Bible Reading 4 Kings 2:6-11 and commentary

Many in the faith have a vague recollection of the "Bible story" of the Prophet Elias, remembering him because he is the one who was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. But there are some details to this miraculous historical event that also help in strengthening faith and understanding. Here they are.



And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as the Jordan. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on together, and fifty men of the sons of the prophets followed them, and stood in sight at a distance; but they two stood by the Jordan.



Elias (Elijah), one of the greatest of prophets, knew that it was his time to be called to God. This was not an illness or old age, but Elijah knew that God was going to summon him directly to heaven. And so he is walking in that expectation with his companion Eliseus, whom he had consecrated as a priest and prophet (3 Kings 19). So Elijah is telling Eliseus that it is time for Elijah to depart, telling him that he they should split at the Jordan while Elijah continues on, but Eliseus refuses to leave him. And by the way, there fifty "sons of the prophets" (also holy men) following. Everyone knew something important was going to happen, and no one wanted to leave, and they certainly did not want Elijah to depart.



In addition to understanding the mighty devotion among all the prophets who serve God, there is another insight that can be gleaned. Once again, you see evidence that the Bible is very literal in its events. There are fifty witnesses to Elijah trying to leave them, having been summoned by God. People who just write mythologies and stories don't add details of fifty witness and THEN have the witnesses not see the actual departure! So a large group followed and stayed in visual sight of the two prophets as they talked and to the Jordan walked.



And Elias took his mantle and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over on dry ground.



Elijah therefore performs a miracle to get the two men away from the following crowd. He takes his mantle (a cloth worn as a cape) and "folded it together," meaning he took the cloth, folded it repeatedly until it was narrow and long like a staff. He uses the staff to strike the waters and the waters pulled back to allow a clear and dry path for the two men to cross the river. Thus the group of fifty men could not follow, and add their voices of concern to get Elijah to stay with them.



And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken from thee.



Elijah is now making it clear that he will be taken from Eliseus at that spot. So Elijah asks what he can do for Eliseus, who is to be his successor as prophet.



And Eliseus said: I beseech thee that in me may be thy double spirit.



Bible commentary usually interpret this to mean that Eliseus was asking for "double the power" that Elijah himself had. But this is not exactly accurate. Eliseus is not looking to be "better" or "more" than Elijah. He was asking that Elijah's abilities be added to his own God given abilities, and so that "in me" may be thy "double spirit," thus Elijah's prophetic ability added to Eliseus's forthcoming own prophetic ability. It's not a power thing, but rather, each prophet has a unique calling and gift/relationship with God. Eliseus in his caution wanted to ensure that he retained within him all the prophetic gifts of Elijah, lest his own gifts to be not cover all the eventualities that Elijah's would have. See, this is an important insight about how prophets are different. They are not looking for "double power." They fear not being able to do something that the Lord someday might require of them. To put it in Christian terms, Eliseus wanted to make sure he could perform all of Elijah's charisms if need be, in addition to the charisms he would be granted.



And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked; but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.



Ah ha! Elijah immediately kicked that request "upstairs to God," since only God can grant the ability and the extent (the charisms) of prophecy. This should never be misread as a discussion of "magic." It is absolutely not. Elijah immediately understood the caution behind Eliseus' request, but nothing like that had ever been done before in the relationship of prophets to God. They certainly cannot "pass their power from one to the other," to use a "magic" concept. Basically Eliseus was asking Elijah to ask God to give him Elijah's span and capability of prophecy. And so Elijah immediately knew that Eliseus had asked for a "hard" (as in monumental responsibility, not as in difficulty for God to grant), thing, since Elijah had no way of knowing if this is what God would want, and only God could do this. So in the way of a prophet's unspoken communion with God, Elijah knew that if God granted this request, he would allow Eliseus to see the departure of Elijah as a sign that his wish for Elijah's span of prophetic capability was granted.



And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.



And so Elijah is taken up to heaven and because Eliseus sees it, he knows that God has acknowledged his request and given him the span of prophetic ability of Elijah's.



Now here is the most important lesson, besides the lesson that the prophets all carried a burden of caring for each other, but more importantly that they have all that they need in order to serve God (and thus Eliseus asked for selfless reasons for the double prophet spirit with Elijah's share). Many people read the Bible and just assume that God was going to send the horses and chariot all along. In other words, people ascribe significance to God sending a horses and a chariot for Elijah. But suppose that Eliseus had not been there, or had not made the request? God very well might have simply levitated Elijah to heaven. In other words, there is NO significance to the chariot and horses other than the fact they are visible, and they convey great status and respect for the occupant to the viewer. The chariot and horses were not so much for Elijah, who would have been in bliss with a simple levitation, or his body becoming instantly glorified so it can reside in heaven. The chariot and horses were for Eliseus, the successor to Elijah, to see as his sign that his request is answered.



See, a lot of humans apply kind of symbolism and pagan assumptions when they read scripture, and then jump to conclusions and miss really reading every word of what happens in sequence. And so modern people tend to apply symbolism to the chariot and horses, missing the whole point that there is symbolism alright: but it is the symbolism that God let Elijah know that if his leaving was "visible" that Eliseus' request was granted. So God sent a chariot and horses in the whirlwind to be the visible sign for Eliseus' answer from God. Since God was making a visible unmistakable reply to Eliseus, he sent a image (chariot and horses) that unmistakably represented honor and power, in this case, prophetic power.



I hope this helps in your seeing another example of how to not miss or misunderstand any of the subtle and important goodness and sweetness that is in the scriptures.