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“When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.’ and Elisha said, ‘Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.’”
2 Kings 2:9
Not much is written about Elijah the Tishbite in the Old Testament. What little we know about him we glean from just a few chapters in 1st and 2nd Kings. However, there are two significant events about Elijah that make him important. One is he appeared with Moses and Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration recorded in Matthew 17. The other is he was one of only two people in the Bible that did not die but was taken up to heaven by God (the other was Enoch). It is this latter event that caught my attention in 2 Kings 2. That event may be a clue that this is more than a story.
Sometimes stories in the Bible, although true, may have additional hidden allegorical meanings. The apostle Paul mentions that the account of Abraham’s wife Sarah and his handmaiden Hagar is one such story (reference Galatians 4:24). This may also be the case here in 2 Kings 2 with the story about Elijah and Elisha.
In 2 Kings 2 we find that Elisha, Elijah’s young apprentice, is walking with Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel. Elijah instructs Elisha to stay behind while he continues on to Bethel. Elisha, apparently aware that Elijah will die soon, refuses to allow his master to travel alone and insists he will stay with Elijah as he continues on to Bethel.
At Bethel, the sons of the prophets inform Elisha that God will take Elijah’s life, a fact that Elisha acknowledges. The same sequence of events occurs as they move on to Jericho and finally to the Jordan River. At the Jordan, Elijah takes his cloak, rolls it up like a rod, touches the Jordan with it and the waters part for him and Elisha to cross on dry ground. Elijah asks what he can do for Elisha before he is taken away by God. Elisha requests a double portion of his spirit after which Elijah is taken up to heaven in a fiery whirlwind.
Now for the proposed and condensed analogy. Imagine Elijah (whose name means “Yahweh is my God”) is allegorical for Jesus and Elisha (whose name means “God is my salvation”) represents Peter (or better yet, you or me).
Peter was committed to Jesus and said he’d never leave Him just like Elisha was committed to following Elijah. Three times Elijah told Elisha to “stay here.” Three times Peter denied Christ and three times Jesus asked him if he loved Him in order to restore him. The number three in Hebrew represents completion.
The sons of the prophets who warned Elisha of Elijah’s impending death could represent the prophets of the Old Testament who alluded to a coming Messiah who, Himself, would die. Elijah was taken up to heaven. Jesus was resurrected from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Elisha requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Jesus sends us His Spirit to live in us, which combined with our spirit, makes us have “two spirits” (double portion).
Do the cities play a significant role in this story? It is possible they point to different stages in our lives. Gilgal was the first place the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan into the promised land. It was there that God instructed them to place 12 stones in a circle to remember their past and how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The word Bethel means “house of God” and could point to the fact that our bodies are the Temple of God where He dwells. Jericho means “a place of retirement” and could represent the latter days of our lives.
I am not saying that this story IS intended to be an allegory, but that it certainly could be. I believe the symbolism and accounts are too similar to be just coincidental. I encourage you to read it for yourself and determine if this is more than a story. Either way, it certainly makes one think more about their relationship with Jesus and how we are more like Elisha than we might have originally thought!
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