2 Kings 2:13

_HE TOOK UP ALSO THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH THAT FELL FROM HIM, AND WENT BACK, AND STOOD BY THE BANK OF JORDAN;_ He took up also the mantle of Elijah. The transference of this prophetic cloak was, to himself, a pledge of his being appointed successor, and it was an outward token to others of the spirit of Elijah resting upon him....

13-18 Elijah left his mantle to Elisha; as a token of the descent of the Spirit upon him; it was more than if he had left him thousands of gold and silver. Elisha took it up, not as a sacred relic to be worshipped, but as a significant garment to be worn. Now that Elijah was taken to heaven, Elisha inquired, 1. After God; when our creature-comforts are removed, we have a God to go to, who lives for ever. 2. After the God that Elijah served, and honoured, and pleaded for. The Lord God of the holy prophets is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; but what will it avail us to have the mantles of those that are gone, their places, their books, if we have not their spirit, their God? See Elisha's dividing the river; God's people need not fear at last passing through the Jordan of death as on dry ground. The sons of the prophets made a needless search for Elijah. Wise men may yield to tha...

Verse 2 Kings 2:13. _HE TOOK - THE MANTLE_] The same with which he had been called by Elijah to the prophetic office, and the same by which Elijah divided Jordan. His having the _mantle_ was a proof that he was _invested_ with the authority and influence of his master....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 2:1 THE REMOVAL OF ELIJAH FROM EARTH, AND SOME EARLY MIRACLES OF ELISHA. The great prophet of Israel was to have a departure from earth as marvelous as his life had been. Ewald's words, though not intended in an historical, but only in a literary sense, embody very forcibly what the humble believer may accept as the actual _rationale_ of the occurrence related in 2 Kings 2:1 : "An earthly career which had no equal in the purity of its devotion to the service of Jehovah, and was at the same time consummated by such powerful efforts to promote the

HE TOOK UP ALSO THE MANTLE OF ELIJAH THAT FELL FROM HIM,.... Which he had now no further need of, and Elisha had, having rent his clothes in two; and this falling into his hands was a token of his succeeding him in his office, and that he should have the double portion of his spirit: AND HE WENT BACK, AND STOOD BY THE BROOK OF JORDAN; at the place where he and Elijah had passed over together....

II. THE PROPHET ELISHA 1. The Beginning of His Ministry CHAPTER 2:12-25 _ 1. The mantle used (2 Kings 2:12)_ 2. The sons of the prophets (2 Kings 2:15) 3. The healing of Jericho's waters (2 Kings 2:19) 4. Judgment upon the scoffers (2 Kings 2:23) Both Elijah and Elisha are types of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their names indicate this. Elijah means “my God is Jehovah,” and Elisha, “my God is salvation.” Suffering, affliction and rejection are prominent in the life of Elijah, but it ended for him by being taken into heaven. It foreshadows the path of Him who was rejected by His own, cast

2 KINGS 1:1 TO 2 KINGS 2:25. LAST DAYS AND ASCENSION OF ELIJAH: ELISHA ESTABLISHED AS HIS SUCCESSOR. Here we have perhaps a third Elijah narrative, in which the prophet is represented as playing a part scarcely worthy of the Elijah of 1 Kings 17-19 or 21, who in the first section represents Yahweh against the Tyrian Baal, whereas in the latter he stands for righteousness opposed to legalised violence. Here the king's offence is that he sent to a Philistine oracle instead of inquiring of Yahweh, and his soldiers are punished by fire for summoning the prophet to surrender. The spelling of the prophet's name in Hebrew differs from that in the rest of the OT. The story is mentioned in the Gospel (Luke 9:54). With ch. 2 we seem to en

AND. Note the Figure of speech _Polysyndeton_ (App-6) in 2 Kings 2:12. MY FATHER. Figure of speech _Epizeuxis._ App-6. The repetition. my revered, or beloved father....

_He took up also the mantle of Elijah_ Not with any view of using it as clothing, but as a precious memento of the departed master, and as a sort of pledge of the promise which had been made to him. This heirloom was taken of the inheritance on which he was now about to enter....

C. THE COMMISSIONING OF ELISHA 2:13-15 TRANSLATION (13) And he took up the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from upon him, and returned, and stood on the bank of the Jordan. (14) And he took the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from upon him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah, even He? And he smote the waters, and they parted asunder, and Elisha passed over. (15) And the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho opposite saw him and they said, The spirit of Elijah has rested upon Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed down to him to the ground. COMMENTS Sadly Elisha picked up the mantle that had fallen from the shoulders of Elijah as he swept heavenward, and walked back to the edge of Jordan (2 Kings 2:13). In imitation of the actions of his master, Elisha smote the waters with the mantle at the same time saying, Where is the Lo