Elijah's departure

Good morning friends,
Yesterday we left Elijah and Elisha having just crossed the Jordan on dry land after Elisha parted the waters. Today Elijah gives Elisha an opportunity for a last request before he disappears. It's interesting that Elijah doesn't die but instead is taken up into heaven alive. Obviously, Elijah's in rare company in this: Enoch (Methusalah's father) and Jesus are the only other people I know who went into heaven alive. This odd ending is part of the reason people believed Elijah would return to earth to prepare the way for the Messiah.

God chose Elisha as Elijah's successor and this passage seals that succession. From this point until Elisha's death in 2 Kings 13 he is the main character in the story along with various kings of Israel, Judah and Syria. This passage is where we'll leave the story of Kings. The most famous miracle Elisha performs is healing Naaman, the Syrian general, but I thought this was a familiar enough story to pass by (you can read it in 2 Kings 5 if you want a refresher). Our Old Testament reading now turns to the prophet Amos.

Blessings,
Sam

2 Kings 2:9-15
9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over. 15When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.