A Man Taken to Heaven

From: Messages of God's Love: 1939

2 Kings 2:1-19¹And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. ²And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Beth-el. ³And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. ⁴And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. ⁵And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. ⁶And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. ⁷And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. ⁸And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. ⁹And 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. ¹⁰And 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. ¹¹And 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. ¹²And 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. ¹³He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; ¹⁴And 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. ¹⁵And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. ¹⁶And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. ¹⁷And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. ¹⁸And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? ¹⁹And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. (2 Kings 2:1‑19)

For many years the prophet Elijah had spoken to the kings of Israel whatever words God had told him. It was not easy to do that, because the kings did not want to hear God’s words or obey Him, and they often tried to kill this man, so he had to hide from them.

At last, God showed Elijah that he should be taken to heaven, and told him to go to the river Jordan. There were others who had heard that Elijah was to go to heaven, and they came toward the river and waited. But Elisha kept close to his master, and Elijah struck the water of the river with his mantle, and the waters divided each way, leaving a path in the wide river, so Elijah and Elisha walked across.

That was very wonderful, but a greater thing was to happen. As they walked on together, a chariot of fire with horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind.

Elisha stood by watching and called, “My father, my father!” for Elijah was as a father to him. This was a wondrous sight as no other has seen. All God’s acts are greater than we can understand, but we can believe and honor Him. Elisha took the mantle which had fallen from Elijah and went to the river, and struck the water with the mantle, calling on the Lord, Who again divided the river for Elisha to cross back.

The men who had watched Elijah and Elisha. cross over the river came to Elisha, and said that fifty strong men would go to hunt for Elijah, across on the mountains or valleys. You see they had not fully believed God’s words that He would take Elijah to heaven.

Elisha, said that they should not go to look, but they urged more, so he said to go. But they could not find Elijah. He no longer was hiding in mountains or deserts for fear of the angry king; he was with the Lord. And long after, there are wondrous words written of Elijah being with Moses coming from heaven to talk with the Lord Jesus while He was on earth (Mark 9:2-8²And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. ³And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. ⁴And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. ⁶For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. ⁷And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. ⁸And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. (Mark 9:2‑8)).

You will see that the name, Elijah, and also, Elisha, are not spelled the same in the New Testament, because it was first written in Greek and the Old Testament in Hebrew, but the meanings are the same. (See Luke 4:25-27²⁵But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; ²⁶But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. ²⁷And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. (Luke 4:25‑27)).

Do you know the name of another man who was taken to heaven without dying? (Gen. 5:24²⁴And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (Genesis 5:24); Heb. 11:5⁵By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5)).

ML 04/16/1939

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