The Man Elijah
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.
In Elijah we see a man of courage and faith, a man
available to the Lord and one willing to count for God when the foundations
were crumbling all around him.
Application:
We think
that we’re not up to the task, not adequate for what God wants us to do. What
we’re doing is to think up excuses for tackling tough things for God.
Principle:
Elijah's
dynamic living, his courageous ministry and effectiveness against all odds was
(1) not the result of certain innate super-duper qualities, nor
(2) was it in the absence of
personal weaknesses, temptation, failure, nor even fear.
Elijah
possessed a sinful nature just like ours with weaknesses, fears and doubts. He faced the "I cant’s," the
"I don't feel like it" syndrome just like everyone else. In fact, his humanness will clearly emerge
later in the record of his life and ministry (chapter 19).
Principle:
It's
never seeing the difficulties that prevent faithful action, but failing to use
our resources in the Lord.
We are
living in a time when the foundations are being systematically destroyed. We see the decadent results of a nation that
has turned away from the moral absolutes of the Word and our Christian
heritage.
The
results are everywhere evident in the decline we see in government, education,
the work place, the state of our economy, in the home, in entertainment, and in
the church.
Excuses like these stem partly from the hero mentality we
too often use as an escape from responsibility.
Elijah is God's commentary against the excuses and fears
that so often paralyze us.
"The Message of Elijah," will not only show us what he
proclaimed, but it will give us insight into what made Elijah the kind of man
God could use.
The Message of Elijah
Elijah is known as a man of prayer.
James, whom tradition tells us was known as
"camel knees" because of his own prayer life, uses Elijah as an example of the power of the prayer
of a righteous man.
The prayer that accomplishes things and
gets God's ear, is the overflow of a vital relationship with God. It is born of one's burden, concern, and the
reality of God in one's life.
What gave Elijah this
uncommon courage?
I believe it came about as the result of a
common ordinary man being absorbed with the reality of his God. His courage was the product of intimately
knowing God and living in close fellowship with the Lord through the Word and
prayer.
Elijah's message also
sheds light on his theology and his faith that became the root of his courage
and actions.
POD.
The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart, one’s thinking.
Overview of the
message:
1.
The words, "As the Lord, the God of
2.
The words, "Before whom I stand," teach us that He Was Cognizant of God's Presence and
Committed as God's representative.
3.
Finally, the words, "Surely there shall be neither dew
nor rain these years, except by my word," reveal the fact He Was Confident in God's Promises.
The words, "As the Lord, the God of
"Living" is the first
word in the statement of Elijah in the Hebrew text. It is emphatic by its position and stresses
his faith in the fact of the reality of God.
The idea is: "Just as sure as Yahweh, the God of
To grasp the significance of this, we need
to focus on the name, Yahweh hwhy. Yahweh means
"I Am that I Am."
Further, it is the name
by which God revealed Himself to
In summary, this name stands for God's
being, His revelation to