The time had come for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal, and Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord is sending me on to Bethel.”
But Elisha replied, “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, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”
He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; the Lord is sending me to Jericho.”
But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
Then the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?”
He said, “Yes, I know. Be quiet.”
Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord is sending me to the Jordan.”
But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.
Fifty men from the sons of the prophets came and stood observing them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water, which parted to the right and left. Then the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you.”
So Elisha answered, “Please, let me inherit two shares of your spirit.”
Elijah replied, “You have asked for something difficult. If you see me being taken from you, you will have it. If not, you won’t.”
As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire with horses of fire suddenly appeared and separated the two of them. Then Elijah went up into heaven in the whirlwind. As Elisha watched, he kept crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
2 Kings 2:1-12a
You have to admire the persistence of Elisha. Everyone knew that Elijah was not going to be on the earth much longer, including Elisha. Elijah kept trying to give him excuses to stay behind as he went to this next destination. Each time Elisha insisted that he would not leave Elijah’s side. He wanted every last minute with Elijah.
As Elijah knew the time was getting close for him to leave, he asked Elisha if there was any last thing he could do for him. Elisha’s request was bold. He wanted to receive a double portion of the spirit that Elijah had. This was a bold request by Elisha (it may even sound presumptuous), but he knew that if he was going to continue the mission of Elijah in such an evil time he needed to know that the Holy Spirit would be with him in a strong way as well.
We can learn from the persistence of Elisha. He didn’t give up easily and we shouldn’t either. We live in a time with a lot of chaos, confusion, and corruption. We need to be persistent in seeking the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to live out the mission of Jesus in our day. When others may tempt us with the opportunity to just stay back we need to respond, “As the Lord lives, I will not leave.”
- How can persistence assist you in your pursuit of the mission of Jesus this week?
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