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 18, 1988.
About this sermon
‘From Gilgal’ carries real weight, echoing Samuel’s own circuit through Israel generations earlier. History itself matters to Christians precisely because patterns like this one repeat rather than stand alone. Christ’s own circuit runs the same direction Elijah’s does here: out of the earthly promised land toward the heavenly one.
Sermon transcript
Tonight we will begin our scripture reading from 1 Samuel 7. Towards the end of that chapter, 1 Samuel 7, just a few verses there. Then we’ll turn over to 2 Kings 2 and read a couple of verses from there. This is 1 Samuel 7, verse 17. Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life, and he used to go annually on circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. Then his return was to Ramah, for his house was there. And there he judged Israel, and he built there an altar to the Lord. 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, Stay here, please, 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 not 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 went to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, Do you not 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.
You shall bring forth, as you have ordained, that harvest for yourself, O God. Lord, may we with zeal, with determination, be committed to that harvest. We ask you that with the prompting of the Spirit, we may be found responsive to your call that we pray for laborers for the harvest. Lord, we ask you that we may see well-equipped laborers then raised up, and in their labor may they have that sense of satisfaction before you that is given them by your Holy Spirit. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
We have been using the first verse of this second chapter in 2nd Kings as a jumping off point for discussing the entirety or the major part of that chapter. So we’ve looked at the first verse and we’ve seen in that first verse four distinct elements. The first thing we talked about was the phrase, to heaven.
And in that we saw a declaration to us in this story of the destination of not just the prophet Elijah, but of the people of God. We, with the prophet, are destined for heaven. We then looked further into this verse and we noticed a second element, namely the whirlwind. Elijah is promised by God that he will be taken to heaven by the whirlwind. The destination is heaven, the means is the whirlwind. And as we explained, as we investigated that whirlwind, we found so much there.
We found, in fact, something to remind us of the work, the power of God’s Holy Spirit. How will it be? that the bodies of the people of God shall arrive resurrected in heaven. How will they be transformed? They will be transformed by the power of God manifest in His Holy Spirit, our destination heaven, our means to that end, the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit of God. The next thing that we have noticed, and we will be spending our time on that this evening, is the phrase from Gilgamesh in that first verse.
And in this we have seen something of the circuit of the prophet, his itineration, if you will. The final thing to be noted in this first verse is the phrase with Elisha, and by that Elisha is taking center stage. In fact, as we read through this chapter, it becomes apparent to us that Elijah, his transport to heaven notwithstanding, fiery chariots and all, he is receding and Elisha is stepping to the full. There is a transition then. from Elijah to Elisha, and as you’ve read down through the chapter, you know that the request of Elisha is granted, namely that he would receive a double portion of the spirit that had rested upon Elijah. So you pass from one who has, yes, a glorious ministry, Elijah, how glorious it was to one who seemingly, with this double portion of the Spirit, has an even more glorious ministry. Now, of course, I think that you’re ahead of me here, and you see something of what is being said in this transition, and we’ll speak more about this later on, but just to whet your appetite a bit, You see the transition from Elijah to Elisha is comparable to the transition from John the Baptist to Jesus Christ. The New Testament Elijah is John the Baptist. He has a glorious ministry, but that ministry shall also fail. it will be superseded by an even greater ministry, the ministry of Jesus Christ.
So then, you read your Old Testament from the vantage point of the New Testament, and you see these stories here as explanations of, anticipations of, what is going to come in the gospel of Jesus Christ. So please, don’t throw your Old Testaments away. Your Old Testament is full of the gospel, it’s full of Jesus Christ. Hold on to it. Tonight, backing up a bit then, to the third point we made, namely, from Gilgal, from Gilgal, and the circuit. This is liable to become a little tedious, so hang in there. Hopefully by the end it will be rewarding. The circuit, the circuit of the prophet is itineration. We know generally, first of all, a historical fact, we know General, the prophets traveled on what could be called a circuit.
You have heard of the circuit writers, haven’t you? Some of you even come from Methodist backgrounds, and circuit writers were very, very important in the history of the Methodist Church. But before there were Methodist circuit writers, there were prophets who were circuit writers. They had their circuits, their itineraries too. We know them, historically, generally. The prophets traveled on what could be called circuits.
