The Real World

Well, friends, can I just repeat something I said last night?

What a pleasure it is to be with you

and how much I admire those of you who have come with little children

or even not quite so little children.

It's a big thing to come away for a weekend like this.

It's tiring and stressful and you need a week off after it,

that kind of thing, but it really is terrifically worthwhile.

It's worthwhile not only for you but for your kids

and I just encourage you to keep on investing in church life

as part of your family life.

It really is a big thing and will mean a lot

and there are lots of good things we like to do for our kids.

There aren't that many better than investing your life

and your family's life in the life of God's people.

However, I want to begin this morning.

2 Kings chapter 2 is the part of the Bible

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

that you should have open in front of you.

But I want to begin by just raising the question

as to whether you've noticed

how many people think

that the world that they know

and that they understand

and they're familiar with

is the real world.

You come across that kind of idea.

Older people quite often look at younger people

and say something like

wait till they get into the real world.

By which they mean the world of adult work and responsibility

the world that they live in.

And then younger people

often think that older people

or at least some older people like me

are out of touch.

And by that they mean

out of touch

with the world that they know

and understand.

Their real world.

These days I find myself feeling

as a city dweller

watching

the hard times

being endured

by so many people

in rural Australia

with drought and fire and so on

and some recently with floods.

I sometimes wonder

what I know

of the real world

protected as I am

in my comfortable

city existence.

that idea that the world

we are familiar with

or world

is the real world

most of the time

those who are accused

of being out of touch

with the real world

find it a little bit

insulting.

We don't like being told

that our world

our experience

our understanding

is inferior

is inadequate

is out of touch

with something

more important.

And I found myself

wondering whether

that is part of the reason

that people don't really

like the message

of the Bible.

Because the Bible

tells us

that the real world

the real world

is bigger

than any of us know.

We are out of touch.

Seriously

out of touch.

The real world

is more

than we can see

than we can hear

than we can feel.

And this matters

because

well let's see

why it matters

by following

the story of Joshua

not Joshua

Elisha

these names

get all confusing

don't they?

They're all sort of

so similar

and overlapped.

Elisha

when he next appears

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

The event

we're about to witness

and I know

you've been reading

2 Kings

and so you are

many of you

at least

will be familiar

with this story

it occurred

these events

somewhere in the

850s B.C.

And the event

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

is one of those

utterly astonishing

events

which the Bible

records

that shows us

the real world.

indeed

I would say

here we have

an event

that actually

illuminates

everything.

