The life of Elijah has been a whirlwind of activity! From the time he stepped out of nowhere to confront the king of Israel, to his adventures of faith at the dry brook and the widow’s house, to his great victory on Mount Carmel and to his fall into and restoration from defeat and disuse. Elijah’s life has been tempestuous to say the least! Now, that life is about to end! Verse one of our text makes it clear that God is about to remove the prophet from this earth. He will leave here like he lived here; in a whirlwind!
I believe that Elijah sets a great example for those of us who are waiting on that time when we too will leave this world. If we were to be honest this morning, every saved person here would readily admit that they are anxiously awaiting that time when they will be home with the Lord in glory. But, what are we to be doing here, in the meantime, while we wait? Elijah shows us in this passage! As we read this account, we find there are three ways that Elijah spent his time as he waited on the whirlwind. One of these days all of our journeys will be over. Those who are saved will leave this world either by way of the cemetery or be way of the rapture. Either way, we will leave here in a whirlwind. Swept away into the presence of God. Until that day comes, we must live our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord and in a way that honors His will. Elijah shows us how to do just that. Let’s look in on Elijah and see the ways he spent his time as we think on the subject, Waiting On The Whirlwind.
Illustration: What if on your way to church this morning you drove up on me and my family and we we’re pushing my truck to church this morning? You stopped and asked me if I was out of gas…I said no…then you asked it my truck broke down but no I told you it was running fine. Wouldn’t you want to know why my family and I were pushing my truck instead of ridding in it? And with that I inform you that I preferred to push my truck instead of drive it. Wouldn’t you think that was silly? In truth it’s not any more ridiculous than a Christian living their life and not utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians today are pushing there life through human effort and struggle when all the power of the Holy Spirit is available to them.
Illustration: When a mother eagle is trying to teach its eaglets how to fly, but the baby eaglets are too afraid to jump out of the nest. The mother eagle will go and catch something the eaglets love to eat like a rabbit or something and fly right by the nest just out of reach of the eaglets to coax them out of the nest. Then sometimes when the baby eaglet comes out of the nest it fall to the earth, when that happens the mother eagle with wings spread will catch them and literally lift them up with their wings. Until they catch the air currents they call thermals. An eagle can fly anywhere from 30 to 50 miles per hour, but when they catch a thermal they can get anywhere from 80 to 100 miles per hour. And it’s effortless because they are ridding on the wind. That’s exactly how we are to live as Christians we are to spread our arms and surrender and let the Holy Spirit’s power lift us up and carry us as we surrender the Lord.
(V.1) WE NEED TO BE WATCHING AND WAITING
According to this verse, Elijah knew the precious truth that he was going to get to go to Heaven without having to pass through death. This was a privilege that had only been enjoyed by one other person in history. Genesis 5:21-24 tells that story of a man named Enoch. He was a man who lived for and walked with the Lord. When his time here was over, God simply took Enoch to Heaven, without him having to pass through death! This is the precious event that Elijah was anticipating. By the way, this is something that could happen to you and me! The Bible teaches us that there will be a future event know as the rapture. At that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the clouds above this earth and He will call His people home to Heaven, 1 Thes. 4:13-18. This is a precious event that could happen to us at any moment, 1 Cor. 15:51-52, and when it does, we will go to Heaven without having to die to get there. That excites me! I think I’ll just repeat the prayer John prayed on Patmos: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.", Rev. 22:20
Just as everyone seemed to know about Elijah’s rapture, the Bible has informed us today about the coming rapture. It has not been hidden, the information is available to anyone with a Bible. Even though all these people knew it was coming, no one knew exactly when it would happen! Elijah knew that God was coming for him, but he did not know just when. Therefore, he lived his last days and hours in anticipation of that coming event.
V. 1-6 Walking With Purpose - As Elijah anticipated his departure from this world, he continued to live as he always had. He continued to walk in humble obedience before the Lord God! Notice his statement, "The LORD hath sent me...", v. 2, 4, 6. If Elijah had been like many in our day, he would have spent his last days on the earth in retirement from service. He would have spent his time doing all the things he hadn’t had time to do while he was active serving the Lord. However, Elijah knew a truth that many people never learn: There is no higher call than that of following the Lord and doing what He bids you to do!
