Introduction: I began a series of sermons a couple of weeks ago entitled: Hero’s of the Faith. Two weeks ago we saw how Moses answered God’s call to deliver the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. Last week we saw how Daniel remained faithful to the Lord, and refused to compromise his faith despite being taken into captivity and being forced to live in Babylon and serve at least 3 pagan Kings. Today I want us to take a few minutes to look at another one of the Hero’s of faith, a man by the name of Elijah. If you have your Bibles I invite you to turn with me to the book of James 5:16-19, and follow along as I read.
“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.”
One of the mistakes I think we tend to make when we think about Men like Moses, Daniel and Elijah, is that were the Biblical equivalents of “Superman, Batman, or Spider Man.” We tend to put them up on a pedestal and they become bigger than life. But James made it clear in this passage of Scripture that “Elijah was just a normal man, just like you and I.”
In other words He was an ordinary man. I believe the Bible teaches us that, “The reason God likes to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things, is so He will be glorified.” That was certainly the case with Moses, and as we will see today it was also the case with Elijah.
We don’t know much about Elijah’s background other than he came from the small village of Tishbe, which is in Northern Israel near the rough and rocky area of Gilead. He is considered by most Biblical scholars to be one of, if not the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets. But did you know that Elijah is also mentioned over 30 times in the New Testament, and actually appeared along with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Unlike the story of Moses that we looked at a couple of weeks ago, we aren’t given any information about Elijah’s call as a Prophet. We simply know that God called him to go to the King and Queen of Israel and deliver His message to them. Can you imagine how he must have felt? Perhaps he had some of the same reservations that Moses had about appearing before Pharaoh? Then again maybe He was ready and willing to do what God called him to do from the moment that God revealed it to Him.
At this point I feel like I need to give you some information regarding the political, economic, social and spiritual condition of the nation of Israel, because it will help you understand why Elijah appeared on the scene when He did.
King David unified the nation of Israel and despite his own transgressions He reigned as King for ____ years. He was succeeded by His son Solomon. Solomon is known for His wisdom and during the early part of his reign He, like His Father David was a good and godly King. The countries surrounding Israel feared the God of the nation of Israel. But like father, Solomon too had his faults. Toward the end of his reign Solomon began to drift away from God. Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines and many of these women worshiped other gods, and eventually even influenced Solomon to worship their false gods as well. The situation went from Bad to worse after Solomon’s reign.
According to the Bible each of the Kings that followed Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forsook His ways to serve idols, and led the people of Israel to serve these false gods as well.
Finally, 55 years and 6 kings later, a man by the name of Ahab came to power. If King Ahab was the President of the United States, the majority of Americans his approval rating would have been through the roof. Life in Israel was good under King Ahab. The economy was strong, and thanks to a strong military and some strategic political alliances Israel was at peace.
Peace and prosperity.... not bad things in and of themselves, but what kind of Spiritual leader was Ahab. Let’s look at 1 Kings 16:30-33 and find out.
“Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.”
“He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.”
A few chapters later 1 Kings 21:25-26 it says, “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner…”
So depending on your perspective, the days of Elijah were either the best of times or the worst of times. Israel was at the top of her game. The economy was booming and her armies feared. Peace and security abounded. But beneath the prosperous façade, moral rot and decay had spread their slimy tentacles from Ahab’s palace to poorest village in the kingdom.
Spiritually speaking the nation of Israel was in bad shape. Not only did Ahab allow Jezebel to set up Temples and altars to Baal all over Israel but He also worshiped and served these false gods himself.
Let’s talk about the Baal religion for a few minutes? Baal was seen as a fertility god and god of the Harvest. At this point in its history Israel was mainly an agricultural nation. So Baalism, with its emphasis on fertility, and nature was very appealing to many of the Jews. They believed Baal was responsible for giving them a good harvest, or a house full of children. They thanked Baal for their good fortune and gave him the credit for something that God had done.
Now that sounds a little odd to us. It kind of reminds me of the religion of some of our Native American Indians. But in a way, the religion of Baal is still alive and well in America today, because it is a religion that focuses on success.
In other words, Baalism says, if it works, then by all means necessary do it. Don’t worry about whether it’s legal, or what the moral or ethical consequences might be, just do it.
Baalism is also a very self-centered religion. In other words, Baalism teaches people to look out for the Big # 1. If it is to your advantage then Baalism says to do it, without worrying about how your actions might affect someone else.
