Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his cloak and rolled it up and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.” And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.

2 Kings 2:6-12

Part of Elijah’s discipleship of Elisha is found in building the persistence of the younger man. Earlier we read that Elisha left everything including his family to follow Elijah. We don’t know the details, but I am reminded of a quote from Chip Ingram who said, “More is caught than taught.”

Do you understand the meaning? By living day in and day out with Elijah, Elisha experienced what it was like to be the prophet of God and importantly, he learned what kind of man Elijah was and from what we read in the verses above, Elijah was a man who pleased God to the point that his exit from this world was unique to say the least, wouldn’t you agree?

The prophet who on more than one occasion asked God to respond with fire, was taken up from this earth by horses and chariots of fire in a whirlwind. As James would write later, Elijah was a man just like us. He had his moments of doubt and weakness and yet his commitment and passion for the things of God set him apart from others in his time and ours.

A.W. Tozer referred to Elijah as – “One man against the world. He was out of accord with all everything around about him. Not because he was mean, not because he was contrary, but because he stood before God in an hour standing before God.He was God’s man in a godless age. He was a witness from heaven to earth. He was a witness witnessing to bad men.”

So how can we apply Elijah’s life to our own?

• Know God and then stand firm in the faith.
• Pursue a personal encounter with God.
• Recognize that being “one man against the world” can be a lonely place to be at times.