Learning from Elijah (2)
The apostasy of Israel had developed to an extreme degree when Elijah stood before Ahab and said: “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” (1 Kings 17:1). The prophet came to Ahab with a definite purpose — to deliver God’s message — and when he had done so he was gone. If other words were spoken they are not recorded, but these were sufficient and Ahab understood them. Consider their implications.
1. God is presented as “the Lord God of Israel” and is described as he that “liveth.” The very existence of Israel was attributable only to God who first announced his purposes to Abraham, and then through a series of providential events and circumstances developed those promises until the descendants of Jacob had truly become a great nation. This nation sustained a peculiar relationship to God as shown by the statement addressed to them at Sinai. “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exod. 19:4-6).
He was “the Lord God of Israel” in that their present occupation of the land of Canaan was the result of Divine intervention and in fulfillment of God’s promises. God had promised the land to Abraham for his seed, renewed the promise to Isaac and Jacob, and fulfilled it when Joshua and his troops marched triumphantly against the Canaanite tribes. Subsequently, the land was divided among the tribes of Israel, and Joshua declared that God had given it to them. “When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you” (Josh. 23:16). When Elijah spoke of “the Lord God of Israel” he stated a relationship which Ahab had ignored and spoke of a covenant he had broken.
God is presented as he that “liveth.” This immediately elevated him above Baal to whom so many bowed at this period. As the “living God” he had blessed them and punished them when they rebelled. He was even at this time sensible to their apostasies and a reckoning was in order. If Ahab thought he could ignore the relationship between Israel and God and trample under his feet the covenant between them, it was time to remind him that Jehovah “liveth.”
2. When Elijah said “before whom I stand,” he made known both the author and judge of prophetic utterance. Elijah was not some crank preacher bent on gaining notice by predicting doom to a king. He was commissioned by God to say this. There was also a comparison here which could only disquiet Ahab. Elijah also “stood” before Ahab, the king of Israel. Kings were accustomed to hearing words uttered in honor of their authority and from respectful subjects. Elijah indicated no subjection to this wicked monarch, no statement of honor to his “majesty” came. Elijah honored God, and him alone, by his words. These words summarized the life and work of the prophet. He walked with God, living in communion with his maker. Uprightness of character is a necessary element for those who would serve God acceptably. It was this standing before from which he not only received his oracles, but also the strength and courage to carry out his charge. Though the element of direct inspiration is changed, yet every preacher who stands before others to proclaim eternal truth, should first seek the pleasure of the author of that truth and not the praises of those who receive it. They stand before God. He shall bring the preacher to account for his words. Is it possible that many of our time have forgotten what Elijah kept before him in the presence of Ahab?
3. When Elijah said “there shall not be dew nor rain these years,” he stated what had been promised as a result of disobedience. Canaan had been described in this fashion: “For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills” (Deut. 8:7). It was called a land that “drinketh water of the rain of heaven” (Deut. 11:11). But such blessings were conditioned upon faithfulness. Unfaithfulness would have the opposite effect. “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that they mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you” (Deut. 11:13-17).
For more than fifty years Israel had followed a trail of wickedness. The promise had been made and would be kept. There was nothing arbitrary in these terrible words of Elijah. His short statement not only warned Ahab of what was to come, it likewise involved the cause of the punishment. They had turned aside to other gods.
4. Although the Lord had promised such punishment for disobedience, he employed human agency to affect his work. Elijah said there would not be rain “but according to my word.” Jehovah has often used human agents to carry out his will or announce his purpose. It was God who brought Israel out of Egypt, yet he used Moses. God gave Jericho to Israel, but Joshua led the marching troops around the city the specified number of times. God shut up the heaven that it did not rain, yet James said that Elijah “prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit (Jas. 5:17-18). God could have spoken directly to Ahab, but he sent Elijah. God still uses human agency in the great work of redemption. He could speak directly to the sinner, but he does not. Philip “began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35).
If Elijah’s prophecy sounded doom, it also contained an element of hope. The rain would cease “according” to his word, but it would also come again “according” to it.
His work done for this time, the prophet departed. Nor did he tarry to view the results. Too often men become overly concerned for immediate results. How often have prophets of old and preachers of the present looked expectantly to see immediate results from the sowing of the seed, and seeing none become despondent. Do we think we can add people to the church? We may plant and water but it is still God that gives the increase. His word will not return void. It may not always accomplish what we expect, or when we expect it, but the effort is not wasted.
We cannot fail to be given courage and strength from Elijah’s forthrightness in discharging his duty. Here was a concise message stripped of the enticing trappings and glittering tinsels which many of our day are prone to employ. It had a sting for the guilty heart of Ahab. Effective preaching has always pierced the hearts of the wicked. The 3,000 on Pentecost were “pricked in their hearts.” Those whose hearts are pierced with truth do not always respond to the will of God, but the honest do. This writer was once admonished by an elder to “just preach the gospel and let everyone alone.” But preaching which let’s everyone alone is not gospel preaching. The demand for a change in the sinner’s life bothers him. It is supposed to do just that. And though the indications are clear that Ahab did not repent at this time, who can deny that the prophet’s words were like piercing daggers to his sinful heart?
Amos well stated the compelling force that moved within the prophets. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy” (Amos 3:7-8)?
The next article will concern Elijah’s stay by the brook Cherith and with the widow of Zarephath.
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Truth
Magazine Vol. XLV: 8 p3
April 19,
2001