2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14: A Clue That God Is Still With Us

 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.

Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”

“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.

“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.  - 2 Kings 2:1-2,6-14

Sometimes, I think God knows we need encouragement. "for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust." (Ps. 103:14) We don't always remember this, at the height of our powers, but then sometimes the inevitable failure and decay of entropy brings us down. There is no place that this impacts us the most more than in relationships, when someone who is our rock is taken away from us. Sometimes we can see it coming, sometimes it creeps up on us unawares, sometimes we are surprised while our backs are turned. But in each case, a major hole is ripped open in our lives.

This happened to Elisha when Elijah, his mentor is taken away. In that moment, Elisha sensed his inadequacy, both to follow in his footsteps, but also just to live. We see this when he asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit because he knows he doesn't have what it takes to do what Elijah did. We see this in his grief when he tears his clothes when Elijah is done. 

But then he takes Elijah's cloak and strikes the water of the Jordan and the Jordan splits open and Elisha is able to cross over. This is significant for two reasons: one, because of the history of Jordan-splitting activities, when God brought Israel out of Egypt under Moses and God brought Israel into the promised land under Joshua. But more immediate and relevant when Elijah struck the waters of the Jordan and the water was divided (v. 8) and then Elisha takes the same cloak and does the same thing (v. 14). The fact that it was the same cloak-Elijah's cloak-that he used, gave him the clue that God was with him the way he was with Elijah. 

That is the encouragement that he needed. God doesn't always do these things for us, but because he knows that we but dust, he knows that we are weak and easily discouraged and he reminds us through something, big or small, that he is still with us even when things are breaking down or people are leaving or are taken away.  Many years before, God had encouraged Elijah after being pursued into the wilderness by King Ahaz and Queen Jezebel by sending ravens to feed him and then sending oil and grain to the the widow of Zarepath who feed him. Now, at the critical moment, this same type of encouragement was available to Elisha. 

When we are about to break, God will provide a way to meet the trial. Maybe not a "solution" but a clue that God is with us.