2 Kings 2:7-18 KJV
(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 LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
(15) And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
(16) And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.
(17) And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.
(18) And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

To be taken in a chariot as Elijah was taken took faith. Yet it took more faith to know the Lord was sending His chariots of fire to you to bring you home. What is like to go home and know you going home. Many have died knowing their hour was coming but not known their hour or time of their departure. Elijah seems healthy. He was walking, talking and even having God go before him in parting of the Jordan river to go to the other side where there was dry land. It was almost as if he was waiting for a bus or taxi ride home. We can only assume what God must of spoken to Elijah about. One can only assume what it was like that day to be with a person desiring to be taught by a great prophet. Yet you can not be taught by a prophet if called in one sense. If called by God, then God got to be the one to teach you. You might learn from a colleague but you have to do the work yourself. With a relationship with God and to be taught by God you have to learn to hear and obey His voice not by someone else’s leadership. Yet God might use another one his people or even the devil to teach you something. It okay to have people in leadership you admire and respect. Yet the relationship with God to be lead in ministry must come solely from him.

You can apprentice under a person if you are a builder, doctor, teacher and so forth, yet unless you study and apply what taught it has no value. To see what someone else is doing and applying it in a service somewhere else can be useful. Being a stage hand before a congregation, can be intimidating if you are not good with words, yet God’s leading can make things easier if you obey. Then in truth there is sometimes what some would call natural talent for the stage. It hard to stand on a stage and know what to say without a script or songs being chosen before the service. Yet it sometimes in small churches works that way. If your professional stage ham then task is not so hard. Yet learning to obey God in all things is even harder.

Elisha takes Elijah mantle as it falls on him as he watches Elijah descend into the sky in a chariot of horses and fire. He walks back across with departing the water first taking time to talk to God before departing the water. I sorry but that takes faith. Yet his predecessor had just seen the power of God in Elijah life depart the water. The possibility already there for it to happen again by the power of God, yet it take a move of God going before Elisha.

To hear the stories of Old Testament and know the power of God New Testament and even now, it takes faith to see mountains move and water to part. What is interesting this is not the only time the river Jordan was parted for Israel would see the parting of the river to go to the other side at the time of Joshua. Point being the faith issue in question is destroyed and built in one event of the parting of the river Jordan. It takes faith to see a river part. Yet it is that faith in God that allows His Spirit to move among the people. Yet it not our faith that needed but act of the power of God because that one act brings about faith. It is the product of faith being increased to full measure.

I do not doubt if I seen the river part if I would believe even more deeply then I do this very hour. Yet God gave me the parting of the water with earthquake once. I asked God to move a mountain where my trouble was coming from. I could not see what was happening, but I knew there was storm. The earth moved from top of mountain down to river the very next day. I shook at the reality of visible mountain moving. Yet it made sense yet not all at one time. Yet that another tale.

Yet in truth sometimes we need to have the physical event to map the reality of God’s power to change things. The prophets of Jericho was on the other side of the Jordan and seen the whole thing take place and the reality had not sunk in for they desired to go in search and make sure Elijah had not been moved to another mountain. Yet Elisha assured them it be a waste of time. He finally got sick of their pleading to go in search for Elijah, that he sent them forth knowing they find nothing. Do you need a reality check that what you just seen was real, or is facing reality to great that it blinds you to truth. Prophets of Jericho dealt with reality of norm and not of God.

Many people seen the towers in New York fall but to make it real many had to go see for themselves, even people that had never been to New York and had no way of knowing if the towers were real or not. I seen pictures of the Grande Canyon and have never been. Yet to touch the Canyon makes it more then a picture but a reality. The prophets had the reality but they had to search things out for themselves. In truth when it right in front of you, it easy not believe it is real. I lost many a pair of glass even with looking in the mirror and seeing them on my face. It makes the reality of glass soon forgotten if you see with them and they become a part of you. Miracles to prophets were not unusual, but the reality of a chariot well that another story. I think in truth they wanted to see proof of the chariot and collect that evidence. Yet they told the truth they were looking for dead body that did not exist.

Dear Heavenly Father when we see the reality of who you are and your power let us not be blinded by truth, but be able to absorb your truth. In Jesus precious name, Amen.