Elijah - A Summation

If you have your Bible, turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 17, 1 Kings 17. Tonight we're going to go back and we're going to summarize the life of Elijah the prophet.

We're going to give you 10 phrases that will depict for you this man's life, 10 phrases that will sum up his life so that you'll understand it in one brief sermon. We're doing this simply because it allows us to put this man in perspective in a very simple, concise way for every single one of us. There's a lot of majesty and a lot of mystery surrounding Elijah the prophet. And tonight we want to open your eyes to some of the things you might have seen in our first run through and then add some things to it that will enlighten you as to the coming of Elijah the prophet again, because one day he is going to come again, believe it or not.

And God has a plan for this man that is not yet finished yet here on earth. And so as we go back and we look at this man's life, let me give you 10 phrases that you can just write down on your piece of paper that will help you understand this man's life.

Okay. Number one, you should know this point. It's point number one. Okay. Elijah was convinced of the reality of God. Remember we talked about that on week one and on week two and on week three of our time together beginning in January. Elijah was convinced of the reality of God. His name bears that Jehovah is my God. We know nothing about Elijah before first Kings 17 one.

We know nothing about his parents. We know nothing about his upbringing. We know nothing about his education, his schooling. We know nothing about the things that took place in his life before first Kings 17 verse number one.

In fact, we don't even know how old the man is. Okay. He just appears on the scene and God is going to use him in a mighty way. But in verse one, the first Kings 17, we understand that this man was absolutely convinced of the reality of God.

That is, he understood about the existence of God and he understood about how that existence dictated the way he lived his life. He was so convinced of the reality of God that he was able to confront King Ahab. The Bible tells us first Kings 17 verse number one.

Now Elijah the Tishbite who was of the settlers of Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word. Now you can imagine the scene Jezebel, Ahab having breakfast or lunch or maybe dinner, who knows? But they're together in the palace and Elijah shows up and they know nothing of Elijah. Okay. All they know is that they are the rulers in the land. We know about Ahab because he is the seventh king of the northern kingdom.

There are 19 consecutive wicked kings of the northern kingdom and Ahab is the seventh of the 19. Okay. All of them get progressively worse. But the Bible tells us in first Kings 16 verse number 30, Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.

So we know that this is a dark day in Israel's history. Nobody had done as much evil as Ahab had done. It says, it came about as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Remember there was a divided kingdom and Jeroboam was the king of the northern section. He set up idols in Bethel and in Dan and he led the nation into further idolatry after Solomon's sin, King Solomon, who was David's son, led the nation into sin. There was a divided kingdom after he died.

Jeroboam was that king of the northern kingdom. He was the first of the bad 19 wicked kings. Okay. And Ahab then is the seventh in line. But he thought it trivial that Jeroboam would lead the nation into idolatry. He didn't think it was that big a deal. He looked at it as something that was minuscule when it came to his life. And so it says that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, which means Baal is with him, king of the Sidonians. And he went to serve Baal and worshiped him. So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.

Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. So Ahab would provoke all of Israel more than any king ever before him to sin against the Lord God of Israel. This is emphasized in first Kings chapter 18, when Elijah comes to confront him.

First Kings 18, the Bible tells us these words in verse 17, when Ahab saw Elijah, this is after the three and a half year drought, Ahab said to him, is this you, you troubler of Israel?

And Elijah said, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have because you have forsaken the commandment of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. You are the one who has troubled Israel. Not me. I've just spoken the truth. And then when he confronts him again in first Kings chapter 21, verse 20, Ahab said to Elijah, have you found me or my enemy?

And he answered, I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Verse 25, surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols according to all that the Amorites had done whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel. So the Bible speaks three specific times concerning Ahab and his sin, how he has rebelled against the Lord God of Israel, how he's led the nation away from God.

And so now you have the darkest day in Israel's history. This is the darkest period. That's important for you to understand because on point number 10 that we're going to give you tonight, it's all going to come back around for you. Okay. So this is the darkest day in Israel's history. So God's going to send a man, a man that will confront the King, his wife and the nation on their idolatry because he came to rebuke the godless and to restore a fallen nation. That's what Elijah's job was. But this man was absolutely convinced of the reality of God.

His name bears that. We know nothing about his parents. We know nothing about Mr. and Mrs. Elijah, whatever their names were. We don't know what their names were, but we don't know nothing about them. But they named their son in such a manner that they had believed in the Lord God of Israel as well and taught their son about the great God, Jehovah. So he would be convinced. Now remember, nobody else is. Elijah is the only person convinced of the reality of God that we read about in 1 Kings 17. I'm sure there were others in Israel.

