ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 MONITE ‘EPELELI 20, 2026

2 TU’I 1-3; LOMA 8:18-21

No matter what we may face in this broken world, a bright and glorious future awaits every child of God.

Neongo pe ko e ha ha me’a te tau fehangahangai mo ia ‘i he mamani mamahi ko eni, ‘oku ‘i ai ha kaha’u maama mo langilangi’ia ‘oku tatali mai ki he tokotaha kotoa ‘o e fanau ‘a e ‘Otua.

I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet. It's not just that I cannot predict what will happen years down the road; I don't know what will happen in the next ten minutes. Fear of the future is a regular human affliction. We tend to fear what we do not know and have no ability to control. But this fear is weakened for the Christian, because grace has made us the sons and daughters of the one who is in complete control not just of our present, but also of all the tomorrows that follow on into eternity. The plan, over which God has complete control, has a glorious end written into it. We may weep with the pains of our present address, but there is glory in store for us.

Elijah had a rough life. He was called to his prophetic ministry during the reign of the abominable evil of Ahab and Jezebel. He faced opposition and threats. He proclaimed and defended the presence, power, and glory of God, while being surrounded by idolatry. At times he felt alone and forsaken, but a glorious homecoming was in God's plan for him:

Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.... And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horse-men!" And he saw him no more. (2 Kings 2:1, 11-12)

The experience of going up into heaven after one's earthly life is over, without first experiencing physical death, is rare in the Bible, so there is something both unique and prophetic about the story of Elijah's end. Notice that he doesn't just disappear, and then is somehow in heaven with the Lord. No, chariots and horses of fire come to get him. It is important to understand that the chariots and horses of fire are a theophany, that is, a divine appearing. God didn't send an Uber to get Elijah. The Lord Almighty himself, whom Elijah served, came to carry Elijah to heaven, forever to dwell in his presence. This is almost too beautiful and amazing to grasp. What an incredibly and gloriously shocking scene for Elisha to witness! He saw the Lord come for his own, liberating him from the sin and suffering of this fallen world, and transporting him to a place where these things are no more.

What happened to Elijah stands as a prophecy of what is in store for all of God's children he has adopted by his grace. It is a finger pointing to Jesus's words  to his disciples in John 14:3: "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." Here's the good news: the same Lord who came for Elijah will finally come in glory to take his children to be with him forever.