The Mantle of Elijah

Pilgrim's Pathway Ministries

The LORD was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind. Elisha joins Elijah when he goes up from Gilgal. Before leaving he tells Elisha to stay behind, but Elisha responds that he will not. The sons of the prophets at both Bethel and Jericho tell Elisha that Elijah was going to be taken away. They did not see the event in the sacred light as Elisha did. When Elijah asks Elisha again not to continue on with him he makes a very strong oath that he will not leave him. It is likely that he was thinking back to the moment that Elijah had first called him to follow him. Fifty students from the school of the prophets at Jericho watch them from a distance as they stand at the bank of the Jordan River. They stood facing them at a distance as spectators. These men did not understand that all must enter into the service of God. They did not understand that all of the sons of the prophets were being called to the work of the LORD beside Elisha in the reformation of Israel. But these men chose to stand facing them at a distance. Both Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan, symbolic of a time of transition. Elijah asks Elisha what he desires. He responds by asking for a double portion of his spirit. Then Elijah is taken away. Elisha picks up the mantle of Elijah and goes to the bank of the Jordan River. Now the LORD God of Elijah must become the LORD God of Elisha. Elisha had trusted in Elijah, now he had to personally trust in the LORD. He shows his faith in the LORD by striking the water of the Jordan River and it parts before him. The LORD had become his God as well. May the LORD God of Elijah become our LORD and our God.
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