2 kings 2:11

2 Kings 2:11 says, And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.  As Elijah and Elisha were walking long and talking, a chariot and horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind.  Matthew Henry says that Elijh went up in the chariot of fire aided by the whirlwind, but to me it seems that the chariot of fire separated him from Elisha and went ahead of him, and the whirlwind carried him up.  Either way, he like Enoch never faced physical death, even though he had once asked God to just let him die.  As I have stated before, those who are alive when Jesus Chrost returns will not face physical death, but it is really spiritual death, or everlasting separation from God that really matters.  Verse twelve adds, And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.  Elisha saw Elijah being taken up, and Elijah had told him if he did, that his request for a double portion of the Spirit of God would be granted.  Matthew Henry says this wasn't a double portion of the Spirit that Elijah had but of the rest of the prophets.  Either way, it wasn't for Elisha's glory, but for God's.  We as Christians all have the same access to the Holy Spirit, since He comes to indwell us all.  Elisha then cried out to God, his heavenly Father, and tore his clothes in two.  Verse thirteen continues, He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;  Elisha then took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and put it on.  I don't believe that we are going to have actual clothes of those we replace in doing God's work, but we do need to take up the task that they were doing if God has called us to replace them.  Verse fourteen states, And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.  Elisha then took Elijah's mantle and hit the waters of the Jordan asking where the God of Elijah was.  He may have been looking for a physical conformation that God was still with him, and he got one when the waters parted as they had for Elijah.  It was God Who parted the waters in both cases.  I don't believe that we as followers of Christ should need physical signs that God is with us but must simply live by faith that He is.  Verse fifteen adds, And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.  When the other prophets saw the water part, they said the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha and came and bowed down to him.  They were wrong in their assumption and their actions.  It was God's Spirit that rested on Elisha and not Elijah's spirit and they should not have bowed down to him, but to God alone.  We cannot inherit the spirit of anyone else, but as Christians are all empowered by the same Holy Spirit.  Verse sixteen continues, And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.  These other prophets asked Elisha for permission to go and look for Elijah in case God had taken him up but then cast him down somewhere. but Elisha forbade them to go.  We don't need to look for things that would imply that God has not completed something that He set out to do.  Elisha had actually witnessed Elijah being taken up into heaven.  Verse seventeen says, And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.  When they continued to urge Elisha to send them to look, he gave in and told them to go.  I really don't believe that Elisha should have given in to the pressure when he already knew the truth, and neither should we today.  Fifty men looked for three days and did not find Elijahs's body, because it wasn't there.  People today still spend a lot of wasted time trying to disprove the truth of God's word.  Verse eighteen adds, And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?  When they returned without finding Elijah or his body, Elisha, who had remained at the Jordan asked them had he not told them not to go.  If people are looking to disprove God's word today, we certainly do not need to join them, and they will one day have to acknowledge defeat.