Where Is The Lord God Of Elijah (1 Of 2)

Look at verse 2. He said to Elisha, “...Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Beth-el...” But notice Elisha’s response in that same verse, “...As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee...”

Then look at verse 4. Elijah seems to test Elisha again. He said, “...tarry here...for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho...” Again, same verse, Elisha responds, “...As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee...”

Then again in verse 6, Elijah tests Elisha again. He said to him, “...Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan...” But again, notice the response of Elisha, same verse, “...As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee...”

In verse 8, as they “went on” they came to the shores of the Jordan River. The Bible tells us Elijah took his mantle off and smote the waters and that the waters, “...were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.”

Then in verse 9, Elijah turned to Elisha and said, (paraphrase), “WHAT DO YOU WANT, ELISHA? You are following me around like a puppy dog. Everywhere I go, you go. WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

Elijah knew Elisha thought a great deal of him. He had followed him from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho, on to the Jordan River. Now they stood beside the river.

We still have preachers who look up to, and admire, great preachers, and they very much want to become like them. They follow them around. They do all they can to learn to be like them. They will-

- Wear the same kind of clothes they wear.

- Wear the same kind of shoes they wear.

- Comb their hair the way they do.

- Preach out of the same color Bible they preach from.

- Talk like them as they preach.

- Use the same gestures they use.

They want so much to be like that certain preacher they admire.

Elijah was about to be miraculously taken up in a whirlwind to be with the Lord when he asked Elisha, “WHAT DO YOU WANT, ELISHA? Do you want what I have?” This must have been a shock to Elijah when Elisha answered, “NO! I will not settle for that...I want a double portion of what you have!”

Elijah said, in verse 10, “...Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, IT SHALL BE SO UNTO THEE; BUT IF NOT, IT SHALL NOT BE SO.”

In verse 11, as they continued to walk, we are told, “And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”

The AGREEMENT was that if Elisha would receive that double portion, he had to keep his eyes on Elijah. Did Elisha keep his part of the AGREEMENT? Look at verse 12, “And Elisha saw it...” He watched Elijah go up, up, up and the Bible says, “...And he saw him no more...”

After Elijah was caught up in the whirlwind, Elisha stood alone.

Look at verses 13-14. We read, “He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.” Elisha had Elijah’s mantle in his hands and he did the identical thing Elijah did and the identical thing happened to him.

I am sure some are saying, “I wish I had that mantle in my hands!”

Illus: We all can be thankful that mantle is not around today. If some television preacher had it he would probably cut it up into small pieces and be offering each piece for a gift of a thousand dollars, or more!

-This may surprise you, but the fact is that there was no magic in that piece of cloth. Also, Elijah did not have any kind of supernatural powers of his own.

ELISHA KNEW WHERE THE POWER CAME FROM! Where did it come from?

Look at II Kings 2:4. After Elijah had been caught up to heaven in the whirlwind, Elisha stood alone. He asked the question we all need to ask, “...WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH...”

Was Elisha asking where God dwelled? No, he knew where God dwelled.

Illus: Back in the 60’s, when Russia was a super power, they sent an astronaut into space. He came back and said he looked behind the stars and planets and did not see God anywhere, so he concluded therefore there must not be a God.