This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Life of Elijah” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, September 25, 1988.

We are in 2 Kings 2. And once more we will be reading the first 18 verses of this chapter. hear the word of God and it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal and Elijah said to Elisha please stay here for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel but Elisha said as the Lord lives and as you yourself live I will not leave you So they went down to Bethel.

Then 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, be still. And Elijah said to him, Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But he said, As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today? And he answered, Yes, I know, be still. Then Elijah said to him, Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

So the two of them went on. Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters. And they were divided here and there so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

Now it came about when they had crossed over that Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. He said, you have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so far. It shall be so for you. But if not, it shall not be so. Then it came about, as they were going along and talking, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, which separated the two of them.

And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. And Elijah saw it and cried out, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horses. And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? And when he had also struck the waters, they were divided here and there. and Elisha crossed over. Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha.

And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said to him, Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and search for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send. When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent there four fifty men, and they searched three days. They did not find him. They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, Did I not say to you, Do not send?

Our Lord, your word has been sent forth from you in heaven, and you have been pleased, O God, to establish your word through what would be considered in the world the foolishness of preaching. So, Lord, we ask, may That foolishness, in fact, appeared to those who are being saved as pure wisdom. To the ends of the earth, then, you called your own, and they, though looked upon as being quite foolish in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of heaven, they are looked upon as those who have embraced the wisdom from on high. O Lord, may your word be precious to us, and may we be guided by it all of our days. For surely your word instructs us in salvation that is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Amen. We come to our last message this evening on 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 1. We have listed for you the four elements that we find in this text. So far we have dealt with three of them. The first was the phrase, to Paragon, and we saw in that phrase the declaration somewhat uncommon to the Old Testament, the declaration of the destination of all of those who would be considered to be friends of Elijah, those blessed of the Lord, to heaven. Not just Elijah’s destination, but our destination also. Then we talked about the world the whirlwind in effect being the means by which Elijah is carried up. To that is added the chariot of fire with the forces of fire later on in the story. We saw in the whirlwind a sign of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

How is it that we shall be brought to that world above? How is it that we ourselves shall undergo transformation and be translated from one world to another? Indeed, by the Holy Spirit of God. What then is the ministry of the Holy Spirit now that the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church? We live this side of Pentecost. We live this side of the giving of the Spirit to the Church of Jesus Christ. And what is the ministry of that Spirit?

Well, you know, the ministry of that Spirit is one of transformation. That we might be changed. That we might be changed. Changed so that we are made more and more to look like our Savior. Even now, He is at work in us, transforming us so that we would look more and more like Him.

We then went on to speak about the third element, which was the phrase, from Gilgal. And in that, we began to trace the circuit of this ancient circuit writer, Elijah, and after him, Elisha. And before them, we spoke about the circuit of Samuel, the prophets then, moving from city to city, their presence being of great significance. For as they came into those cities, their presence was a message in itself, their very a message from God, a prophecy from the Lord, an imposition of the word of the Lord upon people there, and even more than that, in the selection of the sites. As, for instance, we move here from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho, a movement that commemorates significant events in the life of the people of God. so that as the Prophet comes, those events that transpired in those towns, in those cities, are brought to mind again, and the people are chastised, corrected, encouraged, enlightened by the Prophet in that particular place.

So we have the ultimate destination heaven. the means by which we arrive at that destination, the world, the circuit, as the prophet of the Lord, with the word of the Lord, makes his rounds, and that word is heard for the people of God, they being corrected or encouraged unto the ultimate destination and the significance of God’s workings with his people. to the last man, which is the phrase, with Elisha, with Elisha. And in that, the transition that is being signaled from Elijah to Elisha, the movement from one prophet to another, from one administration to another, and what that transition in administration is to teach us. What are we to learn? All right. Number four, our final message on these verses. Elijah. Let me ask you the question. Who is greater? Elijah or Elijah? Who is greater? Elijah or Elijah?

