ELIJAH:
The Message
The
churches of
Christ Greet You (Romans
Introduction
Elijah is best known as a man of prayer. James, whom tradition tells us was known as "camel knees" because of his own prayer life, uses Elijah as an example of the power of the prayer of a righteous man. James tells us (Read James 5:16b‑17). In 1 Kings 17:1b, Elijah boldly declares to King Ahab, "Surely, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." Putting these two passages together we know this was the result of Elijah's prayers.
Elijah forms a fitting example of the power of prayer, but effective and meaningful prayer is never an isolated religious exercise, something unrelated to the rest of a person's spiritual life and walk with God. The prayer that accomplishes things and gets God's ear, is the outflow of a vital relationship with God. It is born of one's burden, concern, and the reality of God in one's life. It flows from a sense of need, a heart full of faith, and from the desire to see God's purposes accomplished and His glory manifested.
As we have seen, Elijah lived in a time when the foundations were being destroyed. It was a time of spiritual apostasy and moral decay. The nation had abandoned God's law and turned to the worship of Baal‑Melquart. We saw that Elijah was a common man - a man of like passions as you and me. He was also a man of uncommon courage - a man willing to risk his life for the glory and cause of God. We saw that out of the blue, this rugged prophet who stood in striking contrast to the effeminate, perverted Baal priests confronted Ahab. We imagine him looking like an Abe Lincoln in contrast to a Tiny Tim tiptoeing through the tulips.
What gave Elijah this uncommon courage? Did the Lord appear to him in a dream, or speak to him from a bush as with Moses? Possibly, but the text doesn't say that. Rather, we believe his courage came about in a less sensational way. We believe it came about as the result of a common man being absorbed with the reality of his God. His courage was the product of intimately knowing God and living in close fellowship with the Lord through the Word and prayer. In the process, God's purposes, burdens, values, and desires became engraved on his heart. Being moved by faith, he prayed for the cessation of rain in accord with the warnings and principles of Deuteronomy 11:16‑17 and 28:23‑24. Then, convinced of God's answer, the prophet went forth to declare his message to King Ahab.
Now that we have refreshed our minds concerning
the man
Elijah, we will quickly turn to his short, but powerful message.
Elijah's
message
also sheds light on his theology and his faith that became the root of
his
courage and actions. Elijah's message to Ahab in 1 Kings 17:1b divides
into
three sections, each of which forms a key that gives us insights into
this
man's courage and faith. These words reveal the prophet's heart. The
mouth
speaks out of that which fills the heart (Matthew
The words, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives" (17:1) teach us: He Was Convinced and Confident in God's Person. The words, "Before whom I stand," teach us: He Was Cognizant of God's Presence and Committed as God's Representative. Finally, the words, "Surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word," reveal the fact: He Was Confident in God's Promises. These are the Keys to Elijah's Courage and Faith.
The words, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives,"
show us He was Convinced and Confident in God's Person. "Living" is
the first word in the statement of Elijah in the Hebrew text. It is
emphatic by
its position and stresses his faith in the fact of the reality of God.
God was
not just a theological idea to him, but a living, and personal God. He
did not
just know about God, but he knew God in such a personal way that it
transformed
his life. As Daniel said, "but the people who know God will display
strength and take action" (Daniel
Actually, in the Hebrew text, the words "living" and "LORD" (Yahweh) are bound together rather than separated as in the English Bible. They are joined by what grammarians call the "binding maqqeph" and means they are to be pronounced together as one. This combination was a technical device for introducing an oath or a solemn statement of fact. We are to translate it like the NASB with the word "as." Literally, it is "As living is Yahweh . . . so surely there shall be neither dew nor rain . . ." The idea is: Just as sure as Yahweh, the God of Israel is alive and well, so surely there shall be neither dew nor rain.
To grasp the significance of this, let's focus in
on the
name, Yahweh. Yahweh means, "I Am that I Am." It is derived from the
Hebrew verb hayah, meaning
"to be, exist." This name itself stresses
God's aliveness, His dynamic and active self‑existence, but it also
brings into views His eternal existence, sovereignty, and independence.
Further,
it is the name by which God revealed Himself to
The Point: Elijah's appearance, his message, and this oath were all based on the vivid reality of all that God was to him. It was based on the fact that the God who had revealed Himself to the nation, was alive and actively involved in the affairs of the nation and His people. As Psalm 33 reminds us: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD. The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men, from His dwelling place He looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His loving kindness" (Ps. 33:12‑14, 18).
