We have seen previously that the person of Elijah can be considered from more than one aspect: as prophet, as a type of the forerunner of Christ, as a type of Christ. It is likewise with Elisha. He is first of all a picture of the perfect servant.
From the day when, meeting Elisha, Elijah had cast his prophet’s mantle upon him, the newcomer had faithfully followed and served his master; moreover, he was only known as the one who “poured water on the hands of Elijah” (1 Kings 19:2121And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. (1 Kings 19:21); 2 Kings 3:1111But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. (2 Kings 3:11)). As is becoming for a true servant, until he enters upon his public ministry he keeps himself in the background and one hears no more said of him. While possessing the prophetic mantle which had been conferred upon him by Elijah so that he could exercise judgment over the land of Israel in his stead, he did not use it until his master had been taken up, when he would receive along with a double measure of Elijah’s spirit a second prophetic mantle fallen from heaven, which would render him capable of exercising a ministry of grace.
Elisha is a beautiful example of the Christian, the servant of Christ. There where his master is, he will be (John 12:2626If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. (John 12:26)). At Bethel and at Jericho the sons of the prophets say to him, “Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head today?” He responds, “I also know it: be silent.” His knowledge cannot be communicated to him by the sons of the prophets, for he is a prophet himself by virtue of a special divine order. But that which distinguishes him above all is that he has left all to follow his master, his sole object, the sole source of blessing for his soul. Without Elijah, Elisha is nothing and desires to be nothing; Elijah above all is the one upon whom his affections are centered: “As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee!” Elijah had said to him: ‘Abide here, I pray thee; for Jehovah has sent me to Bethel,” then “to Jericho,” then “to the Jordan!” “Jehovah has sent me”; this shows Elijah’s obedience; but if Elijah obeys, ought not Elisha follow him?
It is the same for us; we can be sure we are following God’s way in following that of Christ. Elisha had not received any special direction for his guidance, but he is attached to Elijah who had received direction, and who to him was the man of God, God’s representative.
Elisha’s faith is tested all along the way. “Abide here, I pray thee,” the prophet says to him. Abide at Gilgal, at the place of self-judgment, of judgment of the flesh, at the place where the reproach of Egypt had been rolled away from the people. Begin the history of Israel once again. No, that would be to begin again a test that could not be passed. The one sent of God alone could follow this path —As Jehovah liveth, I will cling to him. Elisha passes through Gilgal with Elijah, as we do with Christ. “I will not leave thee!’ Begin it again for ourself? Never! Our Gilgal is the cross, the circumcision of the Christ. Just as we too can do, Elisha had found in Elijah all that Gilgal could offer him, and in fact, when he later recrosses the Jordan, Gilgal no longer is a part of his route.
At Bethel, the place of the sure promises made to the fathers... Abide here, says Elijah. You will not fail to obtain them from a God who cannot lie, since you have passed through Gilgal with me.—No, I will not leave thee. If you do not receive them now, how shall I obtain them without you? When you shall have obtained them, then will be the time for me to dwell at Bethel.
And see, now the sons of the prophets are trying his faith. Will you go further, seeing that your master is going to be taken up from you? “I also know it: be silent.” You cannot understand the motive behind what I am doing. It is he, himself. It is his person that draws me and that is everything to me. To be separated from him for an instant would be to lose a blessing that I know but feebly yet, that I sense with my heart more than with my understanding, but which I shall certainly have if I do not leave him, for I know that he will attain it.
Abide at Jericho, Elisha, says Elijah; as for me, I am sent further. No, could I ever feel the curse hovering over this city more than thou? Since thou, my lord and master, dost not remedy this today, could I remedy it myself? For that I should have to have a personal power, and that I have only in thee. As long as I do not have it, why should I be stopping here? Be silent, prophets!
“Jehovah has sent me to the Jordan?” Here there is no more summons to abide. Elijah takes Elisha with him, leads him through the river of death in the power of the Spirit which death cannot resist, in the triumphant power of a life that it cannot swallow up. A mantle belonging to Elijah is able to do these things. Oh, what a blessed association for Elisha! “They two went on: “They two stood by the Jordan?” “They two went over on dry ground:” Elijah does not go over for himself alone, but in order to let Elisha pass over with him. Elisha, this alter ego of Elijah’s, will come forth out of death with him and will then return in deliverance for Israel!
