Summer Series: Learning From The Saints And The Aints

Subject: The Prophet--Elijah

1 Kings 17:1-6
"Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."
So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook."
James 5:16b-18
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again, he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

We often consider the men and women of the Bible as super-human people...not like the run of the human race. And, because of this attitude, we have a difficult time relating to their deeds, actions and accomplishments. Somehow, we think we can never be like them! Not so! Our Scripture declares with absolute certainty that Elijah was a man just like you and me. If we really can believe that, then there is a new world of spiritual horizons and victories for all of us yet to participate in and share.
Noah believed God, built an ark, lived righteously in a world of rebellion, saved his family from the flood and preserved the human race.
Moses was used of God to perform the miraculous. He considered it far more important to be counted with God than with the courts of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.
Joshua marched around the walls of the impossible and watched them tumble to the ground because he believed and obeyed the command of Almighty God.
Daniel could come out of the lion’s den untouched because he loved his time of prayer more than the approval of the king.
Peter walked on the waters of impossibility

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because he learned that he could do all things through Christ!
The Apostle Paul could come though his trials and tribulations and finish his course to wear that eternal crown of victory because his love for Christ compelled him.
The men and women of the Bible were just like us! What made them heroes of faith was the result of their relationship to God through faith in His word.
History is marked with the times of great spiritual activity and times when the light of truth seemed almost to have disappeared. When Elijah appears on the scene of Israel’s history, the light of Divine glory flickered low!
With Jezebel and her false prophets influencing wicked Ahab, all trace of pure worship of Jehovah vanished from the land and gross idolatry became rampant.
Every light had been extinguished, every Divine voice of testimony had been hushed, spiritual death was everywhere.
Clouds of thick, dark, spiritual darkness covered the land.
The images of Baalim and Ashtoreth fearfully gleamed everywhere.
Idolatrous temples and heathen altars occupied sacred soil.
Every hill smoked with the stench of evil sacrifices and every vale resounded with the blasphemous yells of cruel priestcraft.
The people drank in iniquity like water, and sported in shameless rites around their heathen-fetch idols.
This was the scene of history onto which Elijah makes his entrance.
The year is approximately 863 B.C. It was a dark hour in the history of his nation. Solomon had died, his kingdom was divided. Rehoboam, his son takes the southern part of the kingdom with two tribes remaining loyal to him. Jeroboam took over the northern part of the kingdom with ten tribes under his command. Of Jeroboam, the Scriptures record a phrase oft repeated: "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." The sin that Jeroboam was guilty of was the setting up of the two temples, one in Dan and another in the city of Bethel. He placed two golden calves as objects of worship. This was an act of absolute defiance of the commands of Jehovah God!
In the line of wicked kings that followed Jeroboam was Nedab, Baasha, Zimri, Omri who was the father of Ahab.
"And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been

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a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." (1 Kings 16:30,31)
It is the guilty, sinful King Ahab that God calls Elijah to confront.
"Now Elijah who was from Tishbe in Gilead, told king Ahab, "As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel lives--the God whom I worship and serve--there will be no dew or rain during the next few years unless I give the word." (1 Kings 17:1)
Elijah knew the Scripture in Deuteronomy that says: "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit." (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).
Elijah’s eyes beheld the idols and his heart was very jealous for the God of hosts, so he prayed earnestly that it might not rain. His prayer was in accordance to the Word of God and the answer came.
As he looked upon his nation and its sin, his blood ran liquid fire, his indignation burst all bounds, he became righteously indignant amid the evils of his time!
The hour for the execution of his stern task had arrived, and Elijah leaves his home in Gilead to deliver unto Ahab his message of judgment. Unannounced and unattended, a plain man, dressed in humble garb, appeared before Israel’s apostate king as the messenger of Jehovah God! Suddenly confronting Ahab, Elijah at once made it evident that he was faced by One who had no fear of him, king though he may be.
Listen to those words echo throughout the king’s Chamber! "AS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL LIVETH." The king is faced with a message from the God he had chosen to ignore. He is reminded of the God whose commandments he openly and flagrantly violated. Suddenly he is jolted with a message from the God of the universe! "AS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL LIVETH BEFORE WHOM I STAND."
And I believe that here is stated the secret of the life of Elijah! He was standing in the presence of Ahab but he was conscious of the presence of a greater than any earthly monarch, even the presence of Jehovah, before whom angels bow in lowly worship!

