Elijah And The Hard Difficult Request.
Why did Elijah describe Elisha�s request, "Let me inherit a double
share of your spirit" as a hard difficult thing??
To understand this we read in:
2Kings (2 � 8):
Then Elijah took his mantel, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the
water was parted to the one side and the other, till the two of them could
go over dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for
you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "I pray
you, let me inherit a double share of your spirit."
10 And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if
you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you;
but if you do not see me, it shall not be so."
11 And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses
of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father!
The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw him no more.
So what was the difficult hard thing that Elisha had asked from Elijah??
And in order not to give a quick hasty answer, especially that Elisha had
seen Elijah taken away from him, and in order to understand the
matter, we read in:
1Kings (19 � 8):
And he rose, and ate and drank, and went in strength of that food forty days
and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
9 And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the
Lord came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts;
for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down your altars,
and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and
they seek my life, to take it away."
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11 And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord.
" And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the
mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was
not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in
the earthquake;
12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and
after fire a still small voice.
13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out
and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him,
and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts;
for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down your altars,
and slain your prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and
they seek my life, to take it away."
15 And the Lord said to him, "Go return on your way to the wilderness
of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over
Syria;
16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be a king over Israel; and
Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint
to be a prophet in your place.
17 And him who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and him who
escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.
18 Yet I leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed
to Ba�al, and every mouth that has not kissed him."
So if God himself has ordered Elijah, "to anoint Elisha the
son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as a prophet in his place,"
then all Elijah�s power and might as a prophet will be transferred
to Elisha, as the Almighty God has ordered, and without any influence
of Elijah in the matter. So what was the difficult thing that Elijah
talked about?? And what were the double shares of Elijah spirit
that Elisha had asked for, and what is their meaning? And to understand this
we read in:
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Matthew (11 � 7):
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John:
"what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
8 Why then did you go out? To see a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those
who wear soft raiment are in kings houses.
9 Why then did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than
a prophet.
10 This is he of whom it is written, "Behold, I send my messenger before
your face, who shall prepare your way before you."
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one
greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he.
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has
suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John;
14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to
come.
15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
So now, we understand what the difficult hard thing was, and what was the
meaning of the double share in Elijah�s spirit that Elisha had asked for.
So in accordance with Elisha request, Elijah has to come to the world twice,
the first as John the Baptist over whom Jesus said, "
Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever
they pleased".
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Matthew (17 � 1):
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother,
and led them up a high mountain apart.
2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the son, and
his garments became white as light.
3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with them.
4 And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you
wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one
for Elijah".
5 He was still speaking, when Lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a
voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
pleased; listen to him".
6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled
with awe.
7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear."
8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "
Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead."
10 And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that
Elijah must come first?"
11 He replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things;
12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they
did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the
Son of man will suffer at their hands."
13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John
the Baptist.
John was beheaded, and his head presented on a platter to the daughter of
Herodias as in:
Matthew ( 14 � 6):
But when Herod�s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the
company, and pleased Herod,
7 so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the
Baptist here on a platter."
9 And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he
commanded it to be given;
10 he sent and had John beheaded in the prison,
11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she
brought it to her mother.
12 And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and
told Jesus.
As for the second time, and if we read Christ words carefully, we
come to understand that John is Elijah who is still to come if we can
accept it (that is, if your brains allow you to understand it), so this time
(the second share in Elijah spirit) is for the future, as mentioned in:
Malachi (4 � 1):
"For behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant
and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up,
says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But for you who fear my name the son of righteousness shall rise,
with healing in its wings. You shall go forth leaping like calves
from the stall.
3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes
under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.
4 "Remember the Law of my servant Moses, the statutes
and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great
and terrible day of the Lord comes.
6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of
children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
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This is also mentioned in:
Esther (10 �4):
And Mordecai said, "These things have come from God.
5 For I remember the dream that I had concerning these matters, and none of
them has failed to be fulfilled.
Esther (11 � 5):
And this was his dream: Behold, noise and confusion, thunders and earthquake,
tumult upon the earth!
6 And behold, two great dragons came forward, both ready to fight, and they
roared terribly.
7 And at their roaring every nation prepared for war, to fight
against the nation of the righteous.
8 And behold, a day of darkness and gloom, tribulation and distress,
affliction and great tumult upon the earth!
9 And the whole righteous nation was troubled; they feared the evils that
threatened them, and were ready to perish.
10 Then they cried to God; and from their cry, as though from a tiny spring,
there came a great river, with abundant water;
Esther ( 10 �9):
��.The Lord has saved his people; the Lord has delivered us
from all these evils; God has done great signs and wonders, which
have not occurred among the nations.
10 For this purpose he made two lots, one for the people of God
and one for all the nations.
11 And these two lots came to the hour and moment and
day of decision before God and among all the nations.
12 And God remembered his people and vindicated his inheritance.
Esther (11 � 11):
Light came, and the sun rose, and the lowly were exalted
and consumed those held in honour.
Watch carefully the word "Lots" above and compare
it with the word "Witnesses" of the revelation as in:
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The Revelation (11 � 3):
And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall
prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two lamp-stands standing before
the God of the earth.
5 and if anyone would harm them, fire will come out of their mouth and
consume their enemies, and this is how anyone who tries to hurt them is killed.
6 they have power to stop the skies from raining during the time of their
prophecy, and they have power to turn waters into blood, and to smite the
earth with every plague, as often as they will.
7 and when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out
the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which is
spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where our Lord was crucified.
9 And the people, and tribes, and nations of different languages will gaze
at their dead bodies for three and a half days, refusing to let their
bodies to be put in graves.
10 And those who dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make
merry, and send gifts one to another, because these two prophets had
tormented them.
11 And after three and a half days, a breath of life from God
enters them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear
fell upon those who saw them.
12 and they heard a great voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up hither."
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, as their enemies
watched.
13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the
city fell, seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest
were terrified and gave glory to the God of the heaven.
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The two Lots are the two witnesses as seen from the two prophesies, and
every lot or share is a testimony, which means that Elijah has
to lay two testimonies as requested by Elisha, and hence he would have to
die two times also. The first testimony as John the Baptist.
Luke (1 �13):
�., and you shall call his name John,
14 �.15 � he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, �.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah,�.
The second time Elijah would have to testify for the people of God,
together with Enoch who will testify for all the other nations at the
time of the end, to be in conformity with Mordecai dream and the
revelation. And it will be the Anti-Christ who kills both Elijah and Enoch
as soon as their testimony is completed.
That is, Elijah has to give two testimonies and die twice,
and this is the difficult hard thing of which Elijah spoke.
Abid Al-Ahad Daoud.
31 / 1 / 2000
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