Elisha, an Old Testament prophet in Israel and Judah, followed in the footsteps of the similarly named prophet Elijah. As reported in Scripture, the former prophet, Elijah, did not die. Rather, when his time on earth was up, God took him directly to heaven riding on chariots of fire. Before going up to heaven, Elijah prayed that God would give Elisha a “double portion” of God’s spirit. Then the younger prophet Elisha witnessed Elijah fly up to Heaven. With a double portion of God’s Spirit, Elisha took up Elijah’s cloak and became his successor.
Elisha did his job well for years. He was a godly prophet and advisor to kings. Then we read about the end of his life in 2 Kings 13:14 & 20 (MSG), “Elisha came down sick. It was the sickness of which he would soon die…Then Elisha died and they buried him”. I just have to be honest for a minute; this passage of Scripture throws me off a bit. Elisha had a double portion of God’s Spirit. Why didn’t he get a non-stop flight to Heaven like Elijah did? That doesn’t seem fair.
Then it hit me; I prefer stories where the heroes have happy or glorious endings. The former prophet, Elijah, had both a glorious and happy ending. Elisha’s ending was…well…kinda dull.
Elisha’s ending may not be quite as exciting to tell as Elijah’s, but I suppose that’s the point of this passage. Most of us will have rather unglamorous endings to our stories, but it’s not the endings that really matter. What matters is the in-between. There are two dates on every grave marker in every cemetery: date of birth, and date of death. The most important thing on every headstone, though, is not the dates, but the hyphen. It’s that tiny dash that documents how a person lived.
Elisha’s hyphen is made up of his godly life, his obedience, his character, and the miracles in which he participated. What will people remember when they see my hyphen or yours? The great news for all of us today is that we have time to add plenty of great stuff to our hyphens. We may not all have a glorious ending, but we can all have a great hyphen.