That is why I read for you this evening that passage from 1st Samuel, chapter 7, 15-17. If you note the circuit of that great prophet Samuel, it says, verse 16, he used to go annually on circuit to Bethel, to Gilgal, to Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. Here you have this reference to the circuit as it pertained to Samuel. Samuel lived at Ramah in the west, in the territories of Israel, and he would move eastward year by year on his pilgrimage, first of all to the city of Bethel.
Then he would go to Gilgal, which was over towards the Jordan. In fact, the first place that you came to as you crossed the Jordan. And then he would return and come back to, moving westward, the town of Nisba, and finally home again. A circuit, to be sure. from West, even as far as the sea, the Mediterranean, then across to the Jordan and back through the mountains again home.
Now we read here in the story of Elijah and Elisha, at the beginning of 2 Kings 2, of Elijah’s This is his final circuit, his final itineration. And it may well be the fact that this circuit that Elijah is on in these verses testifies to an annual circuit of his own, depicting the sites of his ministry. Did he come from his hometown, Tishbe, along the banks of the Cherok Brook, east of the Jordan, and then to Gilgal as he crossed the Jordan, then to Beth El, and then back east to Jericho, the city that is mentioned here last of all, before coming to the Jordan once more? An itineration, a circuit.
But did the prophets embark upon these circuits, these annual junkets, for reasons more than would meet the eye? Reasons more than what might on the surface be apparent? There seems to be here more than simply making visits to population centers in Israel in an attempt to reach the most people. It seems that these visits, these circuits by the prophets were for the purpose of more than just offering them an opportunity to touch base with strategic geographical centers in Israel. Well, if in fact we have moved beyond simply considering population possibilities, demographic possibilities, geographic possibilities, what was the purpose for the prophet’s itinerary, for his journey?
Well, in that first Samuel 7 passage, what stands out is the judging activity of Samuel. Why does he go? Why does he make his trip? It’s in order to judge the people. His journey across Israel and back drew something like a belt around the country’s middle, as Samuel rendered judgment in these various locales. He was judging the people. his judging activity, that which is most important. It would seem that the judging activity of Samuel is something relative, for that activity is quickly relativized when Israel, in the very next chapter, 1 Samuel 8, asks for and secures a king, and the judging activity of one like Samuel in a sense, is displaced. For the nation will rally to and center upon the king and his judgment, and that is the way it should be.
You remember how the Lord has to console Samuel at that point and tell him, it doesn’t mean that they have rejected you, Samuel. His judgment is displaced. He, in effect, is being displaced. It is the Lord himself, in some respect, who has been displaced.
But nonetheless, as the office of the king comes to expression in the nation of Israel, judgment will be centered in the king and the execution of his office. So the judging activity, then, falls by the wayside. It is relativized. When we get to the story of Elijah, In 2 Kings 2, that judging feature seems to be absent, at least in terms of judging all the people. But what does stand out there in that 2 Kings 2 passage? What does stand out there in deference to the lack of any reference to the judging activity of the prophet?
What stands out in that passage is the fact that at these various sites, we run into groups of prophets, or as they have been called, schools of the prophets in these various cities. At each city then, as we move through, we can assume one at Gilgal, Bethel, specifically mentioned, Jericho as well, yet these cities we encounter these schools of the prophets. Now, these schools of the prophets are not new. They’ve been mentioned before. In fact, if we go back to the story of Samuel and look at 1 Samuel 10, verses 11 through 13, we find there were bands of prophets then who were associated with this idea of the schools of the prophets. Prophets who congregated together. those then that claimed an instruction from the Lord.
Charismatic groups, if you will, receiving their revelations, traversing the territory, maybe even latching hold of particular sites in Israel, taking hold of particular cities, residing there and having their ministries emanate from those places. These groups of prophets then, most likely attached to the various cities, and that from before the days of Samuel through the days, even unto the days of Elijah and Elisha. The function of the prophet, the superlative prophet, a prophet like Samuel or a prophet like Elijah or Elisha, is to itinerate through the city specifically in order to have contact with those various schools of the prophets. The judging activity will fall by the wayside as the king arises, but this specific responsibility by the superlative prophet does not fall by the wayside. His responsibility is to touch base with the schools of the prophets. and if not judging Israel in its totality, at least judging them and exercising some sort of responsibility with regard to them.
The purpose of the itineration then was to strengthen, correct, instruct, if not judge these groups of prophets, that they might be kept in line or reminded of what the Lord was truly was indeed saying or what he had said reminding them what is true of charismatics so quickly they forget their orientation is lost the past becomes a matter of indifference why pay any attention to it They get swept up in their swoons, in their ecstasy.
