Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Monday, July 20, 2015

Based Upon 2 Kings 2:10–11

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“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. 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.”

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I can remember being a new, zealous believer in 1996. I had just been baptized, and I loved the Lord the best I knew how (still do)! I was a member of a vibrant church of many hundreds of members, and many hundreds of regular visitors. We had one elder who often prayed the pastoral prayer over the congregation. He was a lovely gentleman, but he had a habit of praying something I thought was kind of dumb, quite frankly. He would say something like this: “Lord, please give us a double portion of your Holy Spirit.” I thought, “What is that? If God is infinite, what is a double portion of that?” Well, I neglected to mention to you that I had not yet read a lot of Scripture as I critiqued his prayer with my limited knowledge of biblical mathematics. But, then I had the privilege of experiencing our theme text, and I read that Elisha asked Elijah for a…get this, “DOUBLE PORTION of his spirit!” What? That’s right, Elisha was so enthralled by the movements of God upon the life of Elijah, that he made request for double of God’s presence and power upon his life and ministry. That, my friends, is what you call expectant faith. Now I realize that the elder was onto something big. As it is written, God is more willing to give us His Spirit, than we are to ask.

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When you have an opportunity read through 2 Kings 2. You will find that the news of Elijah’s soon departure from earth had spread through the society of God’s prophets like wild fire. They had heard that the Lord was going to take Elijah to heaven soon, without ever experiencing death or resurrection. What an honor! Whenever sons of the prophets would talk about Elijah’s soon departure, Elisha would make a sound similar to our, “Hush.” I am sure he did not want to be away from his master. Whenever Elijah would ask him to stay in a given place while he went on, Elisha refused. He wanted to spend every waking moment with his friend. I am sure there is a lesson in this for us. Eventually, as you have read, Elijah promised his son in the faith that he would receive a double portion of God’s Spirit if he actually witnessed God take Elijah to heaven. Do you think Elisha took his eyes off Elijah? I am sure there is a lesson in this for us. As Elisha followed his master, and Elijah enjoyed his son’s company, there must have been incredible moments of joy and anticipation, along with some foreboding concerning their soon separation. At a time neither of them knew, the Lord would take Elijah to heaven. I am sure there is a lesson in this for us. I feel like I am saying that a lot!

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Then it happened: The Bible says, “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. 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. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; 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.” (2 Kings 2:11–14). Elisha stood gazing into heaven as the Lord carried his master away into heaven. And Elisha stood now with Elijah’s mantle, and a double portion of the Spirit of God who...