Title: Yahweh, the God of Elijah!
Contents
2004. 7.11 O LORD, the God of Elijah!
2 Kings 2:7-14
fire horse and fire wagon
Like the hero in Greek mythology, Elijah was the most charismatic prophet in the history of the Old Testament. Elijah, who rebelled against idols, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and was chased, had a fight with 450 royal prophets on Mount Carmel. It was a competition to put two bulls on the altar and burn them with the power of the god they worship. Those of you who have read 1 Kings 18 will know how Elijah's victory took place. The stories of Elijah, large and small, transmitted in this way, played a decisive role in the Israelites' absolute dependence on the power of Yahweh.
The time has come for Elijah to finally die. However, this charisma follows Elijah until the last moment. If possible, it is normal for those who are old or sick to die and wait for that moment to lie down comfortably, but Elijah's last moment was special. At the beginning of Chapter 2, it seems that Elijah was trying to set out on the road to find a place to die alone after realizing God's will, or to hand over his mission to his disciples. Elisha, a disciple, notices the master's thoughts and repeats this. "Never. If Master dies, we can never part with Master." I don't know if it was because he felt sorry for his teacher's death, or if Elijah was trying to die even though it was not yet time to die, or if it was because he decided that he was not ready to succeed Elijah, but Elisha did not miss Elijah and continued following him On their way, they came to the Jordan.
Elijah took off his cloak, rolled it up, and threw it down the Jordan River. Then the water split left and right. These two, the teacher Elijah, who was determined to die, and the disciple Elisha, who was trying to stop their fate, crossed the river on dry ground. As they crossed the river, Elijah said to Elisha: "The Lord is going to take me now, but what would you like me to do before I leave you? Tell me." When the situation became so urgent, Elisha could no longer refuse Elijah's death and replied: “Master, please pass on two shares of the spirit sword that you will leave behind.” Spirit sword is spirit in English and Geist in German. It is translated as 'inspiration' in the Revised Bible, while it is translated as 'spirit sword' in the joint translation. Roughly speaking, spiritual abilities would be fine. I'm not sure why Elisha is asking for a double share. Elisha, who had seen the charisma of her teacher Elijah, may have been very interested in such charisma, or it may have been that she expressed the urgency of her situation to take on the work of the teacher.
Let me give you a brief explanation of the Old Testament scholars. The fact that the definite article is attached to the word whirlwind that appears after fireballs and firecarts means that just as whirlwinds are natural phenomena, fireballs and firecarts are also natural phenomena. You can think of it as just a description of the whirlwind that accompanied the frenzy east of the Jordan River, which made Elijah disappear in an instant, with words of fire and a chariot of fire. There are interpretations other than these that are quite reasonable. As can be seen in Elisha's cry, "Chariots and cavalry guards of Israel..." Or, in the sense that the horse was a ceremonial beast that symbolized the sun in ancient times, it may have been mixed with the previous legend of the sun ritual during the inculturation of this Elijah tradition. If we connect it with other Old Testament traditions, we can interpret it this way. Originally, fire is an element that appears frequently when explaining the scene of God's appearance (Exodus 3:2, 24:17, Isa 30:27, Hab 3:3-5, Deut 33:2). The intention is to strengthen Elijah's charisma.
Elijah's robe
When Elijah disappeared, Elisha accepted the reality and tore his cloak. I don't know if it was anger, an expression of anxiety, or a custom in the face of death at that time. Instead, Elisha picked up the cloak that Elijah had dropped and started going back the way he had come. When they reached the Jordan River, they hit the water with Elijah's cloak, just like his teacher Elijah did, but the water did not split. After the teacher left, the first miracle the disciple Elisha tried failed. We can fully comprehend the frustration Elisha must have felt in the face of this failure. Even so, Elisha must have thought a lot about this, as she was feeling burdened by her teacher's charisma, and this first attempt failed. Was the master's charisma not passed on to him? Am I not qualified or capable of doing that? How were you supposed to handle your master's work in the future? What specifically is the problem with me?
Elisha shouted out what he was thinking, and hit the water again with Elijah's cloak. “Where are you, O LORD, the God of Elijah?” (verse 14). Then the water split left and right, and Elisha was able to cross the river. Because the amazing divine power was revealed through him, it can be said that Elisha is now a member of the group of prophets, both in name and reality. We don't know what the physical reality of this phenomenon is, as in other similar cases here, and it doesn't really matter. The message that the people of Israel wanted to convey to their descendants through this amazing charismatic incident that occurred to Elisha after Elijah is the key.
Elijah's God
Elisha tried twice to part the Jordan River. There are similarities and differences between the two attempts. The same thing is Elijah's cloak, the difference is the fact that Elisha exclaimed this on the second attempt. "Where are you, O LORD God of Elijah?" Here, we can confirm that the power that allowed this amazing divine charisma to arise was not in Elijah's cloak, but in 'Yahweh, the God of Elijah.' Because God's events are not done by any great man, but by God Himself, the ancient Israelites thought that they should not honor some heroes or rely absolutely on them, but only rely on the God Yahweh.
Today, too, we tend to rely too much on people or want to make them a hero. Furthermore, we work tirelessly to become that way on our own. Elijah wanted to disappear without a trace, but just as Elisha tried to hold onto his cloak, we want to rely on them. Just as the girls who join the oppa's unit serve the star's handkerchiefs or items as if they were shoguns, our lives are run that way. I want to make a hero politically, and socially as well. After you create a hero, you use that object as the basis of your life. Just like he was obsessed with Elijah's charisma and thought he could cut the Jordan River with his cloak.
We must not forget that Yahweh, the God of Elijah, not Elijah's clothes, is the source of the forces that can divide the Jordan River. The ancient Israelites refer to the Jordan River as a fork, but it does not refer to just such a physical phenomenon, but to the deep world of life. The mystery of life that we cannot all explain is brought up by Yahweh, the God of Elijah. That doesn't mean we don't need heroes. Heroes are important to us, not because the hero himself saves us, but because through him we can correctly recognize the God, Yahweh, who will save us.
So what do you mean? For amazing events of life and salvation, such as the division of the Jordan River, to occur to us, we must completely depend on God, not people. However, that God does not come just like falling from heaven, but through history. Those who have properly participated in that history are the heroes and the ancestors of our faith. We need to learn their beliefs correctly and make an effort to carry on their traditions. Through this process of history, God reveals Himself to us. God's salvation event and life event are taking place within this history. If we correctly interpret history and participate correctly, life events like the parting of the Jordan River in today's text will occur and the world of salvation will be opened. How are we living today? Are you living by breathing God's life events that are taking place in this history?