A Whirlwind of a Transition

We have a lesson this morning from scripture. If you want to open a Bible or find a scripture journal about halfway through the first and second King scripture journal, you'll find second Kings chapter two, second Kings chapter two. We're going to take the whole chapter. It will be a whirlwind. I'll warn you. There's a lot going on. A lot happens again. If this sermon is boring, it's my fault because the text isn't.

So second Kings chapter one, let me read for us. I'll begin in verse one and we're going to read all the way through verse 25. Hear the word of the Lord.

Now, when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal 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 prophet who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?

And he said, yes, I know it. 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 it. Keep quiet. 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. And as they both were standing by the Jordan, then Elijah took his cloak, 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.

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 on the bank of the Jordan.

Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him. And he 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, they said, the spirit of Elijah now rests on Elisha.

And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. And they said to him, behold now, there are with your servants 50 strong men. Please let them go and seek your master.

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, Elisha said, you shall not send.

But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, send. Therefore, they sent 50 men. And for three days they sought him, but did not find him.

And they came back while he was staying at Jericho. And he said to them, did I not say to you, do not go? Now the men of the city said to Elisha, behold, the situation of this city is pleasant as my Lord sees, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful.

So he said, bring me a new bowl and put salt in it. So they brought it to him. Then Elisha went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, thus says the Lord, I have healed this water.

From now on, neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it. So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

He went up from there to Bethel. And while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, go up, you bald head.

Go up, you bald head. And he turned around. And when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys.

From there he went on to Mount Carmel. And from there he returned to Samaria. Let's pray, shall we? Father, this morning as we come today, we just think about where we were a week ago for the Cole family.

We praise you. We thank you. Thank you for the work that you've done in Declan's life. We pray for them. We pray for him. Father, we pray for the Vance family as well.

We're so thankful to see David Peter Vance be welcomed into this world and that Micah is doing well. We pray for their family in these days ahead.

And Father, we pray now for a focus upon your word. Some of these things are hard things to read. And so, Lord, open our hearts, humble our minds, and teach us what you have for us today.

We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. There is a lot going on here. If you haven't noticed, there is, to start out with, some very strange dialogue going back and forth.

It's a little weird. And then we've got a prophet going up in a whirlwind. We've got some waters, partings, I guess I should say. We have a water cleansing.

And then if you missed it at the end, a couple of angry bears kill a bunch of kids. Just in case you didn't get that part. Let's start with the man Elisha.

Former farmer. Now commissioned as a prophet. And not just as any old prophet. Please understand. He is commissioned to be the successor to Israel's greatest prophet, Elijah.

And here's how it all went down. Let me take you back to 1 Kings chapter 19. Here's what we read. 1 Kings 19 verse 20. Elijah passed by Elisha and cast his cloak upon him.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention 1 Kings 19:20

And he, Elisha, left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you. And he said to him, Go back again for what have I done to you?

And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people and they ate.

Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. And that's important. This may help us explain a little bit of what's going on in this strange dialogue.

So, what we have is Elisha. He's been around his master Elijah for a while now. Only, it appears, as we begin reading the passage, that everybody knows that this is the end for Elijah.

This is going to be, in fact, his last day. In fact, we've got Elisha having these groups of prophets at three different locations coming up and telling them about it.

You know, the Lord's going to take away your master from you today. And it's almost like Elisha is being reminded of something that he already knows and doesn't want to hear about it again.

He says, I know. Be quiet. I know. Be quiet. Starts out in a town called Gilgal. And right away, we hear these puzzling words from Elijah. He says, verse 2, Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.

Elisha refuses and even uses this oath formula. You know, as surely as you live and I live and the Lord lives, no, I'm going to follow you. And we begin to really wonder, is Elijah's command really more of a request?

Or maybe even more of a test? I think the latter. It's almost as if he's trying to dissuade this younger prophet Elisha and just see how badly he wants this.

