READ 1 KINGS 18:7-15
“Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead;” this is literally all that we know about his parentage and locality. That’s remarkable considering we know about the genealogies of other prophets and leaders of Israel. Even the term “Tishbite” doesn’t appear again anywhere in the Bible. Dr. Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible says, “Elijah’s sudden, powerful and brief appearances, his undaunted courage and fiery zeal, the brilliancy of his triumphs, the pathos of his despondency, the glory of his departure, and the calm beauty of his reappearance on the Mount of Transfiguration, throw such a halo of brightness around him as is equaled by none of his peers in the sacred story.”
Elijah flashed across the darkest pages of Hebrew history like a comet and then vanished. As we heard from Ahab’s servant, Obadiah, Elijah’s reputation was so great that rumors were rampant how Elijah could be caught up into the air by the Spirit of God and could show up or disappear at any time. This was the reason for Obadiah’s concern regarding making a report to Ahab. How much of this reputation was true and how much exaggerated is up for speculation. There is no speculation, however, regarding his faithfulness to God. Let’s look at,
READ 1 KINGS 18:16-40
Five distinct characteristics identified Elijah’s ministry:
1. Elijah served God well. He didn’t always do it without complaint, but he was obedient. The fact that only Elijah, out of all the prophets alive at that time, only he was willing to stand against the 450 prophets of Baal. Even today we know there can be a big difference between making a confession of faith in the safety of a church as opposed to a confession in a public meeting. To Elijah, there was no difference.
2. He was God’s knife, cutting out the infection of Israel’s idolatry. By the power of God, he went directly to the cause of Israel’s sickness. “How long will you waiver between two opinions?” Elijah demanded. “If the Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal is God, follow him.” How many gods do we serve in America today – wealth, prestige, comfort, entertainment? How many?
3. Elijah was the rod in God’s hand, chastening Israel. He proclaimed the Word of God, and it was a judgment on the unrighteous. There’s no question about it. God knows how to get our attention.
4. Elijah was God’s mouthpiece, pronouncing judgment, and His judgment was a drought on the land. Elijah never sought his own glory nor did he seek the approval of men. His purpose was to obey God and to be used of God.
5. Elijah was God’s priest – offering a sacrifice for the sins of the people, and his sacrifice brought down fire from heaven. Elijah demonstrated the heart of God in desiring the return of the lost children of Israel. At the mere mention of his name, we think of earthquake, storm, and fire; the scourge of evil kings and the prophet of doom. But there was another side to Elijah’s character and career. God used Elijah to anoint prophets and kings, among them the great prophet Elisha, who was to take up Elijah’s mantle.
By God’s design, Elijah organized schools of prophets who lived on after him. He also called princes and kings back to God. Perhaps he was the most colorful, amazing, and important man alive to serve the Lord in his generation.
How did he come by all this? Only through a long and severe period of schooling in what we could call, “God’s school of faith.” This school had, Five simple lessons.
I. Elijah learned the lesson of provision. Elijah had pronounced God’s judgment of a drought in 1 Kings 17:1, but that raised a question, “How was Elijah supposed to eat?” In essence God said, “I’ll feed you. Drink the water of the brook, and I’ll send ravens to feed you.” When the brook was drying up, Elijah depended on God to provide. He had to! Elijah’s part was to be faithful. God’s part was to provide, and God provided.
How very hard it is for us to learn this lesson! In Genesis 22, we’re told that Abraham learned it when, “Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘Father! … The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said, ‘God will provide.’”
Paul said, in Philippians 4, “And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Our Christian forefathers learned it, but in times of plenty, some forget, and some never learn this lesson. Why? Because they depend on the world’s understanding, and subsequently, they lack real faith.
We must learn that, “Any rest we receive, any comfort we find, any hope we have, and any encouragement we get during times of suffering is a direct provision from God…… When we begin to realize that, then even the smallest amount of encouragement will cause us to offer praise to God.”
