Works of Joseph Hall, Part 54
The Rapture of ELIJAH.
LOng and happily hath Elijah fought the wars of his God; and now after his noble, and glorious victories, God will ſend him a Chariot of Triumph: Not ſuddenly would God ſnatch away his Prophet without warning, without expectation; but acquaints him before-hand with the determination of his glory. How full of heauenly ioy was the ſoule of Elijah, whiles he foreknew, and lookt for this inſtant happineſſe: With what contempt did he caſt his eyes vponupon that earth which he was now preſently to leaue? with what rauiſhment of an inward pleaſure did hee looke vponupon that heauen which he was to enioy? For a meet fare-well to the earth, Elijah will goe viſit the ſchooles of the Prophets, before his departure: Theſe were in his way: Of any part of the earth they were neareſt vntounto Heauen: In an holy progreſſe therefore hee walkes his laſt round, from Gilgal, (neere Iordan) to Bethel, from Bethel to Iericho, from Iericho to Iordan againe: In all theſe ſacred Colledges of Diuines, he meant to leaue the legacie of his louelove, counſell, confirmation, bleſſing. How happy a thing it is, whiles we are vponupon earth to improue our time & gifts to the beſt behoofe of Gods Church? And after the aſſurance of our owne bleſſedneſſe, to helpe others to the ſame heauen? But, O God, who can but wonder at the courſe of thy wiſe and powerfull adminiſtrations? Euen in the midſt of the degeneration, and Idolatries of Iſrael haſt thou reſerued to thy ſelfe whole ſocieties of holy Prophets; and out of thoſe ſinfull and reuolted Tribes, haſt raiſed the two great miracles of Prophets, Elijah, and Eliſha, in an immediate ſucceſſion: Iudah it ſelfe vnderunder a religious Iehoſhaphat, yeelded not ſo eminent, and cleerely illuminated ſpirits: The mercy of our prouident God will neither be confined, nor excluded: neither confined to the places of publike profeſſion, nor excluded from the depraued Congregations of his owne people; where hee hath loued, he cannot eaſily be eſtranged: Rather, where ſinne abounds, his grace aboundeth much more; and raiſeth ſo much ſtronger helps, as he ſees the dangers greater.
Happy was Eliſha in the attendance of ſo gracious a Maſter, and the more happy that he knows it: Faine would Elijah ſhake him off at Gilgal; if not there, at Bethel; if not yet there, at Iericho. A priuate meſſage (on which Elijah muſt goe alone) is pretended, from the Lord: Whether ſhall we ſay the Prophet did this for the tryall of the conſtant affection of his carefull and diligent ſeruant; or, that it was concealed from Elijah that his departure was reuealed to Eliſha: Perhaps hee that knew of his owne reception into heauen, did not know what witneſſes would bee allowed to that miraculous act: and now his humble modeſty affected a ſilent and vn-noted paſſage; Euen Eliſha knew ſomething that was hid from his Maſter, now vponupon the threſhold of heauen: No meere creature was euer made of the whole counſell of the Higheſt: Some things hauehave been diſcloſed to babes and nouices; that hauehave been cloſed vp to the moſt wiſe and iudicious: In naturall ſpeculations the greater wit, and deeper iudgement ſtil caries it; but in the reuelations of God, the fauour of his choice ſwayes all; not the power of our apprehenſion: The maſter may both command and intreat his ſeruants ſtay, in vaine: Eliſha muſt bee pardoned this holy and zealous diſobedience, As the Lord liueth, and as thy ſoule liueth, I will not leaue thee: His maſter may be withdrawne from him, he will not be withdrawne from his Maſter. He knew that the bleſſing was at the parting; and if he had diligently attended all his life, and now ſlacked in the laſt act, he had loſt the reward of his ſeruice. The euening praiſes the day; and the chiefe grace of the theater is in the laſt Scene: Be faithfull to the death, and I will giuegive thee a Crowne of life.