After all, there was, as we just read, some initial hesitance in the first response from Elisha when he was called. It could very well be that this is Elijah's way of making sure that Elisha himself is sure.

But Elisha will not be deterred. And so the two of them travel about eight miles over to Bethel. And once in the city of Bethel, we begin to realize just how big of a deal Elijah has become in Israel by this point.

It turns out he's pretty famous. And not just famous, it also turns out that there are these sons of the prophets in various locations, groups of them, kind of like a school of the prophets, that are all presumably under the leadership of Elijah.

Elijah. We think these may make up some of the 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal that the Lord himself told Elijah about back when he thought, I'm the only one left.

These sons of the prophets come out in verse 3, and they immediately tell Elisha, Hey, did you know, today's the day. The Lord's going to take your master away from you.

Elisha's like, shush, I don't want to hear that. Keep quiet. But there's some tension in the air. It's like a tension everybody feels in which Elisha seems to be trying to suppress.

Verse 4, Still the same day, and Elijah's off again. Now it's on to Jericho, and it's the same routine. Please stay here, Elisha. I'm being sent to Jericho.

But again, there's no stopping Elisha. As the Lord lives, I'm coming with you. And so now the two of them make the 14-mile journey over to Jericho.

And once again, no sooner do they walk into town, and it's more of these sons of the prophets coming up to Elisha, pulling him aside, telling him what presumably the Lord himself has revealed to these prophets.

Hey, did you know that today the Lord is going to take your master, your head, from over you? Seems like everybody knows about Elijah's departure.

And once again, Elisha, rather gruffly, I wonder if these prophets are like, What's his problem? He rather gruffly says, Yes, I know. Keep quiet.

Verse 6, Again, the Lord sends Elijah just a little further on. Jericho, after all, is not far from a river called Jordan. A few miles away, and for the third time, Elijah tries to discourage his protege.

Third time, we think about that. The significance of threes, even in the New Testament. If you remember a denial, and a reinstatement, threes.

But out here at the Jordan, we've got more of these sons of the prophets popping up, and this time we're told it's a pretty big group. There are 50 of them, and they're all standing at a distance watching, almost like they expect something's going to happen.

The tension is building. Everyone seems to know that this is the big day. Elijah's last day. Verse 8, With everybody watching, Elijah removes his cloak.

What's he doing now? It looks like he's rolling it up. And next thing anybody knows, he takes that cloak in his hand, and he strikes the waters of the Jordan with it, and we're told that the water was parted, one to one side, to the other side, so that the two of them can cross over the Jordan.

That's not something you see every day, right? Water, miraculously parting in front of a man. And no, you don't see it every day, but we have seen it before.

A couple of times before. The first time we saw it was back in the book of Exodus, about 600 years prior to this. And it was a man named Moses.

Another great leader and prophet. And back in Exodus 14, Moses parted a body of water, a little bigger. This one was called the Red Sea. And he did it not with a rolled up cloak, but with a staff in his hand, didn't he?

Well, no sooner have our two men crossed, and it's just the two now. And Elijah now turns to his protege in verse 9, and he says to him, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.

And Elisha does not miss a beat. He knows what he wants. He knows what he desperately needs. And so what he proceeds to ask for is a double portion of your spirit on me.

A double portion. Now please understand this request. It's not that Elisha is being greedy, or that he thinks he's better or something. Understand that in Israelite culture, a double portion was the proper inheritance for the firstborn.

Deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 7 actually specified that this was the right of the firstborn, to receive a double portion of the inheritance. And with that inheritance would come a responsibility.

Deuteronomy 21:7

The firstborn would be cast with the responsibility of carrying on his father's name and his work. And that's exactly what Elisha is asking for right here.

He doesn't need or want any worldly inheritance. I don't need any land. I gave that up. I don't need any livestock or money from Elijah. What I need is his spirit.

The same spirit that I have seen empowering my spiritual father. He knows that if he is to be the designated successor, the anointed, preeminent son of the prophets, he needs to have exactly what his master had.

