Elijah and John the Baptist both were taken early in their ministry and their successor received a double portion of Spirit of what they had

Part 12...2 Kings 2

Just before the Lord was about to receive Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah went with Elisha to Gilgal. Elisha would be Elijah’s successor, like Jesus Christ succeeding the ministry of John the Baptist. We can easily envision John wanting to be with Jesus, to be walking with Him side-by-side, and to go where Jesus went. At the same time, John would want to protect Jesus and deter Him from any danger.

Elijah said to Elisha to stay in Gilgal as Elijah would go on to Bethel. Elijah wanted to protect Elisha from the murderous intent of those who despised true Prophets of God. However, Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” We can envision Jesus Christ reassuring John that He would not leave him. When they were both in Bethel, some of the prophets came to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!” We can envision Jesus Christ being aware and even informed that John the Baptist would be taken from this world. We can also envision Jesus saying, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

Elijah also went with Elisha to Jericho, but not before this exchange, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” Even in Jericho, they were speaking to Elisha of how Elijah would be taken from this earth, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” We can envision that everywhere Jesus Christ went He was aware, and even informed by others, that John the Baptist would be taken from this earth, and His reply might have been, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

Elijah and Elisha also went to the Jordan, where fifty men of the sons of the prophets were watching them intently from a distance. The Jordan is where John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus both baptized, and they were watched intently by the corrupt and unapproving Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes. John Baptized Jesus in the Jordan, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Matthew 3:13-14 This following verse speaks of the baptisms performed under Jesus Christ, “Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.” John 4:1-3

When Elijah and Elisha were at the Jordan river together, Elijah rolled up his mantle/shawl, struck the water and the water was divided so that Elijah and Elisha could cross over on dry ground. This is like John the Baptist preparing the way of Jesus Christ, and also represents John and Jesus being able to cross over into a right relationship with God and away from the corruption of the world.

While at the Jordan river, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” That is exactly what Jesus Christ received, a double portion of the Spirit of God, in that Jesus was the Son of God born of the Spirit of God, where John was filled with the Holy Spirit to prepare the way for Jesus the Christ. Jesus asked John to baptize Him, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John…As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13, 16-17

Elijah said to Elisha, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” Jesus Christ certainly did live during the time when John the Baptist was murdered by Herod, and we can envision our Lord Jesus saying to God His Father something to the effect of, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”

Elisha picked up where Elijah left off, in the same way that Jesus the Christ picked up where John the Baptist left off, except with a “double portion” of the Spirit of God. Like Elijah who parted the waters, Elisha did also. Likewise, like John the Baptist who parted the waters between the spiritually corrupt and those faithful to God, so did Jesus Christ.

The fifty sons of the prophets who were watching Elijah and Elisha said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” Jesus Christ was constantly compared to John the Baptist, “At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” Matthew 14:1-2 And also, “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah…” Matthew 16:13-14

The sons of the prophets wanted Elisha to send his fifty servants to search for the body of Elijah because they could not believe that Elijah was received into Heaven, “perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” This was certainly the case with the body of John the Baptist, “John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.” Matthew 14:12 Elisha did not want anyone to go search for Elija’s body, “And he said, “You shall not send anyone.” Elisha knew that Elijah would not be found, “…they searched for three days but did not find him... “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” Like Elisha, who did not want anyone to look for the living among the dead, Jesus Christ says to us, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:22

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“And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they went down to Bethel. Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

Then Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So they came to Jericho. Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?” So he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent!”

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!” So the two of them went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan.

 Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask! What may I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 

Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!”

So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. Then they said to him, “Look now, there are fifty strong men with your servants. Please let them go and search for your master, lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send anyone.”

But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send them!” Therefore they sent fifty men, and they searched for three days but did not find him. And when they came back to him, for he had stayed in Jericho, he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

2 Kings 2