Double or Nothing
Pastor Carolyn J. Blue
2 Kings 2: 1-14
1 And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
4 And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.
5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.
6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.
8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
9 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.
10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.
13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LordGod of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
Double or Nothing! What does that look like!
Definition:
double or nothing. (in gambling) a risk in which you could win twice the amount you pay, or you could lose all your money. But we are talking about a much larger win!
In order to experience the Double or Nothing opportunity you must be willing to endure and go through some rough patches in life.
Elijah was going to be carried away by a whirlwind and Elisha was going to go through a whirlwind!!!
He would experience sadness, Gossip, separation anxiety, Heartbreak, loneliness, to name a few!
There are several things going on in this passage of scripture. The Lord is going to take Elijah this particular day. The Lord was going to take him by whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were together.
Talk about a whirlwind…
The Lord already had a plan in place. But there was a process that they had to go through in order for the plan to be fulfilled.
Double or Nothing
Did I mention that Elisha was already an anointed man of God from earlier when the Lord told Elijah put his cloak on him when he was in the field because he would be his successor!
He didn’t go at that moment, but Elijah gave him the word.
That has to be awesome that God mentions your name before you ever get out of your situation that has you bound.
It would even be fair to say that Elisha was also a prophet, because he knew that God was going to take his mentor, his leader that day!
What we need to understand is that it was going to be Double or Nothing!
The Bible says that when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.
That tells us that they left from Gilgal.
Which means that when they departed! There had to be a Separation! A separation from the flesh, the past, and unto God!
Gilgal symbolically stands for ‘separation’ – being separated from the past and being separated unto God.
Now, let me remind you that this is where Elisha started from. And this is where the nation of Israel always started from.
It is so important for us to not just talk the talk, but to actually walk the walk in the Christian life. We should, in our lives, be separated from that which would seek to draw us away from God, and be separated, as living sacrifices, unto the living God.
Double or Nothing
Next we see that they traveled to Bethel.
The Bible says, And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.” But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!” So they went down together to Bethel.
There was a group of prophets from Bethel that came to Elisha and asked him, “Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?” “Of course I know,” Elisha answered. “But be quiet about it.”
Bethel means the House of God
(a desire to know God and be in His presence.)
Jacob who called the place Bethel. He called it the House of God because he’d had this amazing time with the Lord. He had been in the very presence of the Lord.
Bethel was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. So people always used to go to Bethel to enquire of the Lord. Bethel speaks to us about the Lord’s presence. It is where He is! It is the desire that we should have to be in His presence.
Therefore, this is the second stage. The first stage is to separate. The second stage is to have a desire for God and a desire for His presence.
Next the word says that that Elijah and Elisha traveled to Jericho.
4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Jericho.” But Elisha replied again, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.” So they went on together to Jericho.
5 Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked him, “Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?” “Of course I know,” Elisha answered. “But be quiet about it.”
Jericho represents Faith – to Walk by faith and not righteousness or strength)
So we see that Gilgal speaks of being separate… Bethel speaks of the presence of God and Jericho teaches about the walk of faith. It’s easy to talk about, but it’s more than likely that you’ve got problems.
I know this because things are seldom easy in this crazy world. When you’re in the midst of a problem, it’s very hard to simply trust that God is adequate enough for your situation and to walk by faith, even though it sounds great and is so, so, so biblical!
But it means that you are not walking by sight. It means that you are actually going through a situation where you cannot see how things are going to turn out. And that can be dreadful at times. But we need to just trust God. We need to trust our Father.
Now we see that they traveled to Jordan which is where the story shifts!
6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to the Jordan River.” But again Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.” So they went on together.
7 Fifty men from the group of prophets also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River.
Jordan exemplifies Death & Resurrection
The final test for Elisha came with the Jordan. Elijah was testing him to see if he would endure and continue the journey and stick with him.
The Jordan, as I’m sure you remember, is what the Israelites had to cross to pass into the Promised Land.
The Jordan separated the land of Canaan from their wanderings in the wilderness and was a highly significant place in the Israelites history.
You will remember that God miraculously separated the waters as the Israelites passed through on dry ground.
In fact, God even commanded Joshua to take 12 stones from the midst of the Jordan and to set them as a memorial for the sons of Israel forever so that no one would forget what God had performed there.
So would Elisha go as far as the Jordan?
Ok, so you already know that Elisha went as far as the Jordan so no surprises there!
But what about you?… What does the Jordan speak of for you and me?
Double or Nothing
The Jordan, like the Israelites Red Sea experience, speaks to us of baptism – death and resurrection. This is a laying down of our lives.
Double or Nothing!
Jesus’ whole life demonstrated this principle,
Jesus clearly said that to be His servant would mean that the same principle needs to be applied.
Elisha knew this, and when the call of God came his way, he readily let go of his own life, his own hopes and dreams, and followed the call of God to wherever that would lead him! What a fantastic attitude and a great picture for our lives.
8 Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!
9 When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.” And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”
Double or Nothing
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”
11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.
13 Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.
14 He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.
Elisha saw Elijah be taken up in the whirlwind! He was in position to receive his double! He stayed focused and committed to his purpose, and pursued what God had for him!
If you desire to receive Double:
Get in and stay in Position
Stay focused and committed to your Purpose
Get connected and Pursue your Double!!!
Acronym
D evote yourself to Him
O bey His voice
U nderstand the Purpose
B elieve His Promises
L earn all that you can
E ndure the Journey
Double or Nothing!!!
It’s your choice!!! Choose ye this day!!!
Double or Nothing!!!