TheoTrek — A Journey with God in Discipleship
Groaning for Divine Intimacy
2nd Kings 2:9-14; Romans 8:26-32
Revival Service, Reedy Springs Baptist Church
Amid the groaning and longing we find around us is a longing for God. Surveys tell us that people are looking for God, though not in our churches and religious institutions. Some have perhaps given up on finding an intimate connection with God. Many are nonetheless seeking after spirituality and intimacy with God. Where is God to be found? Can our yearning for intimacy with God ever find fulfillment? Does God really want to be part of our lives? Paul’s words recall the universality of our plight. The entire world yearns for a fulfillment that does not seem attainable. Our unmet desires and expectations are shared not only by the world of people, but by creation itself. Creation longs for reconnection with God’s purpose, even as we long for intimacy with our Creator. God does not stand aloof from our longing, but entered into creation to call us unto Himself. God groans on our behalf, even longing to offer intimacy as the desire of Gods’ own character of love.
If there were one prophet of the Old Testament who stood out above the rest, it was Elijah. Elijah was the one the Jews expected to return to announce the arrival of Messiah. As little as the Mount Carmel face-off accomplished within the power structures of Israel, it still portrayed Elijah as intimate with God, enjoying a special relationship with the Almighty. While we do not know much about Elijah, we do see a concentration of miraculous signs from God throughout his ministry.
While the 450 prophets of Ba’al had struggled to gain the ear of their god, Elijah had easy access to the Creator. Elijah did not need to offer sacrifices to gain Yahweh’s attention. Yahweh heard his prayer, even coming to direct him when he did not seek divine guidance. Elijah enjoyed an intimacy with Yahweh that was unheard of in his day. Yahweh lived with him, intervened to care for his needs, and took the initiative to redirect his understanding of God’s presence and action.
Throughout his ministry, Elijah was known as Yahweh’s central mouthpiece, a man in close touch with God’s will, character, and purposes. He was known before the face-off with the prophets of Ba’al. His renown grew in the wake of that confrontation. Elisha jumped at the opportunity to follow in his steps. He gladly accepted Elijah’s mantle, sacrificed a yoke of oxen in celebration, and followed Elijah to serve the renowned prophet of Yahweh.
At the end of Elijah’s ministry, Elisha was still following and serving faithfully. Elijah bade him stay behind while God took him away, but Elisha refused. He vowed to follow Elijah, come what may. After crossing the Jordan together, Elijah asked what he might do for Elisha. Elisha’s answer caught him off guard. His request was simple, but it was something Elijah felt incapable of fulfilling. Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit upon Elijah. He desired the foremost portion of prophetic inheritance. As the firstborn son received a double portion of his father’s inheritance, Elisha desired to assume the position of Yahweh’s foremost prophet. He wanted to follow in Elijah’s steps, taking up the role and intimacy with God as Yahweh’s central mouthpiece. He wanted to live with God as Elijah.
Elijah’s answer was non-committal. He did not feel he had the authority to confer such a bequest. Elijah was well aware that very few had experienced the closeness of this relationship with Yahweh. He stood in a very short line of prophets who had fellowshipped so closely with God. Yahweh was about to take him from the earth in a whirlwind akin to Enoch’s experience. He answered with reservation. If Elisha saw Elijah as he was whisked away, then his request would be granted.
At first glance, Elisha’s request may not seem like such a big deal. We must remember all the uncertainty around gaining audience with God. The prophets of Ba’al lacerated themselves, hoping that Ba’al might pay attention to their cries. They pleaded, danced, and cried in hopes of getting a hearing, but it was for naught. Most of the elements of sacrifice and worship were attuned to the specific pursuit of gaining a hearing by one’s god. Even Solomon had brought thousands of animals in sacrifice at the inauguration of the temple, sleeping near the altar in hoped of gaining a response from Yahweh. Jesus later spoke of how the Gentiles prayed with vain repetitions, hoping their many words might find some kind of divine response.
Elijah’s experience waved all this aside as meaningless prattle and so much worthless effort. He had a direct line of audience with Yahweh that needed no special effort of uncertain worth. God heard his prayer and answered when he spoke. God even took the initiative to guide his words and actions. It was this kind of intimacy with God that Elisha craved. It was an intimacy unknown apart from Elijah’s experience. This was the longing and yearning of his heart.
Elijah was not sure about such a desire being granted. God seems to have been pleased. Elisha watched as Elijah was taken up into heaven and experienced God’s presence flowing through him as he ministered as Yahweh’s new foremost mouthpiece. Elisha’s contemporaries were awed and amazed. They had trouble understanding such an intimate relationship with Yahweh.
Paul does not seem too surprised by this kind of intimacy. In Romans, Paul lays out the fact that God shares this kind of groaning for intimacy. It is God’s desire to live in fellowship with humanity that prompted the very coming of Jesus as Messiah. More than Elijah’s expectation shared by the Jews of Messiah righting the socio-political structures of God’s presence in Israel, Jesus came to usher in God’s immediate presence with people like you and me. What was an audacious request on the lips of Elisha is God’s very will expressed in Jesus Christ. Elisha desired intimacy with God. God desires intimacy with us.
Paul speaks of the whole of creation groaning in anticipation of a yet unseen fulfillment. In Jesus Christ, such has become reality. God proposed from the start to enter the world. From before time, God proposed to give his own life that we might fellowship with the Almighty around the throne. God planned for it. God took every necessary provision that we might live in intimacy with one another and with Himself. We still believe with Elijah that our longing for intimacy with God is too audacious. We are still unsure about entering God’s presence to live before the Almighty in unmediated immediacy.
Nothing can separate us from God’s love and desire for intimacy. We alone hold the opportunity to ask for God’s presence. We will accept God’s offer of love, forgiveness, and grace, or will we hold off, afraid of getting too close to the Almighty Creator? It is not too audacious to ask God to present in our lives. It is not too audacious to yearn for intimacy. It is already God’s desire to live in fellowship with us. Will we accept God’s offer of intimate fellowship? Christ Jesus has come to offer us a living fellowship forever. That fellowship can begin now.
—©Copyright 2006 Christopher B. Harbin