What I Learned From Elijah

Elijah was a prophet during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab was an evil king who then married Jezebel, who worshiped Baal and ordered the murder of God’s prophets. Theirs’s was a union of unchecked evil growing.

But God had a plan in His prophet Elijah. Elijah told Ahab that there would be a drought.

I Kings 17: 1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word

This is a little of the background to Elijah’s story. Here are the things I learned, or things that were reinforced, when reading his story in I Kings:

PUT GOD FIRST/OBEDIENCE IS BLESSED

I Kings 17 8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

God told Elijah to go to Zaraphath because He had prepared a place for him. Elijah had basically been in hiding because after telling Ahab about the drought because that didn’t make Ahab and Jezebel very happy.

Elijah asked the widow woman for food. She explained to him she had just enough meal and oil to make her and her son a small meal and then they would be completely without food. She was prepared for that to be their last meal and she was sure that they would die. But Elijah told her if she fed him first, she would have meal and oil until God sent the rain. If myself and my child were facing starvation, it would be hard to not just share what little I had, but actually give to Elijah first. She put the needs of the prophet of God first, thereby putting GOD FIRST and she OBEYED and was BLESSED.

DON’T GIVE UP AND COVER IT WITH PRAYER

Kings 17: 17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20 And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

Elijah prayed THREE times. He didn’t give up until his prayer was heard. He stretched himself over the child while he cried out to God….literally covering the situation in prayer.

YOU SERVE ONE OR THE OTHER:

Elijah went to Ahab and challenged him and the prophets of Baal.

I Kings 18: 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

You have to make a decision. The Bible speaks of not being lukewarm. It also tells us that we can’t serve two masters. We serve one or the other. Regardless of how “good” someone is, if they are not serving the Lord, then they are serving the enemy.

Many people claim they love Jesus and they believe He is coming back for them. None of us are perfect, none of us are above messing up, and none of us can know the heart of another. But I believe if you really believe, you life would show it. Let’s each of us examine our hearts and be sure we are following who we think we are following.

BE BOLD

I Kings 18: 22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:

24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.

28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:

32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.

37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.

40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

Elijah, because of his faith in God, was willing to face 450 prophets of Baal. He let them have first choice of bullocks, he mocked them, and then even poured water over his altar. He knew that his God was the one true living God.

HAVE FAITH/BLESSINGS COME WITH CLEANING UP OUR ACT

I Kings 18: 41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.

45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Elijah sent his servant 7 times to look for the rain. He KNEW that it was coming. And what a blessing. The land had been in drought and not only was it needed, but it was a cleansing rain.

DON’T BE A BAD LEADER/INFLUENCE

Even after the drought, even after God sent the fire at Mt. Carmel, there was no repentance in the hearts of Ahab and Jezebel. Jezebel wanted to kill Ahab. These people were the leaders of their country. It’s bad enough that their hearts were so hard, but their evilness influenced a whole country. Think about who you influence. You are pointing people to heaven or hell.