The Complete Story of ELIJAH: Witness to the God of Life

[Music] [Music] [Music] was [Music] [Music] [Music] Elijah was the tishbite of tishby and Gilead where is this no one knows where tishby is though some have tried to identify it perhaps he is simply a settler in the wild forested areas east of the Jordan in Gilead God chooses this man from no where it seems unlike the Kings we don't know who his family is we don't know if he has a wife and kids does he have any hobbies we don't know it reminds me of Paul's words brothers consider your calling not many are Wise from

a human perspective not many are powerful not many of noble birth instead God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong Elijah grew up in obscurity like many of us even so God chose him out of obscurity in order to confront apostasy Elijah stepped suddenly and dramatically into the dynasty of Omri wearing camel hair and a leather strap for a belt recently om king of Israel had led the nation into idolatry in ing the worship of a local

reain God Bale this of course was not merely a new religious fad that had taken over Israel it was signified by omri's political alliance with ethal the king of Ty om concluded his alliance with ebol of Ty by arranging the marriage of his son Ahab to the Tyrion princess Jezebel when Jezebel arrived in Israel she was not content to worship her own deity in private Jezebel in her relationship with Ahab appears almost to have chosen for herself the role of anat the warlike and capricious goddess who was the consort the spouse of Baal Omri then

LED not only his family into idolatry but also the nation indeed his son Ahab and his wife Jezebel were disciples and evangelists for B all a sick and ironic twist on the Canaanite deity of rain Bale was supposed to be the chief representative of all that brought life to a desert Wasteland yet he was no God at all merely a dumb Rock On The Mantel of the Phoenicians the king and queen were witnesses to the god of death in other words and I don't mean witness in the passive sense of the word either I mean

witness in the active legal sense as though to point to something and to say that what you've seen and experienced is true and real which is what the prophets are doing in the midst of all of this noise all of these Whispering voices about what is true the prophets bear witness to God to the people of God through their words with the hopes that what is deadly and sinful within them will be torn down and then what is lifegiving and hopeful will be built back up Elijah must have heard about the idolatry of om's family

and he decided enough was enough he was a witness to the god of life after all his name means Yahweh is God a statement which was the core of his message to the unbelieving nation he stro into the Palace of Ahab that day and he said to him as the Lord the god of Israel lives whom I serve there will be neither due nor rain in the next few years except at my word word of course if Beal is the provider of Reign and Yahweh announces that he will withhold it the contest is on flying

into a rage we see something of pharaoh in Ahab and Jezebel who straight away embark on a systemic extermination of yahweh's prophets and Elijah prayed he prayed earnestly that it would not rain on the land and it did not rain on the land for 3 and A2 years and the Lord commanded him to run and Elijah ran he ran to the kirth Ravine east of the Jordan and stayed there being fed by the Ravens in the Ravine of course as Elijah prayed the rains ceased and the Ravine soon dried up and Elijah could not stay

there long without water so God commanded Elijah to flee to zarap as modern readers we may have trouble understanding the significance of this moment we may ask why did God not provide rain for Elijah or water in another way the reason is revealed by the landcape of Israel during the reign of Ahab zerth was not only land outside the borders of Israel mind you but it was the heart of baal's territory Not only was Elijah being sent to the Gentiles but he was being sent to the very enemies of God and he was sent to

a widow who is called to provide for Elijah Raymond Billard notes in his book The Gospel According to Elijah God sent his Prophet to a widow from Ty and he showed through the person of Elijah how his grace would be spread to the Nations plus not only can B not stop the drought but yahweh's provision also extends right into Beal's home turf God has prepared a table for Elijah in the presence of his enemies Elijah goes to stay there and experience God's power and Grace now when Elijah meets the widow she is undoubtedly worse for

wear her God be has tossed her into poverty and she is ready to lay down and die when Elijah approaches the Town Gate he meets her and he says would you bring me a little water in a jar so that I may have a drink as surely as the Lord your God Lives she replied I do not have any bread only a handful of flour and a jar and a little olive oil in a jug I am Gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may

eat it and die but Elijah is sure that the God who has provided for him would provide even for her if he will he says the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land and it was so the Lord provided for this Gentile Widow when Beal wouldn't even give her a Second Glance if indeed he could see her at all of course coming under God's protection doesn't guarantee that suffering ceases entirely and soon the Widow's son fell

ill and his condition became worse and worse until finally he stopped breathing the woman thought Elijah's God came to reap recompense for her idolatry but God's Gift of New Life does not depend on our righteousness give me your son Elijah says in taking him to the upper room he cried out to the Lord Lord my God have you brought tragedy even on this Widow I am staying with by causing her son to die and then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord Lord my God let This Boy's

