Chariots Of Fire

Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.

The stories of God’s power and miraculous moments get me excited. It ignites something within me to want to have experiences like this for myself and others. In this post, you will meet Elisha the prophet and read how chariots of fire came down from Heaven.

The Night I Met Jesus

The night I met Jesus for the first time and really understood His love for me was incredible. The sense of His presence was palpable. I remember sitting at a round table in the room full of women, trying to hide my tears. The awareness of God’s love washed over me, leaving me with feelings I had never experienced before. You can read more about that night here.

At the end of the service, I did not want to leave. I wanted more. I wanted the ladies who led the service to keep teaching, so I could keep feeling this new love pouring over me.

When most of the other attendees had left, the ladies asked if they could pray for me. With nervous excitement, I sat on the cold metal folding chair and they wrapped a Jewish prayer shawl around me. They said it had no power, it just represented the love of Jesus surrounding me. The prayers of those beautiful women that night touched me so deeply and I will never forget it.

Jewish Prayer Shawl

Fast forward about four years. Sitting at a ladies’ social gathering at church, in the same room as the above story, I shared about that incredible evening and how much I loved the Jewish prayer shawl. Two weeks later, the mailman knocked on my door with a package postmarked from Israel.

Opening the package, I first came to a plastic pouch trimmed in gold cording. After unzipping the clear plastic, I was in awe of a velvety deep purple pouch it held inside. Sewn into the front of the zippered pouch was a strip of silk with a hand painted design, outlined in gold fabric.

I unzipped it, eager to see more, and I pulled out an elegant, matching prayer shawl. In my hands, I held a shawl made of an off white cotton. On each end were intricate designs on purple silk. Birds were hand painted and outlined with gold paint. As with all Jewish prayer shawls, it had tassels with knots representing different prayers.

I could not even imagine where this had come from. Later, I found out that a lady who had attended the gathering overheard me share about the prayer shawl and she went home and ordered this precious gift for me.

Encapsulated In His Love

Twenty years later, I still cherish my gift. Days when I have felt lost and alone, I pull out the prayer shawl from its delicate pouch and envelop myself inside it. While inside, I feel encapsulated in His love.

We have used that prayer shawl at Celtic healing services we host and it gets wrapped around each person who comes for prayer. When I wrap myself inside it, I love knowing it has encompassed the hearts of so many that came with a desperate need and the Lord heard their cry. Again, there is nothing magical or powerful about the shawl. It is the One we come before with willing hearts that holds the power.

Elijah Places The Cloak Elisha

In 1 Kings 19, we meet Elisha the prophet for the first time. God leads Elijah to him while he is out ploughing the fields. When Elijah approaches Elisha, he wraps his cloak, also known as a mantle, around his shoulders. In the same way my prayer shawl represents Jesus’ presence to me, this cloak represented the power of God that sat upon Elijah would now pass to Elisha. In a sense, it represented Elijah anointing Elisha as a prophet.

“So Elijah went and found Elisha, son of Shaphat, plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders, and then walked away. Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, ‘First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!’”

1 Kings 19:19-20 NLT

Crossing The Jordan

Moving ahead, we read the incredible second chapter of 2 Kings. In this chapter, we read of a minimum of three miracles.

“Fifty men from the group of prophets also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River. Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!”

2 Kings 2:7-8 NLT

Here we read about the third time God divides the water. Did you know there was a third time? Even a fourth? I find it interesting that this story is told so casually, as if this is an everyday occurrence. Elijah takes his cloak, the same one he had placed over Elisha when they first met, and rolls it up and strikes the water with it. The water divided just as it did in the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross in the exodus, and the Jordan as it did when the Israelites moved into the promised land.

Chariots Of Fire

Oh, how I wish I could have watched this next scene unfold. A chariot of fire descends from Heaven. What a glorious sight this must have been. Take a moment to let this sink in. A chariot of fire and horses of fire came down and picked up Elijah. There are no words exchanged other than Elisha’s amazement. It feels expected here. Like Elijah knew, this was how he would exit. Which makes be think of how intimate the relationship was between Elijah and God.

“As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, ‘My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!’ And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.”

2 Kings 2:11-12 NLT

Before Elijah’s departure, Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. As the fiery chariot carried Elijah away, he drops his cloak for Elisha. Another symbol of the passing of God’s spirit from one man to another.

“Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River. He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, ‘Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.”

2 Kings 2:13-14 NLT

Experiencing God

And here we have the fourth time that God parts the water. The wording in the scripture makes me believe Elisha doubted the water would part without Elijah, but Elisha experiences the power of God for himself.

When I first came to know Jesus, I always wanted to be around the women from my first story. I felt that to experience God; I needed to be with them. It made sense in my mind because I had only had ‘God experiences’ while with them.

While reading through 1 and 2 Kings, we read of the different Kings requesting prophets to come so they can inquire of God how He would have them move forward, usually in battle. Unlike this time before Jesus’ death, we no longer need another to enquire with God on our behalf. You can read more about that here. I did not need to be around those ladies to have an encounter with God. All I needed to do was ask.

We Have Direct Access To God

Through Jesus’s death and resurrection, He made it possible for us to have direct access to God. In the way that God used His power through Moses’ staff, the Ark of the Covenant, and Elijah’s cloak, to divide the water and clear the way for His people to cross; Jesus’ death made the way for us to have a clear path directly to God.

Forty days after Jesus rose from the grave; He leaves much like the prophet Elijah. Jesus rose into the clouds. Unlike the cloak that Elijah leaves behind that was just for one person, God sent His Spirit to indwell within each of those who accept Him as Lord and Savior. Before Jesus left, He said:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 NLT

Does this get you as excited as it does me? God took away everything that stood between Him and us and gave us direct access. We can share our hearts with Him and He speaks directly back. There is no other religion on earth that has a god that speaks to his people or reaches down to help them. All others must go up and reach for him.

There Is None Like Him

Yahweh, Jehovah, The Great I Am, The King of kings and Lord of lords, there is none like Him. He opened the way so we could experience Him and He desires for us to come before Him and develop a relationship with Him.

#Yahweh, Jehovah, The Great I Am, The King of kings and Lord of lords, there is none like Him. He opened the way so we could experience Him and He desires for us to come before Him and develop a relationship with Him. Click To Tweet

We do not have a physical cloak to pass on from one person to the next, but we have the power of God, Holy Spirit, living within us, and He enables us to do much more than we could ever believe through His powerful name.

Check out these beautiful Jewish Prayer Shawls on Amazon.