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Elijah so lived that he was ever conscious of the presence of God! Almighty God was to him a living reality! After his momentous moment before king Ahab, and the giving of the message God wanted delivered, then God told him what to do next. "Then the Lord said to Elijah, "Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook at a place east of where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food."
Observation! The walk of faith is taken one step at a time. We have no indication that Elijah knew where he would go once he had made his pronouncement before Ahab.
His is a basic and elementary lesson in our walk with God, but it is hard to learn. There must be many times in our lives when we totally miss the great blessings of God because we fail to act before we have all our questions answered. God only shows us one step at a time, and that, the next and He bids us take it in faith!
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path." (Proverbs 3:5,6).
And where God leads, He provides!
"Eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food." No sooner does the morning dawn in Cherith’s rocky vale, than their cry is heard aloft in the trees; and when Elijah wakes, he beholds the provision for the day lying before him. And when the evening shades advance; these black livery servants again appear, laden with meat and bread. And this takes place not merely once, but a whole year round, without intermission. THERE! I have commanded the ravens to feed you THERE. "THERE" is being in God’s perfect will, and the promise is that He will provide for us there. "O fear the Lord, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." (Psalm 34:9-10).
It was not long before the whole country was like a heath, and fields and woods became scorched as by fire. One spot alone continued green and cool; that spot was the prophet’s rocky vale. Every fountain was exhausted, and every forest stream dried up’ by the sultry heat; one brook alone continued to flow--the brook Cherith--that remained as fresh and as full as if nothing had happened!
"After a while the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land."

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"And the word of the Lord came to him: Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." For Elijah, it is time to move on. There is no water in the brook and ravens no longer visit his hiding place. But his God is always with him and the instructions are very clear what to do next. All he has to do is obey! Obedience is at the heart of living out our Christian life. Disobedience brings discipline, obedience brings blessing! We do not win salvation by our obedience. But being saved, we must obey. Our Saviour adjures us, by the love we bear to Himself, to keep His commandments. And He does so because He wants us to taste His rarest gifts; and because He knows that in the keeping of His commandments there is great reward.
On to Zarephath! It means "refining." It comes from a word signifying ‘crucible’--the place where metals are melted. There lay before Elijah not only a further testing of his faith, but also the refining of it, for a crucible is for the purpose of separating dross from the fine gold. Zarephath lay outside the Land of Canaan and belonged to the land from which Jezebel had brought her impious tribe of false prophets. It was there he would be sustained by a widow woman belonging to a heathen people!
When Elijah reached the straggling town it was probably toward nightfall; and at the city gate a widow woman was gathering a few sticks to prepare the evening meal. God had already prepared the heart of this woman to respond to the prophet’s request because the Scriptures tell us that "I have commanded a widow woman to sustain you there." She was not, therefore surprised at the prophet’s request, and silently went to fetch a cup of cold water. Encouraged by her willingness, Elijah asked her to bring with her a morsel of bread. It was a modest request; but it unlocked the silent agony of her soul. She had not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and she was about to make one last repast for herself and her son and, having eaten it, they had no alternative but to lie down together and die!
Circumstances were certainly very depressing, but what are they to a man whose inner self is occupied with the presence and power of Almighty God!
Elijah said: "Fear not, go and do as thou hast said: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until

