The journey of Elijah before his translation to glory is most interesting, starting from Gilgal. It seems that this Gilgal, from which Elisha went with Elijah, was not the Gilgal on the low banks of the Jordan near to Jericho. From that Gilgal, it was not possible for them to have gone down to Bethel. But if we look at the Gilgal placed on the map about ten miles from Samaria, near to Shechem, over against the West or Mediterranean Sea, then this Gilgal would be right on the way down to Bethel. This agrees with Moses’ reference to “Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh” (Deut. 11:3030Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh? (Deuteronomy 11:30)), and also Joshua’s reference to “the king of the nations of Gilgal” (Josh. 12:2323The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; (Joshua 12:23)). This Gilgal was evidently a royal city on the heights of the mountains of Canaan, and it is nearly a straight line from the Gilgal of the heights of Canaan to Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan. Thus the descent of Elijah was from the heights of Canaan to the depths of the Jordan. Do we not then see here a picture of the path of the Lord Jesus? The heights of the royal Gilgal remind us of those heights of glory He had with the Father before the world was. In figure, Elijah too must pass through the very Jordan of death.
The Descent to Jordan
The first step in Elijah’s descent was from Gilgal to Bethel. As the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus was sent to Bethel, the house of God, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And just as Elisha, the called one, clave to Elijah, while the sons of the prophets at Bethel had mere knowledge and talk, so in the midst of rejecting Israel, Jesus could say, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). Very beautiful were the words of Elisha, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee” (2 Kings 2:2).
This leads us to the further descent of Elijah. “Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho” (2 Kings 2:4). If Bethel was the house of God, Jericho was the place of the curse. Not only did Jesus descend to Israel, as their Messiah, but He descended to man in his lost, guilty estate. Oh how wonderful, that God should have so loved a world under the blighting curse of sin. What a Jericho!
But the holy One must descend lower still. Thus we have, in a figure, “Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan” (2 Kings 2:6). Thus Elijah (whose name means “My God is the Lord”) descends from Gilgal on the heights of Canaan, to Bethel, to Jericho, to Jordan. In figure, he must pass through death, before he is the ascended man. How strikingly this illustrates the downward path of the Son of God! Not only did He become the incarnate man, and as such present Himself to Israel and to man under the curse, but He must descend to the depths of death before He could ascend to glory and be Head of a new race.
The Death of Jesus
Elijah was sent alone, yet Elisha went with him. There are also two distinct aspects of the death of Jesus. In the one, as the atoning substitute of God, He was absolutely alone. In another aspect, as Head of the new creation, we are reckoned to have died with Him. This is also the meaning of Christian baptism, as every believer understood it in the beginning. “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into [or unto] Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?” (Rom. 6:33Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (Romans 6:3)). There is important instruction in this aspect of the death of Christ, in the contrast between the fifty sons of the prophets who stood to view afar off and Elisha who went down and passed over with Elijah. It is one thing to believe that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and quite another thing to accept that place of death with Him. How many have been baptized, who have never understood its meaning! How many stand afar off to view, like the fifty sons of the prophets! How few accept the place of death with Christ!
Association With His Death
As Elijah took his mantle and smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground, so the Lord Jesus, the righteous One, could pass through death. He, in divine righteousness, could endure the righteous judgment of God for us. Thus, in righteousness, we pass in Him from the old creation to the new. “It came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said to 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” (2 Kings 2:9). Elijah did not so speak to the sons of the prophets that were standing afar off, but to the one who had gone down to Jordan and passed over with him. If we have passed through death with Jesus, we cannot ask too great a request. Elisha asked a hard thing, but it reminds us of the words of Jesus, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father” (John 14:1212Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (John 14:12)). This was an amazing promise.
Seeing the Ascended Man
Elijah felt Elisha’s request a hard thing, and at once he names an important condition. He says, “If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so” (2 Kings 2:10). He does not say, If thou hast seen me in my past life, or if thou hast seen me descend from the heights of Canaan down to Bethel, then to Jericho, then to the depths of Jordan. All this he had seen. And, surely, it is most important for us to see the path of the Lord Jesus from the highest throne of glory down to Jordan’s lowest depths of death. Yet if this is all, faith is vain: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). To Elisha, the answer to faith’s request depended on this one thing — seeing the ascended man who had passed through the Jordan. Elisha did indeed see him ascend with a chariot of fire and obtained the double portion.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted