I invite you to turn in your Bibles tonight to the book of 2 Kings, 2 Kings 2, that's It's on page 356 in most of the Pew Bibles. 3, 5, 6. We take up again our consideration of the prophet Elisha. 2 Kings chapter 2. Now as long as there has been division of labor, Ever since Cain attended the crops and Abel attended the flocks, specialized knowledge and skills have been handed down from generation to generation. Very often they've been handed down within families. And we see this in family names that bear the mark of a family trade. Farmers became the boers. Blacksmiths became the smits. And the barrel makers became the coopers. But this kind of succession was not confined to families. We see in the history of the world that those with advanced knowledge and skills, we might call them masters, would set up schools or guilds. Many would come to learn, some of which would actually excel. And if we look at the prophets of the Old Testament, sometimes they used guilds for this purpose. To help prepare men for the prophetic office. And in our text tonight, we're going to encounter such a guild. In the NIV referred to as the Company of the Prophets in Bethel and in Jericho. Also known as the Sons of the Prophets. Now when a master discovered a particularly gifted student, he himself, he would take to himself this man as an apprentice. And he would invest himself in this apprentice until he was fully trained and qualified as a journeyman, able to work on his own. And some of you in the trades know what that's about. You pay your dues, you learn your way. And when you've proven yourself, you're known as a journeyman. Now when we consider the prophets, of course, the necessary gift was the gift of the Holy Spirit. We think of Moses. Moses complained he couldn't speak very well. That wasn't the necessary gift. And sometimes the master would not only work with his most able apprentice, sometimes he would take him into his home as his heir. So that in due time, the heir could take up his master's tools and continue his master's work. And this is the kind of relationship that existed between Elijah and Elisha. Now, we're familiar with the succession of kings in Israel and in Judah. We may not know them all by name, but we know that generation after generation, there was someone on the throne. And along the way, alongside them, sometimes opposed to them, were the prophets, generation after generation. Now, last time when we considered 1 Kings chapter 19, we saw not only the beginning of the end of Elijah's ministry, we got a glimpse of the future. The Lord not only commissioned Elijah to appoint Jehu to become the next king of Israel, He commissioned him to anoint Elisha to be the next prophet of Israel. And so now, four chapters later and eight years after Elijah called Elisha, they are together again in our text. Because the time has come for Elisha to inherit the tools of his master, his spiritual father, Elijah, and to take up his work as a prophet to Israel. The time had come for the anointing of Elisha, the prophet. Now, as we look through chapter 2, I'm going to read the chapter 2 in its entirety to you. It's a very beautiful and well-crafted piece of scripture. It begins in verses 1 through 7 with Elijah and Elisha's trek from Gilgal to the River Jordan, during which Elisha undergoes his final exam as Elijah's apprentice. The middle section and the focus of the story, in verses 8-14, takes place at the River Jordan, where Elisha requests and receives his full equipment, his full equipping as Elijah's successor. And it closes in verses 15-25 with Elisha's lone trek back up from the River Jordan, which introduces us to his faithful extension of Elijah's mission. So follow along as I read to you the Word of God, 2 Kings chapter 2 in its entirety. When the Lord is about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah 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. The 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. Then 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. the 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. Then 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. Fifty 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. Elijah 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. When 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. You've asked a difficult thing, Elijah said. Yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. Otherwise not. As 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. Elisha 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 clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah, he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. The company of the prophets from Jericho who were watching said, The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. Look, they said, we, your servants, have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley. No, Elisha replied, do not send them. But they persisted until he was too ashamed to refuse. So he said, send them. And they sent 50 men who searched for three days, but did not find him. When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, Didn't I tell you not to go? The men of the city said to Elisha, Look, our Lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive. Bring me a new bowl, he said, and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then they went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, This is what the Lord says. I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive. And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken. From there, Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. Go on up, you bald head, they said. Go on up, you bald head. He turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. and he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria here ends the reading of God's word many times before entering the promised land Israel had been warned against idolatry and just one such time is recorded in Deuteronomy chapter 11 beginning in verse 26 when Moses said see I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I commanded you today by following other gods which you have not known and if that weren't clear enough Moses went on in chapter 12 beginning in verse 2 destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing, worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and burn their Asherah poles in the fire. Cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, but you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all the tribes you put his, from among all your tribes to put his name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go. That place where all the people were to gather and worship the Lord was Jerusalem where Solomon had built the temple. But upon his death the nation was divided and to the north in Israel King Jeroboam established idols, golden calves at Bethel and at Dan. And he did it as a good politician. He didn't want the people traveling back to Jerusalem to worship. So he established worship there to pacify them, to keep them close to home, to preserve his power. And he brought the people of God under the curse. The curse of the covenant for worshiping the Canaanite gods. Especially Baal, who was called, who they called the rider on the clouds. The title that rightly belongs to Yahweh, the true God, as we sang about from Psalm 68 this morning. Now the prophet Elijah exposed Baal on Mount Carmel as a fraud. And now with his apprentice Elisha in tow, he was going to testify against Israel by way of a trek to the Jordan River. And along the way, Elisha would take his final exam as Elijah's apprentice. Now before we consider the nature of Elisha's exam, we want to look at this trek. If you remember the initial phase of Joshua's conquest of the land. You remember that Joshua led the people into the land through the Jordan. And once they crossed the Jordan, they rested at Gilgal and then they marched on Jericho where the walls came tumbling down. Then they moved on to Bethel and Ai that the Lord gave to them. Then they went to Mount Ebal and then back to Gilgal to rest before they went on the next stage of the conquest. now in verses 1 and 2 if you pay attention to the text here we find that Elijah and Elisha walked from Gilgal to Bethel and from Bethel to Jericho in verse 4 and from Jericho to the river Jordan in verses 6 and 7 I'm giving you audio visuals tonight because you need to see that they were walking in the opposite direction and it's clear that Elijah's trek wasn't planned on Expedia.com because it would have been over before it started. Gilgal is on the Jordan. This trip was planned by the Lord and he took Elijah away from the Jordan up to Bethel. And he had him retrace the steps of Joshua's conquest in reverse. The question is why? We get a clue when we notice which stop on the trip was missing. Mount Ebal. now remember during the conquest after Bethel and before coming back to the river to Gilgal they stopped at Mount Ebal the people were gathered there and there was a covenant renewal ceremony where the law was read sacrifices were offered and the people stood in the valley and one half the people pronounced from Mount Gerizim the blessings of the covenant for obedience and the other half from Mount Ebal the curses of the covenant for disobedience and in light of Israel's apostasy at the time of Elijah he did not stop there to renew the covenant because the covenant had been broken the curses were coming and by his trek in reverse he was testifying to the people of Israel that that is indeed what was happening the curses that they deserved for their sin were coming separation from the presence of God and ejection from the promised land. The wages of sin were going to be paid. And just as the purpose of this trek was God-ordained, so was the timing. We read in verse 1 that this trek began when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Now, it was during this trek, this trek that pictured judgment, that Elisha took his final exam. No pressure. Three times at Gilgal, at Bethel, and at Jericho, Elijah told him to stay here. And three times, Elijah made it clear that it was he who was the prophet. The Lord has called me to go to Gilgal. He's called me to go to Jericho. He's called me to go to Bethel. And three times, Elisha could have stayed behind. He could have been like the servant in 1 Kings chapter 19. Do you remember him? Probably not, because we never heard from him again. Yet each time, Elisha answered without hesitation and with firm resolve. He said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. And it makes us think of how the Lord Jesus Christ asked Peter three times to affirm his love for him. After three times, he had denied him and disowned him. But not only did Elijah put Elisha to the test, so did the prophets, the prophetic guilds. When Elijah and Elisha arrived at Bethel and at Jericho, the company of the prophets came out to meet Elisha alone. And each place they asked him the same question, Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? The