And look at Elijah's response. He says, you have asked a hard thing. Really, what he's asked for is not just hard. It's impossible. Impossible in the sense of Elijah not being able to himself give that.

He doesn't control this spirit. The Lord does. And only the Lord can grant this request. But the Lord apparently reveals something to Elijah right now.

Verse 10. He says, if you see me as I am being taken up from you, then that will be your answer. It shall be so for you. You shall receive the double portion.

Otherwise, no.

And so it happens in verse 11 that as they still went on and talked, behold, the chariots of fire and horses appeared and separated the two of them and were told Elijah went up to heaven by a whirlwind or into heaven by a whirlwind.

Actually, the word that you see translated in the ESV is chariots is really better translated singular and many of the other modern translation get it right.

Chariot. And that becomes important when we listen to the words of Elisha and his astounded reaction in verse 12. Take a look. He cries out, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen.

Sometimes you read this and you think like he's just baffled. He's exclaiming what he's seeing but that's not what he's doing. He's doing something more specific.

He is referring to his master himself as the chariot of Israel. Understand that in the ancient world, a chariot was a military tool. It was a weapon of war, an instrument of war.

Chariots were for fighting and for protecting. And that is precisely the role that the prophet of God had. He had been, because of the word of the Lord through him, he had been the fighter and protector of Israel.

And now that he's being taken up to heaven, Enoch style at that, right? Not experiencing death. Elisha is crying out. And he's not just crying out for his own loss, which he is, witnessed by the fact that he tears his garment in the very next verse.

But he's also crying out more importantly, more significantly for Israel's loss. You know, a lot of ancient artwork kind of gets this episode wrong because the text doesn't say that Elijah's taken up into the chariot, into heaven.

Again, recognize that Elisha's words are that Elijah is the chariot. As one scholar puts it, Elijah has been the true defense system of Israel.

You could think of it like the Iron Dome of Israel. That's what Elijah is. Because to have Elijah is to have the army of God. To have Elijah is to have a fighter against the Baal cult.

To have Elijah is to have God's word spoken clearly and powerfully before kings. But now, we're told at the end of verse 12 very significantly that Elisha saw him no more.

And he won't make another appearance on this earth until the days of Jesus at his transfiguration. And that will be brief.

So, what happens in the next few verses begins to focus all our attention now on this successor, on Elisha. He tears his clothes, yes, an expression of respect, and mourning.

He's deeply sorry to lose his mentor, but this is also similar to how he slaughtered his oxen, broke up and burned his plowing equipment back at his calling.

He did it back then in 1 Kings 19 because he wasn't going to need that stuff anymore. And right now, he tears his own cloak because he's not going to need that anymore either.

Because in verse 13, we learn that the cloak of Elijah has fallen off. And he now walks over and Elisha picks up the cloak. He walks over now to the banks of the Jordan.

The text doesn't say, but I would presume he rolled it up again. Exact same spot as before. He has now reemerged and reappeared in front of this group of the 50 prophets who are all watching him.

They're wondering, well, where is Elijah? I guess he's gone. And they watch as this lonely prophet with his master's cloak, his master's mantle in his hand as he does the same thing that Elijah does.

He strikes the water with it. Make no mistake, this is a reenactment, yes, but you may not realize it's a reenactment in more than one way. Yes, Elisha is reenacting his predecessor's miracle, parting these river waters,

but Elisha is also reenacting another parting of these very same waters by another great successor to a great leader. Not Moses at the Red Sea, but a successor named Joshua.

Because about 550 years before this moment, this man Joshua became the newly installed leader of Israel. And he stood on these very same banks in this very same spot right across from Jericho.

And as the waters of the Jordan miraculously parted for him back then in Joshua chapter 3, parting to the one side and to the other, we now have our new Joshua who's replaced the new Moses.

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

Elisha being Joshua, Elijah being Moses. And it's significant that he calls out, the moment that he strikes the water, he calls this out. He says this in verse 14, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Has the Lord left now that Elijah's left? Now that his prophet is gone, is Yahweh gone too?

