~ Unbelief at work.~ By: Jo Smith--Sept. 2, 2006

2Kings 2:5 And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.

2ki 2:6 And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.

2ki 2:7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan.

2ki 2:8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

2ki 2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

2ki 2:10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.

2ki 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2ki 2:12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

2ki 2:13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;

2ki 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.

2ki 2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

2ki 2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

2ki 2:17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.

2ki 2:18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

Now watch this comparison:

Acts 1:1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Ac 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

Ac 1:3 To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

Ac 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

Ac 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

Ac 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Ac 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

Ac 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Ac 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Ac 1:10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

Ac 1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

Ac 1:22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

Elijah had told Elisha if you see me when I am taken from thee, you shall have your request of a double portion of my spirit upon you. Elisha believed his word and stayed right with Elijah until he was taken up. Elisha saw him when he was taken, so he received that double portion of Elijah’s spirit.

But notice what the sons of the prophets did. 2ki 2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

First you must bind the strong man, then you can spoil his house. Tear down the strong holds of Satan. Now these 50 prophets represent this strong hold of Satan. It is unbelief. Yes, the strong hold of Satan is UNBELIEF. If you can disbelieve God, the Scriptures and the true ministers of God, then Satan can get you to do his bidding and lead you straight into hell fire.

Look at verse 5. These same sons of the prophets had even known Elijah was going to be taken away that day. They had told Elisha so. But watch them. They went to view AFAR OFF. Now there is their trouble. They wanted to follow afar off. Elisah had stayed right close to Elijah. He was not going to let him out of his sight. He wanted that double portion of power. Those Prophets were only playing games. Oh, we are prophets, but we do not take this thing seriously. We will stay afar off and watch to see what happens.

When they saw Elisha part the waters and cross back over, the recognized that he now had the power of Elijah on him. So they put on an outward show of piety. The come and bow before Elisha. But look what they said in verse 16: 2ki 2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send.

Fifty strong men. Strong holds of Satan. Fifty represents the new beginning; Pentecost. When Elijah was taken, it is near time, (in the types) for Pentecost. So these ‘supposed-to-be�?prophets, show their true colors, their UNBELIEF.

They do not believe that God was capable of really taking Elijah up and keeping him safe. They had actually known that this was going to happen, or that SOMETHING was going to happen to Elijah that day. But they were simply not prepared for the way it happened. It took them completely by surprise and caught them in their unbelief. They may have expected Elijah to DIE. For they knew he would be taken away that day. But they certainly did NOT believe in the way it happened. See, they said to Elisha, let us go and seek thy master for the spirit of the LORD may have taken him up, and CAST HIM UPON SOME MOUNTAIN, OR INTO SOME VALLEY.

Now, can you imagine such a thing? These prophets did not believe for one minute that God could or did take Elijah up to heaven and did not let him drop onto a mountain or in some valley! Oh they knew God had been with Elijah, for they saw the wonderful things Elijah had manifested in his life. They knew he was a true prophet of God. But now God can only go so far and then he is limited after that! Sound familiar? Should! (God gave his Word to Moses, we feel sure of that. Maybe even to David, maybe even Matthew and John and maybe even Paul. But now mind you, after that God became an invalid and lost his power, or his interest and allowed that Word to be dropped down into some valley or lost on some mountain. At any rate, we can not believe that Word today!)

Let us go look for Elijah. We are sure God could not take care of him, to take him any such way. We thought he would just die, for that is how it always happens when one goes away. But a chariot of fire? And Horses of Fire? Taking him up out of sight? No. Now that is out of the question. God cannot do that. We better go looking for Elijah, so you can give him a proper burial. No, do not send, said Elisha. You will only be wasting your time and effort. You will NOT FIND HIM. FAITH AT WORK.

Oh just let us go. Please. We feel very sure God has dropped him down and let him burst asunder. God could not do that. We know God can not send chariots of fire and take Elijah up like that. It was just an illusion. Elijah is out there dead on some mountain or valley. No, do not send. It will be of no use. Oh let us go. Please. We want so much to prove that God is a lie. We must prove that God lost his Power and His Word is a lie today. Please. (Unbelief speaking.)

OK then, if you must prove this to yourselves, send. Go, search for Elijah, but I am telling you, it is no use. You will NOT FIND HIM. FAITH SPEAKING.

2ki 2:17 And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not.

2ki 2:18 And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not?

Fifty men sought three days. Unbelief at work. They found him not. Elisha was not going to let them off easy. He waited right there at Jericho for them to return. They came back and told that they could not find Elijah. Watch Faith speaking�?did I not say unto you, GO NOT? Elisha had been sure. He was not guessing. He had not doubted that God kept his Word pure. He was the one God now used. He was the one with the faith. He had stood solid, unmovable on God’s Word. If God said he was taking Elijah up, then God would do just that. That Word settled it for Elisha. It settles it for me. Are you sure? Or do you also doubt God?

Now watch the same faith at work again. Jesus had given commands to his Apostles, whom he had chosen. Did they believe? Watch and see. Jesus had shown himself to them with many infallible proof for 40 days. Then they went with him to Bethany, to Mount Olivet. After he had blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

Lu 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Lu 24:50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

Lu 24:51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.

Lu 24:52 And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

See? Same as Elijah. See Jesus had told them to tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. They believed his words and returned to Jerusalem after he was taken up from them. Those two men in white had asked them, why stand you looking up. He is coming again, as you saw him go. So they went back to Jerusalem and there waited the Ten days until they received the Holy Ghost as promised by Jesus.

Forth + Ten = Fifty. But this time the fifty was in faith. See those fifty prophets were OT prophets, and in unbelief.

This time the Fifty is the Jubilee, the Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

The Law is not of faith. These Apostles did believe the Word Jesus had said to them. They did not fall short in unbelief. They believed that What God had promised, He was fully able to do.

So now, where are you today? In that unbelief, or in that FAITH? Without Faith, it is impossible to please God. If you doubt the Word of God for our day, you will not have salvation. You stand with those fifty doubters. Stand with the fifty days in which Pentecost came. Do you believe the Baptism of the Holy Ghost or do you believe fairy tales? You believe the church is going to be caught away as Elijah was? Why? The angels told the Apostles, this same Jesus is coming BACK TO EARTH, in the same manner you saw him go. So why should he take his Church up into heaven, when He is coming back from Heaven to earth again?

Oh, ye of little Faith. How is it that you doubt the Word of God? It is even because you are listening to those mouths speaking blasphemy on the Beast and his image.

Come into truth, then you will have FAITH.

AMEN!