guilds knew the time was now. Did he know? Both times he answered, yes, I know. But do not speak of it. We must not conclude that Elisha just doesn't want to trouble Elijah with all this noise. We must not conclude that Elisha is somehow so sad he doesn't want to hear any more sad news. Elisha answered them very sharply. He says, I know. Keep quiet. You see, their questions were a challenge to his aptitude and his readiness to succeed Elijah as prophet. Did he know the things he should know? I know. And their questions were a challenge in that they interfered with his efforts to catch up with Elijah. It's not hard to imagine that Elijah had kept at least one step ahead of Elisha from the time he called him, remember? He didn't even break his stride as he called him. He was on the move. and the reason I say this is from the text and if we read carefully you will hear when Elisha has graduated and he's no longer following behind his master from Gilgal we read in verse 2 that they went down to Bethel where the prophets approached Elisha who I believe was following behind and from Bethel we read in verse 4 they went to Jericho where Elisha was again approached still behind but at Jericho after Elisha answered Elijah's challenge for the third time we read a change in status we read in verse 6 that the two of them walked on and verse 7 says that the two of them stopped at the Jordan that's not revealed in your NIV they changed it to make the English a little more appealing but the two of them stopped at the Jordan and then in verse 8 the two of them crossed over on dry ground you see after having passed his examination as an apprentice Elisha the journeyman began to walk shoulder to shoulder with his master the two of them and we must bear this in mind as we look at the next section of this text as we move into verses 8 through 14 to consider Elisha's full equipping as Elijah's successor see the two of them stood at the edge of the Jordan and fifty sons of the prophets looked on to watch to see what was going to happen. And with his cloak rolled up like a staff in the power of the Spirit of God, Elijah struck the river so that the waters divided and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. And at that moment, the reversal of Joshua's conquest was complete as they stood together outside the promised land. Once outside the promised land, verse 9, Elijah turned to Elisha and he invites him to ask something of him. Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you? Now, this invitation is not as open-ended as it may sound. Elijah's not opening it up for Elisha to ask for anything in the world. He's asking him to ask a specific thing. He's saying, what shall I do for you? before I'm taken away from you. The time is now. The time had come. The master was going. Therefore, the time had come for the apprentice, the heir, to ask for his inheritance. And without hesitation, Elisha asked for the lawful inheritance of a firstborn son in Israel. And that's a double portion of everything his father had. And what did Elisha have? Nothing but the coat on his back and the Spirit of God. and he said let me inherit a double portion of your spirit I want to be your heir and Elijah answered you have asked a difficult thing now the difficulty was not in the granting for it was not Elijah's to give it was God's to give the difficulty was in the receiving remember what Jesus taught his disciples from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. The road ahead for Elijah would be a hard road for it was a road of conquest, a road of battle in the name of the Lord. Now the granting of this request was up to the Lord. It was up to His will and Elijah answered. So he says, if you see me, when I'm taken from you, it will be yours. If not, then it won't. so the stage is set the time has come and it seems they're ready and still it took them by surprise we read it as they were walking along and talking together suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them Elijah went up to heaven in the whirlwind and Elijah and Elisha stood alone on the earth and watched. He cried out, My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel. At this moment, this is the climax of the story. And often at this climactic moment, our eyes follow the horsemen, the fiery chariots to heaven as Elisha watched. It doesn't stop there. That's not what it's about. It's about the separation. Elisha's transportation and Elisha remains. Now, we would get confused if we hear in Elisha's words a warning to Elijah. This is how I think we often hear it. Somehow warning Elijah about the cherries and the horses of fire that are coming. But we need to recognize from the narrative here that when Elisha spoke, The warrior Lord, the true rider on the clouds, had already come. He'd already taken up Elijah in his chariot. You see, Elijah had fought the good fight and his tour of duty was done and he was off the field. So, Elisha's cry was not one of warning. It was one of mourning. So, he tore his clothes. So, what does his cry mean? It means not only that Elijah mourned his personal loss of his mentor, his spiritual father, if you will. More importantly, he mourned the corporate loss to Israel. You see, in the warfare of Israel, to have the prophet of God was to have the army of God. We'll see that in chapters 3 and 6. To have the prophet of God was to have the army of God. And with the ascension of Elijah, the Lord of hosts removed his general from the field. The strength of the people of God was not found in their kings, not found in their armies. It was found in the Holy Spirit of God. As the Lord told Zechariah, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty. And in taking away Elijah, the Lord had taken away the chariots and horsemen of Israel. He had taken away their strength. The victors would now be the victims. in the ascension of Elijah the spirit of the Lord departed from Israel the ultimate judgment the ultimate curse this is a low moment in the life of Israel and yet for the sake of saving his people the Lord showed mercy by clothing Elisha with his spirit so that he became the chariots and horsemen of Israel. We know this if we sneak ahead in this book to chapter 13, verse 14. To Elisha's deathbed. And there, when there's no chariots or horses of fire in sight, nothing spectacular going on, King Jehoash, the king of Israel, wept over Elisha and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel. In Elijah's ascension, the spirit was removed. But out of mercy, the Lord gave the spirit again to Elisha. Because Elisha had seen Elijah's ascension, he was assured that he had inherited the spirit of the Lord. And so he took up the cloak of the prophet that testified to it, And he returned to the bank of the Jordan, and there, in the power of the Spirit, he called upon the God of Elijah as his own. And he struck the waters, just as Elijah had done. The waters parted, and he crossed over back into the Promised Land. Can you hear the echoes of Moses and Joshua here? How Moses died and was buried outside the Promised Land so that the conquest was left to Joshua. And we read in Deuteronomy chapter 34 that the spirit of wisdom was passed from Moses to Joshua for this very purpose. Elijah ascended to heaven outside the promised land so that the new conquest was left to Elisha. This time with the word of God instead of with the word or with the sword. Now, Elisha alone saw the ascension of Elijah. That's how he knew that he'd inherited the double portion. He'd got the inheritance. But there's more in our text that attest to his equipping for his faithful extension of Elijah's mission. The first attestation was the dividing of the river Jordan with the prophet's mantle so that he crossed over on dry land. The company of the prophets who were watching from the other side of the river saw it and confessed together the spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha. They knew immediately. And they met him near the river's edge and they bowed down before him in submission. And even so, even so they saw and they confessed. It seems they did not fully understand what had happened across the Jordan. So by the time they met Elisha, they'd come up with a plan. We have 50 men. We want to send them to find Elijah. Maybe he's on a mountain. Maybe he's in the valley someplace. We want to bring him home. they believed that the Spirit of God was on Elisha. But they did not yet believe that Elijah was really gone for good. But Elisha knew that he was and he told them, don't send them, don't go. But they insisted. And our English translation seemed to suggest that the company of prophets shamed Elisha into giving them permission. When it is more likely that Elisha let them go because he was ashamed of them. like the apostle thomas they would not be persuaded that elijah had gone until they could see for themselves they were walking by sight rather than by faith in the word of the lord's prophet who was right before them and told him not to go elisha accommodated them he showed them mercy letting them go to see just as jesus accommodated thomas and was prepared to have him touch his hands and his wound in his side. But their failure to find the body of Elijah was the second attestation, the second proof that in fact Elisha had taken Elijah's place. And the story closes in verses 19 through 25 where we find Elisha following in the footsteps of Joshua to reconquer the land. We're not going to spend time on the details here tonight. I just want you to see the flow of Elisha's walk. He crossed through the Jordan on dry ground. He went to Jericho, and then from Jericho to Bethel. Now, next we would expect him to go to Mount Ebal. But he didn't go there. But we do see him apply the curse of the covenant at Bethel and the blessing of the covenant at Jericho. We see that element portrayed in his walk. From Jericho to Bethel, blessing and cursing. And then, instead of going back to Gilgal, he goes back to Samaria by way of Mount Carmel. Who does that remind you of? Elijah. See, Elisha came full circle. Once the inheritance was given, once he was anointed as prophet, and once he re-entered the land, he re-entered the land to pick up where Elijah had left off and to continue his mission in Samaria. And that's what we will be considering in the months ahead, including next time we'll look at Jericho and Bethel. But the anointing of Elisha as prophet was an important event in the history of Israel. They were on the verge of destruction. Through Elijah, the judgment of God was brought against the nation of Israel for their apostasy, their denial of God in their pursuit of false gods. And his judgment was displayed in the reversal of the conquest and Elijah's ascension into heaven outside the land. Yet the Lord had promised, the Lord had promised Abraham that he would bless all the nations of the earth through his seed. Therefore, he showed Israel mercy by sending Elisha back. Enabled by the Holy Spirit to bring the word of God, His mercy was portrayed in