So let’s look at these two figures in the passages in which they appear together. First of all, let’s turn back to 1 Kings chapter 19. The story there of the call and ordination of Elisha by Elijah. We’re at the end of that chapter, 1 Kings 19. You’ll recall that this is that very dramatic account of Elijah’s confrontation with the Lord. You might remember that we had whirlwinds and earthquakes and fire all spoken about in that dramatic account of Elijah’s confrontation with God at Mount Horeb, and then finally his confrontation with the Lord in the Word of God, sometimes understood as the still small voice. Well, we’re acquainted with that. We’re also acquainted with what led up to that, namely the discouragement and fear of Elijah.

Jezebel is out to get him. In fact, she will stop at nothing short of his execution. He, in terror and in great distress, if not overcome with depression, flees the northern territories of the land of Israel through the southern regions of Judah out into the desert for Horeb. fleeing for his life, but at the same time saying, as he goes, Lord, take from me my life. Death is better to me than living.

Alright, well, that’s the background of that passage, and then the confrontation with the Lord comes, and then in verse 15, the Lord commissions Elijah further and tells him to go on his way. He has work to accomplish yet, and one of the tasks that he has to yet accomplish is the anointing of a prophet in his stead, namely this man Elisha. The man Elisha, verse 16.

So down to verses 19 through 21, as we have then that confrontation between the two of them, asking ourselves the question, who, after all, is the greater? Well, on the one hand, it appears to us from this passage that Elijah is definitely the greater. From this passage, it appears that Elijah is definitely the greater. How so?

Well, first of all, Elisha is merely to carry on the ministry that had been given originally to Elijah. Elisha, a mere extension of that ministry of Elijah’s. So, Elijah has the preeminence. He is the one who is seemingly more important. In this regard, it is Elijah’s mantle that Elisha receives, that sign of authority, that sign of power, responsibility, office. It is Elijah’s mantle that Elisha receives.

And then lastly, in this regard, you note the last verse of the chapter and the last words. We are told there that Elisha followed Elijah as a servant would follow a master. And Elisha ministers to Elijah, the lesser serving the greater. all of them, suggesting to us that Elijah indeed is the greater. But that’s not all that’s here. There’s a flip side. For while on the one hand Elijah appears to be the greater, on the other hand, Elisha seems to take center stage and gain You see, Elijah’s work is apparently incomplete without the subsequent service and ministry labor of Elisha. In this regard, it seems that Elijah’s ministry is merely preparatory for the ministry of Elisha.

In this respect, then, Elisha takes prominence. Also, Elisha in this story that concludes 1 Kings 19, is portrayed as one who almost immediately, there’s a slight hesitation, Yet, Elisha is portrayed as the one who immediately, seemingly immediately, understands the transcendent character of the kingdom.

Now you grasp what I’m speaking about when I talk of the transcendent character of the kingdom. The kingdom transcends the world, the earth. The kingdom is ultimately of heaven, and in keeping with that destination, that Elijah, by the whirlwind, eventually comes to. The transcendent kingdom of God. It is Elisha, here, that seemingly understands that transcendent character of the kingdom of God.

How so? will notice the imagery of these verses. Elisha is confronted by Elijah when Elisha is plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, the number twelve being of great significance. And when Elijah then calls him, he goes after Elijah and asks him leave so that he can return to kiss his father and mother goodbye. But, on his return, note what he does. This is no excuse by Elisha to hold out and to find more time for himself to an effect put at arm’s length that call from the Lord for time. No, when he returns, he takes those oxen and he sacrifices them, boiling their flesh, and the implements of the oxen he gives them to the people and they eat.

The twelve oxen are indicative of the prosperity that comes to the twelve tribes, to Israel as a whole. And when Elisha executes, in effect, when he kills those oxen, in effect sacrifices those oxen, he is cutting loose himself from that prosperity that is invariably connected with the land. He now has no ties. He no longer has ties to merely the land and its promise of prosperity. And in effect is turning his back as he goes on after Elijah, turning his back upon those things for something far greater.

What is it that is far greater? It is that kingdom to which earthly Israel pointed, an eternal transcendent kingdom above. In this respect, Elisha seems to be the greater, especially when contrasted with Elijah’s hesitation. What’s the beginning of 1 Kings 19 all about? What is the struggle of Elijah all about, as he wrestles with his own importance and significance? The heart of that struggle for Elijah is, what about the promises concerning the land, and the prosperity of the people of God in the land? So by the time he reaches hope, perplexed as he is, he is given instruction by the Lord there as to what the true character of the kingdom is all about. But Elisha seems to understand these things from the very outset.

