2Kings
2:1 ¶ 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 And Elijah said unto
Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And
Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth,
I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were
at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD
will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it;
hold ye your peace. 4 And Elijah said
unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to
Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth,
I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. 5 And the sons of the prophets that were
at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will
take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it;
hold ye your peace. 6 And Elijah said
unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he
said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
leave thee. And they two went on. 7 And
fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and
they two stood by Jordan. 8 And Elijah
took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they
were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
This is
going to be a type of Rapture, a Translation in Bible terminology, moving
someone from one location to another. Elisha will take Elijah’s place as God’s
special prophet. With fifty disciples of these prophets of God watching, Elijah
repeats the miracle of the Red Sea and of the Israelites entering the promised
land and parts the Jordan, of course, by God’s special power that is granted
him.
Knowing,
as has been noted previously, that God has taken Elijah and moved him at will,
Elisha refuses to leave his side. Let’s review the following passage from 1st
Kings.
1Kings
18:1 ¶ And it came to pass after many
days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go,
shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. 2 And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab.
And there was a sore famine in Samaria. 3
And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now
Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4 For
it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an
hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and
water.) 5 And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go
into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure
we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the
beasts. 6 So they divided the land
between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah
went another way by himself. 7 And as
Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on
his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord,
Behold, Elijah is here. 9 And he said,
What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of
Ahab, to slay me? 10 As the LORD thy God
liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek
thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and
nation, that they found thee not. 11 And
now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am
gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know
not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay
me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not told my lord what I did when
Jezebel
slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets
by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord,
Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth,
before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and
Ahab went to meet Elijah.
2Kings
2:9 ¶ And it came to pass, when they
were gone over, that Elijah said unto 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. 10 And
he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when
I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be
so. 11 And it came to pass, as
they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot
of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up
by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And
Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of
Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of
his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
Elisha has
the nerve to ask for twice as much of God’s power that Elijah has to be on him.
This might not be from a passion for power but for his desire to glorify God in
the ministry of the prophet in healing and prophecy.
It is made clear here that it is possible for
a person to be translated by God and for others not to be able to see it
happen. Elijah tells Elisha, though, that if Elisha sees Elijah taken away then
he will get what he asked for. He does see Elijah’s rapture, his translation,
carried away by a chariot and horses of fire.
I think
Elijah may have asked God to give Elisha this vision as Elisha will ask God
later to give a young man the vision to see a heavenly host around Elisha.
2Kings
6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD,
I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of
the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and
chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Elijah is
raptured, translated, to Heaven presumably and Elisha is grieving at the loss
of this great prophet to Israel. Clearly, there are probably angels driving
this chariot as verse 12 suggests.
2Kings
2:13 ¶ He took up also the mantle of
Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 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. 15 And
when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him,
they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him,
and bowed themselves to the ground before him. 16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be
with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy
master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast
him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
17 And when they urged him till he was
ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three
days, but found him not. 18 And when
they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I
not say unto you, Go not?
Evidence
is seen that Elisha has the power of Elijah on him. These witnesses pressured
Elisha to send men to find Elijah because, as before, it is thought that God
had just translated him from one physical place to another physical place in
Israel. But they couldn’t find him as Elisha told them they would not. Now,
Elisha will take on the LORD’s work.
2Kings
2:19 ¶ And the men of the city said unto
Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as
my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. 20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put
salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21 And he went forth unto the spring of the
waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have
healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
22 So the waters were healed unto this
day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. 23 And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and
as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the
city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou
bald head. 24 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. 25 And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and
from thence he returned to Samaria.
In verse
4, it is said they were at or near Jericho. Here, in this passage, there is a
problem with the water being poisoned or cursed. Elisha performs a miracle,
actually the Lord God’s doing, of healing the waters. His using of salt shows
even more so that this is a miracle from God.
What
happens next is a disturbing scene for us and a possible partial fulfillment of
this prophecy. I am not sure but this came to mind.
Leviticus
26:21 And if ye walk contrary unto me,
and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you
according to your sins. 22 I will also
send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy
your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
2Chronicles
36:16 But they mocked the messengers of
God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the
LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.
Jeroboam
committed great sin here at Bethel and the place was steeped in idolatry.
1Kings
12:25 ¶ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in
mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now
shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the
house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again
unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and
go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said
unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O
Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other
put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became
a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31 And he made an house of high places, and made
priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the
eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in
Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the
calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places
which he had made. 33 So he offered upon
the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month,
even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast
unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
In the
ancient world the sins of the parents were often visited upon their children.
Exodus
34:6 And the LORD passed by before him,
and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,
and abundant in goodness and truth, 7
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and
to the fourth generation.
But a new
day is coming.
Jeremiah
31:27 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed
of man, and with the seed of beast. 28
And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to
pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict;
so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. 29 In those days they shall say no more, The
fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own
iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: 32 Not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although
I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward
parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be
my people. 34 And they shall teach no
more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD:
for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith
the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more.
And again
it was written.