Baalism is also a very sensual religion. In other words Baalism promotes the philosophy or idea of “if it feels good do it.” If it gratifies your fleshly desires, then go for it. And of course Baal worship did all it could to make sure that your fleshly desires were met satisfactorily. Temple prostitutes were on duty at all times, and made sexual intercourse an integral part of their pagan worship.
There was no such thing as right or wrong in Baalism. It had no ethics, no morals, and no precepts. In Baalism the end justified the means. In other words, whatever it took for you to get what you wanted or what you felt like you deserved was OK. Baalism was a religion that made people feel good about themselves.
Now some of you may be thinking to yourself, what’s so bad about all of that. What’s so bad about being successful, or looking out for yourself and your family. What’s so bad about wanting to have your needs met, or wanting to feel good about yourself? Well on the surface there isn’t anything wrong with these things. In fact, I believe God wants us to be successful. I believe He wants us to be happy, and to enjoy life. But, when we allow these things, or the accumulation of these things to become our main focus in life, then we have crossed the line. We have allowed them to become our gods, and that just isn’t acceptable to the Lord our God, who as you know is a Jealous God.
By the way parts of Baalism can be found in many of the false religions in the world today, and unfortunately they can even be found in some Churches that claim to be Christian.
There is a certain pastor of a Mega Church in Houston, Texas, who in my opinion is preaching ’a gospel that is not really a gospel at all.’ He has a very Charismatic personality and emphasizes making church relevant to 21st century Americans. In other words, this gentlemen says that in order to be successful today, a pastor or church must give people what they want; that we must satisfy their spiritual itch. He says pastors should preach uplifting sermons rather than convicting ones. He admits that he doesn’t want to preach about anything negative; which of course includes, sin, and Hell. He says that he wants ‘people to feel good and to feel good about themselves.” Sounds like Baalism to me.
Allow me to remind you of what the Apostle Paul said about this. In 1 Timothy 4:3 he says, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
But enough of that, let’s get back to Elijah. As I said earlier the Spiritual condition of the nation of Israel couldn’t have been any worse. That’s why God called Elijah and gave him the assignment that He did. He used Elijah, and a national crisis, to get the nation of Israel to wake up before it was too late.
In terms of character, Elijah was a man of courage, a man of faith and a man of prayer. But as we will he was not perfect. As I said at the beginning of the message, he was a man just like you and me, he had his faults and his weaknesses, but let’s concentrate first on his strengths.
The first thing I want you to remember about Elijah this morning is that.
1. HE WAS A MAN OF TREMENDOUS COURAGE.
A. An example of his courage was when he stood before King Ahab and delivered God’s message to Him. A message that was short and to the point. It’s found in 1 Kings 17:1, let’s read it together.
“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."
1. As the King of Israel Ahab had the power to do anything he wanted to do, including the power to have someone killed for just looking at him the wrong way. So it took courage for Elijah to stand there, face to face with King Ahab and tell him that it wasn’t going to rain for the next few years. But to his credit Elijah didn’t back down, he didn’t beat around the bush, He stood his ground and told Ahab that God was going to punish him and the nation of Israel by sending a severe drought upon the land. A drought which according to our text lasted for 3 ½ years.
2. A second example of his courage is found in I Kings 18:18, when after the 3 ½ years of drought He confronted Ahab of his sins.
When Elijah appeared before King Ahab, the king called him a troublemaker and blamed him for all of Israel’s problems. Elijah didn’t even blink, he looked at King Ahab and said, “I’m not the troublemaker you are.” You and your family are the ones who are responsible for the drought that has come upon the land.
3. A third example of Elijah’s courage was when he stood before a hostile crowd of the people of Israel at Mount Carmel and challenged them to choose between God and Baal. In 1 Kings 18:21-22. He said, “Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
Not only was Elijah a man of tremendous Courage but …
II. HE WAS ALSO A MAN OF GREAT FAITH.
A. Elijah trusted God to take care for him.
1. It took a lot of faith to present Himself to Ahab the first time after all he was just an ordinary man, and the King had the power to have him killed.
2. Elijah also trusted God to take care of Him while He was in the wilderness. God had told him after delivering the bad news to Ahab to go the wilderness region near the Jordan River and stay there and he would protect him from Ahab. He went on to tell Elijah that the Ravens would bring him bread in the morning and meet in the evening.
