The Man Elijah
In our first lessons on Elijah, so far we have looked at
the historical setting that formed the spiritual and moral environment into
which Elijah was called of God to minister.
We need desperately to follow examples like David, Elijah
and Elisha.
We need to learn from their lives and be encouraged so
that, as David answered this question in Psalm 11:4, so that we can live in
light of the fact; "The LORD is in
His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids
test the sons of men."
In this lesson we see Elijah's appearance and dramatic
declaration to King Ahab.
"Now Elijah the
Tishbite, who was of the settlers of
He was
not on
Principle: This reminds us that, other than
being godly people of faith who are available to be used of God, it is never
really who and what we are that counts.
Here was a man who was close to God, a man to whom God was very real and
God used Him.
In each case, this kind of thinking puts the focus on us,
rather than on our sovereign LORD who has made the resources available and upon
whom we are totally dependent and who is always able to do as Paul reminds us, super abundantly above all that we are
able to ask or even think.
Application:
How we need the attitudes of John the Baptist and Paul. We tend to be so people-oriented and go to
one of two extremes.
Either we
run and hide from ministry and witness because we have our eyes on our own
limitations and on the problems we are facing.
Or we do
the opposite and glory in personalities rather than in the power and presence
of God, the Almighty.
Elijah is the Hebrew Eliyahu
that means "My God is
Yahweh."
The nation was following after Baal who was, of course, no god at all. Elijah boldly appeared and proclaimed the
true God of Israel, Yahweh, who was His God.
As the months rolled by after Elijah's declaration of no
rain, whenever people saw or thought of Eliyahu, they were faced with the
message of his name, "My God is
Yahweh."
It was a standing declaration of his faith in that it
demonstrated
(1) his protest
against Baalism, their worship of Baal
(2) his allegiance
to God, and
(3) the key issue of the day as it is
today--who or what is our God? Must be answered
by everyone!
1. Who and what is my God? Do we claim faith
in the God of the Bible, but live like practical atheists?
Is God
really our God from the standpoint of our treasures, attitudes, priorities,
pursuits and behavior?
Or are we
guilty of worshipping other gods like the gods of materialism and the details
of life?
2. What is my name? In other words, who am I?
Elijah is
called "the Tishbite, who was of the
settlers of
In view
of God's warnings in Deuteronomy 28:15-37, this could have stood as a warning
of eventual captivity if
Significance:
Why is
It shows us Elijah was not out of the seminary of
Elijah
was what we could call a mountain man.
But he was a mountain man who walked with God.
He was
not bogged down, chained by his comfort zones or by a desire for the material
details of life.
Elijah's Attire and
Appearance
Elijah
stands in striking contrast to the Baal priests and the populace of the city in
every way. His dress and appearance,
though not mentioned here, are mentioned in 2 Kings 1:7-8.
His dress
was symbolic and stood for:
(1) His chosen poverty and priorities--material things
were not on his priority list.
(2) His separation and denouncement of the world--he was
not controlled by the lifestyle of the world.
He was separated to the Lord as God's servant.
(3) His official office and purpose in life--he was a
proclaimer of the Word of Yahweh.
This
rugged mountain man, dressed in his camel's hair garment, was the sight that
people saw striding down the streets of
When, in our attempt to be free or do as we please, we
rebel against the Lord's authority and influence of our lives, we experience a
sad irony.
Elijah's appearance was very dramatic and sudden.
He laid
it on the line and then left just as suddenly as he had come.
He said there would be neither dew nor rain for years
except by his word.
It was
really the proclamation of God's judgment as warned in the Old Testament (Lev.
26:19; Deut.
His words
were few and always to the point, but with them there was always explicit faith
in the Lord his God. Proverbs
God's
Word is true regardless of how people respond or react.
Mankind
or our self-made gods are absolutely powerless to negate God's purposes.