Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 1-2.
When he knew God was about to take him, Elijah attempted to go off by himself away from Elisha, but Elisha would not let him go. Elisha insisted on staying at Elijah’s side to the very end, despite Elijah’s attempts to spare him. On two of those occasions, other members of the group of prophets approached Elisha and asked him if he knew that God was going to take Elijah that day. Elisha’s response was, “Yes, I know, so be quiet.” There is something very significant in those two exchanges, but I am not sure what it is. Perhaps those two exchanges were included here to show us how determined Elisha was to remain at Elijah’s side to the very end, but I can’t help but think there is more to it than that. I have the further thought that it seems to me that those two exchanges are related to Elisha’s attempt to convince the community of prophets that there was no reason to send a search party out to look for Elijah, or his body. Elisha knew that Elijah was gone, that God had taken him away, and was not happy about it, but was determined to carry on Elijah’s ministry.
I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.