James 5:17-18 (cf. 1 King 17, 18:)
"Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops."
Let us go back to conclude our Elijah narrative. We cannot be someone whom we did not know. If we want to be like Elijah, we need to know who Elijah was. How he lived. What he did. And why the Bible is pointing us to Elijah.
Preface
The first mention of Elijah, the prophet, was in 1 King 17:1. The story opened dramatically. Elijah confronting king Ahab with a prophecy of no rain for “the next two or three years until I say so.” This direct confrontation clearly defined Elijah’s mission. Israel, at that time, had plunged into deep moral crisis of idolatry, greed, corruption, selfishness, abuse of power, oppression, injustice, and a host of other vices. A nation God had invested so much to establish and richly blessed, indeed. It was a nation founded upon God's grace. God may be lavish with his blessings, but, sooner or later, He will hold you to account. Elijah seems to represent the justice of God.
Meaning of Elijah
The name Elijah means ‘Yahweh is God.’ This is the name that establishes the authority and primacy of God, the Most High.
Background
Before 1 Kings chapter 17:1, Elijah was unknown! Nobody knew his background. Nobody knew how he became a prophet. Nobody knew what he was before his calling. Nobody knew anything about his family, whether rich or poor! It would appear that God purposely and specifically raised Elijah to deal with the idolatrous kings of Israel, particularly Ahab and his family!
Elijah’s Encounter with Ahab
Elijah boldly spoke truth to power. He was declared wanted by Ahab. But he fearlessly turned himself in to the king. When Ahab saw him, he said, “So there you are – the worst troublemaker in Israel!” Elijah replied, “I am not the troublemaker. You are – you and your father!” (1 Kings 18:18).
Elijah was not seen when king Ahab went to war against Benhadad of Syria. But when Jezebel instigated the murder of Naboth and possessed his vineyard for her husband, Ahab, Elijah suddenly appeared. Again, Ahab saw Elijah and became jittery. He said to Elijah, “Have you caught up with me, my enemy?” “Yes, I have,” Elijah answered. “You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the LORD’s sight.... Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures.” (1Kings 21:27-29).
Ahab repented. Elijah came with another message from God that the prophesied ruin would not happen in Ahab’s time, but in his sons.’ But concerning Jezebel, Elijah prophesied, “the Lord says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezreel.”
After the death of Ahab, his son, king Ahaziah, who succeeded his father, dared Elijah!
“King Ahaziah of Israel fell off the balcony on the roof of his palace in Samaria and was seriously injured. So he sent some messengers to consult Baalzebub, the god of the Philistine city of Ekron, in order to find out whether or not he would recover. But an angel of the Lord commanded Elijah, the prophet from Tishbe, to go and meet the messengers of King Ahaziah and ask them, “Why are you going to consult Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Is it because you think there is no god in Israel?...Then he (Ahaziah) sent an officer with fifty men to get Elijah. The officer found him sitting on a hill and said to him, “Man of God, the king orders you to come down.” “If I am a man of God,” Elijah answered, “may fire come down from heaven and kill you and your men!” At once fire came down and killed the officer and his men. (2 Kings 1:2-3,9-10)
Elijah's prayer life
“Some time later the widow's son fell ill; he got worse and worse, and finally he died. “Give the boy to me,” Elijah said. He took the boy from her arms, carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying, and laid him on the bed. Then Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times and prayed, “O Lord my God, restore this child to life!” The Lord answered Elijah's prayer; the child started breathing again and revived. Elijah took the boy back downstairs to his mother and said to her, “Look, your son is alive!” (1 Kings 17:17,19,21-23).
His encounter with the prophets of Baal was quite remarkable. He alone stood up against “450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah who are supported by Queen Jezebel” (1 Kings 18:19). He prayed fire came down from heaven and devoured the sacrifice (1 Kings 18:19,21-24,28-29,36,38,40-44).
Elijah was persistent and tenacious in prayer. “While Ahab went to eat, Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, where he bowed down to the ground, with his head between his knees. He said to his servant, “Go and look towards the sea. The servant went and returned, saying, “I didn't see anything.” Seven times in all Elijah told him to go and look. The seventh time he returned and said, “I saw a little cloud no bigger than a man's hand, coming up from the sea. Elijah ordered his servant, “Go to King Ahab and tell him to get into his chariot and go back home before the rain stops him” (1 kings 2:42-44).
Prayer and contemplation sustained Elijah’s life. Not only in moments of great success but also in the face of adversity and persecution. There’s need for the “spirit of Elijah” in today’s world. How much we need believers, who stand up in front of people in authority with courage of Elijah: to say, "You’re not doing this right! This is what the LORD says.”
Elijah and the Bible
Prophet Elijah is one of the most compelling characters in the whole of the Scripture. Elijah did not die. He was taken up to heaven. He goes beyond the confines of his time. Elijah appeared at Jesus' side, together with Moses, at the moment of the Transfiguration. In the Bible, Elijah appears suddenly, in a mysterious way. Prophet Elijah is a man without a precise origin, and above all without an end, like Mecheizedek. For this reason, his return was expected before the coming of the Messiah. Scripture presents Elijah as a man of crystalline faith. Elijah is the example of all people of faith. He knew temptation and suffering, but he did not fall or fail to live up to the ideal for which he was born.
What Elijah teaches us
Elijah is the man of God, who stands as a defender of the faith, authority and primacy of God, the Most High. Yet, he too was forced to come to terms with his own weaknesses and frailties.
“Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree and wished he would die. “It's too much, Lord,” he prayed. “Take away my life; I might as well be dead!” (1 Kings 19:4).
Elijah teaches us that ardent prayer and union with God cannot be separated. Pope Francis once said, “Prayer is a confrontation with God and letting oneself be sent to serve one's brothers and sisters.” Elijah served both God and his neighbour. In prayer, the prophet grew in discernment of the Lord’s will and found the courage to denounce injustice, even at great personal risk. Elijah’s experience of God in prayer culminated, when the Lord appeared to him not in wind and fire, but “in a quiet whisper.”
Finally, Elijah was taken up into heaven. “They kept talking as they walked on; then suddenly a chariot of fire pulled by horses of fire came between them, and Elijah was taken up to heaven by a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:11).
Elijah came to confront the entrenched evil of his time. He came to call out all evil doers. He came not just to pronounce, but to execute the judgment of God. He was fire waiting to consume! This is the story of Elijah. But it seems written for all of us. We need the spirit of Elijah in our time. Are you another Elijah?
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