Fire and Water

About five years ago, I was strolling along, with my son, on a beach near St. Andrews, Scotland. 

We had been on that sea strand for a little while when Micah stopped, fixed his gaze in the forward direction, and asked me, "Don't you recognize it?" In the distance ahead. . . I beheld the town of St. Andrews. It seemed to be up on a bluff. I was puzzled. I had never been to this place before today. What was I supposed to recognize here? "Chariots of Fire, the movie" he said. . . this was the beach where British Olympic runners, Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, were training for the 1924 Olympics. 

Recently recalling this experience, I was wondering about the chariots. I remember there was a biblical reference, so I did a little digging in my Bible and found this passage, from the second book of Kings: "As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated Elijah from Elisha, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven." As biblical history continued to roll through the ages, The Lord sent Elijah back to this world, a second time, to fulfill an important prophetic role. His return is previewed in the prophecy of Malachi, last words of the Old testament: "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers". . . The Lord God, Creator of the universe, is sovereign. He doesn't do things because they are right. It's the other way around. They are "right" because He does them. But in some ways, it's a matter of timing, and symbols. In the case of Elijah's apparent reincarnation as John the Baptist, the Lord shifted the prophet's symbolic element from fire to water. . . which is to say, from fiery judgement to water baptism. This represents the shift from Old Testament Law to New Testament Grace. When Harold and Eric were running on that St. Andrews beach in 1924, ocean water was in the background. But in the foreground of their hearts and minds, they were fired up to represent Britain in the Paris Olympics in 1924. As it all turned out, they were victors. They were fired up enough to perform as gold medalists. Representing Great Britain with skill, endurance and speed, they rode their Chariot of Fire to victory, so to speak. In so doing they were inspired by the prophetic vision of William Blake, who, in 1804, linked Britain's aspiration to become, as it were, a new Jerusalem, "in England's green and pleasant land." I was privileged, in 2021, to be guided by my son, to that St. Andrews beach strand where Harold and Eric had run, 102 years ago. It was a providential moment. Now, at age 74, I am beginning to anticipate that chariot that will, at the Lord's appropriate time, transport me to the Lord's eternal shore, where I will discover what the apostle John witnessed when he arrived there. 

Songs of Rowland