In the Second Kings, chapter two, verses eleven through twelve, Elijah was taken to heaven, as was Enoch in Genesis five, verse twenty-four, without experiencing death. The miraculous transporting of Elijah to heaven was God’s emphatic seal of approval of the prophet’s work, spirit, and ministry. Elijah united to the word of God throughout his ministry. To the very last, he had lived for God’s honor, stood against the sin and idolatry of an apostate people, and encouraged the faithful remnant in Israel. He was given a dramatic escort to heaven in triumph. The translation of Elijah and Enoch is like the future catching up to God’s faithful people at the return of Christ, as in First Thessalonians four, sixteen through seventeen.
A bright cloud, perhaps thrown into the form of a chariot and horses by the angels who came in it, or the angels themselves appearing in this form. The souls of all the faithful received an escort by an invisible guard of angels into the bosom of Abraham. But Elijah being to transport his body with him, this heavenly guard appeared visibly: not in a human shape, though so they might have borne him in their arms. However, the form of a chariot and horses rides in triumph, like a prince, like a conqueror. See the readiness of the angels to do the will of God, even in the meanest services, for the heirs of salvation!
Therefore, he who had burned with holy zeal for God and his honor conveyed in fire into his immediate presence. Elisha calls him for his fatherly affection to him and for his fatherly authority which he had over him: in which respect the scholars of the prophets are called their sons. He saw his condition like a fatherless child and laments it accordingly. Who, by thy example, counsels, prayers, and power with God, did more for the defense and preservation of Israel than all their chariots and horses. The expression alludes to the form of chariots and horses which he had seen.