seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 KIngs 2:1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.
7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
“Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.”
“No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”
17 But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”
19 The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”
20 “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.
21 Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’” 22 And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read.When the LORD was about to take Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind: Apparently, this was somewhat common knowledge. Elijah, Elisha, and the sons of the prophets each knew that Elijah would soon be carried into heaven by a whirlwind; presumably there was a prophecy announcing this that at least some knew.
Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground: This was a strange and unique miracle on a day of strange and unique miracles. Elijah walked in the steps of Moses and Joshua as ones whom God used to miraculously part waters.
Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven: This was a strange and unique miracle. As the two prophets walked, some fiery object separated the two of them and then carried Elijah up to heaven.
He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him: Since the mantle was the special mark of a prophet, this was a demonstration of the truth that Elisha truly had inherited the ministry of Elijah.
The water is bad, and the ground barren: At this time Jericho had a poor water supply. This made agriculture impossible and life very difficult.
Thus says the LORD: “I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness”: The miracle did not happen because Elisha wanted to impress others or because he thought it would be good to do it. This was a work of the LORD, and it was a word from the LORD that announced the healing of the water.
Go up, you baldhead: This both mocked Elisha because of his apparent baldness, and because of his connection with the prophet Elijah. The idea behind the words, “Go up” was that Elisha should go up to heaven like Elijah did. It mocked Elisha, his mentor Elijah, and the God they served.
So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD: Elisha knew these young men mocked his ministry, Elijah’s ministry, and the God they both faithfully served. Yet he left any correction up to God by pronouncing a curse on them in the name of the LORD.
Two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths: In response to the curse of Elisha, God sent two female bears and they mauled (literally, cut up) the young men.
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Elijah was reaching the end of his mission. Elisha was walking right beside him and would not leave. Everywhere the two stopped, Elijah told Elisha he could stop there. But Elisha was persistent. He stayed right with Elijah to the end.
Verse 7 says 50 men watched [witnessed] Elijah balling up his cape, hitting the Jordan River with the cape, and the Jordan moving apart left and right. This was not just a dry spot. This was, watch the water pile up like it did for Moses. The commentary reminds us that Joshua also made the waters separate. Joshua used the Arc of the Covenant to dry the path.
In verse 13 Elisha used Elijah's cape to cross the river too.
Elisha wanted Elijah's job when Elijah was called home. That was something [IMHO] Elijah could not just grant to Elisha. God handled the hiring, firing, and taking up of all the true prophets. God would have to agree.
Elijah said [in modern lingo] "If God lets you see me leave... then yep... you can have my job." Elijah knew that God would strike Elisha blind or cause him to look away or cause him to leave.... something .... if He didn't want Elisha to take on Elijah's mission.
In verse 21 Elisha got the chance to try out his new position. Jericho had raunchy water. Elisha added some salt to the water and gave all the credit to God. Today we use salt to soften the water and we take away salt to harden the water a little.
God used Elisha to purify the water in Jericho!
And now we can get to the Baldy part. Elish was not about to let a street gang give him grief. Elisha worked for God.
The street gang started jeering [making fun] at Elisha. They were sneering at him, calling him Baldy!
Elisha put a curse on them. Two female bears came out of the woods and mauled all but eight of them.
Then he went on about his mission... on to Mount Carmel and then on to Samaria.
So.... when you meet a bald man.... Remember, he might be a prophet.
"Don't call him Baldy!"
