Elijah: The Chariot of Fire

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on the chosen people. 00:00:04 Speaker 2: Good, you go to Akron, ask bils a pup if if I will recover. 00:00:16 Speaker 3: My lord? Should we not inquire of y'all? 00:00:22 Speaker 2: Do not speak that name to me? 00:00:28 Speaker 4: Tell me? 00:00:29 Speaker 5: Is it because there is no god in Israel that your fools go to inquire a bel zabab. You will not reach Akron, and your king will not rise from his bed. He will die. 00:00:45 Speaker 3: They said that you will not rise from your bed, that you will die. 00:00:52 Speaker 2: Relieshah. Just send men, a battalion fifty such spring him to me. 00:01:02 Speaker 6: Now, man of God, by order of King Asiah, you are to come down at once. 00:01:10 Speaker 3: If I am a man of God, let fire fall from heaven and consume you and your fifty men. 00:01:18 Speaker 1: The sky tore open, Not like a storm, not like rain breaking through heavy clouds. This was violence, a wound of searing white that burned the shape of its fury into the retinas of all who dared look upon it. It's simply erased. 00:01:44 Speaker 7: When the mantle dropped, the silence thundered louder than fire ever could shell. O my friends from here in the holy Land of Israel. I'm l Extein with International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and welcome to the Chosen People. There comes moment, if you've lived long enough, when the person you leaned on is gone, the one whose voice steadied you, the one who carried the weight so that you didn't have to, And suddenly that weight, well, it's in your hands today. In Second King's chapter two, we stand at the river's edge with Alicia, just moments before the heavens rip open and everything changes. It's a story soaked in grief and glory, a story where fire doesn't end a journey, it begins one. 00:02:34 Speaker 1: The sun hung low in the sky. He shimmered in the air, bending the horizon like a mirage. It had been a long road, too long, if Elisha were honest with himself, he had followed Elijah for years, through storms and famines, through victories and despair, through fire and whispers of God, and now the road was coming to an end. Elisha felt it in his bones. He just wasn't ready to say it aloud. Elijah walked ahead, his stride purposeful. He glanced sideways at his apprentice. Something deep inside him resisted. He would not name the feeling, because naming it would make it real. He would simply walk, and when the time came, he would go. Elisha broke the silence with a grin. 00:03:35 Speaker 3: So, Master, you're finally getting what you always wanted. 00:03:40 Speaker 1: Elijah said nothing. He kept walking, his staff tapping against the road. Elijha waited, then sighed dramatically. 00:03:51 Speaker 3: After all these years of groaning to the Lord, pleading for him to take you away, bemoaning the burden of prophecy, at last is granted. Shall I weep for you? Or Gosh, shall I rejoice? 00:04:07 Speaker 5: Weeping would be excessive, and your rejoicing would be insincere. 00:04:14 Speaker 1: Elishah smirked, but the humor sat heavy on his tongue. He did not want this to be their last conversation. He did not want to walk this road alone. 00:04:26 Speaker 3: So what's the plan? Will you start a fight on your way out? One last rant at Jezebel. Perhaps you'll shove a worshiper of all into a ditch, just to set the tone for the next generation. 00:04:39 Speaker 5: Tempting, But no, it is time for you to deal wiping now, ahabs how still lingers, likely like you stink of the dead, oarks in the sun, his sons, He's a lion's he he's witch of a queen. All of it will be your man. 00:05:00 Speaker 3: What my, oh good, I was so worried I would have nothing to. 00:05:05 Speaker 1: Do upperhead, A cluster of figures loomed near the roadside, young prophets, each of them wearing insufferable grins on their faces. Prophesizing had become an upper class sport for the elite of Israel. Every noble and rich merchant sent their sons to school to become professional prophets to bless the halls of kings, commanders, and aristocrats. One of them, a sharp nosed man with the kind of expression that suggested he had corrected many people's understanding of the terah unprompted, stepped forward, practically vibrating with self importance. 00:05:49 Speaker 4: Alicia, have you heard? God has revealed it to us today? Elijah, your master will be taken from you. 00:06:00 Speaker 3: Oh, what a revelation, What a grand unveiling of the mysteries of heaven. If only I myself were a prophet, perhaps I too might have discerned this truth. 