I think of something else that concerns this story, though it comes later in Israel’s history and you would think at first reading it had no relevance at all. You recall that in II Kings, right at the beginning, there’s a transition of authority between Elijah to Elisha, the one who was going to succeed him. Elisha was presumably a younger man than Elijah. Elijah, with Elisha following along beside, were led by God out into the desert. And they came to the Jordan River, this very Jordan that the people had crossed in our study. And after Elijah rolled up his cloak, he struck the water with it, and the water parted. Elijah then walked across on dry ground. He kept saying to Elisha, “Stay behind. The Lord’s calling me.” And Elisha wouldn’t do it because he knew what was coming. So Elisha kept following. Well finally they got out in a very remote area, and suddenly there were chariots of fire that swept down from heaven and carried Elijah up into heaven, leaving Elisha behind. Then the cloak of Elijah fell, and Elisha understood that it was the passing of authority to him and that he was now to be the prophet in Israel. And he picked it up and he made his way back out of the desert. As he came to the Jordan, he rolled up the cloak of Elijah and he struck the water as Elijah had done. And he said, “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And the same God, the God of Elijah, who was also his God, parted the water. And he went across on dry ground, as Elijah had.
You can ask, “Where is the God of Moses—the God who operated so powerfully in Moses’ day, the God of miracles, the God of redemption, the God who brought His people out of slavery?” “Where is the God of Joshua, the God of conquest who led His people into the Promised Land?” “Where is the God of Elijah?” “Where is the God of Elisha?” “Where is the God is Isaiah?” “Where is the God of any great character in the Old or New Testaments?” The answer is that the God of all these people is the same God to you. He does not change. That God who worked powerfully in the lives of His people in the past works powerfully in the lives of His people today. And it’s our privilege to follow that God as He goes before us to give us the victory that He has for us in our day.
