2Kings comments, first draft

 

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 1^st 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?