They lose themselves in some sort of mystical experience. They lose all touch with reality. And the most important thing is that experience of transcending the ordinary, the mundane. Well, running his circuit through the schools of the prophets is the great Samuel, Elijah, Elisha. These schools of the prophets are about to take flight. Spiritual levitation. It’s hard to keep their feet on the ground. But along comes Samuel or Elijah or Elisha, telling them what’s what.
Isn’t it interesting that while the schools of the prophets are liable to take flight in their spirits and minds, Elijah actually takes flight in a chariot of fire. And that’s what true flight is all about. resurrection glory alright well we’ve gotten this far a message in these circuits to prophets that they might be judged, corrected, instructed if you will, kept in mind, reminded well We’re not done yet.
Even having said that, I told you this would be a good tease. And the reason why we’re not done yet is because as we survey the cities that are visited, we begin to realize something, that there’s something here that is more significant than just Elijah picking names out of a hat. Well, let’s see, of all the cities in Israel, I’ll go to Bethel. I’ll go to Gilgal, I’ll go to Jericho.
It’s more than just a chance chosen by the prophet. There is deliberate intention in the choices of the cities. For Samuel, his cities were deliberately chosen, and for Elijah as well. The cities are deliberately chosen. For Samuel, then, the three cities were Beth-El, Gilgal, and Mizpah. Think about those cities, what happened there. Think about the meaning of the names of the cities. What does the name Beth-El mean? Beth-El, Beth-House, El-God, House of God. That’s the name. Do you know what has taken place at Beth-El, House of God, to this point in the history of redemption? Do you know who’s been to Beth-El?
Well, Abraham, for one. Genesis 12, verse 8. One of the first places that he visits. One of the first places where he stays. He builds an altar there. Who else visited Beth-El? Do you remember the story of Jacob? He’s fleeing home. His brother is out to kill him. So he’s making his way north. Where does he stop? He stops for the night at Beth-El, the house of God. What happens there? He takes a rock for a pillow, lies down to sleep, and he has a dream.
Jacob’s Ladder. Angels ascending and descending. Beth-El. Yes. That happened there, too. God gives Jacob promise. You’ll come back to the land, even though now you have to leave it. You will come back, and I will keep my covenant through you, not through your brother Esau. That’s what he says.
And what else happens at Bethel? Well, Bethel in the Bible is attached to another very important city. You know what city? Bethel was one mound on another mound opposite was the city of Ai. Sound familiar? Why, that was that city where Israel experienced its monumental humiliation because of the sin of Achan. You recall that? They had just been victorious at Jericho. They moved on to Ai. They were filled with confidence. They went out to sack the city, and they themselves were sacked, defeated, put to the run. A.I. Beth-El connected the pride of Israel, the sin secretly held tight to the breast by Israel, exposed there and remedied by God’s graciousness and judgment. All of that happening at Beth-El.
What about Gilgal? What about Gilgal? No, at Gilgal, that was the, well, let’s name the city first. What does it mean? It means a pile of stones. How would you like to have that as the name of your city? Pile of stones. Pile of rocks. Well, do you remember the rocks that were piled up at Gilgal? The stones that were taken out of the Jordan. Twelve of them in number. One for each of the tribes of Israel brought across from the Jordan, when the Jordan had been parted so that the whole of Israel could pass through. Led by the priest, by the arch, by Joshua, they come across, they set up this monument at Gilgal, twelve stones, a heap. And the people were to remember what God had done for them in bringing them into the promised land every time they saw those twelve stones, that pile of rocks.
That’s Gilgal. That’s not all that happened at Gilgal. Remember when Samuel is prophet, he calls together the nation to Gilgal, and it is at Gilgal that Saul, the first king of Israel, is confirmed as king before the nation. It is also at Gilgal that Saul is judged unworthy of the kingship and rejected by God from being king over Israel. Gilgal, very important in the history of the nation.
Mizpah? What can we say about Mizpah? Mizpah is that place, miraculous it seems, where Samuel had gathered Israel, 1 Samuel 7, before what we read this evening. The Philistines heard that the nation had gathered there They mobilized, they were on the march. All of Israel trembled, frightened to death. The Philistines were going to wipe them out. Samuel prays. Thunder, lightning, the incredible storm, the overcoming of the Philistines, their defeat by the single power of God. Israel didn’t lift a finger. But Israel was victorious. That was the circuit.
