Elijah's Last Words Before He Left This Earth Series

Introduction: Elijah was one of only two humans to ever leave this earth without dying. The only other was Enoch, who “. . . walked with God: and he was not; for God took him (Genesis 5:24, KJV)”. Full disclosure, I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture position, meaning, that according to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, the Lord Jesus will come near the earth, in the air, to take the saints to Heaven with Him. This includes all living and dead saints and none of us will ever die again, if ever!. At a later time He will return to this earth with His saints per Revelation 19 and set up the 1000 year (millennial) kingdom.

But let’s return to Elijah. He had stood, mostly alone, as a witness and prophet of the LORD God of Israel during some very difficult times. Now, however, it was time for him to finish up his work down here and enter the presence of the LORD.

1 From Gilgal to Bethel

Text: 2 Kings 2:1-3, KJV: 1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. 3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

This last or final journey of Elijah begins at Gilgal. Something to remember is that there were two places named “Gilgal” during Israel’s history; one was near the Jordan River and the other was further inland, between Shiloh and Ophrah according to https://bibleatlas.org/full/gilgal.htm. We don’t know for sure which “Gilgal’ is in reference here or if this had been the “hill” where the three groups of soldiers had come to arrest him (see 2 Kings 1). What is known is that Elijah was residing at Gilgal until the LORD told him it was time to move on.

Much, by the way, could be said about Gilgal. This was the place where Israel had stayed when they had first crossed the Jordan back in the days of Joshua, for example (Joshua 4-5). Nave’s Topical Bible has other references about Gilgal at (https://bibleportal.com/concordance/nave-s-topical-bible/gilgal) and I encourage further study about Gilgal!

Now, though, Elijah has received word that he’s going Home. His work is done. He’s going to be one of the only two humans, so far, to never die, going to Heaven while he’s still living. And even better, he’s going to go to Heaven by means of a whirlwind or tornado!

Elijah, however, won’t be going alone, at least for part of this last journey. Elisha and Elijah went together from Gilgal towards Elijah’s next stop, which was Bethel. Although we don’t have the record of the LORD directing Elijah to go there, he did inform Elisha, “Please stay here, as the LORD is sending me to Bethel.” Elisha, though, replied, “I’m not leaving you.”

So they arrived at Bethel.

But this wasn’t the last stop on Elijah’s final journey/

2 From Bethel to Jericho

Text, 2 Kings 2:4, KJV: 4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.

As with Gilgal, much of Israel’s history involved Bethel. Abram had stopped there and built an altar to the True God after he arrived in Canaan. He also made a giant mistake and went to Egypt, nearly losing his wife, Sarai, in the process, and wound up getting deported from Egypt! After that experience (!), he and his household returned to Bethel and stayed there for a while before he eventually settled near Hebron (compare Genesis 12 and 13).

There is no mention of Isaac having anything to do with Bethel, but Jacob stopped there twice. The first time, Jacob was running for dear life after scamming his twin brother, Esau (see Genesis 27-28) before Jacob arrived at uncle Laban’s house. Then, maybe 20 years later, he returned to Bethel after amassing a large amount of livestock and other things. The dark cloud over Jacob’s head had to be the sexual assault against his (only?) daughter, Dinah, and the massacre of the Shechemite men by sons Levi and Simeon (Genesis 34). Even today, all of us could use a “back to Bethel” experience!

Sadly even though much good took place at Bethel, i.e., where saints like Abraham and Jacob worshipped the LORD, evil came in and just about canceled out all the good of days gone by. When Israel split into two kingdoms after the death of Solomon, Jeroboam, king of the Northern Tribes, chose Bethel as the place for an altar and an idol. This was no ordinary idol, by the way, but a “golden calf”, and my opinion is that it was patterned after Apis, the Egyptian bull-god of strength (and who knows what else). How many Israelites remembered the golden calf that Aaron, of all people, supervised the making of a golden calf—to be worshiped— while Moses was on Mount Sinai, conversing with the LORD and receiving the very Law they had sworn to follow! Exodus 32 has that sad, sad story but it seems some never completely gave up on their worship of “gods” they made with their own hands.