Elisha’s Walk – Preaching
Preaching Outline on II Kings 2:1-7 – “And it came to pass, when the LORD was about to take Elijah up in a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah set out from Gilgal with Elisha. And Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.
So they went to Bethel. Then the sons of the prophets who were in Bethel went out to meet Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master over your head today? And he said, “I know that too; be quiet. Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.
So they went to Jericho. Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master over your head today? And he said, “I know it too; be quiet. And Elijah said, “Stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan. But he said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they both went together. And there went fifty men of the sons of the prophets, and stood over against them afar off: and so they both stood by the Jordan.”
Development
The Call
When Elijah found Elisha and called him, he was plowing the land with twelve yoke of oxen. Elijah threw his cloak over Elisha and from that moment he dropped everything and followed him. Elisha said goodbye to his father and mother, killed a yoke of oxen and boiled them with the tools, giving them to the people to eat. After all this, he left, following Elijah and serving him.
When a man is called by the Lord and is involved in the things and work of this world, he must from then on put the Lord’s Work as a priority in his life, without the need for the Lord to explain himself and without arguments, because when the Lord calls someone, he touches their spirit deeply. Man then begins a process of breaking with his past, his traditions and his old sins.
When we respond to the Lord’s call, the Holy Spirit begins a Work in our lives that develops gradually over the course of our journey. We don’t have the structure to withstand a sudden change all at once, so the Lord works on us and builds us up, day by day, until we reach the structure of a “perfect man”.
The Walk
The work in Elisha’s life, after his call, began in Gilgal, when Elijah ordered him to stay there until he reached the Jordan. Elisha said that he would not stay, but would follow him wherever he went. We see in the Word that from then on Elijah (who is a type of the Lord Jesus) leads Elisha to various places, which represent phases of the Work in his life, and in them he is tested so that he can achieve spiritual growth and maturity.
Gilgal
It was in Gilgal that Joshua circumcised the children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land. Gilgal means “circle” and spiritually represents our need to have communion with the Lord by stripping away the flesh and the old man with his sins and vices.
Many people stop at the very beginning of their journey when they encounter this test. The flesh is often deeply entrenched and breaking free from it becomes too heavy for many. But just as Elisha didn’t stop there, but went on, we too must do the same, that is, go on after breaking with the things of the old nature.
Bethel
It was the second place where Elijah and Elisha arrived. Bethel means “House of the Lord” and represents the second phase of our journey. Elijah tested Elisha by ordering him to stay in Bethel, but he replied that he would not leave him and would follow him wherever he went.
In Bethel, Elisha met some sons of prophets who knew everything that would happen to Elijah, yet they didn’t move from there to witness his rapture. After the new birth, we must pass through Bethel, which points to our need to be in the church, in the body. It is our need to understand that we need to be in the house of the Lord in order to receive the benefits of life in the body and to be built up in the knowledge of the doctrine revealed in the Word and to grow in fellowship with the brethren.
It is in the church that we hear the voice of the Lord, we are blessed by the outpouring of the Spirit through gifts, praise, messages, etc. It is not possible to grow spiritually outside the church and the body, because it is in the church that the Lord works blessing and life forever.
There are many, however (the children of the prophets – those who have already been born into the Work), who are negligent and don’t care about their spiritual growth, because they stop at this stage, forgetting that the Work is dynamic. Others have started the journey, progressing until they understand the importance of the church in their lives, but they stop there, becoming static and fruitless, often attending services, but not knowing how to do anything else that would give their lives more dynamism.
Jericho
After Bethel, the two servants of the Lord went to Jericho, where Elijah once again put Elisha to another test, ordering him to stay in the city. However, he overcame this test by saying that he would not leave him. Once again, Elisha found the other sons of the prophets in the same situation as those in Bethel: standing there, watching from afar as Elijah and Elisha continued their journey.
Jericho means “place of fragrance”. It points to the servant’s witness to the world, to evangelization, to proclaiming the good news of salvation to people in need. It is the phase of instrumentality, when the servant exudes the “good fragrance of Christ” wherever he goes, drawing other people into the Lord’s presence.
Jordan
The last place Elijah and Elisha went to was the River Jordan. There, in front of the curious gaze of the sons of the prophets, who had stopped a long way off, Elijah folded his cloak and struck the waters of the Jordan with it. After this, the prophet Elijah was caught up to heaven in a whirlwind before Elisha’s eyes.
It was before the Jordan that Joshua and the people of Israel prepared to take possession of the Promised Land. The Jordan represents the moment of the rapture, when the heavens will open and the Lord Jesus and the faithful church will enter the Marriage of the Lamb. It is the final stage of our journey, which will only be completed if we continue to the end, without stopping at any point in our lives.
Final comment
The Word shows that the spiritual life is a dynamic walk, and that we must never stop so as not to miss the blessing of the rapture. While we are in God’s presence we have life, so we must walk in it every day until the moment of the rapture. At the end of his journey, Elisha needed to keep his eyes fixed on Elijah so as not to lose the blessing he had fought for.
So too, in this last hour, we must have the eyes of faith fixed on the Lord so that we can have the hope of being raptured too, where our mortal body will be transformed into an immortal body to have eternal life in all its fullness (I Cor 15: 51-54).
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