The Chariot of Fire

Two men stand on the bank of a river. One of them takes off his cloak, rolls it up, and strikes the water. And the river opens in front of them.

Elijah's work is almost done. The Lord is about to take him up to heaven in a whirlwind, and somehow everyone seems to know it. Elijah's young apprentice, Elisha, has been with him ever since the day Elijah threw his cloak over his shoulders in a ploughed field. Now the two of them are walking together from Gilgal. And Elijah says, “Stay here. The Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha answers, “As surely as the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they go on together.

At Bethel, a group of prophets comes out to meet them. They pull Elisha aside. “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha says. “Don't talk about it.” Again Elijah tells him to stay behind, because the Lord has sent him to Jericho. Again Elisha refuses. At Jericho, another group of prophets says the same thing, and Elisha gives the same answer. And a third time Elijah says, “Stay here. The Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And a third time, “I will not leave you.” So the two of them walk on, while fifty of the prophets stand at a distance and watch.

At the Jordan, Elijah rolls up his cloak and strikes the water. The river divides, and the two of them cross over on dry ground. On the other side, Elijah turns to his friend. “Tell me, what can I do for you before I'm taken from you?” Elisha doesn't ask for money, or fame, or an easy life. “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.” Elijah says, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If not, it won't.”

They keep walking and talking. And suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appear and come between them. Elijah goes up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha sees it, and he cries out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And then Elijah is gone. Elisha takes hold of his own clothes and tears them in two. He is grieving. Then he bends down and picks up Elijah's cloak, which has fallen to the ground.

He walks back to the bank of the Jordan, cloak in hand. He strikes the water with it and calls out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And the water divides, just as it did before. Elisha crosses over. The prophets from Jericho, watching from the other side, say, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” They come to meet him and bow to the ground before him. But they can't quite believe Elijah is really gone. “Let us send fifty strong men to search. Maybe the Spirit of the Lord has set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “Don't send them,” says Elisha. They keep pressing until he is embarrassed to refuse. For three days the men search and find nothing. When they come back, Elisha says, “Didn't I tell you not to go?”

Elisha's request for a double portion can sound greedy, as if he wanted to be twice as great as Elijah. But in Israel, the double portion was the share of an inheritance that belonged to the firstborn son. The law of Moses says the firstborn is to receive a double portion of all that his father has. So Elisha is asking to be treated as Elijah's true heir, the one who would carry on his work. That helps explain why he cries out, “My father!”, and why the cloak that falls to him matters so much.

The chariot of fire. You'll find it in Second Kings, chapter 2, verses 1 to 18. Three times Elisha was told to stay behind, and three times he refused. He stayed close to the very end, and then he picked up the cloak and carried on. So here's the question to carry with you. Who has God given you to learn from, and how can you carry on the good they began?