Issue 802 – Up, Up, and Away – July 18, 2022
On our recent trip, we saw helicopters hauling logs. It was challenging to get a photo as traffic on the Coquihalla was busy, and it wasn’t safe to stop. Capturing a cell phone image of a helicopter moving away from a moving vehicle, even as a passenger, can be challenging.
It doesn’t show up in the photo, but trailing under the chopper are several massive trees. It was fascinating to see.
Watching the chopper take the logs up, up, and away, I was reminded of a biblical narrative.
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
2 Kings 2:1-2
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. 2 Kings 2:11-12
A great deal happens between those selected passages that has to do with passing the mantle of leadership and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is well worth a read in the full context.
The Lord calls Elijah home and visibly takes him up in a fiery chariot. How cool is that? It isn’t something you see every day; I don’t know that it ever happened a second time.
Elijah, like Enoch, are the only two people recorded in Scripture as being taken home to glory without dying first. The bible doesn’t explicitly tell us why.
Some scholars speculate that Elijah and Enoch will be the two witnesses spoken of in Revelation 11:3-12. That is certainly possible, but the Scriptures don’t say for sure.
Others believe that the men bypassed death as a reward for being such faithful servants. Again, that is a possibility, but only speculation.
What it does show is God’s sovereignty, even over death. If God wants to bypass death, He can do so. The fact that He doesn’t do it regularly suggests that even death serves a purpose in God’s economy.
It shows that the Lord is quite capable of taking his church home without their physical deaths if He desires that.
Alive or dead, we win with Jesus. Taken up by fiery chariots or dead and buried, we have promises from God that cannot be broken.
Come what may, believers will soar up and away to glory with our King. That is a reason to celebrate.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed
Kevin.
Gleanings From The Word.
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (for the glory of God alone.)
_____________________________
All contents are © 2001, 2022 K. F. “Kevin” Corbin and Gleanings From The Word.
Check us out on the web at https://gleaningsfromtheword.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Never miss an issue. Subscribe to our email version today https://mailchi.mp/f27bbeb09c22/gleanings-1
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
____________________________
#devotional #biblestudy #dailybible #bible #love #joy #gleanings #KevinCorbin #jesus #god #faith #christian #Christ #Father #bibleverses #prayer #church #forgiveness #Holyspirit #pray #jesuschrist #worship #Biblereading #believe #dailybiblereading #dailybible #devotional #discipleship #scripture #gospel #hope #truth #worship
#heliopter #fiery chariot #death #victory