We just don't know who they were. There will be another 7,000 that will believe and not bow the knee to Baal. We know that because of the prophecy given to him on the mountain of God in Horeb when he flees and goes to the mountain of God. But at this point, Elijah's it. He's the guy. And he comes and confronts the king because the Lord God has sent him. So the question comes for you and me. Are we convinced of the reality of God? How do you know you're convinced of the reality of God? Let me tell you.

Number one, you search for him diligently. Hebrews 11 6 says, he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you are convinced of the reality of God, you seek him diligently. That was Elijah. Number two, you serve him dutifully.

That is, he knew his one duty was to serve the true and living God. He goes to Ahab and says, I come to you because he says, before the Lord God of Israel, whom I serve or before whom I stand. He was one who served his God dutifully because he was convinced of his reality. Listen, if you're convinced of who God is and you're convinced of what God has done, you serve him. You do serve him because you understand who he is. And so that's why we asked the question, are you convinced of the reality of the living God?

If you are, you search for him diligently, you serve him dutifully, and you stand with him daringly. And that's what Elijah did. He would stand in the presence of the king, in the palace of the king, and stand there daringly, unafraid to let him know there will be no rain. There will be no dew except by my word. But then he's got to move because God moves him, which leads to point number four. You will speak for him decisively. You know, when, when, when Elijah spoke for God, it was always decisively.

You not me are the trouble of Israel. You are the one who has led the nation into sin. You are the one who has followed after Baals. You are the one who is evil. Not me. You need to hear what I have to say. There will be no rain. There will be no dew. He spoke decisively. Listen, if you're convinced of the reality of God, you don't only speak decisively, you speak authoritatively because you, you, you know the truth and you believe in the truth and you stand for the truth. You speak the truth. And that's exactly what Elijah did because he was convinced of the reality of God.

You also submit to him deliberately. You submit to him deliberately. The Bible says the word of the Lord came to him saying, go away from here.

Turn eastward, hide yourself by the brook Kareth, which is east of the Jordan. Verse five. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went, he did, he followed. And all throughout the story of Elijah, the word of the Lord would come. He would go. The word of the Lord said this. He did that because he would submit to the word of God deliberately. He was one who understood that when God spoke, you move. Listen, if you are convinced of the reality of God, whatever God says you do, you don't question it.

You just do what he says because you believe he's the living God of the universe. He rules and reigns in your life because he does. You do what he says. And lastly, you surrender to him delightfully. You surrender to him delightfully simply because he's the king, he's the Lord, the creator of the world, and he will always lead you in the right path, never the wrong path. And so you willingly surrender to him delightfully. Now, let me ask you again, are you convinced of the reality of God?

Because those who are exemplify those characteristics. They believe not just in the existence of God, but they believe in everything about who he is and willingly follow. So principle number one, Elijah was convinced the reality of God.

Principle number two, Elijah was commissioned as a representative of God. Again, we cover this in week number one.

He was commissioned as a representative of God. In other words, he was a spokesperson for God. He was a prophet called by God. We don't know exactly what took place in Elijah's life before first Kings 17, where God would come to him and call him and tell him, look, you're the guy, Elijah, you got to go do this thing for me.

Elijah says, okay, I'm going to do it. None of that's recorded. We don't even know how it all happened. It's irrelevant. What's relevant is what the Bible records for us. And so here was this man who was commissioned as a representative of God. He was God's representative to Ahab, to Jezebel, to all of Israel, that somehow they might come to know the true and living God. Now you think about that, because the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 20, that we are ambassadors for Christ.

It says in 1 Peter 2, verse number 9, that we are a chosen generation. We are a holy nation. We are a royal priesthood. And we have been assigned the opportunity to declare the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. This man was commissioned as a representative of God. Jesus said in John 20, 21, as the father has sent me, so send I you. Can there be anything more significant, more important than that phrase? As the father has sent me, so send I you. He sent me in power, I send you in power.

He sent me with a purpose, I send you with a purpose. He sent me with a message, I send you with a message. We are the ambassadors for Jesus Christ our Lord. We are his mouthpiece. We are his spokespersons, or spokespeople, or whatever we are. That's who we are. But, you know, the bottom line is, how are you doing at that? How are you doing at representing the kingdom of God? That's what Elijah did. He was an ambassador for the kingdom of God. And that's what we do. That's who we are. And so you need to understand that about Elijah.