Who is the greater? On the one hand, without question. On the other hand, seemingly, he liked them. That’s our first text. Let’s now turn to 2 Kings 2 and do the same thing. Let’s ask ourselves the question, who is the great? Well, on the one hand, without question, Undoubtedly, Elijah is the greater.

Note, the revelation from God as to the movements required are the specific property of Elijah alone. Elijah is not clued in as to what city next it will be. that we visit. It is Elijah who is informed with regard to the time of the departure and the destination. Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to Jordan. Elijah has this special place in that he is the recipient of that revelation.

Also, note this, Elisha acknowledges Elijah as his master. He is, in effect, his Lord, and he is seen as a disciple of his Lord. As the Lord lives, as you yourself live, I will not leave you. I am a disciple of yours, Elijah.” He is the follower and Elijah is the leader.

Indeed, Elijah is the greater. Note also that Elisha makes his prayer to Elijah, not at the invitation of Elijah, but nevertheless Elisha makes his prayer of Elijah, that I might have a double portion of that spirit given to you, verse 10. And Elijah is portrayed as if he can in fact grant it. If you see me when I am taken up, then you will receive what you have asked for, giving seemingly an infallible assurance to Elisha as to what shall be his, an authority then vested with Elijah that is uncommon and unprecedented.

There is also, of course, a glorious departure of Elijah. No one has ever departed the earth like this, with the possible exception of Enoch of old And his story recounted for us and recorded for us in Genesis chapter five. There is the glorious departure of Elijah and again Elijah portrayed as the great. Then there is the confession of Elisha at Elijah’s departure.

That in verse 12, when he cries out, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. In effect, what Elisha is saying there, the defense of Israel is vested in Elijah. If Elijah goes, Israel is utterly defenseless. So important is Elijah considered to be.

Once more, as in the former story, it is Elijah’s mantle that seems to be so important, his mantle, that seems to be connected with these remarkable occurrences, the parting of the waves, the waters of the Jordan. There is also that matter of what might appear to us to be Elisha’s impertinence, by which he is diminished and Elijah is exalted. You note what is said, for instance, in verse fourteen. He takes the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, he strikes the waters and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? As if he were guilty of putting the Lord his God to the test, there seems to be a note of impertinence here that diminishes Elisha, contrasting the greatness of Elijah. All right, these are the ones by which Elijah is made to look all the more glorious and great.

Who is the greater? What about Elisha? Elisha appears to be greater in this respect. Though Elijah is portrayed as master in these verses and Elisha as servant, yet As we open up the chapter, we are told that Elijah went with Elisha. And those words themselves suggest that Elisha is gaining an emphasis here and a position that he has not formerly had. It is Elijah seemingly moving in the company of Elisha. He goes with Elisha, rather than Elisha going with Elisha. Note next, Elisha’s greatness is communicated to us by the authority that he exercises over the prophets in the various cities.

I know, I know that my master will be taken from me today, be still. Also the authority that is exercised by him when he deals with the prophets of Jericho in verse sixteen, they want to send out a reconnaissance mission to find the body of Elijah, and he said, Don’t go, don’t send. Once more, that authority apparent. There was also the matter of the hope of and the reception of the double portion of the Spirit, verses 10 and 11.

We assume that Elisha receives a double portion of that spirit, a double portion of the Holy Spirit, if you will, thus exalting him. Elisha seemingly greater. There is, finally in this regard, a matter of the exit of the old and the entrance of the new. You see something of what is going on as Elijah and Elisha make their way from place to place.

They start at Gilgal. They hit Bethel, which is also the territory of the city of Ai. That should strike a familiar note. Then they move to Jericho and back across the Jordan. You see what’s happening. There has to be something of the retracing of the steps of the nation of Israel, as in these two men, the nation in its purity exits from the land. They’re going back precisely upon that route which Israel had journeyed upon initially in entering the land. It is a reversal of history. They are going back over the Jordan in order that there might be a starting again, a new beginning.