And the miracle that happens as he strikes the water and calls out, Where is the God of Elijah? When the waters part, that is the Lord's answer and it is a resounding, No, I've not gone.

I am right here.

The spirit of Elijah, the prophets themselves say as they watch, verse 15, the spirit of Elijah now rests on Elisha. They come to him, the prophets do.

They bow down before him as their new leader. And yet, in verse 16, we see that some of them apparently need a little closure or something. After all, Elijah was known to pull a disappearing act from time to time.

There's this almost comical moment that we read about back in 1 Kings chapter 18 when Elijah, after being gone, disappeared for like three years, probably presumed dead, the Lord finally tells him, you're supposed to go show yourself to King Ahab.

1 Kings 18 · chapter mention

And so, he does. And as King Ahab's servant Obadiah goes out and gets surprised by a suddenly appearing Elijah, Elijah proceeds to tell him, I'm going to come see the king today.

But you can forgive Obadiah for having the reaction that he does. He's a little wary, a little cautious about this promise from Elijah that he's actually going to appear.

Here's what he says in 1 Kings chapter 18 verse 12. As soon as I have gone from you, Elijah, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where.

1 Kings 18:12

Who knows where? And when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he's going to kill me. So apparently, Elijah was known to do this sort of thing, to appear and disappear.

And so our sons of the prophet need some confirmation. And they begin to put the pressure on Elisha. They ask him, we got 50 strong guys, can we send them?

And he's like, no, he's gone. Please, Elijah, we got these 50 strong guys, can we go seek your master? Maybe he's even alive somewhere up on some mountain or down in some valley.

Let us go. Please, please. And they put so much pressure on Elisha that he finally, you know, he knows it's going to be fruitless. He knows his master's in heaven.

But he finally gives in for their benefit. All right, he says, send. Of course, they, three days later, come back empty-handed, heads hanging low, leading to a very well-timed, what you might call credibility-building moment and comment

from their new leader. It's what every mature godly leader says when they're right. I told you so. Didn't I tell you verse 18?

And then we come to what happens at the end of our chapter. The tail end of our chapter gives us these two very brief accounts of miraculous signs.

The one is good and the other's not so good. As our group walks into nearby Jericho, the men of the city were told, apparently, know Elisha.

They recognize him. And they now come to him and tell him that, you know, we've got a nice enough city here. It's a pleasant enough place to live since it's been recently rebuilt and all under Ahab.

But alas, the water is bad and the land, they tell him, is unfruitful. Literally, unfruitful has the meaning of miscarries. The land miscarries and the water is thought to be the culprit

behind what are apparently rampant miscarriages all over the land, all over the city, among both people and livestock. They have serious fertility problems here.

And why? Why would this be? What's wrong with Jericho's water supply? And why do they think that a man of God can do anything about it? Well, some history.

Again, back to Joshua's day. And how fitting, given that our new Joshua has just walked into town. Those of you who know your conquest history might remember that Jericho was the city that was first up for the conquest.

Once Israel crossed the Jordan under Joshua. It's a fantastic story of the spies being sent into the city. Rahab, the prostitute, hides them.

And then the walls fall in. And this wicked Canaanite city was given to the people by the Lord. But you know, immediately after the city fell, many people failed to remember that Joshua spoke some words.

Joshua put the place under a curse. I want you to hear this in Joshua chapter 6 verse 26. Joshua laid an oath on them at that time saying, curse it before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

Joshua 6:26

At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates. The city was not supposed to be rebuilt.

Not at some serious cost. It was under a divine curse.

But of course by King Ahab's day who pays attention to things like that? A curse? God? God of Israel? I don't care about him. And so someone early in Ahab's reign decided it would be a good idea to rebuild this place.

And this gentleman saw some pretty specific, very, very sad fulfillment of this curse in his own life. I want to read 1 Kings 16 verse 34. In his days, Ahab's days, Hael of Bethel built Jericho.