The event

has links

to others

like it

as you read

through this

chapter

we won't have

time to do

very much

of this

but it reminds

you of all

sorts of

other things

other particular

moments in the

Bible story

if we read

it carefully

it's hard to

avoid being

reminded of the

exodus from

Egypt in the

days of Moses

certainly we'll

be reminded of

the entry into

the promised

land under

Joshua's

leadership

we might also

find ourselves

thinking of the

occasion in the

life of Jesus

known as the

transfiguration

I'm not going to

mention that but

there are links

to that event

as well as the

resurrection and

ascension of

Jesus and the

pouring out of

the Holy Spirit

they're all linked

to what happens

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

the story we're

about to follow

is very weighty

well I want us

to listen to it

we're going to do

things a little bit

differently to what

I usually do

this time I told you

last night you're

guinea pigs this

mightn't work

too bad we'll just

do our best

it won't hurt you

to listen to the

Bible anyway

whether the rest

of what I say

works that's another

matter but

2 Kings chapter

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

2 I want us to

listen to the

whole story

we're not going

to go through

it in detail

in our thinking

but having listened

to the story

I'm then going

to try and pick

up on four big

things that we

learned from what

happened on this

day long long

ago

alright follow

with me in 2

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

Kings chapter 2

from verse 1

I'm reading in the

ESV if your

translation is

significantly different

and you're puzzled

by that you can

ask me about that

later on

2 Kings chapter 2

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

from the top

now when the

Lord was about

to take Elijah

up to heaven

by a whirlwind

Elijah and

Elisha were on

their way from

Gilgal

just to insert

here this is the

first time that

Elisha has been

mentioned since the

account we looked

at last night in

1 Kings 19

that call

although we can

assume that

Elisha has been

with Elijah all

the time

we were told that

he became his

assistant

and so I think

Elisha has been

there he hasn't

been mentioned

but now he is

mentioned

verse 2

and Elijah said

to Elisha

please stay here

for the Lord

has sent me as

far as Bethel

but Elisha said

as the Lord

lives and as

you yourself

live I will

not leave you

so they went

down to Bethel

and the sons

of the prophets

who were in

Bethel came out

to Elisha

these sons of

the prophets

we're going to

hear a lot

more about

them

they seem to

have been

kind of

followers or

disciples of

Elijah and

Elisha in

various places

around the

countryside

well they came

out and they

said to

Elisha do

you know

that today

the Lord

will take

away your

master from

over you

and he said

yes I know

keep quiet

Elijah said

to him

Elisha please

stay here

for the Lord

has sent me

to Jericho

but he said

as the Lord

lives and as

you yourself

live I will

not leave you

so they came

to Jericho

the sons of

the prophets

who were at

Jericho drew

near to Elisha

and said to

him

do you

know that

today the

Lord will

take away

your master

from over

you

and he

answered

yes I

know

keep quiet

then Elijah

said to him

this is getting

a little bit

tedious isn't

it not

tedious it's

actually very

interesting but

it's getting

repetitive

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'm

not going

to leave

you so

the two

of them

went on

50 men

from the

sons of

the prophets

I think

the sons

of the

prophets

in Jericho

also went

and stood

at some

distance

from them

as they

both were

standing

by the

Jordan

there on

the west

side of

the Jordan

if you're

trying to

picture this

scene

and 50

men

watching

them

then Elijah

took his

cloak

you remember

that cloak

from last

night

and rolled

it up

and struck

the water

and the

water was

parted

to the

one side

and to

the other

until the

two of

them could

go over

on dry

ground

and when

they 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've

asked a

hard

thing

yet

if you

see me

as I'm

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 chariot

of Israel

and its

horsemen

and he

saw him

no more

then he

took hold

of his

own clothes

and tore

them in

two pieces

and he

took up

the cloak

of Elijah

that had

fallen from

him

and went

back and

stood at

the bank

of the

Jordan

then he

took the

cloak of

Elijah

that had

fallen

from him

and struck

the water

saying

where is

the Lord

the God

of Elijah

and when

he had

struck

the water

the water

was parted

to the one

side and

to the other

and Elisha

went over

now when the

sons of the

prophets

who were at

Jericho

saw him

opposite them

this is the

50 men who'd

been watching

at a distance

they said

the spirit

of Elijah

rests on

Elisha

and they

came to

meet him

and bowed

down to

the ground

before him

and they

said to

him

behold

now

there are

with you

there are

with your

servants

50 strong

men

please let

them go

and seek

your master

Elijah

it may be

that the

spirit of

the Lord

has caught

him up

and cast

him on

some

mountain

or into

some

valley

and he

said

you shall

not

send

but when

they urged

him

till he

was ashamed

he said

send

they sent

therefore

50 men

and for

three days

they sought

him

but they

didn't find

him

and they

came back

to him

to Elisha

while he

was staying

at Jericho

and he

said to

them

didn't

I say

to you

do not

go

quite a

story

eh

quite an

event

I'm a

little

puzzled

that we're

not more

familiar

with it

I mean

it's not

an unknown

event

it's not

a really

obscure

event

in the

Bible

but such

a remarkable

event

it's not

one of the

top three

that you'd

think of

in the

Bible

events

you're

familiar

with

as the

chapter

begins

