HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-10.-Preparation for <YI/IT' departure from earth. Abnormal as was the mode of Elijah's depe.rture from the earth, his conduct in prospect of departure may be to some extent a lesson to Christians. Note- I. HIS BESIGNA'l'ION, No murmur escapes him; he shows no unwillingness to depart, no clinging to earth, no fear of removal, no shrinking from entrance on the unseen world. When God determines that the objects with which he has been placed npon the earth are accomplished. and that the Divine purposes will now be best carried out by other a"'ents, he is quite ready to go, satisfied to depart, content that God 0 Bhould do with him a;; seemeth him good. Occupied with listening intently to the Divine voice which speaks within him, and executing its maudat1Js, he moves from place to place, as ordered, indifferent where he is or what toils he undergoes, so that to the last he may faithfully perform the Divine will. II. His ABSORPTION IN DIVINE CONTEMPLATION AND MEDITATION. The things of earth conctru bim no more. He moves on in a holy calm, wrapt in pious thought, not (,U, 11. 1-26.) 'l'HE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 25
even speaking, except in rnre snatches, to hie attached follower. The unseen world, the coming change, the things of heaven, occupy him. He does not address, perhaps he scarcely sees, the "sons of the prophets," who come forth to take their last look on the great teacher of the day. The time is too solemn a one for greetings, or conver- sations, or even exhortations. He does not seek to "improve the occasion," as shallower "spirits might have done. In silence he goes his way, his mind fixed on God and the things of God-things ineffable, inexpressible-which "eye bath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man" to conceive, but which are revealed in flashes to the soul a.bout to depart, and give it a foretaste of the final "joy of the Lord." III. His CONBIDERA.TJON, DESPITE ms ABSORPTION, FOR HIS ATTACHED FOLLOWER, Nothing is more common than for persons, in the near prospect of death, to be wholly occupied with themselves, and to have no consideration at all for others-to lose them out of sight, to forget them. Elijah, though wrapt in holy contemplation, is con- stantly mindful of his follower. Three times he suggests that his attendance is not necessary, and that he should spare himself the toil and trouble of tedious journeys (vers. 2, 4, 6). Finally, he invites him to ask whatever boon he pleases, with an implied pledge that, if it be within his power, he will grant it. The boon asked is one not directly in his power to grant; but he does not refuse it on that account. He consults God secretly as to the Divine will with respect to it, and obtains an answer which sustains the spirit of his follower, and makes the moment of his bereavement one also of comfort and triumph to him. Vers. 2-12.-FaithfuZfriendship. Though Elisha is said to have" ministered" to Elijah (1 Kings xix. 21), and to have "poured water on his hands" (eh. iii. 11), y~t he was far more Elijah's friend than his servant. There was no broad difference of rank between the two to hinder this. Rather Elisha was, in original worldly position, the higher of the two. The glimpse we get of his early h:ome in 1 Kings xix. 19-21 is indicative of comfort and wealth. In education and manners he must have been quite Elijah's equal. A friendship, in the proper sense of the term, was thus possible between_ them, and seems to have existed, and to have been warm and true. It was a friendship, however, in which a certain disparity wac; recognized on either side-the .p1>..IR ,ca.8' ~-.-,pox~" of Aristotle. Elijah was the elder man of the two; he had, when the two became acquainted, tho higher social position, being familiar with the court e.t the time when Elisha was a mere well-to-do farmer; and, e.s the recognized head of the prophetical order, he had a quasi-ecclesiastical position far higher than that which Elisha occupied during his lifetime. The French proverb says, "Dans les amities il y a toujours un qui aime, et l'autre qui est aime;" and, under the circumstances, it was natural that the attachment should be warmest on Elisha's side. 1. Elisha shows his attachment by that continuous miniatry which caused him to be designated as "Elisha, which poured water on the hands of Elijah" (eh. iii. 11)-that constant waiting upon the great prophet, and unceasing service, which lasted from the casting of tbe mantle at Abel-Mebolah to the ascent in the chariot and horses of fire. 2. He shows it by his determination to see the last of his friend, to remain in his company e.s long as he possibly can. 3. He shows it very remarkably by the sympathy which he displays with Elijah's mood on the journey from Gilgal to the plain east of Jorclo.n, the silence which he keeps, the brief replies which he makes, the care which ho takes that his master's meditations shall be kept free from disturbance. 4. Finally, he shows it by his deep grief when the hour of parting comes; the exclamation forced from him, "My father I my father I" and the violent rending of his clothes into two pieces, which was something very differeut from the conventional rending of ordinary mourners . .As David and Jonathan furnish the scriptural model for a friendship between equals, so Elijah and Elisha may properly be regarded as the model for a friendship between unequals, both equally constant, but perhaps not both equally loving-one the pro- tector, the director, the benefactor, the teacher, the master, the guide; the other the dependent, the scholar, the servant, the faithfttl devotedly attached follower, admirer, almost slave; bound together in e. lifelong bond e.lway~ be~oming more and ~ore close, and presented to us, not merely to awaken in us e. passmg rnterest, but to stir us under 1uite.ble circwustuuces to imitation. 86 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS.