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He has moved on!
While Elijah was in the desert God told him (1 Kings 19:16) to anoint Elisha as his successor.Elisha followed Elijah and after some time he had a vision for his life to do greater things than his master.He desired a double portion.Some how he and prophets of that day knew Elijah was soon to leave (2 Kings 2:5), so Elisha had to closely follow Elijah.Now following Elijah was not easy as Elijah did not stay in one place for long but kept moving on.There are detailed messages that can be learned from each place Elijah went to.But I will just touch them briefly as taught by Pastor Martin Steel of Harbourside Church.They started at Gilgal, the place the Israelites went to after crossing the Jordan River with Joshua before the battle of Jericho.Gilgal is the place signifying Salvation.Elijah did not remain there very long.He moved on.The next place was Bethel signifying Discipleship.The major step needs to follow our Salvation.On the way Elisha had many people, groups of prophets, on the sideline trying to put him off, but he kept following Elijah.From Bethel Elijah went to Jericho with Elisha close behind.Jericho signifies our Spiritual Life that we all need to develop.As they neared the final place they had to cross the Jordan River.The Jordan signifies our Commissioning.To cross the Jordan River, Elijah just struck the water with this cloak and the water parted. Elijah kept going with Elisha close behind.Over the river Elijah asked Elisha want he could do for him before he departed.It was here Elisha said, (2 Kings 2: 9) “And Elisha said, I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” Elijah replied (in verse 10) “if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you—but if not, it shall not be so.”
Finally Elijah moved on to a place Elisha was not able to go.Elijah had moved on to his final resting place.But because Elisha had seen Elijah’s final move and the chariots of fire he was able to go back with Elijah’s cloak, a double portion and to do greater things than Elijah.Now note, Elijah only had one portion so he was only able to pass on one portion to Elisha.Elisha received a double portion Only because he saw Elijah ascend and the chariots of fire.The possession of Elijah’s mantle and the double portion only applied to Elisha and not to the other prophets who did not follow closely and see Elijah’s final destination.Elisha then had to re-cross the Jordan River.He did so just as he had seen Elijah, he struck the water with the mantle and the water stopped and he crossed over.Then as Pastor Steel points out when he got back to Jericho he was faced with a crisis. The water of the city was bad.The first task Elisha had was to heal the city.From this message we see our first task after receiving a double portion is to “heal the city”.
But in the words of Telly Marketers, “Wait there is more!”
From the life of Jesus and we as His followers we can note a similar scenario.Jesus started on earth in a manger and we receive many blessings because of the site and happenings at His birth.We can hear the Angels sing, the shepherds coming down from the hills to see their King in a manger (Luke 2:9-11). Wise men travel many miles. It goes on, many messages.But Jesus has moved on.We need to learn and move on.Jesus lived the perfect life on earth doing many healings and miracles and setting an example of how we should live and we have received much because what He did and the example He set.But He has moved on and we should look at all Jesus did and move on taking all the truths with us.There is one major promise Jesus made to us His followers.Jn 14:12 “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.”This is our future as we follow Jesus to His final position.Jesus died on the Cross for all of us and we have received full Salvation because He suffered and died. We must never forget this!But He did not stay there, He moved on.Staying at the truths concerning the Cross all the time hinders our growth.We must see there are greater things and move on.Jesus was in a tomb for just three days and we receive resurrection life from the dead because He moved on.The tomb is great to think about but it is empty.Jesus is not there, He moved on.Again we must move on for there is still more.Jesus went into the depths of the earth and conquered death and hell for us.But again Jesus moved on victoriously.We can look at His Victory and claim it for ourselves. Victory over sin and death!But there is still more for Jesus moved on.He sits now at he right hand of the Father in Heaven (Mark 16:19 & Eph. 1:20) and in a spiritual sense we sit there with Him (Col. 3:1).While here on earth we can look back on all Jesus has done for us but we must remember because He has moved on the Holy Spirit as His mantle has come to dwell with us and within us.Because the Holy Spirit has come we now have the power and authority to do greater things.This is similar to Elisha who had the cloak of Elijah, a double blessing and did greater miracles than Elijah.Because Jesus has moved on we have resurrection power that we can only receive as we acknowledge His final move to be with The Father.
Elisha could not follow Elijah, but in the spiritual realm we can follow Jesus and sit with Him now in Heaven.We can communicate and listen as Jesus talks to the Heavenly Father on our behalf (Romans 8:34).
All this because Jesus moved on fulfilling the plan set before Him.A plan that has Him now at His final resting place in Heaven.We also have a plan for our lives that has us moving on from one experience to another.We can learn from each experience but The Spirit is always moving us on to new things.As with Elisha there are needs of those about us.The double portion is not for our own blessing but is to be used for healing the situations we find about us.This we can only achieve utilizing the mantle of the Holy Spirit.It requires us to be willing to learn, grow and move on doing the “greater things” that Jesus promised.