Getting Ready For The Last Supper

Getting Ready for the Last Supper

Sunday, March 13, 2011 PM

By Pastor James May

If there’s one prophet of the Old Testament that I love reading about it has to be Elijah. Here was a real man of faith and of power; at least most of the time. Like all the rest of us, Elijah had a few ups and downs in his ministry to the people of Israel; especially to King Ahab and Jezebel. Through it all though he was victorious and came to the end of his time on earth walking in the power of God and then stepped into chariot of fire and was raptured into Heaven without ever seeing death. One day he’s coming back according to most Bible scholars; in the last days during the Tribulation after the rapture of the church.

There is a song that’s popular today called “Days of Elijah” describing the spirit and power of Elijah that will be alive in the earth as we draw nearer to the end of days. Just in case you were wondering what the “spirit of Elijah” really means; it’s the power of the Holy Spirit moving in the earth to perform great works, signs and wonders among men in an attempt to draw them to Christ and reject the government and lies of the Antichrist.

Most say that Elijah will be one of the two witness of Revelation who will come back and have the power to call down fire out of Heaven to consume their enemies. That would be consistent with Elijah for one of his most noteworthy miracles was the fire that fell on the top of Mt. Carmel devouring the sacrifice.

But Elijah wasn’t always sitting on top of the mountain in his walk with the Lord. His powerful prophetic words against King Ahab would get him into “hot water” more than once.

Shortly after the miracle on Mt. Carmel, Elijah went to Ahab at God’s direction and gave Ahab some news that wasn’t very well received.

1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

Can you begin to imagine just how angry it would make the king to say, “I stand in judgment of you and your heathen queen, and because you have disobeyed God, I have been given authority over the weather and I hereby declare that you will have three years of drought and famine in your kingdom, and it will not rain until I say so. Take that you ungodly rascal!” I can only imagine the fury that would rise in the king’s face and the promise of quick execution to anyone who say that. Ahab had spoken what God had said for him to do, but sometimes doing the will of God will lead us into a place of danger, just as it did for Elijah on that day.

You can only resist the devil so much; or rebuke his henchmen so long; and then you can expect a counterattack. Satan won’t give up easily and just when you think you’ve got him cornered, he’ll come at you from another direction. If you are going to go up against the powers of darkness; you better make sure that you have the Lord on your side.

1 Kings 17:2-3 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

The name Cherith means, “cutting; piercing; slaying” which tells us that if Elijah hadn’t cut and run, he would likely have been pierced and slain by King Ahab. Sometimes retreat is the better part of valor. To live and work another day for the Lord is more important than to stand and die because of pride. So Elijah ran into the hills to hide along the banks of the brook where he would have water to drink during the drought and be fed by ravens.

The idea of Cherith also means that this could have been the place in Elijah’s life where God would take him to cut away any pride of being a great prophet of God; a place where the heart of the prophet could be pierced to remind him that he was still dependent upon the Lord; and a place where the prophet’s ideas of being someone special could be slain once and for all. He was brought to realize that his only hope was now and would forever be, in God alone.