3. In I Kings 18:1, after 3 ½ years of hiding from Ahab. God instructed Elijah to go back and present himself to Ahab a second time. Now the first two instructions had not been too difficult for Elijah to obey. But I imagine this third one, was a little more difficult. After all, Elijah had to know how angry Ahab was with him, and how he would respond to seeing him again. But just as he had done in the past, Elijah, trusted God to take care of Him and went and presented Himself to Ahab.
At some time or another we have all had to exercise our faith. To Trust God to protect us, or provide for us during a difficult time in our life, and as you know, when He does, your faith is strengthened.
Next, Not only was Elijah a man of tremendous courage and a man of Great faith but he was also a…
III. MAN WHO BELIEVED IN THE POWER OF PRAYER.
A. James tells us in our text that Elijah “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.” Here James used Elijah as an example of someone who not only believed in the power of a prayer but someone who used it on a regular basis.
B. Another example of the power of prayer in Elijah’s life to place when he was staying with a widow woman and her son. The boy became ill and died, and the widow woman blamed Elijah for his death. Elijah took the boy in his arms and carried him to his bed. Then he cried out to God and ask for Him to give the boy’s life back to him. 1 Kings 17:22 says, “The Lord heard Elijah’s cry and the boy’s life returned to him.”
C. A Third example of the power of prayer in Elijah’s life was when he stood on Mt. Carmel surrounded by the 450 prophets of Ball and the 400 prophets of Asherah, as well as Ahab and all of the people of Israel. After giving the prophets of Ball and Asherah half a day to pray and ask their gods to send fire from Heaven to consume their sacrifice, Elijah said enough is enough.
Then he told the people to help him repair the altar of God which was in ruins. He then ordered them to place the wood and the sacrifice on the altar and pour four large jars of water over it. He told them to repeat this 3 times. 1 Kings 18:35 tells us that they poured so much water on it that the altar and sacrifice were saturated and the trench surrounding the altar was filled with water. Now let’s read verse 36 together. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
God not only heard Elijah’s prayer but He answered it in a powerful way. “Fire fell from Heaven and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and even evaporated the water that was in the trenches.
We need to remember that Elijah was a man just like you and me, but we also need to remember that the prayer of a righteous man or woman is powerful and effective. Yet most of us do not recognize or utilize the power of prayer in our lives near as much as we should.
Elijah was a man of tremendous courage, a man of great faith, a man who believed in the power of prayer, but He was also a man who had his weaknesses. That’s the last thing I want you to remember about Eliah.
IV. HE WAS AN IMPERFECT MAN
A. After winning a tremendous victory on Mt. Carmel. After seeing the power of God displayed in such a powerful way, and after seeing how the people of Israel responded and turned back to God, and obeyed Him by killing all of the false prophets, you would think that there would be no way that Elijah could be intimidated by anyone, including Ahab and Jezebel, but that wasn’t the case.
1 Kings 19 tells us that Ahab went back and told Jezebel what had taken place on Mt. Carmel and she sent word to Elijah that she was going to do her best to Kill him just as the prophets of Baal had been killed. Now you would think after seeing how God had protected and provided for him for 3 ½ years that Elijah would not have let that bother him, but he did. According to 1 Kings 19:3, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.”
Again this is a good example of the fact that Elijah was a man just like you and I. He wasn’t a super hero, he was a human being. He was emotionally, physically, and spiritually drained, and so he ran for his life and that’s not all. When he made it safely to the desert region he sat down under a tree exhausted and all alone and begged God “to take his life.” Even after the angel of the Lord appeared to him and gave him something to eat and drink, and after being given the strength to travel all of the way to Mt. Horeb during the next 40 days, Elijah is still ready to quit, ready to thrown in the towel. He cries out to God and says, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Something happened to Elijah, maybe he was tired of fighting, or perhaps He had just lost his zeal. But in no uncertain terms he informs God that He has had enough. God gives him three final assignments before he allows him to quit however. He sent him to Damascus to anoint a man named Hazael as King over Aram. He also sent him to anoint a man named Jahu King of Israel. Finally, God sent him to a man named Elisha, and told him to anoint him as Elijah’s successor as the Prophet of God. Elijah obeyed, and after anointing Elisha and spending some time teaching him the ways of God, the Bible tells us in the 2nd chapter of 2nd Kings that God came and took Elijah to Heaven in a whirlwind.
Closing: So Elijah was a man just like you and I, he too had his weaknesses and seasons of doubt, but all in all, Elijah had been faithful and obedient to God throughout his life and that’s why He is considered the greatest of the Old Testament Prophets.