1 Kings 16:34

Did you read that? He rebuilt the cursed city that wasn't supposed to be rebuilt. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram, his firstborn, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son, Segub, according to the word of the Lord,

which he spoke by Joshua, the son of Nun. This wasn't Joshua's curse. This was the Lord's curse. And this is what accounts for the very, very low population growth in this place.

Because everybody, every womb, human or otherwise, seems to be miscarrying left and right. And somebody's finally figured out it has something to do with the water.

The water supply is cursed.

Verse 20. Bring me a new bowl and put some salt in it, Elisha commands. And once it's brought, Elisha goes right to the source of water for the town, a natural spring, and we're told that he threw salt in it and said,

Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water. From now on, neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it. death.

And I'm sure it's the salt that fixed it, right? Highly doubtful. Please don't think that what Jericho suffered from was just a hard water problem and that Elijah is like the water softener guy.

Hard water doesn't kill people.

The word was at work. Word spoken in the form of a curse under Joshua. And now, from the new Joshua, we have another word spoken to reverse the curse.

And that's a beautiful and redemptive story and how nice it would have been if the chapter ended there, right? But it doesn't. How fitting that the new Joshua goes into Jericho after just crossing the Jordan by dividing the waters and reverses the curse and gives a powerful demonstration from the Lord that

when people like the people of Jericho humble themselves and seek out his word. There's life and healing to be found.

But again, our chapter doesn't end there because we have one more sign and this next one is not nearly so touching or uplifting. And that's entirely because of the reaction Elisha gets once he goes on and retracing his steps, strolls past Bethel.

Here's the thing, verse 23, we're not even, we don't think he's actually even in the city. He may not even intend to go into the city. He seems to just be passing by on the road, making his way up, and our prophet gets accosted, and by a ragtag bunch of

kids. But these aren't nice kids. These are punk kids, and honestly probably more like teenagers teenagers, because the Hebrew word that's used here can refer to young men of fighting age.

So I imagine them to be older teenagers. And it's a fairly big band of them too, not five or six, not thirty. By the time everything's all done, said and done, there's 42 dead.

So how big was the original band? Was it 50? Was it 100? 100? Whatever their number, these juvenile troublemakers make their way out of town because they see Elisha.

They come out of Bethel, which again, remember, is this notorious sanctuary city for the bull cult. It's a focal point, Bethel is, for Israel's apostasy ever since the days of Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12.

These kids come out of this wicked city and they're looking for trouble. And this is more than just disrespect. These are taunts. Keep walking, baldy.

I get that a lot in my neighborhood when I take walks. No, I don't. That would be funny if I did. Go up, you bald head. This is like saying, you know where you can go, baldy.

Keep moving. Make yourself scarce. The Hebrew here can even have the sense of where is your head? Which could be interpreted as a jeer at this lonely prophet whom everyone knows no longer has his head.

He no longer has the protection of Elijah. Make no mistake, this is a deliberate act of disrespect with malicious intent to discredit, to intimidate, and to ridicule this man who is supposed to be the heir apparent

to Elijah, the prophet of Israel.

Well, in verse 24, Elisha simply turns around. He takes one look at our brat pack mob, and we're told that he cursed them in the name of the Lord.

And just like that, the words are no sooner, out of his mouth, and out of the woods come these two she-bears who proceed to maul 42 of our youths.

42.

Sound harsh? It is. But remember, this is not Elisha's doing. He does not command animals. The Lord does. And it's not just Elisha's appearance or his name that's being mocked.

It's the Lord's name they're mocking when they taunt his prophet. And it's the Lord's name that Elisha invokes with his curse. And actually talk about cursing and what not.

This is actually covenant language here. Something that every Israelite teenager ought to know better than to do. Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 19 talking about God's prophet to come.

Deuteronomy 18:19

This is what's written in Deuteronomy 18 19 and whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name. I myself will require it of him.

