2 Kings 2:16

_AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, BEHOLD NOW, THERE BE WITH THY SERVANTS FIFTY STRONG MEN; LET THEM GO, WE PRAY THEE, AND SEEK THY MASTER: LEST PERADVENTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HATH TAKEN HIM UP, AND CAST HIM UPON SOME MOUNTAIN, OR INTO SOME VALLEY. AND HE SAID, YE SHALL NOT SEND._ FIFTY STRONG MEN; LET THEM GO ... AND SEEK THY MASTER. Though the young prophets from Jericho had seen Elijah's miraculous passage of the Jordan, they had not witnessed the ascension. They imagined that he might have been cast by the whirlwind on some mountain or valley; or, if he had actually been admitted into heaven, they expected that his body would still be remaining somewhere on earth. In compliance with their importunity, he gave them permission, but told them what the result would be. LEST PERADVENTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HATH TAKEN HIM UP, AND CAST HIM UPON SOME MOUNTAIN. "The Spirit of the Lord," in t...

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 2:16. _FIFTY STRONG MEN_] Probably the _same fifty_ who are mentioned 2 Kings 2:7, and who saw Elijah taken up in the whirlwind. _CAST HIM UPON SOME MOUNTAIN_] Though they saw him _taken up_ _towards heaven_, yet they thought it possible that the Spirit of the Lord might have _descended_ with him, and left him on some remote mountain or valley. _YE SHALL NOT SEND._] He knew that he was translated to heaven, and that therefore it would be useless....

Compare the marginal references. The words “cast him upon some mountain,” rather imply that they expected to find the prophet alive....

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

AND THEY SAID UNTO HIM, BEHOLD, NOW, THERE BE WITH THY SERVANTS FIFTY STRONG MEN,.... Perhaps meaning themselves, 2 Kings 2:7 who were young, stout, and strong, and able to travel for days together: LET THEM GO, WE PRAY THEE, AND SEEK THY MASTER; for though they knew he was to be taken away, yet knew not for what time, and imagined he might be found again: LEST PERADVENTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HATH TAKEN HIM UP; as it seems he was wont to do, see 1 Kings 18:12 AND CAST HIM UPON SOME MOUNTAIN, OR INTO SOME VALLEY; where he sometimes had his abode; or they might fancy, if he was taken up to heaven, yet in his soul only, and that, when that was separated, his dead body would be left on a mountain, or in a valley; and therefore they were desirous of s

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

_there be with thy servants fifty strong men_ Doubtless some from among the company of the prophets are meant. In chapter 2 Kings 4:1-4 they are described as men equal to the labour of telling trees, and doing the work of building. We cannot suppose that in such a society there were many persons retained for the service of the college. As Elisha served Elijah, so they did all that was needful for themselves. _seek thy master_ Throughout the narrative there is implied a much closer connexion between Elijah and Elisha than between Elijah and the rest. He is -thy master" not -our master". _the spirit of the Lord hath taken him up_ Compare 1 Kings 18:12, where Obadiah speaks of the spirit of the Lord carrying Elijah away to some unknown spot. A like expression is found in the introductio

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HATH TAKEN HIM UP— From some expressions in Scripture it seems as if the Spirit of the Lord frequently used to carry the prophets through the air, and with great swiftness remove them to distant places. Obadiah speaks of it as a common thing, 1 Kings 18:12. And in the New Testament we are told of Philip, that _when they were come out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught him away, that the eunuch saw him no more:—And Philip was found at Atzotus;_ Acts 8:39. REFLECTIONS.—Elijah is gone, but Elisha remains. When God removes one light from his church, he can raise up another to supply his place. 1. Elisha with delight gathers up the mantle which fell from his departed father: he loved it since the day it was first cast over him, and not only for his sake pre