Life returned to him and suddenly the boy's breath was brought back to him suddenly we see even for the first time that God is a god of life that all other gods are merely beckoning us toward death This is how Elijah begins his ministry as a testament to the god of Resurrection the god of Life meanwhile Ahab and Jezebel continued to do away with the prophets of the god of Life what few prophets remained during the apostasy grew anxious and with Elijah gone it must have seemed to them to be the end of God's voice

in the nation of Israel therefore Obadiah probably not the guy who wrote the book but you know no one knows began hiding hundreds of prophets in caves and while Obadiah is in the process of saving God's prophets King Ahab is concerned about saving the horses ironic for a man who can't even Shepherd the nation He commands Obadiah to go through the land and Help the Animals during the drought and 3 and 1/2 years later Elijah went to present himself to Ahab God was ready to send rain back on the Earth Earth but as Elijah was

going along he met Obadiah on the road shocked at the sight no doubt Obadiah bows low Elijah wants Obadiah to confront Ahab courageously but Obadiah is reluctant Ahab is the man who has eviscerated prophets from the land under the banner of the god of death be all but Elijah assures Obadiah that he will not leave again and Obadiah does as Elijah asks he goes and he tells Ahab Elijah is here Ahab Rises to meet his enemy on the field of battle is that you you destroyer of Israel Ahab blamed Elijah I have not made trouble

for Israel Elijah replied but you and your father's family have you have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the bells now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Karma and bring the 450 prophets of Beal and the 400 prophets of ashra who eat at Jezebel's table to be clear Elijah is attempting to bring on Armageddon that's not a hyperbole Carmel is just above the plains of megadoo place where Armageddon will happen Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Bal was a mini enactment in anticipation of of that great battle when

God will intervene in history to vindicate his name completely and to eradicate idolatry from the world more than that Mount Carmel is the heart of Bale worship said to be the place where Bale's presence is felt strongest and Assyrian King dubbed it the mountain of Beal on the coast sea caves dotted the treacherous Bluffs and at the precipice Elijah met 85 50 idolatrous prophets Elijah demanded that they choose between the god of life in the idol of death how long will you waver between two opinions if the Lord is God follow him but if Beal

is God follow him the rules of the contest are simple the prophets merely need to make a sacrifice to their respective deity the catch is this they are not allowed to light the fire whichever God is the only God must light the fire for them of course the task for the god of storms B should be easy merely send a lightning bolt onto the Altar and boom fire but they called on the name of Beal from morning till noon be answer us they shouted but there was no response no one answered and they danced around

the altar they had made at noon Elijah began to taunt them shout louder he said surely he is a god perhaps he's deep in thought or busy or traveling maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened and so they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and Spears as was their custom until their blood flowed midday passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice but there was no response no one answered no one paid attention I like to imagine Elijah waking up from a nap when it's finally his turn

cracking his knuckles and quietly beginning to rebuild the altar of God and he did have to rebuild it for it must have fallen into disuse 12 times a large jug of water is dumped onto the altar now I'm not sure how much you know about fire but water is usually the last thing you would use to light a fire it was so much water in fact that it began to fill the trenches around the Altar and quietly Elijah began to pray here I like to imagine that that it wasn't until now that the other prophets

started to even notice Elijah they slowly stopped their babbling and shouting and began to turn one by one toward the prophet who quietly Prayed by the altar Lord the god of Abraham Isaac and Israel let it be known today that you are God and Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command answer me Lord answer me so these people will know that you Lord are God and that you are turning their hearts back again the fire that fell was so hot it vaporized the water Elijah had poured

onto the altar Elijah as though he were a revived Moses a prophet priest and King orders the execution of the prophets of Beal we may see something of Ahab in him we may call it Zeal either way the expectation was of course the national repentance of the people of God the expectation was that the nation would once again worship Yahweh their lord and mass and they do not but as Bale's decimation continues below the praying Prophet above sees a cloud on the horizon the size of a fist as it appears over the shores of the

Mediterranean and Elijah sits down to pray and soon the sky became darkened by clouds and a heavy rain fell on the land a rain that for 3 years the idol of Beal was not able to bring and it broke forth at the moment he was defeated for all to see when Jezebel ahab's wife hears of this she flies into a rage she promises Elijah's death saying this time tomorrow I will make your life like one of them Elijah hears this so he flees as far south as possible and if be's region is in the north

the implication is clear Elijah is trying his hardest to run not only from Jezebel but from Beal hey real quick I wanted to draw your attention to something really interesting each book used in the research of this video which can be found in the description was found on Logos Bible Software yeah that's right logos has actually partnered with Bible inbound to bring you logos 10's fundamental package for only $50 so I highly recommend you kick your Bible study up and Notch by clicking the link in the description today okay that's it I promise Elijah went

on a Day's Journey Southward from his enemies before he sat under a bush and prayed for his own death I have had enough enough Lord he said take my life I am no better than my ancestors when we met Elijah we saw him as a strong confident Prophet who obeyed the word of the Lord at a moment's notice but here we find an altogether different man a a more human Elijah one a lot more like us anyway one who feels cast off rejected and brimming with anxiety wearied and burdened Elijah falls asleep suddenly the angel

of the Lord stood before him God's response was in a swift judgment the answer of death or a strong rebuke instead God sent his very own embodied presence to give Elijah something to eat perhaps that we should find it unsurprising in that this food gave Elijah the same strength it gave Jesus who also found himself in the wilderness 40 days of strength and on Elijah traveled for 40 days and 40 nights until he arrived at horam SI the Mountain of God the word of the Lord came to Elijah a recommissioning a true Mountaintop experience the