Elijah then goes back across. He doesn’t re-enter, and the one in whom the new order is residing, he enters, and that is Elisha. And in that, Elisha is exalted above Elijah. I think you understand the parallels that exist from this story and what you read in the New Testament. Well, the meaning then of this interaction between Elijah and Elijah.

Who is the greater? Without question, undoubtedly. Elijah is the greater. Elijah is greater in that the ultimate in terms of revelation is revealed in him, both at Horeb and also in the Transjordan when he is carried away to heaven in the fiery chariot. He is also greater in this.

He is the one in whom the Spirit of Christ is decidedly asserting himself. And therefore it is that in Elijah the finality of God’s judgment and redemption are clearly seen. And specifically in the figure of Elijah we gain a remarkable preview of the coming of the Christ. We can see in Elijah the Christ figure. If, then, Elijah is a Christ figure, to that extent he is the greater. But in relationship to Elijah the Christ figure, Elisha then becomes the picture of the subsequent apostolic ministry, the subsequent life of the disciple, the subsequent life of the Church of Jesus Christ. Elisha, Elisha, is the church to Elijah’s Christ.

And in that, Elijah is seen to be the greater. But this much also. Elijah is the greater because he is the one upon whom the history of redemption is made to turn. If you look, for instance, to Malachi chapter 4 verse 5, you see that there is the promise of Elijah’s coming before the great and terrible day of the Lord.

That is not said of Elisha, that is said of Elijah. You might also note, in Matthew 11 verses 13 and 14, Elijah is identified with John the Baptist. It is not Elisha that is identified with John the Baptist, but Elijah. Elijah, then, in the figure of John the Baptist, coming as the premonition of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And finally, in this regard, Turning to Matthew 17, Elijah appears with Moses, not Elisha.

Elijah appears with Moses as the embodiment of the entire Old Testament prophetic ministry, as in Moses the law and Elijah the prophet give testimony to Christ as well as encouragement to him as he faces his ordeal at Jerusalem. Indeed, Elijah has the greater, the greater position.

But it is in this latter regard that Elisha receives his prominence as well. For as I have already indicated to you, Elisha is the one who in effect supersedes Elijah. The prominence of Elijah gives way as surely as the prominence of John the Baptist gives way. Elisha taking prominence and thus becoming exalted by root of this scheme in the history of redemption.

These two prophets, somewhat in tension as to who is the greater. Elijah, the one who receives that great emphasis in the word of God, but Elisha also receiving an emphasis because he is a portent of the coming messianic age and the ministry of Jesus Christ. As with regard to their ministries, however, both in the end are constrained to bow, and that before the Christ.

For as John the Baptist himself confesses, with regard to Christ. He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3, verse 30. And as to encouragement concerning yourselves, a verse that’s well worth your contemplation and reflection is Matthew 11, verse 11.

For there we are told that John the Baptist is the greatest of those who have been born of women. And if John the Baptist is linked with Elijah and the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, then in effect what Jesus is saying is that that ministry connected with those figures and with John the Baptist preeminent. That ministry is what has come forth for the world, and there is nothing greater than that. But then he goes on and says that he who is leased in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, greater than Elijah, greater than Elisha, who is the greatest? you or Elijah? now if you ask answer that rhetorical question What now must be your disposition, your character of life?

You who have been privileged to be called greater than John the Baptist, greater than Elijah and Elijah. Well, that certainly puts a different light on things, doesn’t it? How privileged you are, in fact, to see the things that Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist did only long after. But they lived as they did, not having seen them. you have seen them, how do you live?

Our God, seen in one light, Elijah is the greatest Seen in another light, Elisha is the greatest. Seen in yet another light, John the Baptist is the greatest. But yet all must bow before Christ, so that those united to Christ, blessed by his ministry, brought with the revelation of the kingdom of heaven, The least in that kingdom is called greater than the greatest that preceded Christ’s appearance. Lord, we pray that we might live up to the blessing that has been bestowed upon us. Lord, may we walk worthy of our calling. And may the lives of Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist inform us unto that superlative knowledge of Christ, our Savior.

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