Elisha's march back into the land. And with him came the opportunity to repent and believe the promise. This pattern of salvation through judgment and mercy is repeated throughout Israel's history. Because it is the way of salvation. The way of salvation that would be in their time accomplished, and has been accomplished in our time, in the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham. Can you see in their trek to the Jordan, a shadow of the trek that Jesus began in Luke chapter 9 verse 51. First one of our text, when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way to Gilgal. Luke, chapter 9, verse 51, as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Why was he going there? He was going there to suffer the curse of God against sin and to be killed. Like Elijah, Jesus announced the judgment of God against sin by his death. But more than Elijah, Jesus suffered that judgment in his own sinless flesh on a cursed cross for the sins of his people. And when he was raised to life on the third day, he secured eternal life for them as well. And like Elisha, Jesus passed the test of commitment to the will of his Father. But more than Elisha, Jesus perfectly obeyed in all things, even death on a cross. So that he earned the promised inheritance of the Spirit, not for himself, but for his people. Can you hear in the ascension of Elijah and the inheritance of Elisha? a foretelling of the ascension of Jesus and the inheritance He gives His church. In Acts chapter 1, after His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus met with His disciples. And we read in Acts chapter 1, that when they met together, they asked Him, Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. Elijah was cut off from the land when he crossed through the Jordan. and he was taken up in a fiery and powerful whirlwind to heaven to be with his Lord forever. He was the power of God for his people, and he was taken away so that Elisha mourned. But the Lord granted to Elisha the Holy Spirit so that the work of redemption could continue in Israel and to the nations. Jesus was cut off from the land when He died on the cross of Calvary. And He was taken up in the glory cloud to sit at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus Christ is the power of God for His people. And when He went away, His disciples mourned. And then they remembered that unlike Elijah the Lord, Jesus Christ was not staying at the right hand of His Father forever. He was coming again. He would return on the clouds of power and glory to conquer His enemies and to establish His people. On that day, unbelievers will be paid the eternal death that they have earned. And on that day, believers in Jesus Christ will inherit the free gift of eternal life that He has earned for us. And in the meantime, today is the day of salvation. In the meantime, when Elisha went back into the land, there was hope to hear the Word of God and repent and to believe. And today, empowered by the Holy Spirit, inherited from Christ at Pentecost, the church continues to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, even here, right now. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 1, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. For in the gospel, righteousness from God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith from first to last. Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. As was pictured by Elijah, the justice of God is coming. he's coming in judgment against sin, against your sin and against my sin. It's pictured by Elisha. The mercy of God is promised to you. If you will repent of your sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, to save you from the coming judgment, because he can. He's already endured it for his people. Through faith in him, his righteous life, His saving death and the power of His resurrection are yours. Repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we bow before you this evening and thank you for your word. We thank you for your sovereignty in the history of this world and in particular the history of redemption that is played out before our eyes this evening in the anointing of Elisha's prophet. Indeed, these men fulfilled a purpose in their day to the nation of Israel, that they would be warned of your judgment to come against their sin, of the death of their apostasy deserved. And yet, Lord, in your mercy, you sent back the word of God that they might hear the promise that they might repent and believe and yet turn around. We thank you, Father, that from that episode in the history of Israel, which as a nation ultimately failed because they denied Christ, that we can see the truth of what is transacted in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and His relationship to the church. We thank you, Father, that He has come to take the punishment that we deserve, the judgment that your justice demands. And has opened the way for all who will hear the gospel's promise to repent of their sins before a holy God and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that he has lived and he has died and he has been raised for his people. That we might have hope. And know that in him we will stand when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. Thank you, Father, that we can hear your word, that we can hear the promise and that by Your Spirit You will work through it to call Your people to Yourself. Lord, as Your people, we pray, come, Lord Jesus, and make our faith sight. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.