The lesson for us is this: there will never come a day when we can quit serving the Lord. Even though we know we are leaving, and that our leaving could be today, we should still seek to live lives that are filled with surrender to the call of the Lord. Several years ago, there was a group of people in Texas who became convinced that Jesus was going to return on a given date. As a result, they sold all their possessions, quit their jobs and went to the top of a mountain, sat down and waited fro the rapture. That is not what God wants you and me to be doing! He wants us to be busy in His work until He returns to take us home to glory! This was the problem in Thessalonika, 2 Thes. 3:11-13. These people were looking for Jesus to return at any moment, so they just quit doing anything. That is not God’s plan! If we want to take a biblical example, let us look to the book of Nehemiah. As he and his workers were being threatened by their enemies, they worked with one hand and held a weapon in the other, Neh. 4:17. In other words, they watched and they worked all at the same time! I will say it again, there will never come a day when we can quit serving the Lord! If you have been guilty of quitting on the Lord, let me encourage you to pick up your tools again! There is work to be done! Let us work until Jesus comes for us, whether it be in the clouds or by the clods. Let us work until we see His face, then we shall enter into our time of perfect rest, Heb. 4:9.
Walking With Progress - As the Lord led Elijah from place to place, God was bringing the prophet to that place from which he intended to remove him from this world. For Elijah, these places he visited allowed him the opportunity to visit the schools of the prophets. He was permitted to speak to the young men who were training to serve the Lord. He was allowed to be an encouragement to them. These places also gave Elijah the opportunity to reminisce about his life and how the Lord had worked in it so powerfully and so wonderfully. Let’s take a moment to look at each of these places Elijah visited and note the significance each held for the prophet.
Why did the older prophet want his servant to accompany him to Bethel and Jericho? Surely it wasn’t just a sentimental journey for Elijah, one last trip down memory lane. No - this wise, old man wanted to teach Elisha - as well as us today - our need for more of God’s power and anointing.
1. Gilgal - v. 1 POINT OF SALVATION - Gilgal was the first place Israel camped when they crossed the Jordan and entered the Promised Land. Gilgal was the place of new beginnings. Here, they were near the battles, but not fighting them yet. They were in a place of safety, of preparation, and of communion with the Lord. They were near the place of battle but were not there yet. Here, they renewed their covenants and grew strong in their relationship with the Lord. For Elijah it was time for him to remember how it all began for him. How the Lord called him and filled him to use him for the glory of God. (To follow the illustration of pushing a car rather then driving it: this is the point you actually get into the drivers set and realize the potential of driving rather then pushing.)
2. Bethel - v. 2-3 POINT OF SURRENDER- Bethel was a holy place for the people of Israel. It was at Bethel that the patriarch Jacob had met the Lord God, Gen. 28:11-22. Bethel signified the place of the altar and of total dependence upon the Lord. This is the place that Jacob totally surrendered his life to God. Bethel was the place of revelation. Bethel was the place where God became known and where He became big in the eyes of those who worship Him. For Elijah, Bethel was a place to reflect upon all the altars he had experienced in his life. He remembered how his life had lived in total dependence upon the Lord God! (This is were you turn the key and actually start the engine and prepare to use its power instead of your own.)
DO NOT SPEAK OF IT – When Elisha says to the prophets that he knows Elijah is going to die but he doesn’t want to talk about it I don’t think it was so much because it was too upsetting to him, I believe it was a matter of focus. Yes everyone knew that God was going to take Elijah but lets don’t stop and worry over it, lets get ready for it. Just as our focus today is not to sell everything and go wait on top of a mountain for God to come rapture us out of this world. We are to be focused on what we’re doing for God this day at this moment in our life preparing ourselves for our future resurrection. God doesn’t want us to put everything on spiritual hold and freeze all our spiritual assets and wait for Him, He wants us to be busy working, walking and watching as we journey through this life.
3. Jericho - v. 4-5 POINT OF BATTLE- For the people of Israel, Jericho represented the power of God to give victory in the day of battle. This was the place of their first major conquest in the Promised Land. Jericho was the place of victory and power. For Elijah, Jericho was a place for him to remember all the great victories he had enjoyed in his life. He could reflect back on all the great things God had done for him and through him. Times like the ravens, the barrel of meal, the resuscitated child, the victory at Carmel, all flooded the prophet’s mind. He remembered a life of powerful victories! (At this point you put the car in gear and begin to travel and experience the difference of moving in its power over struggling with your power.)