the time

had come

we're told

for Elijah

to depart

from this

world

it's quite a

moment

Elijah

if you've

been reading

the whole

story

Elijah

first

appeared

in this

account

in 1

1 Kings 17:1

Kings 17

verse 1

we noted

that last

night

in the

days

of that

dreadful

king

Ahab

and his

even more

dreadful

wife

Queen

Jezebel

and about

20 years

have passed

if you calculate

it out

it looks like

around about

20 years

can't work

it out

exactly

but there's

been about

20 years

Elijah has

been around

and Elijah

remember his

name

my God

is Yahweh

that's what

his name

means

he's been

a very

powerful

figure

in Israel's

history

the story

of Elijah

has been

exciting

and dramatic

but Elijah

as we're

going to

see

was actually

preparing

the way

for

Elisha

and

Elisha's

time

had come

see how

verse 1

says

the Lord

was about

to take

Elijah

up to

heaven

by a

whirlwind

now

the departure

of most

people from

this world

including

you and

me

time will

come

we presume

the departure

of most

people from

this world

means their

death

and usually

they're

buried

and for

obvious reasons

the Bible

often describes

this as

going down

in biblical

history up

to this point

there have

been just

two exceptions

or variations

from the

norm

in Genesis

5

do you

remember

there was

we read

Enoch

who the

text says

it's really

one of those

phrases in the

Bible

what does

that mean

it says

he was

not

for God

took him

whatever that

precisely means

it sounds

as though it was

a little bit

different to

most of us

then much

later

Moses

died

and was

buried

but apparently

not by

human hand

and we read

at the end

of the book

of Deuteronomy

that no one

knows the place

of his burial

to this day

so that was

a little bit

unusual

but 2 Kings

2 Kings 2:1

chapter 2

verse 1

anticipates

that Elijah's

departure

will surpass

in wonder

and mystery

the departures

of Enoch

and Moses

the Lord

was about

to take

Elijah

up

to heaven

by a whirlwind

and as we'll see

these words

are to be taken

quite literally

now I'm sure

as we read

the story

I wonder

if your mind

was sort of

going in

various directions

and thinking

of connections

to other

Bible events

that crossing

of the Jordan

River

on dry ground

well that was

just like

what happened

centuries earlier

in the days

of Joshua

when the Israelites

you remember

first entered

the promised land

indeed

if you get out

a Bible atlas

and it's a really

good idea

to have a Bible

atlas

or a good

Bible map

as you're reading

particularly

these Old Testament

stories

and following

the movements

because the

assumption

of the writer

is that the

first readers

of this

will know

the geography

most of us

don't

and so it's

worth getting

out a Bible

atlas

and seeing

where

and if you

follow the

movements

of Elijah

and Elisha

you'd see

that as they

moved eastwards

towards the

Jordan River

and across

the Jordan River

it looked as

though they

were following

the path

of Joshua

and the Israelites

but in reverse

they were going

in the opposite

direction

it sort of

almost looks

like it was

a picture

of the judgment

that God

had warned

the people

that they

would suffer

of being

driven out

of the

promised land

as

Joshua

sorry

as Elisha

and Elijah

take that

path

so strikingly

similar to the

entry of the

promised land

across to the

east

I think I'm

getting east

and west

mixed up

don't worry

about it

if I've got

it wrong

just ignore

me

but then

what happened

Elisha

my God

saves

came back

now without

Elijah

and it was

a kind of

return to

the promised

land

it was a

kind of

picture of

redemption

now that's

important for

understanding the

significance of

Elijah

my God

is Yahweh

and Elisha

my God

saves for the

Old Testament

people of

Israel

but I want to

draw your

attention to

some other

connections

Elisha

and Jesus

it's interesting

to me that

after Elijah's

remarkable

departure

in 2 Kings

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

we find

almost no

mention of

him

throughout

the whole

of the rest

of the

Old Testament

until

the very

last words

of the

last book

in our

Old Testament

at the end

of the book

of the prophet

Malachi

we hear God's

promise that

goes like this

so right at the

end of our

Old Testaments

behold

I will send

you Elijah

the prophet

before the

great and

awesome day

of the Lord

comes

and as

Elijah

with his

message of

judgment

was preparing

the way for

what God

was going to

do through

Elisha

so God

is going to

send a new

Elijah

to prepare

the way for

the fulfilment

of God's

purposes

the great and

awesome day

of the Lord

well Elijah

sorry

I'm getting

all muddled

up

this is

Saturday

morning

I'm as

bad as

I was

on Friday

night

it was

about

450

years

later

after

Malachi

that

John the

Baptist

made his

public

appearance

in the

vicinity

of the

events

that we're

reading

about

in

2

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

Kings

chapter

2

and

John the

Baptist

when he

appeared

he was

clothed

like

Elijah

and he

was

preaching

repent

for the

kingdom

of heaven

is at

hand

he

looked

like

and he

sounded

like

Elijah

and the

New

Testament

tells us

that he

was the

promised

new

Elijah

who was

preparing

the way

for the

one who

would come

after him

and the

one who

came after

John the

Baptist

was of

course

Jesus

now I'm

sorry

making all

these

connections

I hope

you can

keep up

with this

but I

find it

all

interesting

it's

true

that I

find

some

things

interesting

that other

people don't

find interesting

but I'm

hoping I can

engage you

with this

Jesus'

name

is like

Elisha's

name

do you

remember

Elisha

means

my God

saves

Jesus

follow these

little technical

details

Jesus is

the Greek

for

Joshua

so

Jesus'

name

was

in Hebrew

Jesus'

