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wind (2 Kings 2:11). The fiery chariot and the horses were the emblem of Jehovah of
Hosts.^131 To behold this emblem was pledge of perceiving the manifestation of God,
unseen by the world, and of being its herald and messenger, as Elijah had been.
Beyond the fact that Elijah so went up to heaven,^132 and that the symbolic
manifestation of Jehovah of Hosts was visible to Elisha - Holy Scripture does not tell
us anything.
And it seems both wiser and more reverent not to speculate further on questions
connected with the removal of Elijah, the place whither, and in what state he was
"translated." If we put aside such inquiries, since we possess not the means of
pursuing them to their conclusions - there is nothing in the simple Scriptural
narrative, however miraculous, which transcends the general sphere of the
miraculous, or that would mark this as so exceptional an instance that the ordinary
principles for viewing the miracles of Scripture would not apply to it.
And Elisha saw it. As if to render doubt of its symbolic meaning impossible, the
mantle, which was the prophet's badge, had fallen from Elijah, and was left as an
heirloom to his successor. His first impulse was to give way to his natural feelings,
caused alike by his bereavement and by veneration for his departed master, "My
father, my father!" His next, to realize the great lesson of faith, that, though the
prophet had departed, the prophet's God for ever remained: "The chariot of Israel,
and the horsemen thereof!" We would suggest that the words, "And he saw him no
more" (ver. 12), imply that he gave one upward look where Elijah had been parted
from him, and where the fiery glow had now died out in the sky. Then, in token of
mourning, he rent his clothes in two pieces, that is, completely, from above
downwards. But while thus lamenting the loss of his loved master, he immediately
entered on the mission to which he had succeeded, and that with an energy of faith,
combined with a reverent acknowledgment of the work of his predecessor, which
ought for all time to serve as a lesson to the Church. Bereavement and sorrow should
not make us forget, rather recall to us, that Jehovah our God liveth; regret and a sense
of loss should not dull, rather quicken us for work, in the name of God. Nor yet
should the feeling that we have a call to work, dim our remembrance of those who
have gone before us. We are all only servants successively taking up and continuing
the task of those who have passed into glory; but he is our Master, Whose is the
work, and Who liveth and reigneth for ever.
And so Elisha took up the mantle that had fallen from Elijah. It was not a badge of
distinction, but of work and of office. With this mantle he retraced his steps to the
bank of Jordan. One upward glance: "Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah - even
He?"^133 spoken not in doubt nor hesitation, but, on the contrary, in assurance of his
own commission from heaven, with all that it implied - and, as he smote the waters
with the mantle of Elijah, they once more parted, and Elisha went over.
(^)