One scholar describes Elisha's curse here as an act of warfare. A Joshua like attack on the center of idolatry. Because you know what the law's penalty was for blaspheming described in Leviticus 24 death.

Here's what's written in Leviticus 26 verses 21 and 22. Then the Lord says if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me I will continue striking you seven fold for your sins and I will let loose the wild beasts against you which shall bereave you of your children

Leviticus 26:21

and destroy your livestock and make you few in number.

I think author and commentator Dale Ralph Davis nails it when he describes these two she bears as covenant bears. That's what they are. Because when you hate and mock God's key representative his premier prophet his new Elijah

that's covenant infidelity and this sordid episode was no doubt a stark and violent reminder of those covenant curses from God's law.

Our narrator closes his chapter now with a simple note in verse 25 take a look he tells us that Elisha now returns home to Carmel home base for Yahweh's prophet prophetic creds fully established and he's ready to pick up where his mentor

left off in the war against Baal and from Carmel he now goes on to Samaria he returns to Samaria to press that war there to this place that is literally ground zero for Baal worship

I don't know if anybody's planning a trip to the zoo today but if you see the bear exhibit think about it all kidding aside what are we witnessing here in this chapter

a whirlwind of a transition there appears to be some testing of Elisha at first yes how ready are you Elisha to be the man to be God's man how committed are you to being the replacement

for Elijah and Elisha persists he appears to be ready and it's confirmed that he is ready because the Lord allows him to witness his master's departure but I would suggest to you that there's even more here there's there's more here for

us if I could this morning I'd like to back up with you just a bit into this story and capture four points with you four things that I think we see and that I think the Lord means to teach us today here's the first one number one the

Lord's power is not confined to a particular time or age the Lord's power is not confined to any particular time or age think about the parting of the Jordan here

parting of the Jordan first happened under Joshua in Joshua chapter three that was about 1400 BC and now it's happening here again under Elisha the parting of the Jordan and it's somewhere around the year 850 BC

and that means that the world has seen a transition a transition from what's commonly called the bronze age to now the iron age and of course by Jesus' day up ahead it will be the age of empire with the

Romans and on history will march age after age right on down to today what are we in now the technology age the nuclear age the age of AI who

knows but here's what we do know whatever the age the Lord is the same whatever the time of the age it's the Lord's time and he is in control as we say he is sovereign over

us he reigned over the bronze age and all of their fantastic technology I mean they thought that was something bronze weapons and then we come to the iron age and they laughed at bronze weapons because iron nothing's like iron and he reigned over that age too

and now we come to a nuclear age or the age of AI and we think oh the Lord might have some trouble now things aren't in his hands yes they are and as the church as his people you and I need to remember this and we need to

rest in this truth his power is not confined to any age or time ! He is the Lord of history and he is moving history his way and according to the fulfillment of his purposes that's the first point I'd like to highlight with you here's a second

one it's related to it number two the Lord's power is not limited to any particular person any particular person we've got transitions today right a big transition Elijah's taken up

and the cloak falls to Elisha the successor and he will succeed talk about a double portion experts point out that he is recorded to do we don't know how many miracles he did but of those recorded Elisha does twice as many as Elijah it's like 16 to 8

where is the God of Elijah and once that cloak strikes those waters and they part you have God's answer and his answer is I'm right here I will always be here Moses

there would never be another Moses and there hasn't really been ! Joshua one of a kind Elijah truly the greatest prophet of Israel and now Elisha and later on it will be other prophets

all the way on down to John the Baptist who's often thought of as the last of the prophets he made a pretty big splash even Jesus talked about him that way and then we come to Jesus and he's different he's a very special very

unique person because he's a divine person fully God fully man God of the universe the word who was there from the beginning but who became flesh incarnate as a human to save his people on a cross as only God could do

but aside from him that one and only son of God Jesus know that God's power is not tied to any one particular person Moses Elijah John the Baptist

all can be used and all can be and are replaceable succeeded and happens on throughout the history of the church you go to the early church you

have these great church fathers Justin Martyr the greatest apologist we've ever seen Augustine of Hippo but they come and they go and then you come to the reformation and you have Luther Martin Luther John Calvin and they're here for a while

and then they're not they go C.S. Lewis Billy Graham pick who you want Tim Keller D.A. Carson pick a modern day hero maybe maybe you've really grown fond of a particular person in your life who's been a spiritual mentor to you or a pastor you grew up with

but I want you to remember that the Lord's power is not tied not limited to any one particular person so don't put your hope in them they are not perfect they are not immortal

but good thing Jesus happens to be both right perfect and immortal Jesus is the one you should put your hopes in and only in him that's our second point here's the third one number three going to the end of our chapter

those last two little episodes number three the Lord can do a new work in the cursed mess of our lives the Lord can do a new work in the cursed mess of our lives I'm talking about this healing at Jericho I wish I could spend the whole sermon

here because some of you really need to hear this so let me simply talk to the person listening right now who's made some mistakes in their life maybe some of you have made some big mistakes maybe you're a person who's made a mess of your life it's a

former life of disobedience it's my fault and I've even felt the Lord's judgment on me I think and right now I think I might still be feeling the effects of the cursed mess I've

something you put your hand to seems to work out well because you built it wrong because you built it on something wrong shouldn't have married when you did shouldn't have married who you did shouldn't have divorced who you divorced shouldn't have had that abortion shouldn't have resisted that calling on your life

you have made big mistakes and because of what's in your past you feel like you can't have blessing in fact you feel like what you've had is the opposite of blessing listen I'm here to tell you today that for anyone anyone who

humbles himself or herself and seeks the Lord's word he can do a new work he can do a new work in the cursed mess of anyone's life just ask the citizens of Jericho bouncing those new babies on

their laps right after a visit from a man of God before whom they humbled themselves and humbled themselves and listened to his word they did that and the curse was reversed and Elisha was a

new Joshua but we have an even better and greater Joshua available for us the book of Hebrews talks about him his name is Jesus Jesus the Lord and I want you to hear this morning that the Lord Jesus can do a new work of blessing in the cursed mess

of anyone's life and finally a last point for today number four we've got to look at this judgment at Bethel number four the Lord can establish and protect his work even in the very heart of rebellion

the very heart of rebellion there goes Elisha walking past Bethel the center of idolatry he seems to be all by himself he looks pretty vulnerable those youths recognize

him and the rowdy ones come out of town and come at him well it may have looked like he was vulnerable they may have been able to make him feel a little vulnerable for a moment but he wasn't really vulnerable was he because he was

God's man he was a special man with special work up ahead that we have only begun to look at work and a calling on his life that will see him in the highest of royal courts and the lowliest of widows homes work that will

literally see him surrounded by armies wanting to kill him but they won't they won't so much as be able to ! touch him because as is very clear from today as we'll continue to be very clear on up ahead with this man the

Lord can establish and protect his work and his people even in the very heart of rebellion !

I hope you're able to be back with us next time because things take a bit of a political turn next week as we go on into chapter three our next chapter for now let me ask you if you would bow your heads and stand with me as our team gets ready to come and lead us again precious heavenly

father you are the God of Israel you are the one who fights for us father you can establish your work and you can establish and make your people to stand lord you are the one who is merciful

abounding in love and who desires to save so even when there is a cursed mess constructed in our lives you can still do good things you can purify a people for yourself you can change that water so that what we put our hands to in our life does not

miscarry it is not unfruitful lord it can be blessing all because of the great sacrifice of your son all because all of the curses and all of the wrath and all of the judgment was poured out on Calvary on someone else instead

so our prayer this morning Lord is that you would draw every person every adult every older adult every young adult every teenager every child draw us to you there is healing in your hand there is mercy in your eyes and Jesus

we praise you we thank you for being the one who heals ! who forgives and we pray this in your holy name in Jesus name Amen

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