Ahab, Jezebel, and the Baal prophets thought they had successfully killed, embalmed, and buried the God of Israel along with His worship, His Word, and His representatives. We are reminded of a verse in Psalms: "These things you have done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you, I will reprove you, and state (the case) in order before your eyes" (Psalm 50:21).
Likewise today, the modern world, the humanists, evolutionists, liberal theologians, cults, and New Agers as a whole, think Christianity, the Bible, marriage, and a morality with absolutes are all but dead. Certainly they think moral absolutes are to have no place or any impact on the political and moral decisions of our society. They say it's old fashioned, outdated, obsolete.
People living in immorality are often heard saying, "we're living in the 2000s," as though society has outgrown such foolish ideas. It is as though God has been proven to no longer be an issue in life and people can ignore God without serious ramifications to themselves and society. But individuals, as well as nations, cannot ignore God's Holy Word without serious consequences, which, like water breaking through a dam, spill over into every aspect of society. Knowing and believing this was the secret of Elijah's boldness, his presence before King Ahab, and the reason for the drought that was to follow. It was a judgment from the living God.
Elijah had not been infected by the mood of his
day or by
God's silence - what people so often mistake as His indifference or
unreality.
Rather, Elijah was convinced God was not only alive, but immanent -
personally
and actively involved in the affairs of both
By the words, "as living is Yahweh . . ." Elijah was not only declaring the reality of Israel's God as the only true God, but declaring the fact God was superior over the false ideas of mankind and the pagan idols of the nations. Elijah was declaring it was not just any man's ideas about God that counted, but the revelation of the God of the Bible - he alone is the true God. Likewise, our responsibility is to know God intimately, and then to proclaim the Christ of the Bible as the true Savior and God.
King after king in the northern kingdom of
Ecclesiastes 8:11‑12 brings home an important
lesson
for us here (Read). Likewise, we need to be able to openly demonstrate
from
“the facts” how this nation is experiencing the futility of its
beliefs. We are
experiencing a moral and spiritual drought as a judgment from God
because this
nation has put its trust in almost anything but the Lord of the Bible.
By “the
facts” we mean our past history and heritage as a Christian nation.
These are
not the figments of someone's imagination - these are facts of history.
But we
have jettisoned that foundation and with that change has come
the present moral decline and the failure of our society to deal with
its
problems. Programs developed by secular humanists and big government to
improve
society simply have not worked and can't work apart from faith in the
living
God. The founding fathers of our Constitution knew this and spoke
accordingly.
On
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
God's Word reminds us of this in Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain" (Ps. 127:1b). Societies need what is equivalent to a watchman - the police and the military (cf. Rom. 13:1-7). However, when that is not first founded on a deep faith in the Lord, as it was when our country began, then, its confidence will be in vain. The first words of Psalm 127, "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” remind us the same principle applies to the home. By mentioning the home first, we are shown its priority. The character of a nation's leaders is formed in the home. As goes the home, so goes the society. This means, we need to be living the kind of Christian lives that clearly declare the reality of God, lives that demonstrate the impotence and futility of the false belief systems of the World. Elijah was declaring that their objects of worship were lifeless and had no capacity to save or to meet their needs (provide for rain and good crops, etc.).
The words, "Before whom I stand," reveal two things about Elijah: He Was Cognizant of God's Presence and Committed as God's Representative. Elijah was not only convinced of the aliveness of his God, but he was aware of God's personal presence. He knew God was with him and that he was a personal representative of the Lord - one sent by the living and sovereign God of the universe.
"Before whom I stand" showed Elijah's awareness
that God was with him; that God had sent him. He was under God's
watchful eye,
protection, supply, enablement, and orders. This statement also
highlights
Elijah's loyalty to the God of Israel in contrast with the disloyalty
of the
majority in
Finally, this statement showed that Elijah's faith was anchored in at least three biblical concepts that were on his mind and in his consciousness, and that motivated and controlled his life. They gave him the courage and motivation to stand before King Ahab. These were: God's Person - Elijah had God's omniscience and omnipresence in mind as he spoke these words. He knew that there was no place where he would be absent from the caring and watchful eye of God (Ps. 139; Josh. 1:8). God's Plan - As a believing Israelite under God's covenant and as a man with the gift of a prophet, Elijah knew he was a personal representative of the living God who had the responsibility to "proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into God's marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9). God's Power and Provision - With God's presence and orders, also came God's power, protection, and provision to do what he was called to do. The Lord will be with His people until the end (Matt. 28:20).