00:06:10 Speaker 1: The prophet looked momentarily confused, then offended. Elijah, standing just behind Elisha, let out a low chuckle. They passed the group of men with a dismissive wave. The road stretched ahead, endless and empty, save for the weight pressing down on both of them. Elijah began to feel it, the poor, the nearing moment. He had not wanted Elisha to come this far, and had tried more than once to leave him behind. Not because he did not love him, No, that was the problem. He had taken Elisha under his wing, expecting another student, another apprentice. Instead he had found a son, and now he had to leave him. 00:07:01 Speaker 5: Elisuah, you do not have to come with me. 00:07:05 Speaker 1: No, I will not leave you, Elijah sighed. The words were simple, but beneath them was something raw, something unspoken. The road had always been moving, perhaps for this last stretch it did not have to be. They walked on the sun, each lower, the world held its breath. The river lay before them, a great sluggish thing, dark and wide, a barrier between where they stood and what lay beyond. The air was different here, thick with the kind of tension that only came before something irreversible. Elijah, standing at the water's edge, planted his staff into the earth and stared across, saying he had always been a man of action rather than explanation. He was more storm than man at this point, a force of nature used by God for judgment. Yet here now, with Elijah at his side, for the last time, he felt painfully human. The sound of the river soothed his anxiety. Elisha, sensing attention, pointed to the water. 00:08:30 Speaker 3: So how are we crossing? Shall I fetch you a raft? Will you call down a pillar of fire to evaporate the river? That would be quite the farewell. 00:08:39 Speaker 1: Elijah exhaled, sharply through his nose, a sound that could almost be mistaken for amusement. He unfastened his robe, the worn, red, tattered thing that had hung from his shoulders through years of drought, persecution, and the fire of Mount Carmel, rolling it in his hands, lifted it high and brought it down against the surface of the river. The waters recoiled. A shudder ran through the ground as the river peeled apart its depths. Standing back in defiance of nature itself, a dry path stretched before them, the riverbed cracked. 00:09:20 Speaker 3: And waiting, Oh, well, that works too, I suppose Moses will be. 00:09:25 Speaker 1: Proud, they walked across the walls of water towering around them. When they reached the far shore, Elijah stopped the road had ended. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then, without turning, Elijah finally asked, tell me, Elisha, what would you have of me before I go? Elisha had not expected the question. The answer surged out before he could stop it, roar and unfilter, God. 00:10:02 Speaker 3: Stay. 00:10:04 Speaker 1: The words sat between them, fragile as glass. Elijah did not move, but the silence was answer enough. 00:10:13 Speaker 3: You could not even if you wish to. I know, I just I'm not ready. You doubt yourself, Master, of course I doubt myself. I've watched you stand alone against kings and slaughter, false prophets. I've even seen you call down fire and part rivers, and now you're leaving me to take your place. I am not you, Master. I have no fire, no boldness, no strength. The only thing I know how to do is pray. 00:10:49 Speaker 5: Then you know enough. 00:10:52 Speaker 3: No, I don't, Master, I'm not half the man you are. If I'm going to survive in this calling, this path, please grant me a double portion of your spirit. 00:11:07 Speaker 1: Elijah stilled. His expression did not change, but something flickered behind his eyes. For a long moment, he simply studied Elisha, as if weighing the request, measuring the man before him. 00:11:22 Speaker 5: You ask me a hard thing. 00:11:25 Speaker 3: I ask because I have no choice. If I am to carry this mantle, if I am to face what you faced, then I need what you had, more than what you had. 00:11:39 Speaker 5: If you see me when I am taken up, taken in the chariot of the spirits, then you will know in your heart that Yahweh has granted your request. But if not, then it is. 00:11:52 Speaker 1: Not mine forgive. He let the words settle, let them sink in. But then his gay sharpened, something like quiet amusement glinting at the edges of his expression. Elisha frowned, his anxiety spread all over his face. 00:12:11 Speaker 5: You always had so much boldness when you were standing behind me, Elisha. If only you could see that it is the Lord who stands behind you. 00:12:26 Speaker 1: Elisha's breath caught, tears stung the corners of his eyes. His lips parted slightly as if to respond, but nothing came. Elijah let the silence linger just a moment longer. Then, without breaking eye contact, he crouched, picking up a small jagged stick from the ground, rolling it between his fingers. 00:12:50 Speaker 5: Tell me, Ilusha, which is stronger, the arrow or the archer? 00:12:58 Speaker 1: Elisha stared at him. 00:13:00 Speaker 3: Master, this is a strange question. 00:13:04 Speaker 5: Shut your mouth and listen. 00:13:07 Speaker 1: Elijah turned the twig over in his palm, as though weighing it. It was time for one final lesson. 00:13:15 Speaker 5: Let's say a great warrior, a giant like Goliath, stands before you, and let's say you place an arrow at his feet. What happens? 00:13:27 Speaker 3: He crushes it beneath his. 00:13:29 Speaker 5: Heel because the arrow by itself is nothing. It's weak, It's a detic But if that same arrow rests in the hands of his skilled ulcher. 00:13:44 Speaker 1: Elijha exhaled. He already knew where this was going. It flies true through the eye of the giant. Elijah let the word settle. 00:13:57 Speaker 5: I have never been powerful, Elisha, I have never been great. I am an old, tired man. It is Yaweh who is powerful. I have only ever been an arrow in his arms. 00:14:17 Speaker 1: Elijhah swallowed his throat tight. The wind shifted, the heat in the air deepened, heavy and electric, a storm with no rain. Elijah's gaze lifted to the sky. The time had come. The ground trembled. Elijhah felt it before he heard it, the vibration in his bones, the shifting of the dust beneath his feet, a sound, deep and resonant, like a storm circling inside the earth itself. His breath hitched. He turned to his master. Elijah stood at the edge of the world, gazing out at the horizon, his eyes old and weary, now burned with something new, something fierce anticipation. And then the skies split open. A whirlwind of fire spiraled down from the heavens, splitting the very air apart. It went through the atmosphere, a force too vast for mortal lines to comprehend. Elishah staggered back, raising his arms to shield his face. The heat blistered his skin, the light seared his eyes. Then he saw them, the horses, their lanes burned with celestial fire. Their goves struck sparks against the air itself. They thundered, a stampede of light and fury. Behind them was a chariot. It was forged, a flame and glory of power, being all this realm. The wheels spun, each spoke of whirlwind of fire. The breath of God filled the air. Elijah's lips parted. He stared in wonder and acceptance. He raised his hands and beckoned in the chariot, and then he laughed. Master Elijah turned to young Elijhah, and for the first time in years, his face was free of pain, his eyes full of tears, alight with fire and something deeper peace. 00:16:46 Speaker 5: The time is gone my way. 00:16:48 Speaker 1: Teeth ecurageous, Elisha reached for his master. His fingers curled around the edge of Elijah's cloak, but the wind ripped it from his growth. As the chariot descended, the whirlwind. 00:17:04 Speaker 3: Howled, Father, Father, don't leave me. 00:17:10 Speaker 1: His voice broke. The words tore from his throat, more than desperate, nor the cry of a prophet, but of a sun, losing the man he loved most. The fire enveloped Elijah, wrapping him in light, lifting him from the earth. His form blurred, first flesh, then flame, then something beyond even that, And as he rose, he cast one last look down at Elisha and smirked right not to burn the old blade nuts. Then Elijah was gone, gone. Elisha collapsed, His knees struck the earth, his hands dug into the dust where his master had stood. His breath came in ragged gasps silence. The fire was gone, The wind had ceased the world so loud a moment. Ago was now unbearably quiet. Only one thing remained. Elijah's mantle lay in the dust, caught in the fingers of the breeze, weightless and waiting, the last remnant of a man who had once called down fire from the heavens, a man who had defied kings, slain false prophets, outrun chariots, and walked through famine and war with nothing but the certainty that God was enough. Elisha reached out with shaking fingers. He had expected it to be worn, to still carry the fire of his master's departure. But it wasn't. It was just cloth, A weight settled deep in his chest. He sat back on his heels, gripping the mantle in his fists, his breath coming fast and uneven. 