Sermon Tone Analysis

*2 KINGS 2:1-11 *

We learnt of the call of Elisha in 1Kings 19:19-21.

God’s call came to Elisha through Elijah’s action: “/cast his mantle upon him/” [19:19].

§         Elisha responds with obedience: “/he left the oxen and ran after Elijah/…” [19:20].

§         Elisha’s commitment was whole-hearted and permanent:

We hear nothing more of Elisha for at least the next four years until we come to 2Kings 2; he has lived in obscurity and in the shadow of Elijah until now: “/Elijah went with Elisha to Gilgal/” [2:1].

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*THE TIMING *

*1.        **The Departure *

Elijah is about to depart: “/when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven/…” [2:1].

*2.        **The Succession *

Elisha was anointed as Elijah’s successor: “/anoint to be a prophet in thy room/” [1~/19:16].

*3.        **Together *

The two of them are found together: “/Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal/” [2:2].

*Application*

Elisha had committed himself to follow Elijah: “/arose and went after him, and ministered unto him/” [1~/19:21].

§         His initial commitment was marked with purpose and determination: “/took a yoke of oxen/…” [19:21].

§         The question now is ‘how far will Elisha’s commitment and devotion to his calling take him?’

Before Elisha succeeds Elijah, Elijah tests Elisha’s devotion in three~/four different ways.

§         What does faith do when the temptations and the difficulties of the way are presented to it?

§         The Lord Jesus was tempted and tested: “/was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tested of the devil/” [Luk.4:1].

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*THE TEST AT GILGAL  *

*1.        **The Place *

The initial location: “/Elijah went with Elisha to Gilgal/…” [2:1].

§         הַגִּלְגָּֽל - “/Gilgal/” [2:1], ‘to roll’; ‘to roll away’;

*a.        **The Significance *

Joshua was to lead the people into the promised land: “/Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them/…” [Jos.1:2].

§         All those who came out of Egypt had perished because of unfaithfulness: “/all the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way/…” [Jos.5:4].

*i.         **Circumcision *

This was a new generation: “/all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way…they had not been circumcised/” [Jos.5:5].

§         The people needed to be circumcised before they celebrated the Passover and went on their journey: “/The Lord said to Joshua, make thee sharp knives, and circumcise Israel at the hill of the foreskins/” [Jos.5:3-4].

§         This was a reminder of God’s covenant: “/every man child among you shall be circumcised/…” [Gen.17:10].

§         The Passover: “/And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month/…” [Jos.5:10].

*ii.

**The Significance *

The significance of the occasion: “/this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from of you/” [Jos.5:9].

§         The “reproach of Egypt” was so related to circumcision: “/the uncircumcised man…shall be cut off from my people/” [Gen.17:14].

§         The “uncircumcision” is what belongs to the heathen nations: “/if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision/” [Rom.3:25].

*b.        **The New Testament *

They were no longer ordinary persons; they were people who belonged to God by covenant; Gilgal represents the ‘cutting off of the flesh’, that is, “/the reproach of Egypt/” [Jos.5:9].

§         The warfare: “/the flesh lusts against the Spirit/…” [Gal.5:17].

§         The works of the flesh: “/are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness/…” [Gal.5:19-21].

§         The fruit of the Spirit: “/is love, joy, peace, longsuffering/…” [Gal.5:22-23].

§         The ‘cutting off of the flesh’: “/they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts/” [Gal.5:24].

*Application*

Gilgal speaks to us of the ‘cutting away of the flesh’;

§         “/For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, who glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh/” [Php.3:3].

§         Progress is to be achieved by realising that the “/works of the flesh/” belong to the past; God has made “/everything new/” [2Cor.5:17].

§         Worship in the presence of God – “/the passover/” [Jos.5:10]

– is possible only after the flesh has been “crucified”.

*2.

**The Test*

*a.        **Path of Discipleship*

The path of obedience and discipleship was to move forward: “/the Lord has sent me to Bethel/…” [2:2].

§         שְׁלָחַ֣נִי - “/sent/” [2:2], qal perfect, ‘send out, despatch’; ‘send for a purpose’;

§         בֵּֽית־אֵ֔ל - “/Bethel/” [2:2], literally ‘house of God’;

*b.        **The Test *

*The test*: ‘are you prepared to stay here at Gilgal or are you prepared to answer the principles regarding the destruction of the flesh’?

“/tarry here, I pray thee/…” [2:2].

§         שֵֽׁב - “/tarry/” [2:2], qal imperative, ‘to remain’; ‘to inhabit, settle’; ‘to dwell’;

§         פֹ֗ה - “/here/” [2:2], ‘in this place’;

§         נָ֣א - “/I pray thee/” [2:2], particle of entreaty or exhortation, ‘please’;

*Application*

Elisha is confronted with the first test, the first choice: will he go forward in the knowledge that there is a warfare to be fought?

§         A warfare in which the “flesh” must not be allowed to triumph, but where it is “cut off”?

§         The path of discipleship is one of self-denial and holiness.

*3.

**Elisha’s Response *

Elisha’s oath formula: “/as the Lord lives…I will not leave thee/…” [2:2].

§         חַי־יְהוָ֥ה – “/as the Lord lives/” [2:2],

§         חֵֽי־נַפְשְׁךָ – “/as your soul lives/” [2:2],

§         אִם – “/not/” [2:2], particle adverb, many occurrences found in oath contexts: “/God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha/…” [6:31];

§         אֶעֶזְבֶ֑ךָּ - “/not leave you/” [2:2], ‘to abandon’; “/So shall a man leave his father and mother/…” [Gen.2:24].

§         “/Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go/…” [Rut.1:16].

*Application*

 

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*The test at Bethel *

*1.        **The Place *

The next place on the journey:  “/so they went down to Bethel/” [2:2].

§         יֵּרְד֖וּ - “/went down/” [2:2], qal imperfect, ‘to descend’;

§         בֵּֽית־אֵֽל - “/Bethel/” 2:2], literally ‘house of God’;

*2.        **The Significance *

Jacob is sent to Padan-aram by his father Isaac after he had: “/taken away Esau’s blessing/” [Gen.27:35].

*a.        **The Vision of God *

Jacob rested for the night: “/went from Beersheba toward Haran and tarried there all night/…” [28:11].

§         Jacob’s vision: “/Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending/…” [Gen.28:12].

*b.        **The Promise of God  *

The covenant God: “/I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father…/” [28:13-15].

§         God’s covenant promises: “/the land whereon you lie, to you I will give it…behold, I am with thee and will keep thee/…” [28:13-15].

*c.        **The House of God *

Jacob recognised the presence of the Lord: “/Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not/” [Gen.28:16];

§         The house of God: “/How dreadful is this place!

This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven/” [Gen.28:17].

*d.        **Jacob’s Vow *

The memorial: “/Jacob…took the stone…and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it/” [Gen.28:19].

§         The vow: “/if God will be with me…then shall the Lord be my God/” [28:20-22].

§         The commitment: “/of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee/” [28:22].

§         The name: “/And he called the name of that place Bethel/…” [Gen.28:19].

Jacob moves on the way: “/then Jacob went on his journey/…” [29:1].

*3.        **Jacob’s Return *

It was also a place to where Jacob returned: “

§         Jacob leaves Laban: “/I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar, and where you vowed a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land/…” [Gen.31:13].

§         Jacob at Shechem: “/God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee/…” [Gen.35:1].

§         The cleansing of the people: “/they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods/…” [Gen.35:4].