(REFLECTIONS ON 2 Kings 2:1-25)

Elijah’s ministry is coming to an end, and it is fitting that we are taken back to the place where Moses’ ministry also ended. Elijah journeyed from Gilgal, to Bethel, to Jericho, and then east across the Jordan River. It was there, east of the Jordan where Moses’ ministry ended, that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Along the journey, Elisha faithfully remained by Elijah’s side, walking step by step with him. Although Elisha was given every opportunity to leave, he repeatedly declared,

“As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

Together they returned to the place where Moses handed the leadership of Israel to Joshua. There, Elijah’s ministry came to an end, and Elisha took up the mantle. He crossed back over the Jordan into the Promised Land, then traveled to Jericho, Bethel, Mount Carmel, and finally returned to Samaria.

It was in Samaria that Elisha began his ministry as the prophet of the Lord to the northern kings of Israel. Do we see this movement? Elisha entered the Promised Land himself, echoing Israel’s journey under Joshua. He did not simply inherit Elijah’s ministry, but he walked the path of faith for himself and prepared to be used by the Lord. This is the Gospel experience.

Many times in the Presbyterian Church we speak of generational Christians. For example, I am a fourth-generation Christian, and I can trace my faith back to my great-grandmother. Yet today’s passage reminds us that every generation, and every individual, must personally experience the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We cannot simply speak about how our parents or grandparents were called and saved.

Just as Elisha had to cross the Jordan himself and could not rest on the experiences of Moses or Elijah, so we too must personally enter into God’s saving grace. In that sense, every Christian must become a first-generation Christian by hearing the Gospel as though for the very first time, being born again by the Holy Spirit, dying to self, being crucified with Christ, and allowing Christ to live in us. This is the Gospel experience.

This faith cannot simply be borrowed or inherited. It must be personally embraced and lived out in every generation and in every believer. May we all be born again, experience the life-changing power of the Gospel, and rejoice in the new life we have in Christ, always remembering who we were before His grace and who we are because of His mercy. This is the Gospel experience.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: 2 Kings 2