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the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth."
"So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil for many days. For no matter how much they used, there was always enough left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah."
Obedience brought blessing!
But it wasn’t long before tragedy struck the little family and the widow’s son died!
With broken heart and guilty conscience, the widow lashed out at the prophet..."O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to punish my sins by killing my son?" Somewhere in the background of this woman’s life there was a dark deed, which stood out before her mind as her sin. It is remarkable how different is the mental stimulus which is required by different castes of mind, to awaken dormant memories.
But Elijah was gracious with her breaking heart and requested the woman to give him her son. Laying the boy’s body on his bed, he prayed this simple prayer: "O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him." The Lord heard Elijah’s prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he came back to life!"
The woman’s response..."Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you."
Three years had passed since Elijah had stood in the presence of Ahab, the king, and made the pronouncement of the famine. Then the Lord talked to the prophet and gave him his next assignment. "Go and present yourself to King Ahab. Tell him that I will soon send rain!"
During those months of famine, Ahab had men searching throughout the country and surrounding nations for Elijah. Obadiah was one of those on the search. "As Obadiah was walking along, he saw Elijah coming toward him. Obadiah recognized him at once and fell to the ground before him. "Is it really you, my Lord Elijah?" He asked. After promising Obadiah that he will appear before the king according to his word, Elijah proceeds to the king’s palace!
"So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet him. "So it is you, is it--Israel’s troublemaker?" Ahab asked when he saw him.
Now that is a greeting! Israel’s troublemaker! But Elijah had a response..."You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. Now bring all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, with all 450 prophets of Baal and

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the 400 prophets of Asherah, who are supported by Jezebel."
Agreed! The meeting is set and mount Carmel is the place!
The prophet takes charge and confronts the massive gathering with these words: "How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!" The crowd remained silent.
Elijah gives the instructions to build an altar and prepare two bulls for the sacrifice. The prophets of Baal are told to select one of the bulls and place it on the altar, over the wood. But they are not to put any fire under the sacrifice! Then they are told to call upon their God, and Elijah will call upon Jehovah God.
"The God who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God." Demanded Elijah. So all the people agreed.
All morning, the Baal prophets shouted to their god. When there was no answer, they began to cut themselves with knives. This continued until three o’clock in the afternoon but no answer from Baal.
Now it was time for Elijah to pray! But before he started to pray, he repaired the altar which had been torn down by the false prophets. He took twelve stones, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, rebuilt the altar according to God’s ancient directions, then had a trench dug around the newly built altar. He had twelve jars of water poured onto the sacrifice which ran down and filled the trench.
"At the customary time of offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked to the altar and prayed, ‘O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself."
"Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the ditch!"
"And when the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried out, "The Lord is God! The Lord is God!"
Then Elijah commanded that all the false prophets be captured, taken to the Kishon Valley and killed!
He then told Ahab to go home and enjoy a good meal because the rains are about to come. The prophet went to the top of Mount Carmel and prayed for rain, and the skies opened up and the rain fell!

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The rain is falling and Elijah is running! When Ahab arrives home, he informs Jezebel that her prophets are all dead. She is furious and sends a message to Elijah: "May the gods also kill me if by this time tomorrow I have failed to take your life like those whom you killed."
Elijah was afraid and fled for his life! Now that is a sad sentence. A man who has been fed by ravens, raised a boy to life, called down fire from heaven, killed four hundred and fifty false prophets....running from a woman! Incredible!
He runs to the desert and sits down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die! Listen to his prayer: "Lord, I have had enough! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." Then he layed down and fell asleep! Soon, an angel of the Lord came down and baked him some bread and placed a jar of water by his side. After eating, he went back to sleep. "Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, "Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you." "So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai. There he spent the night in a cave."
"But the Lord said to him, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, ELIJAH?"
Elijah replied, "I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with You, torn down Your altars, and killed every one of Your prophets. I alone am left, and now they are trying to kill me."
God told him to go and stand before the mountain. There was a wind storm, an earthquake, fire, and then the sound of a gentle whisper and the voice said to him: "Go back the way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus."
God told him that he was to anoint Elisha as his replacement as the prophet. His job was done!
Elisha followed Elijah to the point when it was time for God’s next assignment to happen. "When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between them, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, My father, my father! The chariots and charioteers of Israel! And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his robe in two."
And our Scriptures tells us that Elijah was a man just like us!