Lord said go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for the Lord is about to pass by then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the Rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind after the wind there was an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake after the earthquake came a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire came a gentle whisper the translations a gentle whisper or a still Small Voice do not do full Justice

to the enigmatic Hebrew expression which may be better rendered a brief Sound of Silence although the text does not explicitly say so it implies that God was at last pass ing by in the silence which followed the storm in this silence Elijah was sent back to the people of Israel God promises Elijah that his Justice will be brought upon those whom he Wills Elijah needs only to turn around and find his successor God you see is working out a plan in history more intricate than Elijah had initially realized Elijah has been a part of a

story bigger than he ever thought imaginable and Elijah seems to live in this Mountaintop silence for the remainder of his days confident that he serves not the god of death but the god of provision of Resurrection the god of life after these things God directs him to Elisha and anoints him as prophet in his place and when Elijah returns to Jezreel he learns that Ahab and Jezebel have conned a man from his inheritance and taken his life to get what was never theirs Elijah condemns Ahab in Jezebel and they die just as he predicts for

the rest of his days he speaks the voice of God in a place where only Beal seemed to be listened to when ahab's son aazia was injured he foolishly desired the voice of bbub literally the Lord of the Flies or the idol of death in this case similarly a political Alliance made the king of Judah jehoram in the South a friend of aazia and though jehoram was gifted the throne it did not stop him from quelling his political adversaries violently much like Ahab Elijah responds to both Kings with vehement opposition prophesying their total Destruction because

they followed ahab's [Music] way and as quickly and as mysteriously as we met Elijah it seems like he's taken from us Elijah along with his successor Elisha and 50 other prophets were called to the Jordan River like Joshua and Moses before him Elijah stops the Raging River and Crosses to the other side on dry ground with Elisha Elisha knows that the end of his master's life has come and soon he will be the sole bearer of this difficult mantle Elijah's ministry as they were walking along and talking together suddenly a chariot of fire and Horses

of fire appeared and separated them Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind and Elisha saw this and cried out my father my father the Chariots and the horsemen of Israel and Elisha saw him no more at the same Jordan where Elijah was taken up he returned and standing in his spot was John the Baptist who appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins the whole judian Countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him confessing their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan River John

wore clothing made of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and he ate Locust and wild honey and this was his message after me comes the one more powerful than I the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie I baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit Elijah was a complicated character who could only ever do what John the Baptist did call his hearers to repentance but Elijah bore witness to Elijah pointed us toward one who would come after him and immerse his

people into the triun godhead one who would take away the sins of the world of course John came perhaps not literally as Elijah but one certainly in the likeness of his ministry he cried out for repentance demanded Justice from those in power and stood for the God he bore witness to Jesus also came as a better Elijah but also a better Elisha for Elijah whose name means Yahweh is God went before Elisha whose name means God is my salvation we shouldn't gloss over the similarities when Jesus comes whose name also means god is salvation but

Elijah's story was far from over when God took him up into heaven you see you see Elijah went away from a mountain after meeting God and we see him again on a mountain with God surrounded by the same presence he met in the wilderness the angel of the Lord and so Elijah's life through and through comes to bear witness to Christ that is why the power and Ministry of Elijah floods the Earth from Pentecost to Revelation as the church is ushered into an era of bearing witness to the one who is and is to come

of course it is easy to misapply the story of Elijah and perhaps even inappropriate to attempt an application altogether nonetheless as Elijah so with us we are are called to Bear witness to Christ to his resurrection as Elijah bore witness to God in his resurrection we're not called to confront our political adversaries with fire from Heaven nor are we to run from where God is calling us instead we listen for the Silence of God in the midst of chaos and it that still small whisper we may finally hear the vocation we were always meant for

as being a witness to the god of life this was Bible inbound we'll see you next time hey thanks for exploring the Bible with us over here at bible inbound you know if stories really do affect our actions out into the world then how we interpret the bible really matters and we believe that Christians should be excited to read the Bibles because the gospel is proclaimed throughout it and so I like to say that we are here to discover the Bible by uncovering the gospel in every biblical story if that's a mission that you would

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