2 Kings 2:10
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. 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.
Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit resting on Elijah, and Elijah answered that it was a hard thing that would be granted only if Elisha saw him when he was taken away. Elisha remained with Elijah to the end, and by witnessing the departure he received the fallen mantle, wrought the same sign at the Jordan, and was acknowledged as successor to Elijah's prophetic work. He sought this gift not for worldly honor or greatness but for spiritual power to fit him for the work God had called him to do in Israel. Elijah's being taken to heaven without dying stands as a type of the saints who will be translated without dying. His dealing with Elisha is the pattern for experienced ministers to educate younger workers, teach them how to present truth, and pass the responsibility of the work to a successor.
Words and Historical Setting
The hard thing Elisha asked was a double portion of Elijah's spirit, that is, of the Spirit resting on Elijah. Elijah answered that the request was hard, beyond his own power to grant. Whether it would be granted was marked by a conditional sign: if Elisha should see Elijah when taken from him, it would be so unto him, but if he did not see, it would not be so. Fulfillment therefore depended on Elisha witnessing the departure.
The verse stands at the moment when Elisha was just about to see his master taken up. Elijah was then taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, translated without seeing death. Elisha's seeing the chariot take his master and the mantle fall confirmed that his request had been granted.
That taking up came at the close of Elijah's final earthly work of visiting the schools of the prophets. On those visits he gave the students divine instruction, repeating important lessons. He stressed simplicity in their education, so they could receive heaven's influence and serve in the Lord's work.
God prepared Elijah for translation by moving him from place to place. By these changes he was kept from settling into ease and from settling into routine and familiar methods and customs. So he gained spiritual power and moral and spiritual strength, moral greatness and spiritual soundness. His influence through these movings was to help many people, that they might gain a more complete spiritual experience.
This occurred in a dark and troubled time, when Elijah served under God's direction as a preacher of righteousness. Elisha had come from work with the plough to follow Elijah. He faithfully performed humble service, including serving as his attendant, and this experience prepared him to serve God.
Succession and Its Lessons
Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit resting on Elijah to equip him for the work God had called him to do in Israel, the very work Elijah had done. Only that Spirit could fit him for the work ahead, and the request was a hard thing whose fulfillment was made conditional on his seeing Elijah taken away. He sought spiritual power to fit him for what lay before him, not worldly honor or greatness.
Receiving it depended on his seeing Elijah as he was taken away, and his determination to remain with Elijah and follow him to the end enabled him to witness the departure. He saw the chariot take his master and the mantle fall, confirming that his request had been granted. He took up Elijah's fallen mantle, parted the Jordan with it, and was recognized by the prophets as carrying Elijah's spirit. The condition thus marks the test of his faithfulness and his succession to Elijah's prophetic work.
In that succession his ministry joined Elijah's power with gentleness, mercy, and tender compassion. His life showed the spirit of the Saviour, even Christ, in that union of power with compassion.
Elijah's translation to heaven without seeing death is a type of the saints who will be translated to heaven without dying. The condition that if Elisha witnessed the departure the request would be granted, and if not it would not, stands joined to that translation.
Elijah's dealing with Elisha in educating him and passing responsibility to him is a model for experienced ministers to educate younger workers. They are to give younger workers opportunity to learn, even to learn how to teach the truth. In this way the transfer of the prophetic work from an experienced worker to a younger successor continues.
The moment when Elisha was just about to see his master taken up is compared with Hezekiah asking for a sign that God's message of healing was from heaven.