4. Jordan - v. 6-8 POINT OF TRANSFORMATION- For Israel, the river Jordan marked the end of their wilderness wanderings. It was a picture of death. That is, it was the place where the pilgrims died. When they crossed Jordan, they were no longer pilgrims, but they were a people who had arrived home. Jordan was the place of death. For Elijah, it was the perfect place to reflect on all the ways he had died to self during his years as a man of God. There, he could reflect on the fact that he had lived a selfless life, and that he had lived a life to the glory of God! (At this point it’s like turning on the air-conditioner in your car when it’s about 100 degrees outside, so their you are driving down the road at speeds you could never push with your own strength, cool, calm and comfortable. It’s here you decide you’ll never go back to pushing your car again.)
The Christian life is not meant to be a life of stagnation. It is meant to be a life of progression. The Lord wants to grow us and fashion us into His image. As He leads us from place to place along the road of life, may we, like Elijah, simply follow in humble obedience to His will for us! After all, the greatest gift we can give the Lord is ourselves, totally surrendered and dedicated to His will, Rom. 12:1-2.
IF YOU WANT A DOUBLE PORTION OF GOD YOU MUST:
FOLLOW CLOSLY THOSE WHOM GOD HAS ANNOINTED
Joshua followed Moses Exodus 33:11
Timothy followed Paul
I don’t think Elijah was trying to get rid of Elisha as much as he was putting his close companion, his successor-in-the-making, to the test. But Elisha was relentless. He stayed by the old prophet’s side. We need a few Elishas in our lives, intimate friends who will stick with us through thick and thin. They bring us strength and encouragement; they are a rare breed indeed!
DESIRE THE ANOINTING ON YOUR LIFE (V. 9)
V. 9-10 OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO THOSE WHO COME AFTER US - As they walk together, Elijah spends his last moments with Elisha teaching him about obedience and faithfulness. Elisha’s request and the stipulations attached to its fulfillment. Elijah doesn’t slap Elisha on the shoulder and walk off into the sunset. He knows this man is to take his place some day. He knows that Elisha needs and deserves the best training he can be given. The future depends on Elijah doing his duty today. Before he leaves, he must hand down his ministry to the same keeping of the next generation.
There is another generation coming along behind us. What are we teaching them about faith, obedience to God, faithfulness to the Lord’s house and work, love for the Bible, etc? What kind of legacy are we leaving behind as we travel toward our crossing? We are here this morning because some people were faithful to hand down their faith to us, 2 Tim. 2:2. Our duty to those who follow is to give them what they need to get the job done for Jesus.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK BIG THINGS OF GOD (V. 10)
The mind-set of too many Christians is far too limited. We would do well to learn a lesson about vision from Elijah’s faithful companion. Yet even Elijah, with all the great things he asked of God – remember, this is the man who called down fire from heaven – is a bit taken back here. “That’s a tough one,” he tells Elisha. “But if you see me when I’m taken from you, then what you ask shall be yours. If you don’t, it will not be.” After that there was no way Elisha was going to let Elijah out of his sight.
(V. 11) They were walking along and talking together. Elijah was not preaching or prophesying. It was just the two intimate friends. Walking along together and talking. What a fantastic moment that must have been. Then just like that! Instantly he was gone “up to heaven in a whirlwind.” Elisha saw the chariots, and he cried out in amazement and fright. He must have been physically and mentally terrified at this sight. The whirlwind blew so hard against Elisha that it blew him away from Elijah.
BE WILLING TO CHANGE YOUR COAT (V. 13)
What if Elisha would’ve have thought he liked his clothes too much to put on Elijah’s coat? Elisha tore away his clothes just as he was tearing away from his old way of life in which he was a follower of Elijah to a leader of God’s people. You’ve heard the expression it’s time to make a new break, that’s exactly what Elisha did.
You know that as the years went on that Elisha looked down at that old cloak of Elijah and remembered the times they spent together. Times when Elijah fearlessly proclaimed the Almighty God to the pagan world, and the time when God’s power came to rest on Elisha. That old cloak served to strengthen the younger Elisha, whom God destined to use in even greater ways.
Every time I ride in a boat I remember some of my fondest childhood memories. They’re memories of me, my dad and my older brother water skiing on Lake Holbrook. It would be just the three of us and usually we’d be the only boat on the lake because we’d go on weekdays. Those special times developed into special memories for me. Today both my dad and older brother have went on to be with the Lord. The good news is this: I will one day see them again. And we together will worship the same Lord face to face, “…and thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
Conclusion: I doubt if any of you are going to go out this morning and push your car home, so don’t leave here and push your spiritual life either. Surrender today to the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and allow Him to lift you up and power you life all the day of your journey here on earth.
