Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?

Nick Muehlebach

2 Kings 2:1-14 • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

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2 Kings 2:13-14 ESV

13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

This morning, we come to a conclusion in our series of messages in which we have been looking at the narrative of Elijah’s departure from this world and his ascension into Heaven, and Elisha’s succession of Elijah as prophet when he left this world.

And today as we finish this series of messages, I wanted to entitle this final sermon today: “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”

You know, that is really a good question. I’m sure that it is a question that many of us here today have on our minds if we’re honest about it. In the world that we live in today, in the time in which we live today, in the culture that we see and live in today, we can’t help but to find ourselves asking, “Where is God in all this mess?”

There have been nearly 70 million deaths by abortion here in the United States since 1973, where is God in all of this? In the year 1960, 90% of adults in America claimed to be Christians, today about 65% of the adults in America claim to be Christians. Where is God in all of this?

In addition to that, only 9% of adults in America today will attend a Christian worship service on a regular basis. Where is God in all of this? And what is most concerning is that in America today 26% of adults identify as either atheist or agnostic… All of this makes us ask the question, where is God?

As we conclude our series of messages today on this great narrative, we see that a young Elisha found himself asking that same question and asking it for some similar reasons.

In our message last week, we looked at Elijah, a divinely chosen prophet of God, in fact, you might even call him the prophet of prophets due to his great amount of popularity and the way in which God used him, and due to the fact that he was taken to heaven in a whirlwind on a chariot of fire led by horses of fire.

And we said that when this happened, his protégé Elisha took hold of his garment and ripped it in two as he cried out, “My father! My father!”

And we said that in Elisha saying this, he may have looked at the disgusting idolatrous state of Israel, the nation, the people that God had set apart for Himself, and saw just how few men were truly following after God in that society, how he saw that instead of following after God, the vast majority were actively practicing idolatry, doing what displeases God, and he may have essentially been saying, “Where have all the godly men gone?!”

You see, it seemed as though Elijah was in a class all by himself, but now even he is gone, and so it was time for Elisha to move on and find out what to do next and to see if the class of godly men had permanently came to an end. And thus, we see Elisha beginning to move on in the first verse of our reading where it says:

2 Kings 2:13 ESV

13 And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

By this time, Elijah had been taken and Elisha had torn his own garment in despair at seeing his mentor be taken from him and from a sinful world that so desperately needed to hear the Word of God.

And so, Elisha looks to the ground and sees the cloak of Elijah that had been left when he was taken by the Lord, and he remembers the word of God which came through Elijah when he said that if he saw Elijah being taken away from him, that God would commission and empower him to continue the ministry of Elijah.

Elisha recalled this, and he knew that he couldn’t just stand there and hope and pray that Elijah comes back; that wasn’t going to happen, no he knew that he had to keep moving and find out what God was going to do next. So, as our text says here, Elisha picks up Elijah’s cloak, and then he heads back to the Jordan River.

And thus, Elisha stands on the bank of the Jordan River, the same bank that Joshua, Moses’ successor had stood over a thousand years earlier after his teacher and mentor had been taken from him.

And this is what happened next:

2 Kings 2:14a ESV

14a Then he took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”

If we will recall a few sermons back, we will remember how God had led Elijah to the Jordan River and how He commanded him to cross it that He may take him to heaven. And when God called Elijah to cross the Jordan, he rolled up his cloak and struck the water. And when he struck the water, it was God Who parted the river so that Elijah and Elisha could pass over on dry ground.

This was clearly an act of God as God had commanded Elijah to do this and it then happened.

Now Elisha, Elijah’s protégé stands at the same Jordan River, in the same place where they had arrived on the east bank, and it becomes obvious to Elisha that if God is really with him, if God has truly chosen to work through him the same way that He had worked through Elijah, then he, Elisha, should do what his master had done in order to see if God would be faithful to keep His word to him.

And so, with the same cloak that his master Elijah had used, Elisha strikes the river, and he looks to heaven and he asks, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”

What Elisha was doing here was asking God if He would really be with him as He was with Elijah. He was asking God if He would really stay faithful to His Word? Or was all hope lost now that the mighty prophet, the mighty man of God, chosen by God to proclaim His Word now gone?

Elisha humbly looked to heaven, and he asked, “God, are You done with us? Are You done with Your people? Or will You use me too?”

You see, what Elisha realized is what Joshua had realized many years earlier. God had worked so powerfully through Moses while in the midst of a rebellious and largely godless people. But then Moses was taken from Joshua, and Joshua asked, “God, I know that You used Moses, but will You use me? Even me amongst this rebellious, godless people the same way that You used Moses?”

And the reply that God gave to Joshua way back then is recorded in the book of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 9, where we see God saying to Joshua:

Joshua 1:9 ESV

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

“Have I not commanded you? Have I not told you that I would be with you? Have I not told you that I would lead you and thus lead this people through you? I have indeed told you this, therefore, lead, go forward, and do not be frightened or overwhelmed, for I am with you anywhere and everywhere, wherever you go.”

And thus, Joshua went.

And many years later when Elisha stood on the brink of the Jordan River and like Joshua, when he asked, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?!” God too responded to him when He parted the Jordan River, just as He did for Elisha’s master, Elijah.

We see this at the very end of our reading where it says:

2 Kings 2:14b ESV

14b And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

It is as though God said, “My time using Elijah has come to an end. I have accomplished My purposes through him. But I am still here. I still control My creation, I still direct the affairs of men even in a godless, rebellious culture. And now, Elisha, I am going to use you as well!”

Thus, Elisha did not remain on the east bank of the Jordan, no, he went over. He didn’t know what God was calling him to, he just knew that God was calling him. And he was ready to face whatever that calling may entail.

As I said at the beginning of our message this morning, in the world in which we are currently living, we too find ourselves asking, “Where is God?! Where is God in this godless culture?!” and the answer is that He is just as much here today as He was yesterday and the day before that and every day for that matter.

You see, humanity is naturally depraved, utterly opposed to God in every way. Every person is born in sin, and unless God sovereignly and graciously comes into someone and saves that person, that person will indeed die in their sin. And so long as the world exists as it currently does, in a state of sin, the world will always be opposed to God.

So, knowing this; it should never surprise us that the world is godless. It should never surprise us that the world hates God. What should surprise us though is that any of that should ever surprise us.

And so, like Elijah, we may stand at the brink of the proverbial Jordan River and we may ask, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?!” and wonder why He doesn’t send a godly man to proclaim the truth as He did so many years ago.

But though we may stand and ask that question, the answer is always the same.

God is just as much here today as He has ever been. And the godly men and women that are to proclaim the truth are you and I, the chosen people of God.

We may stand at that proverbial Jordan River and say that there is no crossing it because the world is so ungodly. But just like He did for Elisha, God has made a way through the proverbial Jordan of our time and has commanded us to pass through on dry ground and to boldly proclaim the truth of God’s Word in a world that doesn’t want to hear it.

Beloved, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, let us pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send more laborers into this plentiful harvest. And beloved, may we willingly recognize and embrace and live like we are among those laborers!