That Elijah ſhould be tranſlated, and what day he ſhould be tranſlated, God would hauehave no ſecret: The ſonnes of the Prophets at Bethel, at Iericho, both know it, and aske Eliſha if he knew it not: Knoweſt thou that the Lord will take away thy Maſter from thy head this day? and hee anſwered, Yea, I know it, hold yee your peace. How familiarly do theſe Prophets inter-know one another? How kindly do they communicate their viſions? Seldome euer was any knowledge giuen to keep, but to impart: The grace of this rich Iewell is loſt in concealement. The remouall of an Elijah is ſo important a buſineſſe, that it is not fit to be done without noiſe: Many ſhall hauehave their ſhare in his loſſe: he muſt be miſſed on the ſudden: it was meet therefore that the world ſhould know his rapture ſhould be diuine and glorious. I doe not finde where the day of any naturall death is notified to ſo many; by how much more wonder there was in this Aſſumption, by ſo much more ſhall it bee fore-reuealed. It is enough for ordinarie occurrents to bee knowne in their euent: ſupernaturall things hauehave need of premonition, that mens hearts may bee both prepared for their receit, and confirmed in their certainty. Thrice was Eliſha intreated, thrice hath hee denied, to ſtay behinde his now-departing Maſter; on whom both his eyes and his thoughts are ſo fixed, that hee cannot giuegive allowance ſo much as to the interpellation of a queſtion of his fellow-Prophets: Together therefore are this wonderfull paire comne to the laſt ſtage of their ſeparation, the bankes of Iordan. Thoſe that were not admitted to bee attendants of the iourney, yet will not bee debarred from being ſpectators of ſo maruellous an iſſue. Fifty men of the ſonnes of the Prophets, went and ſtood to view afarre off; I maruell there were no more: How could any ſonne of the Prophets ſtay within the Colledge walls that day; when hee knew what was meant to Elijah? Perhaps, though they knew that to bee the Prophets laſt day; yet they might thinke his diſparition ſhould bee ſudden, and inſenſible; beſides, they found how much hee affected ſecrecie in this intended departure: yet the fifty Prophets of Iericho will make proofe of their eyes, and with much intention aſſay who ſhall hauehave the laſt ſight of Elijah: Miracles are not purpoſed to ſilence and obſcuritie: God will not worke wonders without witneſſes; ſince hee doth them on purpoſe to winne glory to his name, his end were fruſtrate without their notice. Euen ſo, O Sauiour, when thou hadſt raiſed thy ſelfe from the dead, thou wouldeſt bee ſeene of more then fiue hundred brethren at once; and when thou wouldeſt raiſe vp thy glorified bodie from earth into Heauen, thou didſt not aſcend from ſome cloſe valley, but from the Mount of Oliues; not in the night, not alone, but in the cleare day, in the view of many eyes; which were ſo fixed vponupon that point of thine heauen, that they could ſcarce bee remoued by the checke of Angels.
Iordan muſt be croſſed by Elijah in his way to heauen: There muſt be a meet parallel betwixt the two great Prophets, that ſhal meet Chriſt vponupon Tabor; Moſes and Elias; Both receiued viſions on Horeb, to both God appeared there in fire, and other formes of terrour; both were ſent to Kings; one to Pharaoh, the other to Ahab: Both prepared miraculous Tables, the one of Quailes and Manna in the Deſert, the other of Meale and Oyle in Sarepta: Both opened heauen, the one for that nouriſhing dew, the other for thoſe refreſhing ſhowres: Both reuenged Idolatries with the ſword, the one vponupon the worſhippers of the golden Calfe, the other vponupon the foure hundred Baalites: Both quenched the drought of Iſrael, the one out of the Rocke, the other out of the Cloud: Both diuided the waters, the one of the Red Sea, the other of Iordan: Both of them are forewarned of their departure: Both muſt be fetcht away beyond Iordan; The body of Elijah is tranſlated, the body of Moſes is hid: What Moſes doth by his Rod, Elijah doth by his Mantle; with that hee ſmites the Waters, and they (as fearing the diuine power which wrought with the Prophet) runne away from him; and ſtand on heapes, leauing their dry channell for the paſſage of thoſe awfull feet: It is not long ſince he mulcted them with a generall exſiccation: now he onelyonly bids them ſtand aſide, and giuegive way to his laſt walke; that he might with dry feet mount vp into the celeſtiall chariot.
