A Parting Request
C.H. Irwin 2 Kings 2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I be taken away from you… After visiting the schools of the prophets at Bethel and Jericho, which were both on the west side of Jordan - the side nearest Jerusalem, the side nearest Europe - Elijah, accompanied by Elisha, crossed over to the other side, that is, the east side of Jordan, the side nearest the center of Asia. Why was this? Elijah was a Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, on this east side of Jordan. Like the mountaineer of Switzerland, or the Highlander of Scotland, he was brought up amid the mountains of Gilead. Like them, he was fearless and brave. And he would seem also to have had all the love of the Swiss or the Highlander for his native hills. He wishes to end his earthly life where it had first begun. Perhaps in the dim distance he can see the spot where nestles the home of his childhood. His life has been a stormy one, and now, ere he leaves it for the peaceful life of heaven, he takes one last fond, lingering look at the quiet home of earth. The friends of his youth are gone. Those whom he knew in childhood have forgotten him. But by his side there is a faithful friend who forsook home and friends for his sake and the sake of the truth of God. Elijah was not a rich man. Silver and gold he had none. But he was one of those who could say, "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich." Such as he had, he wanted to give to his friend. "And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." As Solomon, when he came to the throne, asked not for riches, or honor, or long life, but for a wise and understanding heart, so Elisha also realized what was of most importance for a minister of God, for a teacher of others. Character is the best gift. You may give your children a good education, you may store up a fortune for them, but if they have not a good character, all else is useless and worse than useless. The spirit of Elijah - that was just what a minister of God needed then, and what the minister of the gospel needs still. The spirit of Elijah was a spirit of fidelity to duty, a spirit of faithfulness in rebuking sin, a spirit of fearlessness and courage in the presence of opposition and danger, and at the same time also a spirit of tenderness and love. Such a spirit every Christian worker should seek to possess. And just as Elisha sought to obtain a double portion of it to qualify him for his responsible and prominent position, so also, the minister of Christ needs to be doubly endowed with the Spirit of God. He who would lead and teach others must be doubly spiritual, doubly wise, doubly careful, doubly holy, doubly zealous and scrupulous for the honor and cause of Christ. The spirit of Elijah was needed then, and it is needed still. The sins of his time are the sins of our own time. There are the same immorality, the same covetousness, the same forgetfulness of God, the same absorption in the concerns and pleasures of the present world. We need more men with the spirit of Elijah, who will be faithful to God and conscience at any cost, who will rebuke sin in high places and in any place - the sins of royalty and rank as well as the sins of the poor. How much indecision and worldliness and timidity and timeserving there are on the part of many professing Christians! We need more men with the spirit of Elijah, to ask, "Who is on the Lord's side?" and to cry aloud to the faltering, weak-kneed, half-hearted Christians, "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord Be God, follow him; but if the world Be your god, follow it." Elisha's parting request is a request which we might all appropriately make in prayer to God, that a double portion of Elijah's spirit may rest upon us. - C.H.I. Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. WEB: It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me."