Ezekiel
18:1 ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me
again, saying, 2 What mean ye, that ye
use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten
sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? 3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not
have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of
the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it
shall die. 5 But if a man be just, and
do that which is lawful and right, 6 And
hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols
of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath
come near to a menstruous woman, 7 And
hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath
spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered
the naked with a garment; 8 He that hath
not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath
withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and
man, 9 Hath walked in my statutes, and
hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith
the Lord GOD.
10 ¶
If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth
the like to any one of these things, 11
And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the
mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife, 12
Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not
restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed
abomination, 13 Hath given forth upon
usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath
done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that
seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not
such like, 15 That hath not eaten upon
the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of
Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife, 16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not
withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his
bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, 17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor,
that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath
walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he
shall surely live. 18 As for his father,
because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that
which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. 19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the
iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right,
and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father
bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 ¶
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed,
and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall
surely live, he shall not die. 22 All
his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto
him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways,
and live? 24 But when the righteous
turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth
according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All
his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass
that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he
die. 25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord
is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your
ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man
turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in
them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from
his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and
right, he shall save his soul alive. 28
Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions
that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the
Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways
unequal?
2Kings,
chapter 3
2Kings
3:1 ¶ Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began
to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of
Judah, and reigned twelve years. 2 And
he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his
mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
4 And Mesha king of Moab was a
sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs,
and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. 5
But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled
against the king of Israel.
So,
Jehoshaphat reigns in Judah for 18 years before Jehoram, Ahab’s son, begins his
12 year rule of Israel from Samaria after the death of his brother, Ahaziah.
See 1Kings 22 and 2Kings 1. A wicked
man, Jehoram still managed to remove the image of Baal that Ahab had made. However,
he mirrored the sins of Jeroboam previously mentioned in his idolatry. In his
reign he had to deal with the rebellion of the king of Moab, a client state of
his father’s.
2Kings
3:6 ¶ And king Jehoram went out of
Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. 7 And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king
of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with
me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art,
my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. 8 And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he
answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. 9 So the king of Israel went, and the king of
Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days’ journey:
and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.
10 And the king of Israel said, Alas!
that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the
hand of Moab! 11 But Jehoshaphat said, Is
there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by
him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Here is
Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. 12 And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the LORD is
with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down
to him. 13 And Elisha said unto the king
of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father,
and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay:
for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the
hand of Moab. 14 And Elisha said, As
the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I
regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward
thee, nor see thee. 15 But now bring me
a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the
LORD came upon him. 16 And he said, Thus
saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. 17 For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see
wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water,
that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. 18 And this is but a light thing in the
sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. 19 And ye shall smite every fenced city, and
every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water,
and mar every good piece of land with stones.
The
assumption in verse 6 is that it is referring to all that could bear arms, not
every living person. In verse 7, Jehoshaphat made the same proclamation to
Jehoram as he did to Ahab in 1Kings 22:4.
Edom is
aligned with Judah so Jehoshaphat wants to flank Moab through the wilderness of
Edom. Although Edom had rebelled it had been brought back under control as
referenced in 2Kings 14:9,10.
The
alliance here is Israel, Judah, and Edom, their kings and armies, going to
bring Moab to heel. But their lines are too far extended and they have no water
for the massive amounts of cattle for food that must follow an invading army. Wicked
Jehoram, rather pessimistically, states that God has brought them there to
destroy them. But it is made known that the prophet Elisha, heir to Elijah’s
mantle of authority, is with the expedition. He is consulted and makes it clear
that were it not for good king Jehoshaphat he would have nothing to do with
these idolatrous kings.
Interestingly,
like a bard in the Western European Celtic tradition, among others, Elisha
calls for a musician to play and God’s Spirit comes upon the prophet. Then,
God, through Elisha, gives them instructions and commands that they destroy
Moab after God Himself delivers them into their hands.
2Kings
3:20 ¶ And it came to pass in the
morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by
the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. 21 And when all the Moabites heard that the
kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to
put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border. 22 And they rose up early in the morning, and
the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as
red as blood: 23 And they said, This is
blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now
therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 24 And
when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the
Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the
Moabites, even in their country. 25
And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast
every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water,
and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones
thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it. 26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle
was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to
break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not. 27 Then he took his eldest son that should have
reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the
wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from
him, and returned to their own land.
Isaiah
66:4a I also will choose their delusions…
God
deceives the Moabites to a man. They are fooled by something as simple and
natural as the morning sun shining off the surface of a flood. We might marvel
at this but there have been many instances in history where an army was tricked
into believing something that wasn’t true. As an example see Operation Bertram
in World War Two where dummies, camouflage, and false radio traffic among other
things were used to deceive the Germans. Here, though, is a deception of
perception at the most basic level, something which only God could have
accomplished as He controls our sight as well as our other senses.
The ambush
of the Moabites is devastating but the havoc wreaked in their country is
moreso. There was no escape even for the king of Moab and a remnant as they
tried to break through the weakest part of the coalition against them, the
Edomites. Moab’s king then did something that the heathen were wont to do, and
offered up his own son, his heir, as a sacrifice to the pagan gods they
worshipped. Some writers say that this broke the alliance and forced them to
abandon the siege and destruction because it was clear that the King of Moab
was determined to fight to the last man. So, the siege was broken and the
alliance that had formed broke up leaving a ruined Moab to wallow in its
misery.
