He walked with God, and because he was a Yahweh follower, God brought him up into heaven. Enoch did not physically die. And then the second one, of course, is Elijah. So Elisha knew the truth. He tells the prophets, no, don't
send these guys. They're not going to find him. But these prophets insist. They're like, no, he must be alive somewhere. God, uh, probably just has him in some other area. We have to go try to find him. And they pressure Elisha so much until he was ashamed. It said. So Elisha was getting, like, embarrassed by how much these men were pressuring him to go try to find Elijah. So finally, Elisha gives in, and he's like, okay, fine, if you want to so bad, send the 50
men. It says that they searched for three days but didn't find him. And they came back while he stayed at Jericho. And Elisha said to them, didn't I tell you? Don't go? I just love that. I think that's so funny. Just the humanity of that, where somebody is, like, insisting on doing something, and then they... And you're like, no, don't do that. It's a bad idea. And then they do it, and it turns out to be a bad idea. Elisha was basically like, I told you so.
It was a bad idea. Anyway, faithful listeners, we're gonna finish up this chapter on Monday, because one of the stories actually at the end of this chapter is quite bizarre and people really struggle to understand it. So definitely tune in on Monday, and we'll talk about the story of the youths who get mauled by a bunch of bears. So stay tuned
for that. But faithful listeners, tune in tomorrow for an episode from the New Testament, because on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do an episode from the New Testament, and then on Mondays and Wednesdays, I do an episode from the Old Testament, and then Friday is for the members. So tune in tomorrow because we'll be in Second Corinthians, chapter six. Faithful listeners, have a fantastic and wonderful rest of your Wednesday. I will see you guys bright and early tomorrow morning, 6am M. Or
whenever you choose to wake up and listen. Happy listening, and God bless.