Threads
Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”
2 Kings 2:8-10
In two paragraphs in 2 Kings 2 we see a thread of God’s presence, power, provision, promise and purpose running from Moses to Joshua to Elijah to Elisha to Jesus to the Apostles to the church, which includes us. The thread of God demonstrating His presence and power through His people runs from Moses to us here today. This is a message of incredible hope that should give you the confidence to face whatever it is that God calls you to face today.
In 1 Kings and 2 Kings we see Elijah as a great prophet of God. He speaks words directly from God; His predictions happen; God answers his prayers; and God grants him incredible power and authority. At the beginning of 2 Kings we see an example of God acting through Elijah in a remarkable yet horrific way.
The king of Israel falls and is injured. He sends messengers to prophets of Baal-zebub to ask whether he will heal. Elijah meets the messengers in route, stops them, and tells them to return to the king with two messages. First, a rebuke for inquiring of Baal-zebub rather than God and second, that the king will soon die. In response, the king sends fifty soldiers to pick up Elijah and deliver him to the king. As the soldiers approach Elijah, he asks God to send fire from heaven to consume the soldiers and He does. The king sends another group of fifty soldiers on the same task, and they too are consumed by fire from heaven. When a third group of fifty approaches Elijah, the captain bows before Elijah, begs for mercy, and asks Elijah to travel with them to the king. Elijah prays and God tells him to go with them, and he does. Elijah repeats his message directly to the king, and events unfold as foretold.
Through Scripture we see Elijah has a deep relationship with God, the Holy Spirit rests on him, and He knows when his time on earth nears its end. He and his protégé Elisha are in Gilgal, which is the place priests planted twelve stones from the Jordan River after crossing into the Promised Land. They travel to Bethel, then to Jericho, and then to the Jordan River, essentially making a big loop, returning not far from where they started. At each stop along the way, Elijah asks Elisha to stay there and allow Elijah to continue alone, but Elisha refuses.
It is interesting to note that the route from Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan River, and then crossing the Jordan to the eastern bank, backtracks the route the Israelites took when entering the Promised Land. This is not a coincidence. When Elijah and Elisha reach the Jordan River, Scripture records the events as follows:
Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. 2 Kings 2:8-14
Where have we seen God part water allowing people to cross on dry land? Through Moses, God parted the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to escape from Pharoah’s army (see Exodus 14). At the end of Moses’ life, he passed the torch to Joshua, and shortly after that, God parted the Jordan River allowing His people to cross on dry land (see Joshua 3). Parting water is a sign of God’s presence, power and provision. If any doubt existed in the minds of His people, He wanted them to see that He was truly with them, and through the stories He wants us to see the same thing – He is truly with us, here, today.
Through the accounts in Scripture we see the thread of God’s promise running from Moses to Joshua and continuing through Elijah. Just as Moses passed the torch to Joshua, Elijah passed it to Elisha, and when Elisha struck the Jordan River with Elijah’s cloak, God parted the river allowing him to return to the Promised Land on dry ground. Once again, God demonstrated His presence, power and provision, and everyone who saw it knew that God’s Holy Presence rested on Elisha.
Over the next several chapters we see God working through Elisha in amazing ways. He blesses a widow with an abundance of oil to sell so that she and her two children might live, raises a boy from death, purifies a poisonous stew, and multiplies loaves for people to eat (see 2 Kings 4). Through Elisha, God heals a Syrian commander of leprosy (see 2 Kings 5). Like Elijah, Elisha was truly connected with God, the Holy Spirit rested on him, and he possessed amazing power and authority from God.
Let’s go back to the Scripture above where Elijah ascended. Elijah was taken by a whirlwind to heaven accompanied by chariots and horses of fire. Where have we seen an event like that? Jesus ascended to heaven in a similar way. At Acts 1 we read,
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11
Scripture connects Elijah directly to Jesus. The prophet Malachi explains that Elijah will return before the Messiah comes (see Malachi 4:5), and Jesus explains that the prophecy was fulfilled through John the Baptist (see Matthew 11:14).
Beyond that, Elijah’s trip to heaven ties him directly to Jesus. They both ascended to heaven, and they both passed power and authority to their proteges. Immediately before ascending to heaven, Jesus promises, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This is Luke’s introduction to the Book of Acts, and the rest of the book reveals God acting through the Apostles and the early church in miraculous ways as they carried out the Great Commission. They did indeed receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were indeed witnesses to Christ Jesus everywhere they went.
When Moses passed the torch to Joshua, Joshua continued in much the same way as Moses. When Elijah passed the torch to Elisha, Elisha continued on the path Elijah had walked, demonstrating God’s power and authority flowing through him. When Jesus passed the torch to the Apostles and the church, they continued doing the things Jesus had done while on earth. The thread of God’s presence, power, provision, promise and purpose continues running to us, here, today. Jesus’ promise of God’s holy power and anointing through the Holy Spirit continues.
Isn’t that an amazing message of hope? Doesn’t it fill you with confidence? Please pray, asking God what you can do for Him today, knowing He fills you with His power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. If you do not know His power, seek Christ Jesus, acknowledge your sins, repent, turn to God, ask for His forgiveness, and beg the Holy Spirit to come upon you.
May God’s power and authority flow through you in miraculous ways. Amen.