Contents 
Front Matter The Story of a Beautiful Garden The First Baby in the World and His Brother The Great Ship That Saved Eight People The Tower That Was Never Finished The Story of a Long Journey How Abram's Choice Brought Blessing The Angel by the Well The Rain of Fire That Fell on a City The Boy Who Became an Archer How an Angel's Voice Saved a Boy's Life The Story of a Journey after a Wife How Jacob Stole His Brother's Blessing Jacob's Wonderful Dream A Midnight Wrestling Match The Rich Man's Son Who Was Sold as a Slave From the Prison to the Palace How Joseph's Dream Came True A Lost Brother Found From the Land of Famine to the Land of Plenty The Beautiful Baby Who Was Found in a River The Voice from the Burning Bush The River That Ran Blood The Night When a Nation Was Born How the Sea Became Dry Land and the Sky Rained Bre The Mountain That Smoked and Words That Were Spoke How Aaron Made a Golden Calf and What Became of It The Tent Where God Lived Among His People How They Worshipped God in the Tabernacle What Strong Drink Brought to Aaron's Sons The Scapegoat in the Wilderness The Cluster of Grapes from the Land of Canaan How the Long Journey of the Israelites Came to an What a Wise Man Learned from an Ass How Moses Looked upon the Promised Land The Story of Job The Story of a Scarlet Cord How the River Jordan Became Dry The Story of a Wedge of Gold How Joshua Conquered the Land of Canaan The Old Man Who Fought Against the Giants The Avenger of Blook and the Cities of Refuge The Story of an Altar Beside the River The Presnt That Ehud Brought to King Eglon How a Woman Won a Great Victory Gideon and His Brave Three Hundred Jephthah's Rash Promise and What Came from It The Strong Man: How He Lived and How He Died The Idol Temple at Dan and Its Priest How Ruth Gleaned in the Field of Boaz The Little Boy with a Linen Coat How the Idol Fell Down Before the Ark The Last of the Judges The Tall Man Who Was Chosen King How Saul Saved the Eyes of the Men of Jabesh The Brave Young Prince Saul's Great Sin and His Great Loss The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem The Shepherd Boy's Fight with the Giant The Little Boy Looking for the Arrows Where David Found the Giant's Sword How David Spared Saul's Life The Last Days of King Saul The Shepherd Boy Becomes a King The Sound in the Treetops The Cripple at the King's Table The Prophet's Story of the Little Lamb David's Handsome Son and How He Stole the Kingdom Absalom in the Wood; David on the Throne The Angel with the Drawn Sword on Mount Moriah Solomon on This Father's Throne The Wise Young King The House of God on Mount Moriah The Last Days of Solomon's Reign The Breaking Up of a Great Kingdom The King Who Led Israel to Sin The Prophet Who Raised a Boy to Life The Prayer That Was Answered in Fire The Voice That Spoke to Elijah in the Mount The Wounded Prophet and His Story What Ahab Paid for His Vineyard The Arrow That Killed a King Elijah's Chariot of Fire A Spring Sweetened by Salt The Pot of Oil and the Pot of Poison The Little Boy at Shunem How a Little Girl Helped to Cure a Leper The Chariots of Fire around Elisha What the Lepers Found in the Camp Jehu, the Furious Driver of His Chariot Elisha and the Bow; Jonah and Nineveh How the Ten Tribes Were Lost The First Four Kings of Judah The Little Boy Who Was Crowned King Three Kings and a Great Prophet The Good King Hezekiah The Lost Book Found in the Temple The Last Four Kings of Judah and the Weeping Proph What Ezekiel Saw in the Valley The Jewish Captives in the Court of the King The Golden Image and the Fiery Furnace The Tree That Was Cut Down and Grew Again The Writing upon the Wall Daniel in the Den of Lions The Story of a Joyous Journey The New Temple on Mount Moriah The Beautiful Queen of Persia The Scribe Who Wrote the Old Testament The Nobleman Who Built the Wall of Jerusalem Ezra's Great Bible Class in Jerusalem The Angel by the Altar The Manger of Bethlehem The Star and the Wise Men The Boy in his Father's House The Prophet in the Wilderness Jesus in the Desert, and beside the River The Water Jars at the Wedding Feast The Stranger at the Well The Story of a Boy in Capernaum and a Riot A Net Full of Fishes The Leper and the Man Let Down through the Roof The Cripple at the Pool and the Withered Hand The Twelve Disciples and the Sermon on the Mount The Captain's Servant, the Widow's Son, and a Sinn Some Stories Jesus Told by the Sea "Peace, Be Still" The Little Girl Who Was Raised to Life A Dancing Girl and What Was Given Her The Feast beside the Sea and What Followed It The Answer to a Mother's Prayer The Glory of Jesus on the Mountain The Little Child in the Arms of Jesus At the Feast of Tabernacles The Man with Clay on His Face The Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan Lazarus Raised to Life Some Parables in Perea The Poor Rich Man and the Rich Poor Man Jesus at Jericho Palm Sunday The Last Vistis of Jesus to the Temple The Parables on the Mount of Olives The Last Supper The Olive Orchard and the High Priests Hall The Crown of Thorns The Darkest Day of All the World The Brightest Day of All the World The Stranger on the Shore The Church of the First Days The Man at the Beautiful Gate The Right Way to Give, and the Wrong Way Stephen with the Shining Face The Man Reading in the Chariot The Voice That Spoke to Saul What Peter Saw by the Sea How the Iron Gate Was Opened The Earliest Missionaries The Song in the Prison Paul's Speech on the Hill Paul at Corinth Paul at Ephesus Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem The Speech on the Stairs Two Years in Prison The Story That Paul Told to the King Paul in the Storm How Paul Came to Rome and How He Lived There The Throne of God The City of God

