The time came for the LORD to take
Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from
Gilgal, and on the way Elijah said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the
LORD has ordered me to go to Bethel."
But Elisha answered, "
I swear by my loyalty to the living LORD and to you that I will not leave
you." So they went on to
Bethel.
A group of
prophets who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, "Do you know that
LORD is going to take our master away form you
today?" "Yes, I know, "
Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about
it."
Then Elijah said to
Elisha, "Now stay here; the LORD has ordered me to go to
Jericho." But Elisha answered, "I
swear by my loyalty to the living LORD and to you that I will not leave
you." So they went on to Jericho.
A group of prophets
who lived there went to Elisha and asked him, there went to Elisha
and asked him, "Do you know that the LORD is going to take our master away
from you today?"
"Yes, I
know, " Elisha answered. "But let's not talk about it." Then Elijah
said to Elisha, "Now stay here; the LORD has ordered me to go to Jordan
River."
But Elisha answered, "I swear by my loyalty to the living LORD and to you
that I will not leave you." So they went on, and fifty of the prophets
followed them to the Jordan. Elijah and Elisha stopped by the river,
and the fifty prophets stood a short distance away. Then Elijah took
off his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it; the water
divided, and he and Elisha crossed to the other side on dry ground.
there, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what you want me to do for you
before I am taken away."
"Let
me receive the share of your power that will make me your successor,"
Elisha answered.
"That is a
difficult request to grant," Elijah replied. "But you will receive it if
you see me as I am being taken away from you; if you don't see me, you
won't receive it."
They
kept taking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by
horsed of fire came between the, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a
whirlwind. Elisha saw it and cried out to Elijah, "My father,
my father! Mighty defender of Israel! You are gone!" And he never
saw Elijah again.
In
grief Elisha tore his cloak in
two.
Then he 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 Elijah's cloak and
said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" Then he struck the
water again, and it divided, and he walked over to the other
side.
The fifty prophets
from Jericho saw him and said, "The power of Elijah is on
Elisha!" They went to meet him, bowed down before him, and said,
"There are fifty of us here, all strong men. Let us go and look for
your master, Maybe the sprit of the LORD has carried him away and left him
on some mountain or in some
valley."
"No, you must
not go," Elisha answered.
But
they insisted until he gave in and let them go. the fifty of them
went and looked high and low for Elijah for three days, but didn't find
him.
Then they returned
to Elisha, who had waited at Jericho, and he said to them, "Didn't I tell
you not to go?
Friend, can you not draw
encouragement and teaching from this man of
God?
God has a place for you; He has a work for you. Are you in that
place, and are you doing that work?
If not, will you not listen to the still small voice of God's Spirit in
your heart? Will you not now listen to His Word and look to the Lord
Jesus Christ for salvation?
Repent and obey His divine
Word. Now is the time. This is the hour to
start.
May God help you to go forward in
the way of faith as did Elijah.
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