1. Elijah was a man with a nature just like ours. James 5: 17

 

  1. Elijah’s life captivates our thoughts.
    1. He appears with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration
    2. He may be compared with the greatest New Testament prophet, John the Baptist.
    3. The Old Testament closes with a reference to Elijah
    4. His dramatic confrontations with the powers that be in Israel
    5. He was God’s protective hedge for the people of his day
    6. He enters the scene like a tempest and leaves the scene in a whirlwind
    7. In his  career we observe the mercy and judgement of God mingled together
    8. He is perhaps one of the end time witnesses in Revelation 11
    9. God raises up “Elijah’s” from obscurity int he most corrupt times of history. (Arthur Pink study of Elijah)
  2. Summary of his life
    1. He was hairy with a leather belt around his waste (2 Kings 1: 8)
      1. John the Baptist was also described as this type of man (Matthew 3: 4)

 

  1. He was very jealous for the Lord God of hosts
    1. F.B. Meyer describes him as a man with blood running as liquid fire.
  2. “AS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL LIVES, BEFORE WHOM I STAND”
    1. The LORD is the living reality
    2. Though standing on earth, Elijah knew his standing before God.
    3. His name is a testimony of what can happen through us as we yield to God.

 

2. Land of Israel at Elijah’s time

 

  1. Starts with leading the people into sin.
    1. 1 Kings 16: 19 “For  he too had done what was evil in the LORD’S sight.  He followed the example of Jeroboam in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit.
  2. 58 years after the death of Solomon
    1. Jereboam 22 years constructed golden calves at Dan
    2. Nadab 2 years walked int he way of Jereboam
    3. Baasha 24 years murdered Nadab
    4. Ela 2 years a drunkard turned murderer
    5. Zimri 7 days guilty of treason
    6. Tibni and Omri 4 years together
    7. Omri alone 8 years guilt of all his predecessors
    8. Ahab 22 years when evil reached its climax
      1. He married wicked Jezebel who was a worshipper of Baal
  3. AS you read through the history of these men you will see two reoccurring themes
    1. They did evil in the sight of the Lord
    2. They made Israel to sin

3. God send forth his message

 

  1. God’s promise in dark days
    1. 1 Kings 17: 1 Now
      1. One other word could be used here which show that with one word God is going to show himself to a nation that is trying to eliminate Him from their existence.
        1. And
        2. Telos = goal God is writing every page of human history
  2. Elijah uses the name of God here as the God of Israel
    1. This is the covenant God
    2. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
    3. He is taking responsibility for God’s work and reputation
  3. To prove that there will not be any confusion as to who is the real God, you will not see rain for a number of years.
  4. Elijah is not a super saint as he has failures just as we do
    1. learned to follow God one step at a time.
    2. Learned to take risks in standing for God before others regardless of the cost

4. Results of the famine

 

  1. Ahab and Jezebel
    1. Do you think that they truly recognized the covenant God of Israel had a personal confrontation with them?
      1. Is there a link during this famine and Amos 8: 11, 12? The time is surely coming says the Sovereign Lord when I will send a famine on the land–not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.  People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord but they will not find it.
      2. The one thing Israel needed left and went to a foreign land “The word of God” (See Psalm 74: 7 – 9)
      3. A.W. Pink “There is no surer and more solemn proof that God is hiding His face from a people or nation than for Him to deprive them of the inestimable blessings of those who faithfully minister His holy Word to them.”
    2. They no longer cared about the people under them, but only wanted their own possessions taken care of. (1 Kings 18: 5)
      1. Rich man did not see Lazarus outside His home (Luke 16: 19, 20)
      2. Sure sign of spirituality is helping those who are poor. (See James 1: 27)
    3. Blames others for their problems 1 Kings 18: 17 You troublemaker of Israel
      1. Joram king of Israel blamed Elisha for the famine (2 Kings 6: 31)
    4. Leaves God out of everything that happens. (1 Kings 19: 1)
  2. Obadiah
    1. Obadiah the blessing
      1. He feared the LORD 1 Kings 18: 3
      2. His name- servant of the Lord
      3. He saved the lives of 100 people Vs 4
    2. Obadiah the compromiser
      1. His choice to stay close to Ahab was a choice
        1. Daniel and Joseph were close to ungodly kings but they were forces
        2. Knew Ahab totally sold himself out (1 Kings 21: 25)
      2. He had no public testimony (See 1 Kings 18: 22)
        1. His words are not those of a bold witness (Vs 7 – 16)
        2. The closer we are to the camp of those who totally sell themselves out to evil, the easier it is to lose our voice.
      3. Ahab was able to tolerate Obadiah, but not Elijah
  3. Elijah the prophet
    1. Obeyed the word of God step by step
    2. Went to those who he would not naturally be attracted to
      1. Gentile woman’s home
      2. Zarephath = place of refining
      3. Lived where Jezebel was from. Vs 8 (See 1 Kings 16: 32)
    3. Trusted the word of God
      1. I have told a woman there to take care of you Vs 9
      2. I have made her that she will listen to you

5. Hall of Faith

 

  1. Faith is confidence in what we hope for will actually happen.
    1. Prayers of a righteous man has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5: 16
  2. Anyone who comes to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11: 6
  3. It would take too long to recount the stories of faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets… Notice a name missing from the hall of faith?
  4. Elijah was a man just like us. James 5: 17