You can’t make this up! Week 8 Elijah? ....He gone!

Welcome back to another week of “You can’t make this up”.

A few weeks ago, we looked at another passage with Elisha, and this passage precedes the floating axe head. This takes place right after Elijah is taken into heaven, and Elisha is left to be God’s prophet to His people. There were some of the men that were called “sons of the prophets” traveled to the Jordan River beginning in verse 7. As you read on, you find that Elijah instructs them to stop and stay on one side, while he and Elisha would go on across. So Elijah rolls up his cloak and strikes the water, the Jordan parts, and Elija and Elisha crosses over. Elijah asks Elisha what he would like before Elijah goes away. Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Elijah points out that it is a difficult ask, but if Elisha sees Elijah as he’s going away Elisha will receive it. Elijahis taken up in a whirlwind with the chariots of fire. Elisha didn’t see him anymore. He cried out, tore his own cloak, and then Elisha receives Elijah’s cloak as it falls from the sky towards the ground. As I mentioned the other week, thispassage is where we get the phrase “taking up the mantle” from. In some older translations, mantle is used as a word substitute for cloak. Elisha takes the cloak, and hits the Jordan again on the way back with the same result, provingthat he did indeed get the double portion that he asked for.