He was commissioned as a representative of God, and God would send him, and God would use him. Don't think for one moment that God isn't sending you and doesn't want to use you. If you're a child of his, believe me, he wants to use you. So Elijah was convinced of the reality of God. He was commissioned as a representative of God. And number three, Elijah was cognizant of his resources in God.

Elijah was cognizant of his resources in God. You need to understand what your resources are. He understood what they were physically as well as spiritually. Remember, God would take him from the palace of Ahab and move him to a brook called Kareth. And there he would be for how long? Anybody know? The Bible doesn't really tell us, but we assume it's probably sometime around a year, because the brook dries up. And God told him that he would send ravens to bring him food twice a day. So Elijah was cognizant of the resources that he had from God, that God was going to feed him, that God was going to take care of him physically, okay?

But all the while, God was doing something else that would enable Elijah to accomplish great things for God, because not only was he cognizant of his resources physically, but also spiritually, right? Because God would lead him to Kareth. And Kareth in Hebrew means to remove, remember that? So there was a removal of things that would take place. God sent him into utter obscurity for the next year, for the next three and a half years. Elijah was the most wanted man in all of Israel, but nobody knew where he was.

Obadiah tells us in 1 Kings chapter 18 that Ahab had been looking all over Israel for Elijah, but couldn't find him. Because God had hidden him at the brook called Kareth, because God was doing something there. And remember, we have nothing recorded in Scripture as to what take place. We don't know. He was there for a whole year. And the brook dried up. When the brook dried up, God moved him. The word of the Lord came to him, the Bible tells us, and he told him to go to Zarephath. Because Zarephath is in Sidon, and Sidon is where Jezebel's father lived.

So God would move him closer to the enemy. But he would go there and find a woman, and there she would be in the process of feeding him. And there he would realize that God was doing something else, because Zarephath means to refine. So we understand that in Elijah's life, God is removing certain things from him, as well as now refining this man's character. Because ultimately he has to reflect the true and living God. In order to reflect God, there are things that must be removed from my life, and my life must be refined by God himself, so that I can accurately reflect the true and living God.

Remember, it was three and a half years before Mount Carmel, and what took place with the 450 prophets on that mountain. And God was using those three and a half years to fine tune this prophet to help him understand all your resources are in me, Elijah. Everything you need comes from me, Elijah. You must know that. Everything you need physically, from me. Everything you need spiritually, from me. It's all about me, Elijah. You must understand that. And so he went from Kareth to Zarephath. And there he found a woman, a widow who had a son.

He says to her, you need to feed me. She goes, I only have enough meal for one. He goes, okay, feed me first then, and God will provide for you.

And so she did. And God miraculously provided food every day in her barrel. Every day. Enough oil, enough material to make the bread every day. God provided for her every single day. And God was doing a miraculous work. And so she would feed her son, and she would feed Elijah, and she would feed herself. And then one day, her boy dies. Her only son dies. And she gets upset at Elijah. Because he's dead. And Elijah says, give the boy to me. And Elijah is used by God to raise the boy from the dead. Now the funny thing about that is that he couldn't tell anybody that.

He couldn't tell anybody because if he did, everybody would know where Elijah was. Ahab would know where Elijah was. So here was this wonderful miracle of the food every single day, while everyone else was in the midst of a drought, and they were lacking food and lacking water, the widow Zarephath had the water and the food. And God was providing for Elijah physically as well as spiritually. Because he was teaching Elijah to depend upon the living God. And when the boy died, Elijah was able to raise him from the dead and gave the boy back to his mother.

The Bible tells us in 1 Kings 17, verse number 24. Then the woman said to Elijah, now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord is in your mouth is truth. Now I know. Because all God was doing was removing the dross from Elijah's life in order to refine this man to be the kind of individual God needed him to be so he could accurately reflect God to this widow and ultimately to King Ahab. And so God would use Elijah. And God would prepare him over three and a half years for one major event on Mount Carmel.

But Elijah had to become very cognizant of his resources in God before he could ascend Mount Carmel and challenge the prophets of Baal. And that's what God was doing. Which leads us to point number four. And that is this, that Elijah was commended for his reliance upon God. And that's recorded in Luke 4 and James chapter 5. He was commended for his reliance upon God.