Beam Me Up
2Kings2
When
the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and
Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 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. 3 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,
“so be quiet.” 4 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. 5 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, “so be quiet.” 6
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. 7 Fifty men from the company of the
prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha
had stopped at the Jordan. 8 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. 9 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. 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, it will not.” 11 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. 12
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 garment and tore
it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and
went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had
fallen from Elijah 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.
Please gather your
thoughts on God's reason for having this story and these personalities in the
Bible:
Elijah lived approx 900 years before Christ. His name means
'MY GOD IS YAHWEH'. Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh over that of the
Canaanite god Baal, which he considered to be false idol worship. King Ahab and
his queen Jezebel had killed all of the Jewish prophets and they were looking
to finally get rid of Elijah who had prophesied that there would be a drought
and a famine for 3 1/2 years.
Alone, Elijah challenged 850 false priests to have their God
light with fire an altar of wood with an animal sacrifice. The false priests
prayed to Baal day and night with no success. When it was Elijah's turn, he had
the attendants pour four large barrels of water over the altar 3 times.
As soon as he started to pray, the fire that came down from heaven was so
powerful that the entire altar, wood, animal, rocks and even the dust were
completely consumed. Our One True God was revealed.
Elijah performed several other miracles including
resurrecting the dead son of a widow who had fed him at the start of the
drought with her final small portion of flour and oil. Her small portion
miraculously lasted for 3 ½ years until the end of the drought.
NOTE: 900 years later Elijah appears with Moses in the transfiguration of
Christ where we see the majestic glory of Jesus. This symbolizes that Christ is
the fulfillment of THE LAW (Moses) and THE PROPHETS (Elijah). Christ was
manifested as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Elisha was Elijah's apprentice and ended up replacing him
and he ended up performing twice as many miracles in his lifetime because he
had asked for a double-portion of what Elijah had. He is best known for the
leper-curing miracle of Naaman, the commander of the army.
So, why is this “Beam Me Up” story so important?
Thoughts: we have a one true God, the afterlife is real, Christ is the Messiah - the Son of God, etc.
Thoughts: we have a one true God, the afterlife is real, Christ is the Messiah - the Son of God, etc.