Let's focus on Elijah's statement as it pertains to God's omnipresence. As the transcendent God, He transcends all. He is far above and outside of the universe; totally independent of it. He is totally separate from and outside of time and creation, enthroned on high, and exalted above the heavens. He is the sovereign King, the independent and all-powerful God of the universe (Ps. 103:19; 113:4‑5; 115:3; 123:1). As such, He is the source of all authority, power, and deliverance.
While God is that, He is also the immanent God who
operates
in time and creation. He created it and He sustains it - every atom and
molecule is held together by Him (Col. 1:16‑17; Heb. 1:3). God is also
intimately concerned with His creatures - particularly with mankind.
Though
distinct from His creation, God is immanently present everywhere in
creation
and in our lives. Proverbs
The Point: There is nothing we can do, no thought we can think, no place we can go without God being there and knowing it completely. This means four things: (1) The whole of God is wholly present everywhere at all times, yet, He is separate and independent from the world and the things and creatures in the world. There is no limit to God's presence and no place is closer to God than another. (3) He does not need to travel and He can act in all parts of the universe at once with all His authority and power. (4) God is above us, below us, at both sides of everything and within all at the same time in some inexplicable way.
Elijah was consciously fortified by this truth as
he stood
before Ahab. He knew he was not alone. He knew it was Ahab, Jezebel,
and over
400 prophets of Baal against him - plus One. This meant Elijah was in
the
majority with God who was above, below, and everywhere with him. Elijah
was
living in the light of God's omnipresence and was counting on God's
person and
promises according to God's Word. The person who knows the Lord can
never be
alone. We often may feel like Elijah once felt, utterly alone (1 Kings
But God is not only present as the omniscient one,
He is
present to manifest Himself on our behalf because He loves us, has done
the
most for us in Christ, and has chosen to use us as His vessels to
manifest His
love (Josh. 1:9; Deut. 31:6‑8; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5‑6). Consider
Elijah's statement as it pertains to his ministry as a personal
representative
of the Lord. Here is one of the blessings of the universe,
that the infinite, almighty God who is transcendent and
completely independent
and who can use any means He desires, has nevertheless, created us in
His own
image that we might be a visible representative of the invisible God.
To a
world fallen in sin He has chosen to use Christians to represent Him
(cf. Psalm
8).
Elijah understood as a believer and a prophet, he was not on earth
merely
to have a good time or seek his own satisfaction and comfort. He knew
he was
there to represent the Lord boldly and courageously in the battle with
Satanic
forces for the souls of men and for the glory of God. Further, Elijah
lived in
a time when many believers were hiding in caves, afraid to speak. They
were
acting as though God was either dead or had taken a vacation. He could
have
said, "Well, no one else is taking a stand, so I guess I won't
either."
Today, we live in a time when the world is
challenging
Christian beliefs and people are crying for answers. It is a time when
the
fields are white unto harvest (John
The words, "Surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word," show He Was Confident in God's Promises. Elijah stood before King Ahab and made this statement because he was (1) confident in the principles, promises, and warnings of God's Word, and (2) because he was confident of answered prayer when it is based on God's Word and concerned for God's glory. Elijah's prayer for no rain was not just something he cooked up out of his own imagination or because he was angry at Jezebel. Rather, he was acting on the truth of the Word. He was standing firmly on the promises. His prayer and statement to King Ahab were the result of knowing and believing the promises of Scripture (cf. Deut. 11:8‑32; 28:23‑24 with 1 Kings 18:18). This shows that Elijah was relying on the principles of Deuteronomy 11.
Remember, the prophets of Baal claimed Baal‑Melquart was the god of thunder, rain, and good crops. Elijah's declaration in 1 Kings 17:1 strongly challenged the reality of their god and their faith. It showed Baal was false and impotent and that the prophets of Baal were liars. It also showed truth and salvation could only be found in the prophets of Yahweh who alone spoke for God.
Application: Likewise today, we have
the
responsibility to demonstrate by the way we live (our priorities and
values),
and by our personal testimony, the truth of John 14:6 and Acts
Elijah was a man of uncommon courage and bold availability because he was: (1) Convinced and Confident in God's Person; (2) Cognizant of God's personal presence and Committed as God's representative, and (3) Confident in God's promises.