The sons of the prophets who had foretold Elijah’s being taken up do not play a useless role here. In them prophecy is the witness at a distance of the victory over death, as also a little later of the return in grace for Israel of a double measure of the spirit of Elijah that Elisha is going to receive. They say: “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha” (2 Kings 2:1515And 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. (2 Kings 2:15)).
Now when they two had passed over the Jordan Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for thee, before I am taken away from thee.” Elisha answered, “I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” And he said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee; but if not, it shall not be so.” (2 Kings 2:9-109And 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. (2 Kings 2:9‑10)).
For Elisha to obtain this double portion it was not enough that his faith and his affection for his master should be put to the test. Watchfulness was also necessary in order that he might not lose the prophet from sight at the moment of his departure. “They went on and talked” (2 Kings 2:1111And 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. (2 Kings 2:11)), apparently occupied with various subjects, but Elisha’s eye kept but one object in its field of vision. He could be interested in all the things the rich heart of his master was communicating to him, but his eye was simple. He just did not want to miss that solemn moment. We are not called, as was Elisha, or as the first disciples, to see Jesus ascending to heaven in the cloud, but should we not have the same attitude with regard to His coming as they did to His departure? Should we not, if we truly love Him, wait for Him without distraction while walking and talking as we fulfill our daily responsibilities? For it is a matter of seeing Him “in the twinkling of an eye.” Oh, that our expectation might be a continual and watchful one like that of Elijah’s servant!
“And it came to pass as they went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire; and they parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into the heavens. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father! The chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof, And he saw him no more.”
This chariot and these horses of fire were angels (2 Kings 6:1717And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17)), corresponding in their appearance to Elijah’s character who, as a prophet of the law, had acted by the fire of judgment in the midst of Israel. It was not at all this way at the ascension of the Savior. An angelic train sent to serve Him or to carry Him into heaven was in no way necessary. He went up by His own power, having been declared Son of God in power by resurrection. A cloud, the dwelling place of the divine glory, received Him at once and carried Him up from before the eyes of His disciples (Acts 1:99And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9)). Our ascension will be like unto His (1 Thess. 4:1717Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)). But when He as Son of Man will return to judge the world, He shall be revealed from Heaven “with the angels of His power, in flaming fire” (2 Thess. 1:7-87And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (2 Thessalonians 1:7‑8)), and we ourselves and all the saints, the hosts of heaven, shall be accompanied by myriads of angels (Rev. 19:1414And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14); Heb. 12:2222But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22); Jude 1414And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, (Jude 14); Deut. 33:22And he said, The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. (Deuteronomy 33:2); Zech. 14:55And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zechariah 14:5)). And when He shall come as Messiah, Jehovah will give charge to His angels who will bear Him up in their hands, lest He dash His foot against a stone (Psa. 91:11-1211For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Psalm 91:11‑12)).
Elisha cries out, “My father!” thus showing that he according to the word of Elijah had seen his patron going up to heaven, but he also acknowledges in him the true Israel: “the chariot of Israel!” This exclamation again proves how much all this scene in type presents to us Christ as the great prophet of Israel and not as the Savior in relation to the Church. It is as Prophet, as the true Sent One, the true Messiah, the true Israel, that He is sent into the heavens here; it is as Son of Man and Son of God, as Lord and Savior, that He has been translated there and that He will come again for us.
Elijah’s mantle fell down upon him, because his servant had seen him going up to heaven. Now this mantle belonged to Elisha. Likewise we shall always have the power of the spirit with us if we are attached to Christ and if our eyes follow Him on high.
Elisha tears his own garments in two. They will henceforth serve him no longer, for he possesses Elijah’s mantle, the double portion of his spirit. It is in this power that he will walk in the midst of Israel. May it be likewise with us! May we tear up our old garment after having put on Christ, that we may present Him in testimony to the world!