January 20, 2013
Hymn 341- Jesus bids us shine
Prayer
Today we are going to read our very last Elijah story. Elijah had come to Israel to turn the hearts of the people back to God. Elijah’s first message from God was to king Ahab. He told him that there would be no rain for three years.
1 Kings 19: 19 & 20
In this chapter, we were introduced to Elisha, when Elijah appointed him to be the next prophet. Elijah found Elisha plowing fields for his father. Elijah approached Elisha and placed his mantle on him. A mantle was a piece of clothing that was worn like a coat and it showed the person’s authority. From this point, Elisha followed Elijah, learning the duties of a prophet. We see that Elisha was doing the things that he had been given to do. The Lord has given each of us tasks; maybe it is obeying our parents or doing a certain chore. We need to do each task faithfully, so that we can be given bigger tasks.
2 King 2:1 - 13
Even though we haven’t heard of Elisha since 1 Kings 19, he was following Elijah. It had come time for Elisha to take over the duty of being the prophet. We are told that Elijah would be taken up to heaven by a whirlwind, but before that he and Elisha were going on a journey. From each city that they stopped at we are able to learn a practical lesson.
Their first stop was Gilgal. This was the place where the Israelites circumcised themselves after leaving Egypt. Spiritually, circumcision is a picture of removing the wrong things of this world that are in our lives. Each of us is born with a sin nature. We want to be selfish and rude, but the Lord Jesus wants us to put away these sins from our lives. Elisha followed Elijah to learn the duties of a prophet. As we learn more of the Lord and what pleases him, we are able to remove the things in our lives which displease Him.
Secondly, they went to Bethel. This is the place where Jacob slept with a rock as his pillow. It was there that God promised Jacob that he would be with him. Wherever he went he had the assurance that God was with him. We have that same assurance since Jesus said, “I will never leave thee …” This journey has been a test for Elisha. Each time Elijah told him that he was going to another city and suggested that he should stay. Elijah was seeing how dedicated he was to him. Then at each city they visited, other prophets reminded Elisha of Elijah’s departure. They were seeing how Elisha was felt about this.
Their last stop was Jericho. When the children of Israel entered Canaan, the first city they captured was Jericho. There Joshua met with the captain of the Lord’s host. The Lord Jesus is the captain of our Salvation. He is the one that defeated the enemy and death.
Elijah and Elisha‘s journey then ended. They came to the Jordan River; Elijah used his mantle to smote the water and they walked across on dry land. Elijah was about be taken to Heaven, but he asks Elisha if there was anything that he wanted. Like Solomon, Elisha didn’t ask for health or wealth. He asked for double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Elijah told Elisha that if he saw him go, he would receive it. This is just what happened. Elisha saw the amazing sight of the chariot of fire and the whirlwind. As Elijah was leaving, his mantle fell from him. This was a sign that Elisha got his request from Elijah.
Now Elisha is the prophet. He is serving the same God that Elijah served, and so are we.
Luke 19:37-48
Last week we saw our Lord get on a colt and ride into Jerusalem. The people praised Him and said, “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” They saw a humble man on a donkey and praised Him through the Spirit. The words that they used were similar to the words spoken by the heavenly host in Luke 2. Those words spanned His whole life, from His incarnation to His crucifixion.
Of course, some of these disciples thought that Jesus was about to set up the kingdom, but He wasn’t. If they had been in the right state, they could have had the kingdom; but the Father had sent the Son to do a job, and it wasn’t time yet. Besides, if the kingdom had come then, what would have happened to us?
The Pharisees didn’t like this multitude of disciples praising the Lord. They didn’t see His glory. He had to have His rightful place as He entered Jerusalem, and He told the Pharisees, “If the people were silent then the rocks would cry out.”
What the disciples said was true: Jesus was the King.* *He was the Prince of Peace, the One from Heaven who deserved glory, and Jerusalem was the royal city. Everything was right, except for the time.
As Jesus beheld the city of Jerusalem, He wept. This city had had God’s blessing over the years. The Queen of Sheba had come for a visit in class and style, but stunned speechless at it’s beauty and glory under the rule of Solomom, said, “The half was not told me”. That was Jerusalem’s height. It had been blessed by God. Yet when this greater than Solomon was come, he wept over the city.
This was probably the time that Jesus said, *“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” *(Matthew 23:37). They wouldn’t come to Him. We think, “How foolish!”, but we, too, are not up to what the Lord wants us to be.
Jerusalem was the place that God had set His name; this was the place of the temple! Jesus told them, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” He was the One that could have brought them peace, but these things were “hid from their eyes”. It’s like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Vv.43 - 44. It’s sad that something like this happened to such a beautiful city. “If thou hadst known… thou knewest not.” The people missed their opportunity. The prophecy of v.38 is still future, but this prophecy was fulfilled by Titus. The Romans encompassed Jerusalem like the prophecy says, burnt it, and tore down the walls.
If Jerusalem and the temple had been left standing, the Jews would just have continued going through the motions of the law. They were destroyed and the Jews were scattered, but God has promised to bring them back again. In the mean time, there is another place where God has set His name. It’s not a location, but rather where two or three are gathered in the Lord’s name. The Lord must weep as He looks at the state of the church today. In the letters to the churches, our Lord said, in essence, “You are not cold or hot…since you are not cold or hot I will spit you out of my mouth.” Yet there will always be those who overcome. God will never leave Himself without a remnant.
After this, Jesus went into the temple and did some house cleaning. Think of what the temple—the House of God—should have been. Jesus found it a place of business! He—contrary to His meekness and gentleness—overturned the tables in righteous anger at what was being done in His Father’s house.
Hymn 234–Saviour lead me lest I stray
Prayer