Impact of God’s
Character on Elijah
Setting the Stage at this point.
Elijah had been
sent by God to accomplish a mission, and then the Lord took him out of
circulation.
Of course, he was a blessing to this woman and her son as we have
seen.
But God's plan was
different! So the days passed and it
must have seemed like "many days" to Elijah who
surely longed for action.
This raises a question:
Do you ever feel like that about your life? Do the days sometimes seem like weeks and the
months like years?
When those times
come, I believe God wants us to remember that He is El Olam, the God of
eternity with whom one day is as a thousand years and vise versa. But how is that to help?
1. This name for God, El Olam,
and the Hebrew term olam, often translated "everlasting, are used to express God's eternality (Ps. 90:2, "even
from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God"), but it also stresses God's unchangeableness, His immutability,
and His faithfulness.
2.
What this means to the believer is seen in most of the passages where El Olam
or Olam alone are used (Ps. 25:6; 93:2; 100:5; 103:17; 125:1; Isa. 26:4; 51:6;
3.
God, as El Olam, never changes.
"He is the same yesterday, today, yes, and forever" (Heb.
13:5,8).
Point: Scripture teaches us
that God's eternality is fundamental to God's immutability, His
unchangeableness, which is the foundation for God's faithfulness and His
ability to care for us and to provide for His own.
Application: So, what does this
mean to God's people?
Isaiah 40:28.
Two wonderful
attributes of God as El Olam are declared to us in Isaiah 40.
#1 God Is Inexhaustible.
So what
does this mean? Isaiah answers that in the next verse. Isa. 40:29f
What, therefore,
should we do? We need to wait on the
Lord and seek our strength in His care.
#2 God's Understanding Is
Inscrutable. There is no end to God's understanding.
I think it is
significant the Hebrew word Olam
includes the idea of secret or hidden.
The secret things belong to the Lord.
As the eternal I Am, the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the End, everything is running according to His purposes (cf.
Isa. 46:9-11).
There are times
when God's servants need to be silent, when hearts are cold and ears are
deaf. These are times when God sometimes
speaks through the trials of life to get people's attention, to force them to
see their need, inadequacy, or the inadequacy of the life they have chosen in
place of God and His plan.
Each time we see this phrase,
we should be reminded of our need to go to God's Word for guidance, for the
principles and promises of Scripture that we all need to direct our life
according to God's will.
"So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab."
(18:2a)
"Now the famine was severe in
This clause and the
verses that follow (3-6) are designed to highlight the awful conditions of the
drought that we might truly appreciate what Elijah was facing.
Note Elijah's new
title in
This cmd after all that
has occurred in the last 3 years to "go show thyself to Ahab" is somewhat like saying, "See that 18-wheeler? Go jump in front of it?"
Verses 2-6 contrasts the character of Elijah with that of the King. Elijah moves out in obedience to do the will
of God.
What is character?
Someone has said "character
is what a man is in the dark."
Christian
character, Spirit-filled living, means obedience to
God. It means faith and courage. It means service to others and that means
involvement, commitment and sacrifice.
Point: For people of faith,
spiritual integrity and character, for people who love God and people, the real
blessing is in the privilege of serving the Lord and people, in seeing our
God's name vindicated and Satan defeated.
Elijah had to have
his eyes on the Lord and live in the light of the faithfulness of his God as
the God with everlasting arms to provide and protect him in what were seemingly
impossible situations.
Application
Questions:
1.
Are
we living one day at a time, resting
and waiting on the Lord as El Olam and drawing on His wisdom and strength,
waiting on His wise and perfect timing?
2.
Are
we listening daily to God in the Scripture?
Are we taking time to learn God's principles and then are we using them
to direct our path, to build our faith and character to keep us from running
ahead of the Lord with our tactics and agenda?
3.
Do
we have the courage to act on our convictions?
Or are we ever looking for ways to avoid having to step out in faith and
trust the Lord?