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Scott's Reference Library
2 Kings 2:1 through 2 Kings 2:12 (NIV)
1When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah
and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here;
the LORD has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave
you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you
know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “but do not speak of it.”
4Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave
you.” So they went to Jericho.
5The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you
know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “but do not speak of it.”
6Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave
you.” So the two of them walked on.
7Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing
the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8Elijah took his
cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right
and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you
before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am
taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise not.”
11As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire
and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to
heaven in a whirlwind. 12Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father!
The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took
hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
VERSES 1-8
The Lord had let Elijah know that his time was at hand. He therefore went to the
different schools of the prophets to give them his last exhortations and
blessing. The removal of Elijah was a type and figure of the ascension of
Christ, and the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Elisha had
long followed Elijah, and he would not leave him now when he hoped for the
parting blessing. Let not those who follow Christ come short by tiring at last.
The waters of Jordan, of old, yielded to the ark; now, to the prophet’s mantle,
as a token of God’s presence. When God will take up his faithful ones to heaven,
death is the Jordan which they must pass through, and they find a way through
it. The death of Christ has divided those waters, that the ransomed of the Lord
may pass over. O death, where is thy sting, thy hurt, thy terror!
VERSES 9-12
That fulness, from whence prophets and apostles had all their supply, still
exists as of old, and we are told to ask large supplies from it. Diligent
attendance upon Elijah, particularly in his last hours, would be proper means
for Elisha to obtain much of his spirit. The comforts of departing saints, and
their experiences, help both to gild our comforts and to strengthen our
resolutions. Elijah is carried to heaven in a fiery chariot. Many questions
might be asked about this, which could not be answered. Let it suffice that we
are told, what his Lord, when he came, found him doing. He was engaged in
serious discourse, encouraging and directing Elisha about the kingdom of God
among men. We mistake, if we think preparation for heaven is carried on only by
contemplation and acts of devotion. The chariot and horses appeared like fire,
something very glorious, not for burning, but brightness. By the manner in which
Elijah and Enoch were taken from this world, God gave a glimpse of the eternal
life brought to light by the gospel, of the glory reserved for the bodies of the
saints, and of the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers. It was
also a figure of Christ’s ascension. Though Elijah was gone triumphantly to
heaven, yet this world could ill spare him. Surely their hearts are hard, who
feel not, when God, by taking away faithful, useful men, calls for weeping and
mourning. Elijah was to Israel, by his counsels, reproofs, and prayers, better
than the strongest force of chariot and horse, and kept off the judgments of
God. Christ bequeathed to his disciples his precious gospel, like Elijah’s
mantle; the token of the Divine power being exerted to overturn the empire of
Satan, and to set up the kingdom of God in the world. The same gospel remains
with us, though the miraculous powers are withdrawn, and it has Divine strength
for the conversion and salvation of sinners.