_A MEMORABLE PARTING_ ‘And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.’ 2 Kings 2:1 I. IN THIS LAST JOURNEY THE FIRST THING TO IMPRESS US IS THE LOYAL ATTACHMENT OF ELISHA.—He reminds us of Ruth, pleading with Naomi and... [ Continue Reading ]
_UNWILLING TO PART_ ‘And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.’ 2 Kings 2:6 Elisha’s resolution to face the worst, to meet the severest trial, to hear the parting words, comes straight from a soul’s secret, the secret of a prophet’s power. I. ONE PROMINENT... [ Continue Reading ]
_ELIJAH’S FAREWELL TO ELISHA_ ‘Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.’ 2 Kings 2:9 ‘I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.’ Elisha’s words to his master... [ Continue Reading ]
_ELIJAH’S ASCENSION_ ‘Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.’ 2 Kings 2:11 The ascension of the Lord was prefigured, foreshown, and, we may say, anticipated in part by the translation of Elijah. I. ELIJAH’S WORK WAS DONE; his long controversy with Israel, with an apostate king and a rebelli... [ Continue Reading ]
_ELISHA’S SUCCESSION_ ‘And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.’ 2 Kings 2:14 Elisha was anxious to make his work in his day... [ Continue Reading ]
_AT THE SPRING OF THE WATERS_ ‘He went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there.’ 2 Kings 2:21 ‘The spirit of Elijah,’ they said, ‘doth rest on Elisha.’ It was true, yet who is not struck with the difference, with the contrariety, between them? At first sight the succession... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GENTLE PROPHET’S CURSE_ ‘And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty-and-two children of them.’ 2 Kings 2:24 I. THIS STORY TEACHES THAT THE FAULTS OF OUR YOUTH, AND THOSE WHICH ARE MOST N... [ Continue Reading ]