The waters doe not now firſt obey him: they know that Mantle of old; which hath oft giuen lawes to their falling, riſing, ſtanding: they are paſt ouer; and now when Elijah finds himſelfe treading on his laſt earth, hee profers a munificent boone to his faithfull ſeruant, Aske what I ſhall doe for thee before I am taken from thee; I doe not heare him ſay, Aske of me when I am gone; In my glorified condition, I ſhall bee more able to beſtead thee; but, aske before I goe. Wee hauehave a communion with the Saints departed, not a commerce: when they are inabled to doe more for vsus, they are leſſe apt to be ſollicited by vsus: It is ſafe ſuing where we are ſure that we are heard. Had not Elijah receiued a peculiar inſtinct for this profer, he had not been thus liberall: It were preſumption to be bountifull on anothers coſt, without leaue of the owner: The mercy of our good God allowes his fauourites not onelyonly to receiue, but to giuegive: not onelyonly to receiue for themſelues, but to conuey bleſſings to others: What can that man want that is befriended of the faithfull?
Eliſha needs not goe farre to ſeeke for a ſuit; It was in his heart, in his mouth: Let a double portion of thy ſpirit be vponupon me. EueryEvery Prophet muſt be a ſonne to Elijah; but Eliſha would be his heire, and craues the happy right of his primogeniture, the double ſhare to his brethren: It was not wealth, nor ſafety, nor eaſe, nor honour that Eliſha cares for, the world lies open before him, hee may take his choice: the reſt he contemneth, nothing will ſerue him but a large meaſure of his maſters ſpirit: No carnall thought was guilty of this ſacred ambition: Affectation of eminence was too baſe a conceit to fall into that man of God: He ſaw that the times needed ſtrong conuictions, he ſaw that hee could not otherwiſe weild the ſucceſſion to ſuch a Maſter, therefore he ſues for a double portion of ſpirit; the ſpirit of propheſie to foreknow, the ſpirit of power to worke: We cannot bee too couetous, too ambitious of ſpirituall gifts, ſuch eſpecially as may inable vsus to win moſt aduantage to God in our vocations. Our wiſhes are the true touch-ſtone of our eſtate; ſuch as we wiſh to be, we are: worldly hearts affect earthly things; ſpirituall, diuine: wee cannot better know what we are indeed, then by what we would be.
Elijah acknowledges the difficultie, and promiſes the grant of ſo great a requeſt: ſuſpended yet vponupon the condition of Eliſhaes eye-ſight. If thou ſee me when I am taken from thee, it ſhall be ſo vntounto thee; but if not, it ſhall not be: What are the eyes to the furniture of the ſoule? What power is there in thoſe viſiue beames to draw downe a double portion of Elijahs Spirit? God doth not alwaies look at efficacy & merit in the conditions of our actions, but at the freedome of his own appointments: The eye was onelyonly to bee imployed as the ſeruant of the heart; that the deſires might bee ſo much more intended with the ſight: Vehemence is the way to ſpeed both in earth, and in Heauen: If but the eye-lids of Eliſha fall, if his thoughts flacken, his hopes are daſhed: There muſt bee fixedneſſe and vigilance; in thoſe that deſire double graces.
Elijah was going on, and talking, when the Charet of heauen came to fetch him: Surely, had not that conference been needfull and diuine, it had giuen way to meditation: and Elijah had been taken vp rather from his knees, then from his feet. There can be no better poſture, or ſtate, for the meſſenger of our diſſolution to finde vsus in, then in a diligent proſecution of our calling. The buſie attendance of our holy vocation is no leſſe pleaſing to God, then an immediate deuotion: Happy is the ſeruant whom the maſter (when he comes) ſhall finde ſo doing.
Oh the ſingular glory of Elijah! What mortall creature euer had this honour to bee viſibly fetched by the Angels of God to his heauen? EueryEvery ſoule of the elect is attended and caried to bleſſedneſſe by thoſe inuiſible meſſengers, but, what fleſh and blood was euer graced with ſuch a conuoy? There are three bodily Inhabitants of Heauen; Henoch, Elijah, our Sauiour Chriſt. The firſt before the Law; the ſecond vnderunder the Law; the third vnderunder the Goſpell; All three in a ſeuerall forme of tranſlation. Our bleſſed Sauiour raiſed himſelfe to and aboue the heauens, by his own immediate power: he aſcended as the Sonne, they as ſeruants: hee as God, they as creatures: Elijah aſcended by the viſible miniſterie of Angels; Henoch inſenſibly: Wherefore, O God, haſt thou done thus, but to giuegive vsus a taſte of what ſhall be? to let vsus ſee that heauen was neuer ſhut to the faithfull: to giuegive vsus aſſurance of the future glorification of this mortall and corruptible part?
