“And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. ”
– 2 Kings 2:11–12
Oh, what an awesome scene. Elijah and Elisha walking alongside one another and all of a sudden chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. Just picture that. If you’ve ever read the story before, you can almost just kind of read through this and kind of, “Yeah, I’ve heard this story.” But think about this. Imagine this. Imagine walking with somebody one day and all of a sudden in between you come chariots of fire and horses of fire. Fire chariots. Fire horses.
They look like horses, but they’re on fire. And all of a sudden Elijah is taken up by them. Who wants to ride on a chariot of fire? With a horse of fire, that seems like it’s pretty wild to be on that ride. And Elisha watches it and he’s like, “This is amazing. My father, my father! The Chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And all of a sudden Elijah is gone. What a scene when God brings Elijah to him.
This Verse Calls for Faithful Hearts
There is coming a day when the trumpet will sound and Christ will come back for His bride. Until He returns, may we be faithful to Him.
So I read this and I can’t help but think about first Thessalonians chapter four when The Bible says there is coming a day, it could be today. Think about this. This could happen today when a trumpet will sound in the sky and the dead in Christ will rise. And we who are alive will rise to meet them in the air and we will be with the Lord. That is going to happen one day. Jesus is coming back. And on that day, those who are dead in Christ will rise. The body rising. Those who are alive in Christ will rise with them. And we will go. We will always be with the Lord.
2 Kings 2:11–12 Encourages a Christ-focused Perspective
1 Thessalonians 4. That could happen today. That changes your perspective of today. How are we going to live today that causes us to be ready for that? We want to live in holiness, right? We don’t want to be found toying with sin when Jesus comes back. God, we want to live with urgency on mission. We want to be found sharing the gospel with people around us knowing that could happen at any moment. God, we want to be found loving and serving those around us, not living for selfish gain. This changes the way you live when you realize Jesus is coming back and he could come back today.
So God, help us to live with anticipation. With holy anticipation of that day. Amidst all that we do today, including the tasks that we do day to day when it comes to work, when it comes to care in our own lives, for our families, for the people around us, God, help us to do it with our hearts ultimately fixed on you anticipating the coming of Christ. And help us to live for what’s going to matter in eternity.
2 Kings 2:11–12 Prays for Lives that Glorify Christ
So God, we pray that you help us to live for the glory of Jesus today, not our own. God, help us to live in the holiness that Jesus has bought for us on the cross. Please, help us. Help us to turn from sin. Help us not to toy with sin today. God, we pray that you would help us to share the gospel today. Lord, help us to share the gospel with people right around us.
So God, help us to work for the spread of the gospel to people far from us. We pray for the Mbojo in Indonesia. Almost a million of them, oh, God, very few followers of Jesus. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the Mbojo of Indonesia, that they might be ready for that day. And thousands of other people groups like them. God, please use our lives today for your glory in a way that when Jesus returns, we might hear those words that we long to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. God, we pray that you help us to live today for what’s going to matter on that day when we are taken up into heaven. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