00:19:19 Speaker 3: He's gone, He's actually gone. 00:19:23 Speaker 1: What am I supposed to do? 00:19:25 Speaker 4: Now? 00:19:26 Speaker 1: The wind shifted. The river murmured before him, a slow, unyielding barrier. He had crossed it with Elijah. Now he stood before it alone. 00:19:38 Speaker 3: Oh this is ridiculous. He was one man who did all of this, the fire, the power, the miracles, him, not me. 00:19:48 Speaker 1: The whisper of doubt dug deeper. What if it was not enough. What if he was not enough? Elijhah turned, looking over his shoulder, half expect half hoping to see Elijah standing there, watching, grinning, giving him one last impossible task before vanishing into the wilderness. But there was no one. He was alone. 00:20:16 Speaker 3: This mantle should have gone to someone else, someone stronger, someone worthy. 00:20:23 Speaker 1: The river didn't move. 00:20:25 Speaker 3: God, what am I supposed to do? You took him? And now I'm supposed to what walk in his place? 00:20:35 Speaker 1: The doubt curled around him like a snake. 00:20:38 Speaker 3: I can't I'm not Elijah. 00:20:41 Speaker 1: I'll never be. And then a still small voice, not from the sky, not from fire, but from memory the air. The wind stirred. Elijhah sucked in a sharp breath. The river whispered before him, waiting. The choice was his. He exhaled, stood, stepped forward, and lifted the mantle high. His voice rang out, steady and unchanged, but no longer uncertain. 00:21:20 Speaker 6: Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God of Joseph and Moses, God of Elijah, My God, I am your servant. 00:21:32 Speaker 5: Show me your power. 00:21:34 Speaker 1: Elijhah lifted Elijah's roll and struck the water. The river recoiled the same way it had for his master. The waters peeled away, shuddering, parting. A dry path yawned before him. The answer had come. His heart thundered in his chest. His mind warred against itself. This is real, this is happening. The mantle his mine, this calling his mine, this weight his mine. He took a step forward, then another. Then he walked straight through the river, the waters standing still around him until he reached the far shore. The prophets were waiting. Their expressions, once doubtful, now carried something new. They had seen what he had done. They had seen the waters move at his word, and they knew. They fell to their knees. 00:22:42 Speaker 4: The spirit of Elijah rests on Aleisha. 00:22:46 Speaker 1: Elijhah said nothing. He did not bask in their reverence, nor did he rebuke them. He simply stood there, feeling the weight settle onto his shoulders. The younger prophets stepped forward, wide eyed, staring at him, as if seeing him for the first time. 00:23:07 Speaker 4: Master, Aleisure, you parted the waters. 00:23:12 Speaker 1: Elisha turned to look at the river behind him, now whole again, as if nothing had ever happened. He exhaled through his nose. 00:23:23 Speaker 2: No. 00:23:24 Speaker 1: The young prophet blinked, confused, Elisha turned back to them, adjusting the mantle on his shoulders. His voice was steady, quiet but unshakable. 00:23:36 Speaker 3: It was the Lord who parted the waters, not I. 00:23:39 Speaker 2: He is the archer. 00:23:41 Speaker 3: I am just the arrow. 00:23:43 Speaker 1: The road ahead stretched wide and uncertain. Ahab's house still lingered like a disease. Jezebel still breathed. There was work to do. Elisha walked on, but he knew he did not walk alone. 00:24:07 Speaker 7: What is sad? Goodbye? I could feel the clinging dust, the way in Alisha's chest, the ache between every word not spoken. I could feel the moment the world split open and left him behind. And when Alisha picked up that mantle, it wasn't triumph. It was terror. He didn't feel ready. That's what struck me most. That he wasn't burning with confidence. He was burdened by inheritance, and yet he stepped out in faith. Just before Elijah ascends to heaven, Alicia makes a strange request to his teacher. Alicia says, may twice as much as your spirit be mine. Elijah replies, you've made a difficult request. The great sage and Bible commentator known as Rashi makes a very simple, yet profound statement on Alisha's request to Elijah, Rashi says, I cannot give you more than I have, is what Elijah is responding. And that's a pretty amazing lesson for us today, isn't it. We all want to give what good we have to our children, to our grandchildren, to those that we love, but to do that, we have to develop that good during our lives in order to pass it along to the next generation. Jewish tradition also suggests that Elijah's response implies that spiritual development and being a spiritual person isn't really something that