Story of the Bible Told for Young and Old - Jesse Hurlbut




Elijah's Chariot of Fire


After the death of Ahab, his son Ahaziah reigned for only two years as king of Israel He fell out of a window in his palace, and was injured so that he died; and as he had no son, his brother, Jehorma, became king in his place.

The work of Elijah, the prophet, was now ended, and the Lord was about to take him up to heaven. Elijah and Elisha went together to a place called Gilgal, not the place beside the river Jordan where the army of Israel was encamped under Joshua (see Part Second, Stories Two and Three), but another place of the same name among the mountains, not far from Bethel. And Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel."

Elisha knew that Elijah would be taken from him very soon, and he said, "As surely as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you."

So Elijah and Elisha walked together to Bethel. At Bethel were living many worshippers of the Lord, who were called "sons of the prophets," because they followed the teaching of the prophets, and some of them became prophets themselves. These men came to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from you very soon?"

And Elisha answered them, "Yes, I know it; but hold your peace; do not speak of it."

And at Bethel Elijah said to Elisha again, "Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho." But Elisha answered him, "As surely as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you."

So Elijah and Elisha walked together down the steep road from Bethel to Jericho. And at Jericho the followers of the prophets came to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you to-day?"

And he answered them, "Yes, I know it; but hold your peace, and say nothing." And Elijah said to him again, "Stay here at Jericho, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to the river Jordan."

But Elisha said to Elijah once more, "As surely as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you."

So Elijah and Elisha walked from Jericho to the river Jordan, about five miles. About fifty men of the sons of the prophets who lived at Jericho followed them at a distance When they came to the bank of Jordan, Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and struck the waters. Then the waters were divided on each side, and a path was made across the river; and the two prophets walked across on dry ground And as they walked, Elijah said, "As what I shall do for you, before I am taken away from you."

Elijah strikes the water with his mantle

ELIJAH STRIKES THE WATER WITH HIS MANTLE


Elisha answered him, "All that I ask is that your spirit shall come upon me in greater power than comes upon any other man."

And Elijah said to him, "You have asked a great blessing; and if you see me when I am taken away, it shall come to you; but if you do not see me, it shall not come"

And as they still went on, and talked, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire came between them, and parted them; and Elijah went up in a whirlwind on the fiery chariot to heaven.

And Elisha saw him going up toward heaven, and he cried out, "O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!"

He meant that in losing Elijah the kingdom had lost more than an army of chariots and horsemen After this he saw Elijah no more; but he caught up the mantle of Elijah which had fallen from him. With the mantle he struck the waters of Jordan, saying, "Where now is the Lord God of Elijah?"

And as he struck the water with Elijah's mantle it parted on either side, and Elisha walked across the Jordan. The sons of the prophets who were standing near the river had not seen Elijah go up, but now they saw Elisha walking through the river alone, and they felt that God had taken Elijah away. They said, "The spirit of the Elijah now rests upon Elisha," and they came to meet him, and bowed down before him as their chief. So Elijah was taken away, but Elisha stood in his place as the Lord's prophet.