I Will Not Leave You
II Kings 2:1-6 – “And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into Heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. (Elisha, since called of God, had now been with Elijah for approximately 10 years. The ‘Gilgal’ mentioned here is the Gilgal close to Jericho, not another Gilgal that was close to Shiloh in Samaria.)
“And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me to Beth-el. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Beth-el. (Elisha knew that Elijah was about to be taken, but probably, at this stage, not how he would be taken; consequently, he will not let the great Prophet out of his sight.)
“And the sons of the prophets who were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Know you that the LORD will take away your master from your head today? And he said, Yes, I know it; hold you your peace (how they knew this, we aren’t told!)."
“And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray you; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho (it is the persistent soul who reaps the benefits of what Christ has done for us at Calvary, and only the persistent soul [Lk. 11:5-13]).
“And the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, now you that the LORD will take away your master from your head today? And he answered, Yes, I know it; hold you your peace."
“And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray you, here; for the LORD has sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. And they two went on.”
The story of Elijah and Elisha is filled with great lessons for us today.
Elijah is a type of the Law; Elisha is a type of Grace. We know that because of the double portion of the anointing upon Elisha. Grace always provides more than law. Elijah is also one of the two men who has not yet died, the other being Enoch. Hebrews 11:5 tells us that Enoch was translated by God from Earth to Heaven and II Kings 2:11 tell us that Elijah was carried off to Heaven by a whirlwind (storm).
Both Enoch and Elijah are in Heaven today in their natural bodies awaiting their final act of ministry which will occur at about the midpoint of the Great Tribulation, in which they will return to Earth as the two witnesses that will prophesy in the midst of Jerusalem for the last three and one-half years of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 11:1-3).
In II Kings, Chapter 2, Verses 1 through 6, we find that Elijah is soon to be translated. Elisha has been with Elijah for about ten years. Elisha knows that soon Elijah will be gone; therefore, he will not let the Prophet out of his sight. In all of this, we learn the lesson of persistence.
THE PERSISTENCE OF ELISHA
Three times Elijah tells Elisha to “tarry here” as the Prophet journeyed from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho and then to Jordan. Elisha’s reply each time was, “As the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” Now understand that while Elisha knows that Elijah was going to be taken up by God, he did not know the exact time. He wanted a “double portion” of the Holy Spirit and nothing was going to get in the way of him receiving. He was not going to let the great Prophet Elijah the Tishbite out of his sight until he received what he desired. I pray the reader takes note of Elisha’s persistence.
The church world of today has been so riddled with the false doctrine of the Word of Faith teachings, which say that the believer can have so much faith and power that he can just speak it and “poof” you have it. Too many Christians think that they can just snap their fingers and the Lord appears as a glorified genie ready to grant their every desire. This teaching is so facetious that no comment is needed.
The Bible truth is that the Things of God are not come by easily. Though they are freely given, the Lord does not hand out His Gifts indiscriminately. All of us make the mistake that one can earn the Great Blessings of God, or one merits them by the doing of certain good works. None of that is true.
The fact is that there is a process that one must go through. First, we must understand that we deserve nothing from God and that He owes us nothing. Second, we must understand that the Lord desires to do a Work in our lives. He is trying to make us responsible and thankful, and He is trying to bring us to the place of complete dependence upon Him and Him Alone.
We very seldom receive from the Lord that which we desire or need immediately. There is a process of us staking a claim and then having to believe God and seek God for that which we desire.
Matthew 7:7 tells us: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” This tells us that our “asking” may not be immediately answered; therefore, we must seek the Lord as to the reason why. “Knock” implies a door that does not immediately open, but we don’t quit, we keep on knocking. Jesus dealt with this to a greater degree in Luke 11:5-13. We must not give up just as Elisha did not give up, but he kept following Elijah from place to place. Persistence and Faith go hand in hand. Where there is persistence, there is Faith. Where there is Faith, one will also find persistence. Elisha was not going to give up; he was not going to let Elijah out of his sight until the double portion was his.
If there are things that you have been seeking the Lord for and they have not yet come, don’t give up. Be persistent. If you don’t receive it at Gilgal, don’t stop. If you don’t receive it at Beth-el, don’t stop. If you don’t receive it at Jericho, don’t stop. If you don’t receive it at Jordan, don’t stop for Verse 11 says, “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 (storm) into Heaven,” and the first part of Verse 12 says, “And Elisha saw it. . . .” His persistence paid off and he received that which he had asked for, “a double portion.”
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