name

was

Joshua

and Joshua

means

Yahweh

saves

Jesus

was given

this name

you remember

by the

angel who

visited

Mary

because he

will save

his people

from their

sins

now I don't

want to explore

this in further

detail just now

but we should be

aware that

as with the

Old Testament

generally

we read

and we

listen

to what the

Old Testament

teaches us

aware that

what we

learn from

these pages

has

important

connections

to even

more

amazing

events

concerning

Jesus

Christ

now we're

going to

come back

to that

back to the

story in

2 Kings 2

I'd like to

think about

what happened

but I'm

going to do

it backwards

you can cope

with that

just to be

different and

keep you on

your toes

on a Saturday

morning

I'd like to

think a little

bit about how

the story that

we just read

ends

remember there

were 50

sons of the

prophets from

Jericho

who I have

suggested I

think they were

disciples of

Elijah and

Elisha that

seems to fit with

what we're told

about them

and they'd

been watching

from a

distance

as Elijah

and Elisha

crossed the

Jordan

going eastwards

I think I've

got it right

this time

the spectacular

event that

took place

on the east

side of the

Jordan River

was beyond

their sight

they didn't

see it

and then

they saw

Elisha return

across the

Jordan on

his own

and they drew

the conclusion

that Elisha

had succeeded

their master

and their

teacher

Elijah

you can see

that in

verse 15

what did

they think

had happened

to Elijah

because they

didn't see

what happened

but they saw

Elisha come

back on his

own

they knew

from earlier

in the story

they knew

that the

Lord was

going to

take Elijah

away

and that

had evidently

now happened

but how

had it

happened

perhaps they

thought he

died

or

perhaps they

thought that

Elijah had

been whisked

away somewhere

as was

rumoured to

have happened

before with

Elijah

Elijah kept

disappearing

all the time

and people

had theories

as to what

was happening

to him

right through

his life

but they

now say

to Elisha

you see

verse 16

behold now

they say

to Elisha

behold now

there are

with your

servants

50 strong

men

please let

them go

and seek

your master

Elijah

it may be

that the

spirit of

the Lord

has caught

him up

and cast

him down

on some

mountain

or valley

somewhere

now I

imagine

that these

50 are

not necessarily

thinking all

that clearly

but they

were perplexed

and they

were perplexed

about what

they'd seen

they'd been

perplexed

about what

they were

to do

they were

bewildered

by what

they had

not seen

and they

had an

understandable

I think

even

commendable

desire

to go

and find

their

esteemed

master

whether

he was

still alive

or dead

they didn't

want him

left

in the

hills

across

the

Jordan

well

imagine

their

confusion

when

their

new

master

rather

abruptly

rejected

their

proposal

it's in

verse 16

again

and Elisha

said

you shall

not

sin

don't

do it

now of

course

Elisha

knew

that

sending

out

a

search

party

was

pointless

but I

suspect

that he

felt

sort of

unable

to tell

the

sons of

the

prophets

what had

actually

happened

to his

master

I mean

how would

you describe

it

even the

writer

here

who's

writing

it

sometime

later

with the

calmness

of a

time

having

passed

he can

only

describe

it

in

one

verse

this

spectacular

thing

that

happened

there's

only one

verse

given

to it

but I'm

sure

that

Elisha

was still

rather

overwrought

by what

had

happened

what

he'd

seen

and hence

his rather

brusque

words

no don't

don't

do it

now

you notice

if you read

carefully

that the

sons of

the prophets

they

accepted

Elisha's

new

authority

they

didn't

feel

free

to

act

without

his

permission

but

at the

same

time

they

were

not

comfortable

with

this

refusal

don't

do

it

I

wonder

whether

they

suspected

that

perhaps

Elisha's

judgment

was

impaired

by his

grief

he's

not

he's

not

thinking

clearly

what

possible

justification

could

there

be

for

not

sending

a

search

party

out

to

find

Elijah

or

his

body

and so

verse

17

you've

got this

rather strange

description

but when

they

urged

him

until

he was

ashamed

he said

okay

send

they pressed

him

to authorise

a search

until

apparently

he felt

he couldn't

go on

refusing

it was

becoming

embarrassing

presumably

because

Elisha

found

himself

unable

to

explain

the

reason

for

his

refusal

what

had

happened

I'll

describe

it as

the

ascension

of

Elisha

that's

the

right

kind

of

language

I

think

it's

not

the

kind

of

event

you

could

easily

take

in

let

alone

explain

to

anyone

else

the

heavenly

world

had

invaded

the

world

with

which

we

think

we're

familiar

the

Lord

had

taken

Elijah

up

to

heaven

how

could

Elisha

explain

that

to

the

sons

of

the

prophets

I

find

myself

thinking

of

Jesus

attempts

to

explain

to

his

disciples

what

was

about

to

happen

to

him

you

remember

at

one

level

his

words

were

plain

enough

remember

Jesus

said

and

there

are

a

number

of

occasions

when

he

said

something

like

this

this

from

Mark

Mark 9 · chapter mention

chapter

9

the

son

of

man

is

going

to

be

delivered

into

the

hands

of

men

they

will

kill

him

and

when

he

is

killed

after

three

days

he

will

rise

rise

what

does

that

mean

the

disciples

couldn't

understand

and

we

read

that

they

were

afraid

to

ask

him

it

was

really

quite

beyond

them

but

Elisha

was

unable

to

persist

in

his refusal

to allow

a search

party

to go

out

so he

relented

he said

send

they

therefore

verse 17

sent

50 men

and for

three days

they sought

Elijah

but of course

they didn't

find him

it was

mission

impossible

the search

party would

have crossed

the Jordan

river

close to

the spot

where

Elijah

and

Elisha

had

crossed

I think

their feet

would have

been a little

bit more

damp

but then

they would

have

fanned

out

to search

through the

hills

and the

valleys

for any

sign

of

Elijah

50

strong

men

on the

move

for three

days

from dawn