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Elijah’s Successor, August 5
2 Kings 2:1-15
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51, 52
.
In the desert, in loneliness and discouragement, Elijah had said that he had
had enough of life and had prayed that he might die. But the Lord in His mercy
had not taken him at his word. There was yet a great work for Elijah to do; and
when his work was done, he was not to perish in discouragement and solitude.
Not for him the descent into the tomb, but the ascent with God’s angels to the
presence of His glory.
“And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel,
and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his
own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 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. And when the sons of the prophets
which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The Spirit of Elijah doth rest
on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground
before him.”
When the Lord in His providence sees fit to remove from His work those to
whom He has given wisdom, He helps and strengthens their successors, if they
will look to Him for aid and will walk in His ways. They may be even wiser than
their predecessors; for they may profit by their experience and learn wisdom
from their mistakes
Elijah, the man of power, had been God’s instrument for the overthrow of
gigantic evils.... As successor to Elijah was needed one who by careful, patient
instruction could guide Israel in safe paths. For this work Elisha’s early training
under God’s direction had prepared him....
Every act of life is a revelation of character, and he only who in small duties
proves himself “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,” will be honored by
God with weightier trusts
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6
Ibid., 228
.
7
Education, 60, 61
.
232