II. Elijah learned the lesson of patience. Elijah needed patience, but he also needed the strength to learn the lesson, and it was a hard one to learn.
Hiding in a widow’s home, Elijah was secure but secluded; away from all the action in Israel. His appearance in Ahab’s court had been a dangerous mission. Basically he told Ahab, “You think Baal is the god of fertility and good crops? Well, I am a prophet of Jehovah, and he challenges Baal to war.” Elijah added, “There will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
That was a dangerous declaration to make, and frankly, I suspect Elijah may have loved it … at the time. But now he was out of the action, cooling his heels, day after day, for three whole years, while he longed to be back in Israel. Can you picture this restless, energetic thunderbolt of a man idly cooling his heels for three years? But God had to teach Elijah patience, and He did.
Some have no energy for God’s work; no concern about it; no zeal for God. When things at church don’t go right, they take it in stride—not because they’ve learned God’s lesson of patience, but because they don’t care whether God’s work goes on or not. But God has this lesson for us—
• Patience is the grace to wait until God is ready.
God is saying to us, as he said to Elijah, “You must obey me! Do what I ask you to do! Then wait for my time!” During those years, when Elijah was idle, God was busy. With one hand he held back the rain, and with the other, he blistered the land until the nation was broken and contrite. Thirdly,
III. Elijah learned the lesson of power.
Sometime back, the Associated Press carried this dispatch: “Glasgow, Ky.--Leslie Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood and discovered that someone had stolen the motor.” Without the Holy Spirit’s power, we’re just like that car without its engine.
Elijah learned the lesson of the power of God in answer to prayer. The test by fire was, for Elijah, a venture of faith. He was willing to risk everything on God’s willingness to answer him, and God did answer. Elijah prayed. The fire fell. He prayed again. The rain came in torrents.
Elijah had faith to believe that fire would descend and rain would fall, and his faith was vindicated by God. But most importantly, he was praying according to God’s will. That power is still available. God will still answer by fire — the fire of his Holy Spirit — when his people have the faith to stake everything on the answer.
Elijah was not a divine or celestial being. James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a man just like us.” The question is, “Are we like Elijah? Are we willing to pray for God’s power to fall, believing so strongly that it will, that we stake our very lives on the result?” Maybe you know the saying, “Don’t trust anyone who has no skin-in-the-game.” We’ll never learn what God’s power can do until we’re willing to commit ourselves and our resources to building God’s Kingdom.
IV. Elijah learned the lesson of preservation.
One person in Israel who was not impressed by either Elijah’s prayers or God’s power was Jezebel. Her threat could hardly be misunderstood. Had Elijah stayed close to God, he might have accepted the challenge and faced this tyrant-queen, but he didn’t. Instead, he ran for his life. God, however, was patient with Elijah, knowing that he was just a man and that,
• Bad times often follow triumphs. What Christian hasn’t experienced temptations and hard times following good? How could we go on if God didn’t preserve us in times of weakness and defeat?
V. Elijah learned the lesson of God’s presence.
Elijah ran from Jezebel but not from God. In the wilderness, the Lord asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah knew who was asking, and there was no point in trying to hide his feelings from God.
When God told him, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD,” he was shown an awesome display of power. But God’s essential presence was not in the power of the earthquakes, storms or fires. Elijah was familiar with those displays, but the “gentle whisper” was a new experience for him. It was the most real presence of God, and Elijah hid his face.
There are times when God feeds us by ravens and answers us by fire, but at other times he must lock us in a cave for a while in order for us to hear His still small voice – and learn the true wonder of His presence.
God’s lessons for us are ongoing because the world around us has so much going-on. Until we’re willing to step away from the world’s distractions and go to our closets in prayer, we won’t be able to hear the teacher’s voice.
PLEASE JOIN WITH ME IN PRAYER: Heavenly Father, place in us a hunger and thirsting for your wisdom and Truth. Accept us, we pray, into your school of faith, and love and eternal grace that our lives may glorify your name. In Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
