We Need A New Thing 2nd Kings 2:19-21

We find here an amazing part of history. It is the story of two things happening. One Elijah being taken up into glory on one of God’s fiery chariots, and secondly we see the transferences of power and authority from one generation to the next generation. Here God is unmistakably teaching a lesson not only to Elisha but to us today. The lesson that God is teaching us is that God wants to do a greater things with this generation then what was done with the previous generation.

The Bible says that He calls the old because they know the way; and that he calls the young because they are strong. Elijah represents the older generation whereas Elisha represents the younger generation. Elisha has done greater works than Elijah, but not better work. But he did more in abundance. In fact, Elijah is accredited with 16 miracles and Elisha is accredited with 32 which is considered too be a double portion or greater works.

However, in order for the next generation to do greater things that means that this generation must seek God’s face, and experience God for themselves. They must be endued and be equipped with power from on high for themselves. Because what momma and daddy experienced through God was good enough for them but what I have learned is that we are going to need your own experience with God.

What we find here in our text is that the time had come for Elijah to go off the scene. Understand that a shift in the prophetic era was about to happen. And this shift was going to take what Elijah had done and move it to another dimension through the work of Elisha.

However before any of this can happen, there was a process that had to be done first. How many of you realize that in order for you to go from one space to another there has to be a process. In our text today Elijah was about to leave this old world behind and go on into glory. And God had told Elijah to go to a certain place and from that place he would be rapture away. Elijah and Elisha begin a process that will bring supernatural results. So the record is that Elijah and Elisha left Gilgal.

Now understand that Gilgal is the place where the children of Israel came after they crossed the Jordan River. It was at Gilgal where Joshua had them to erect 12 standing stones as a witness of what God has done. So Gilgal means standing stone or witness. Gilgal represents the church because the church is a witness to the world of what God has done. Can anybody here be a witness to what God has done? Can you share in the spirit and tell your neighbor, that you are looking at a miracle because of what God had done? Because the truth of the matter is that some of us sitting here are a miracle, someone here didn’t think that you were going to make it thus far, so you can witness that they are looking at a miracle.

Although Gilgal represents the church; in order for the shift to happen they had to leave Gilgal, the church, the organized religious system. They had to leave their comfort zone, their traditions, their familiar surroundings; they had to leave what they were used to because it was part of the process that was going to bring about a change.

And if we’re ever going to be successful in this community, if we are ever going to be that light that sit out on the hill, something has got to change and we are going to have to leave our comfort zone. Because once they left Gilgal, the religious system, they came to Bethel. The name Bethel means “House of God” but here it represents the world because although Bethel had a great spiritual heritage something happened to the city let me show you what I mean.

Jeroboam the 1st king of the northern kingdom of Israel had set up a golden calf in the city of Bethel causing the people to worship idolatry. As a result of these action an entire generation had become lost to skepticism, mockery, scoffing they became contemptuous, disdainful, scornful, and disrespectful and making fun of Elijah and Elisha as they walked through the streets of Bethel. And what I have learned down through the years is that people will laugh at you when you are trying to live right. People will straight up lie on you for trying to live right. If you ever want to be talked about I dare you to start living right. If you ever want your name dragged through the mug turn your life over to God and watch what happens.