A fiery chariot with horses of fire.

 

Monday, October 16, 2023


Psalm 105:1-22

2 Kings 2:1-14

Matthew 13:1-17


Observances: Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, bishops and martyrs (d. 1555)


A fiery chariot with horses of fire.


In the entirety of human history, only two people have ever moved from here to the heavenly realm directly: the Lord Jesus, and Elijah. When Jesus did so, during the Ascension, He left in clouds – the clouds of the glory of He and His kingdom. From that episode we learn something of the glory of heaven, and the glory of Jesus ascending to His rightful place on the throne of all heaven and earth.


When Elijah ascended, he went in a whirlwind, in a chariot of fire. It is the same journey, from earth to heaven, but in the case of Elijah, he had different needs. Jesus is God and Lord; His journey was victory triumph. Elijah was being taken as a human being; his journey acted as a prophetic message; God sent out protection to make sure Elijah made it safely through. The chariot was the height of military engineering at the time; if Elijah were around today and ascended tomorrow, he might be making the journey in one of those armoured personnel carriers the Australian Army is sending over to Ukraine.


We know that the divide between heaven and hell is very great – impassable, even (Luke 16:26). But even the journey between heaven and earth is not the easiest to make. For one, the kingdom of heaven is under siege; not a very successful siege, and one that will end poorly for the attackers. But the gates of heaven is not a peaceful place (Matt 11:12). For another, heaven is that place where God’s glory is undimmed; it is the place where His blessings are made most manifest, and even Moses was not allowed to look upon God directly, else he should die. The journey from earth to heaven is, for us mortal humans, a dangerous one, with a dangerous destination.


Getting to heaven as a human is, for all intents and purposes, a miraculous act. It is our home; it is where we belong, but for all sorts of reasons it is not an easy place to get to. But it is not a trip we make on our own. God is the One who gets us there. He sends out His protection over us; we have angels looking over us, and we have the Son of God giving us His righteousness. We have the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, pouring God’s love into our hearts, growing the kingdom of heaven within us. For all the perils and dangers of this journey we are taking our success is not hopeless, but assured. God is bringing us home. We are riding on chariots of fire.

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