Elijah is about to be taken by the Lord: Elisha knows it, the prophet troop in Bethel knows it, and the prophet troop in Jericho knows it. Elijah goes from Gilgal, to Bethel, to Jericho, and finally crosses the parted Jordan. We must all wonder: is God leaving Israel? We wondered that in the last passage, but the Lord demonstrated His presence by burning up the groups of fifty.
Just as Israel entered the Promised Land by crossing a parted Jordan river (Joshua 3), now Elijah is leaving by the same way. Note the move from west to east; Abraham moved from east to west, Moses leads the people out of Egypt by going from west to east but Joshua took the people into Canaan from east to west. Moving from west to east is another sign that God could be leaving Israel. But Elisha takes up his predecessors mantle and returns, going east to west. He begins his ministry asking the dramatic question, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” The Jordan river parts, Jericho is cured of their nasty water (first use of water-softeners?), Bethel is rescued from their gang problem (probably a ruthless group of teenagers – Boaz, in Ruth 2, had someone this age who was in charge of all the harvesters), and, as we will see, the deadly stew is purified in Gilgal (2 Kings 4:38-41). The Lord has not left – even if it looks like He should. He still has people in this dark country.
