Sermons

As the day approaches for Elijah to be taken up into heaven, he keeps telling Elisha, “Please wait here.” Each time they move on, from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho and to the Jordan, he repeats the same words, three times in all. Each time, Elisha swears by the life of Yahweh that he will not leave his master, and he follows Elijah to the end.

The words “wait here” were not telling Elisha to stay where he was. They were a plea to follow to the end with a desperation strong enough to defy his master’s command. Only once Elisha has seen the Jordan part with his own eyes does Elijah tell him to ask for what he wants, and Elisha asks for a double portion of his spirit. Only after watching his master go up into heaven, right to the end, did Elisha gain a certainty without a pinpoint of doubt.

The journey of faith also brings moments of wanting to give everything up and turn back, and stumbling blocks that hold a person back and say, “Wait here.” To obey is better than sacrifice. God answers, just as they ask, those who follow to the end. They do this not by keeping up forms, but by coming to understand his will with a heart that sincerely loves him.

Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room and lay injured. He sent messengers to Baal-Zebub, a foreign god, to ask whether he would recover. Then, when Elijah brought him word of God’s judgment, he did not repent. Instead, three times over he dispatched a captain with fifty soldiers to seize Elijah and bring him back.

Ahaziah wanted to live as he saw fit, and for him it was easier to consult an idol than to cling to God. The first two captains and their men perished in fire from heaven, but the third captain humbly fell to his knees and pleaded for his life, and he and his soldiers were spared.

Before God there is no middle ground. Ahaziah, stubborn to the end, died just as Elijah had declared, while the captain who humbly sought mercy was given life. Sovereignty over life belongs to nothing in this world, but to God alone.