So what did they have to do? When I was thinking about those four places, in dawned on me that there is a well know New Testament passage that corresponds to each of these locations. * [2:1] Gilgal: there are several places in the Hebrew Bible named Gilgal; the word probably means circle, viz. The answer is - they weren't the Lord was. And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan . Elisha and the salt bowl Bible study - A tale of two vessels. Elijah brought Elisha on this specific route for the purpose to let Elisha 'catch' his heart cry on the spiritual state of decay in these 3 important and strategic spiritual places. Is It Ok for Christians to Follow Zodiac Signs? 15, Is lock-free synchronization always superior to synchronization using locks? You will remember that God miraculously separated the waters as the Israelites passed through on dry ground. Moody Bible Commentary. When things were hard or went wrong for them, then they sought Him. OLD TESTAMENT. Though Elisha did not leave the earth in the same way Elijah did, taken up in a whirlwind with the horses and chariot of fire appearing, this miracle is recorded in 2 Kings after his death. The attack of the young people upon Elisha at Bethel was, in reality, an attack upon the God of Elijah and Elisha. After Elijahs victory over the prophets of Baal when he called down fire from heaven, the drought ended. Why Do We Need to Be Crucified with Christ? Scripture tells us God has plans for our lives which are bigger than we can ask for or imagine. At each step of the journey Elijah was saying 'stay here, don't go any further' and he was testing Elisha to see if Elisha would stay with him and how much Elisha wanted to follow him and to be with him. Why do we kill some animals but not others? In a tumultuous time for Gods people, Elijahs strong and firm presence confirmed God does not change in dire circumstances. My question, though, still is why? Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Can the Spiritual Weapon spell be used as cover? We need hermeneutic answers with substantial reference to the text. Spiritual meaning of Jericho (Walk by Faith). * [2:9] Double portion of your spirit: as the firstborn son inherited a double portion of his fathers property (Dt 21:17), so Elisha asks to inherit from Elijah his spirit of prophecy in the degree befitting his principal disciple. So when we look at this I am not talking about what Jericho is like in the spring or how big it is. Elijah and Elisha (don't confuse the names!) 3The guild prophets who were in Bethel went out to Elisha and asked him, Do you know that today the LORD will take your master from you? He replied, Yes, I know that. Why? 23* From there Elisha went up to Bethel. Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.' Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. But Elisha said, 'As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.' I know this because things are seldom easy on this crazy planet. 13and picked up the mantle which had fallen from Elijah. All rights reserved. And you will remember that what we also looked at the testing of Elisha. And it will help you to understand better the story of this ordinary person whom God used in an extraordinary way. To make things easy (hopefully! uncertaindoes it seem to be the Gilgal mentioned in II Kings ii. 5The guild prophets who were in Jericho approached Elisha and asked him, Do you know that today the LORD will take your master from you? He replied, Yes, I know that. Through Christ, we have full access to the Father in heaven, but we dont fully understand the totality of Gods plan and purposes. In other words, the biblical concept of "the Promised Land" (God's place of rest) is not limited only to the visible geographical area of Palestine, which was promised to Abraham. How are these walls going to come down?. 6 et seq. [5], The eternal principle and meaning of the Jordan - Death and Resurrection. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. The next stop in Elisha's journey was Jericho. Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 'Look, there's no way, no way at all I am leaving you. Of Elijahs ministry, Pastor John Piper explains on desiringGod.org: that you, O Lord, are God. You are not an idea. [7] I was watching the Winter Olympics recently. It's a bit of a classic. 2 Kings 2:6 Then Elijah said to him, 'Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.' This journey is recorded in 2 Kings 2:1-10. She forgot what was behind and pressed on with her goal. Is quantile regression a maximum likelihood method? 16 (A. V. 15). And that can be dreadful at times. At that time, Israel was ruled by corrupted Kings whose evil ways caused the drought from God upon the land. What is the author saying by showing Elijah take this path at the command of the LORD? Elijah Was Taken Up to Heaven. What is the literary purpose of not naming the king in 2 Kings 5-7? This is a poor quality post for this site. 8Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up and struck the water: it divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.a. ', So it was Jacob who called the place Bethel. It was talking about the nation of Israel and it said 'When He (God) afflicted them then they sought Him.' Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. (2 Kings 2:1). Their influence led to an awakening among some of the Israelites during a dismal stage of Israel's history. Above the altar, Elijah is depicted praying beneath a locust bean (carob) tree. He cried out, My father! I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. * [2:14] The LORD, the God of Elijahwhere is he now? But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 4, where the concept of the afterlife is developed from the Hebrew Bible). Download Story Planner: Elijah anoints Elisha. He threw his coat around him. rev2023.3.1.43269. Elijah and Elisha were prophets, recorded in the Old Testament in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. When it is Elijah's turn he boldly soaks the sacrament with water to display his supreme trust in God to start a fire despite being wet. Well, they had to walk and they had to walk in faith quite literally. A free Story Planner PDF can be downloaded. 10 Reasons God Might Not Be Blessing Your Life, 9 Christians You Don't Want to Sit Beside on Sunday Morning, 6 Truths about Jesus Coming into the World, Inspiring Mother Breaks Down after Earning Golden Buzzer with Celine Dion Hit, 7 Ways Anxiety Dominates the Christian Mind. Elijah was sent to show Israel the evil of their ways and encourage them to return to the Lord. Gilgal is most like a reference to the location of Israel's first camp in the land and the beginning of their spiritual journey with the Lord as the reproach of Egypt is rolled away. In the NFL, much is made of "coaching trees." The challenge is to offer sacrifices to their own deities and see which starts a fire to show their divinity. These cities are considered to be special locations where there were schools for groups of prophets. We are going to walk around it for six days. Elisha immediately knew that God had His hand in their chance meeting. [4] God, here in the first battle in the Promised Land, was teaching them a new principle - and that was to walk by faith. [1] I heard someone say one time that some theologians can tell you the distance from Jerusalem to Jericho but they can't tell you the distance from the heart of man to the heart of God. It was the time when covenants and a foundationing in the truths of God's word had to be made. Jericho was the first city Israel conquered in the land and was claimed as the first fruits by the Lord so placed under the ban. Especially if we hear of them second or third hand as they are passed down from generation to generation. of stones. Otherwise they didn't really seek him a heck of a lot. He comes to take over the situation. Assyrian Captivity. Kings Saul, David, & Solomon. Weapon damage assessment, or What hell have I unleashed? Jericho therefore was a throwback to the (circular) wilderness wanderings, where the desert was a place of death and unfruitfulness (2 Kings 2:22). But I do believe that these places are highly significant and do speak to us. The Bible story of Elijah and Elisha is found in both books of Kings from the Old Testament. Of course, you would see stones in any location, but in this case, there were some pretty specific stones. This Gilgal does not Where it all starts: Spiritual meaning of Gilgal (Separation). Babylonian Captivity. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. Never again shall death or sterility come from it. ") It is another Gilgal located in the highlands above Bethel. 16), He went into heaven, and therefore heaven is a literal place. I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt, I have separated you from all those taunts that you had that you would never get into the Promised Land'. 18When they returned to Elisha in Jericho, where he was staying, he said to them, Did I not tell you not to go?. Photo Credit: Getty Images/BibleArtLibrary I love what Major Ian Thomas says about this. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. And he replied, 'As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.' That is why in each place 'the sons of the prophets' are interacting with Elijah and Elisha. It means that you are actually going through a situation where you cannot see how things are going to turn out. Mount Carmel and Elijahs flight to Beersheba. * Israels chariot and steeds! Then he saw him no longer. The Bible is teeming with miracles and prophecies, and we can read about events like these in the lives of Elijah and Elisha in 1 and 2 Kings. Joshua 4:19-24 'On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. Elisha's Life and Death Pointed to God as the Source of Life and Power, Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. 3 The guild prophets who were in Bethel went . seq., from which Elijah journeyed to Beth-el and then to Jericho. As we take a peak into the lives of two great prophets, let it inspire us to pray for the purpose God has placed in our lives for His Kingdom. It marked their journey into Canaan as one of war and dependence upon the Lord. ; For example, when he died on the battlefield during the Civil War in 1863, Stonewall Jackson is said to have remarked, "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.". God places people in our lives purposefully. Gilgal. Just as 12Kings pivots on this chapter, so this scene too is concentrically constructed. It only takes a minute to sign up. In their final moments, the genuine love and loyalty of theirfriendship is displayed through their conversation. You are not a tradition. 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