can be passed along. It's not something that can be given. A righteous spirit is something that has to be developed by each person themselves. So of course Elijah wanted his prize student Alisha to be as righteousnes as spiritual as he was, but Alisha would have to work on this within himself. And that's just as true for us today. Some things can't really be inherent. We need to grow them inside ourselves. Alisha's cry for a double portion isn't about ambition, It's about relationship. It's a legal term pie Sha Naim from Deuterotomy twenty one seventeen, which describes the inheritance as given to a firstborn son. Alisha isn't saying make me greater. He's saying, I'm yours, I'm your son. Let me carry this forward. And that line gets missed in most retellings, but it's the crux of this Bible story because it tells us the prophetic line isn't passed on through greatness. Rather, it's passed on through closeness. And when Alisha cries, where is the God of Elijah, it's not a test, it's not a bluster. It's desperation. It's a son standing where his father figure once stood, praying that God is still listening. There's an echo here, a deep one from Exodus thirty three, p. Fifty. Moses says, if your presence does not go with us, do not stand up from here? What could is miracle? A mantle ministry? If God's presence is absent. Maybe Alicia's strength wasn't in fire or boldness or power. Maybe it was that he knew exactly what to ask for, not safety, not success, just God. This story hit home for me. You see, I know what it's like to lose a mentor to watch someone that you've loved, someone who gave you strength disappear from the path ahead. You're left gripping the mantle, hearing their words echo in your memory, and staring down the road you never imagined walking alone. I felt this same way when my Abba rabbe hil Eckstein suddenly passed away. I was left without a father who I'd always loved, always leaned on, always depended on, and always listened to. And I was left to lead the fellowship which he'd begun four decades earlier. I was left to do it without his wisdom, without his kind words, without his loving support. The weight of carrying on my ABBA's calling was nearly as great as the grief that I felt from losing him. But in the years since I lost my father, I've often thought of this Bible's story and what it teaches. This calling it's never earned, it's entrusted. That inheritance that we're talking about here, it's not a passive thing. It's a weight passed from one set of hands to another. Alicia did impart the waters with his power. He did it with obedience. Effort means lifting the mantle, stepping into the river, and daring to speak God's name. And that's what Alisha did, and it's what I've tried to do. And you know what is what you're invited to do too. So let's ask it plainly. What mantle are you caring that doesn't seem fit, that seems too heavy to bear? Is it parenting? Is it leadership? Is it grief? Is it ministry? Is it responsibility that came before you felt ready? Well, I want you to know you're not alone in that. But you don't need to call down fire. You don't need to be the one with all the answers. You just need to pick up what was left for you. The mantle is not about feeling worthy, it's about trusting the God who gave it to you. So if your hands are shaking, well good so are Alicia's. Have faith and strike the water anyways. 00:29:42 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Chosen People with the Isle Eckstein Ad free by downloading and subscribing to the Prey dot Com app today. This Prey dot Com production is only made possible by our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max bod Zak, Shelevag, and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of the Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, edited by Alberto Avilla, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvado, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwold, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland, Junior, Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Leshinsky, and the opening prayer is voiced by John Moore. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith, written by Aaron Salvato, bre Rosalie and Chris Baig. Special thanks to Bishop Paul Lanier, Robin van Ettin, Kayleb Burrows, Jocelyn Fuller, Rabbi Edward Abramson, and the team at International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. You can hear more Prey dot com productions on the Prey dot com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People with Yile Eckstein, please rate and leave a review.