Euen thus, O Sauiour, when thou ſhalt deſcend from heauen with a ſhout, with the voice of an Archangell, and with the trumpe of God, we that are aliue & remaine ſhall bee caught vp together with the raiſed bodies of thy Saints, into the clouds, to meet thee in the aire, to dwell with thee in glory.
Many formes hauehave thoſe celeſtiall Spirits taken to themſelues in their apparitions to men: but of all other, moſt often hath the Almighty made his meſſengers a flame of fire: neuer more properly then here: How had the Spirit of God kindled the hot fires of zeale in the breſt of Elijah? How had this Prophet thrice commanded fire from heauen to earth? How fitly now at laſt do theſe Seraphicall fires cary him from earth to heauen?
What doe wee ſee in this rapture of Elijah, but violence and terrour, whirlewinde and fire? two of thoſe fearfull repreſentations which the Prophet had in the Rocke of Horeb: Neuer any man entred into glory with eaſe: Euen the moſt fauourable change hath ſome equiualency to a naturall diſſolution. Although doubtleſſe to Elijah this fire had a lightſomneſſe and reſplendance, not terrour: this whirlewinde had ſpeed, not violence: Thus haſt thou, O Sauiour, bidden vsus when the Elements ſhall be diſſolued, and the heauens ſhall be flaming about our eares, to lift vp our heads with ioy, becauſe our redemption draweth nigh. Come death, come fire, come whirlewinde, they are worthy to bee welcome that ſhall carie vsus to immortalitie.
This arreption was ſudden, yet Eliſha ſees both the Charet, and the horſes, and the aſcent; and cries to his now changed Maſter, betweene heauen and earth, My father, my father, the charet of Iſrael, and the horſemen thereof. Shaphat of Abel-meholab, hath yeelded this title to Elijah; the naturall father of Eliſha, to the ſpirituall; neither of them may bee neglected, but, after the yoake o… oxen killed at the farewell, wee heare of no more greetings, no more bewailings of his bodily parent…; and now that Elijah is taken from him, hee cries out, like a diſtreſſed Orphane, My father, my father; and when he hath loſt the ſight of him, he rends his cloathes in pieces, according to the faſhion of the moſt paſſionate mourners: That Eliſha ſees his maſter halfe-way in heauen, cannot take away the ſorrow of his loſſe: The departure of a faithfull Prophet of God is worthy of our lamentation: Neither is it priuate affection that muſt ſway our griefe, but reſpects to the publike: Eliſha ſayes not onelyonly, My father, but the charet and horſemen of Iſrael. That we hauehave forgone a father, ſhould not ſo much trouble vsus, as that Iſrael hath loſt his guard. Certainly, the view of this heauenly charet and horſes that came for Elijah, puts Eliſha in minde of that charet and horſemen, which Elijah was to Iſrael. Theſe were Gods charet, Elijah was theirs: Gods charet and theirs are vponupon the ſame wheeles mounted into heauen: No forces are ſo ſtrong as the ſpirituall; the prayers of an Elijah are more powerfull, then all the Armies of fleſh: The firſt thing that this Seer diſcernes, after the ſeparation of his Maſter, is, the nakedneſſe of Iſrael in his loſſe. If wee muſter Souldiers, and leeſe zealous Prophets, it is but a wofull exchange.