You see, Samuel goes to these cities for a reason. These cities memorialize certain events in the life of the nation. So when he goes to speak to the prophets, what message does he bring them? He says, remember what happened at Bethel. What happened also at Gilgal. What happened at Mism? Let this be instruction to you.
Does history matter? You may have hated it while you were going through school. You may have detested it. But does history matter? Look, all Christians have to love history. Do you realize what this book is? This isn’t a book of inspiration, it’s a history book. It’s telling you the facts. And whatever inspiration there is to be, it arises out of the certainty with regard to those facts. Did it happen or did it not? Elijah’s circuit. Two of the cities are the same. We don’t have to repeat them. Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho. But this much we must say.
All three of these cities have now become centers of apostasy for the nation. So it’s even more remarkable now as Elijah makes his circuit to these specific cities. Not only are the schools of the prophets there, but there are shrines to paganism, false gods, a testimony to the apostasy of the people of God. They’re deserting the God, the true God, for false gods, going off and worshipping whom they will. So off, off to Gilgal, where in fact the prophet in his person becomes a testimony to the prophets in their stand against the apostasy in which they live.
The same in Bethel, the same in Jericho. There’s nothing naive about Elijah. Please, I’ve had enough of naive potentates in the church. Naive people who run around and pretend like there’s no apostasy any place. What absolute willful blindness on their part. Sweetness and light. Cheery smiles for all. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. But you don’t tell the people the truth. You don’t tell them that by their secularism, by them selling out to gods that are no gods, the god of money, the god of pleasure, the god of nationalism, whatever it might be, that they are forfeiting life eternal.
So where are the prophets? Where are the Elijahs? Where are those who are bold enough to go into the centers that were once known for the mighty works of God? to speak for the prophets, call the prophets to be true, to say, in fact, the Lord lives, reigns, and He alone is God.
One such potentate calls for an assembly of all the religious figures of the world. The little center in Italy He gathers them around him as if they all believed the same thing and were praying to the same God, interceding with whatever gods there may be for peace in the world.
This one is no friend of Elijah, nor is he a friend of Elisha. And I dare say, despite his claims, he is no friend of Jesus Christ. Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. The utter seriousness of the matter. To the prophets, the visits memorialize the sites, call to mind the great events that once took place there, as if by visiting those cities Israel’s history is being relived, a reminder a reminder in the midst of threat and in the midst of unbelief, a summary of the life of the nation being spelled out as the Prophet makes his circuit. But it’s not just a reflection on the past and what has happened formally in the nation. For Elijah’s itinerary, his circuit is the final circle, the last go-round in Israel, the nation, for him. His journey will bring things to a conclusion so that as his day ends and new day dawns, he will back through the history of Israel. Gilgal, where the nation started in the promised land Bethel, Ai, he visits there too. Jericho, which is now being rebuilt, he will back through those cities and out of them to the Jordan and across. He will move out of the Promised Land. And there, out of the Promised Land, The hope of all who truly hope in God will, in fact, crystallize. It isn’t the land, despite what they may think. Out of the land, the hope is crystallized.
He then ushered into glory from outside the promised land, and that one that he leaves He shall recross the Jordan into the land to bring to those schools of prophets in those cities, in the entirety of Israel, that message that the hope and the destiny of the people of God is heaven, and the only medium, the only chariot that will bring you there is the Spirit of God, and that Spirit will be given to the people of God through the death and resurrection of the final great prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the only way. to travel.
The circuit in Israel, out of Israel, back into Israel, so that the message may be heard loud and clear. Elijah will stand in a latter day at the Jordan baptizing his name John the Baptist he will send one back from the waters of the Jordan Jesus Christ to proclaim that message from that land to the ends of the earth that all might hear have we heard? do we hear tonight? do we understand? Our God, as we consider the circuit of the prophet, May we also take stock of the marvelous works which you have performed for your people, memorialized by that circuit. But may we also see in it a testimony to what you are doing and what message you have for your people, namely that you are bringing them to an inheritance to an estate, to a glory that far surpasses anything that was known in the land and territories of the Israelites. O God, as this has been made plain to us so very clear in the work, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, may we rejoice in your grace to us. and be determined to live for you, the only true God.
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