Elijahs Mantle fals from him in the riſing; there was no vſe of that, whither hee was going, there was, whence he was taken: Eliſha iuſtly takes vp this deare monument of his glorified maſter: A good ſupply for his rent garments: This was it which (in preſage of his future right) Elijah inueſted him withall, vponupon the firſt ſight, when he was ploughing with the twelue yoke of oxen; now it fals from heauen to his poſſeſſion: I doe not fee him adore ſo precious a relique, I ſee him take it vp, and caſt it about him: Penſiue and maſterleſſe doth hee now come backe to the bankes of Iordan, whoſe ſtreame hee muſt paſſe in his returne to the Schooles of the Prophets. Ere while he ſaw what way that riuer gaue to the Mantle of Elijah; hee knew that power was not in the cloth, but in the ſpirit of him that wore it: to try therefore whether hee were no leſſe the heire of that ſpirit, then of that garment, hee tooke the mantle of Elijah and ſmote the waters, and ſaid, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? Eliſha doth not expoſtulate, and challenge, but pray; As if hee ſaid, Lord God it was thy promiſe to mee by my departed maſter, that if I ſhould ſee him in his laſt paſſage, a double portion of his Spirit ſhould be vponupon mee: I followed him with my eyes in that fire, and whirlewind; now therefore, O God, make good thy gracious Word to thy ſeruant; ſhew ſome token vponupon mee for good; make this the firſt proofe of the miraculous power wherewith thou ſhalt indue me: Let Iordan giuegive the ſame way to me, that it gaue to my maſter. Immediately the ſtreame (as acknowledging the ſame Mantle, though in another hand) diuides it ſelfe, & yeelds paſſage to the ſucceſſor of Elijah.
The fifty ſonnes of the Prophets hauing bin a farre off witneſſes of theſe admirable euents, doe well ſee that Elijah (though tranſlated in body) hath yet left his Spirit behinde him; they meet Eliſha, and bow themſelues to the ground before him: It was not the outſide of Elijah which they had wont to ſtoope vntounto, with ſo much veneration, it was his Spirit; which ſince they now finde in another ſubiect, they entertaine with equall reuerence: No enuy, no emulation raiſeth vp their ſtomacks againſt Elijahs ſeruant, but where they ſee eminent graces, they are willingly proſtrate. Thoſe that are truely gracious, doe no leſſe reioyce in the riches of others gifts, then humbly vnderunder-value their own. Theſe men were trained vp in the ſchooles of the Prophets, Eliſha at the plough and cart, yet now they ſtand not vponupon termes of their worth, and his meanneſſe, but meekely fall downe before him whom God will honour: It is not to be regarded who the man is, but whom God would make him. The more vnlikely the meanes is, the more is the glory of the workman: It is the praiſe of an holy ingenuitie to magnifie the graces of God where euer it finds them.
Theſe yong Prophets are no leſſe full of zeale, then reuerence; zeale to Elijah, reuerence to Eliſha: They ſee Elijah caried vp into the aire; they knew this was not the firſt time of his ſupernaturall remouall; Imagining it therefore poſſible that the Spirit of God had caſt him vponupon ſome remote mountaine, or valley, they profer the labour of their ſeruants to ſeeke him: In ſome things, euen profeſſed Seers are blind: Could they thinke God would ſend ſuch a Charet and horſes for a leſſe voyage then heauen.
Eliſha (knowing his maſter beyond all the ſphere of mortalitie) forbids them: Good will makes them vnmannerly; their importunitie vrges him till he is aſhamed; not his approbation, but their vehemence caries at laſt a condeſcent: Elſe hee might perhaps hauehave ſeemed enuiouſly vnwilling to fetch backe ſo admired a Maſter: and loth to forgoe that mantle. Some things may be yeelded for the redeeming of our owne vexation, and auoidance of others miſ-conſtruction, which out of true iudgement we ſee no cauſe to affect.
The meſſengers tyred with three dayes ſearch, turne backe as wiſe as they went: ſome men are beſt ſatisfied, when they hauehave wearied themſelues in their own waies: nothing will teach them wit, but diſappointments. Their painfull errour leades them to a right conceit of Elijahs happier tranſportation: Thoſe that would finde Elijah, let them aſpire to the heauenly Paradiſe: Let them follow the high ſteps of his ſincere faithfulneſſe, ſtrong patience, vndaunted courage, feruent zeale; ſhortly, let them walke in the waies of his holy and conſtant obedience: at laſt, God ſhall ſend the fiery charet of death to fetch them vp to that heauen of heauens; where they ſhall triumph in euerlaſting ioyes.