Apparently people were accusing Paul of teaching that God had cast away his people Israel. The Apostle replied that such was not the case. Eventually the Lord was going to fully restore the nation of Israel as His special people. And the fact that there was still a remnant of Jews being saved by God’s grace proved that even in periods of chastisement and judgment, God had not cast away His people. While the nation rejected the Saviour, the Saviour was saving a few wicked souls – like Paul himself. And there were righteous people in Israel throughout their history, even when the nation, as a whole was in utter rebellion against God. For example during the days of Jezebel and Ahab, there were 7,000 common people and at least a 100 priests whom God had spared from idolatry and from the sword. This has always been the case – the Lord has never left Himself without a witness and a remnant.
Anticipating this argument that God had cast away His people, Paul referred to Elijah. That Old Testament prophet had been suffering from a touch of despondency or depression, and he made the same kind of statement: “Woe is me, I am the only servant of God left in this world, and Jezebel has let out a contract for my assassination.” In essence, God replied, “Who do you think you are, Elijah? Are you omniscient? Are you God? There are thousands of people in this Jehovah-forsaken country who have not, cannot not, and will not ever worship the gods of the Canaanites. Besides that they will, nor even save their necks by hypocritically bowing their knee before them. Elijah, you are not alone.”
When Paul said, “Wot ye not (know ye not) what the scripture saith of Elias?” that was all that I needed in order to make a quick survey of Elijah’s life. I found about a dozen things that God said to that man, which reveal things about the Lord. This evening, I’d like to briefly examine them. So turn to I Kings 17 where we are first introduced to this fascinating prophet of God.
I Kings 17:1 – “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.” I am going to stick my neck out and say that Elijah got this message straight from the Lord. This was not his imagination, and he wasn’t just preaching rhetoric in order to frighten Israel or Ahab. In some fashion, not described to us, Jehovah appeared to Elijah and gave him a message to give to Ahab.
And apart from the details of that message, the Lord was saying, “I am God.” Ahab was an Israelite, but he married a heathen Zidonian princess, who seems to have dominated him. Ahab had tacitly followed his wife into idolatry, and encouraged the rest of Israel to do the same. There were hundreds of prophets and priests of Baal and other heathen gods in the land. The true service and worship of God was in hiding and on the run. It may not have been illegal to serve Jehovah, but the public pressure was so great that nearly everyone had cast aside the old spiritual landmarks. It was not unlike the Christendom of the 21st century with its entertainment atmosphere, its self-centered worship and its emphasis on pleasure over truth.
But along came one man, filled with the message of the Lord, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. And Elijah shared that message with wicked Ahab – Jehovah alone controls the future. The Lord, can stop the rain, keep the snow reserves far to the north, and dry up the normal humidity so that you won’t see a drop of dew on any spider-web in your realm. Furthermore, the Lord, is the sovereign King over your Mother-Nature to the degree that I can tell you that this drought condition will last for three years or until the Lord tells me otherwise.
Wot ye not that the Lord told Elijah that He alone is God and in sole control of both nature and time?
Isn’t this absolutely incredible? Unbelievable? As the rains stopped and the little streams began to dry up throughout the land, that one stream, Cherith, remained running is not impossible to believe. Many streams, creeks and brooks originate in some spring hidden high in the hills. And even though hundreds might dry-up to have another still running is not impossible. Of course the omniscience of God would give Him the opportunity to direct his servant to that creek.
But that a flock of ravens would feed the man of God for weeks on end does require a miracle. These were not trained birds or computer-generated images, superimposed on a movie screen. These were wild birds whose instincts would have kept them as far from man as possible. If they had found a source of food, they would have eaten it themselves and not shared a single mustard seed with any man. But the Lord broke through the natural order of things and ordained that these birds find a food source compatible with human needs and that they bring that food to a man whom God had pointed out to them.
It might be stretching things a little – just a little – but God was telling Elijah to trust Him to provide his needs. Why can’t we learn that lesson, too? God can rearrange the elements of the universe to feed us, if He has to, but rarely does He have to take such drastic steps. We need to learn to “cast our care upon Him, for He careth for us.”
Don’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor, because I am already convinced that He does. It may not be like yours and mine, and it contains no sinfulness, but He certainly loves irony. The nation of Israel was in trouble primarily because of Ahab’s introduction of Zidonian idolatry. So what does God do to protect His primary prophet? He sends him to Zidon – perhaps the last place in the world that Ahab would look for him. And the Lord orders a Zidonin woman to feed him. A Zidonian woman was one source of the problem and and another Zidonian was a part of the solution.
I hope that you remember the rest of the story. This woman was suffering at the edges of the same drought that was devastating Israel. Not only that, but she was a widow with at least one small child to feed. There was no federal welfare, no Christian relief organizations, no St. Vincent de Paul. This poor woman was barely able to subsist under the best of circumstance and those circumstances were long gone. And yet when the prophet of the Lord showed up on her doorstep asking her to use the last of her oil and meal to feed him, something in her heart made her comply – God in her heart made her comply.
How much faith did it take on Elijah’s part to leave his hiding place on the banks of the dried-up Cherith, to travel up to Zidon? How much faith did he have, thinking that this woman would feed him? He apparently had enough faith, because it was based on the divine word spoken to his heart. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Even when God has ordained something – like this woman’s care of the prophet – that doesn’t mean that a little encouragement and perhaps the application of the word of God isn’t in order. Had this woman earlier been converted to the worship of Jehovah? A point or two seems to imply that this is a possibility, but the general impression does not. But even heathens can be kind and hospitable. When Elijah referred to the words of God, I wonder how much effect they had upon this cold heart of hers. And yet it may have been that these words were not meant so much for her as it was for Elijah. And once again, the Lord said, “I ordained that ravens feed you, but now I ordain that a nearly empty meal barrel feed you until I end this drought.”
Changing directions just a little…
In some ways, Elijah is an enigma – He is confusing. In this chapter he displayed courage beyond measure, but in the next, he was as timid as a mouse. Perhaps part of the difference between chapters is related to Romans 10:17 once again. “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” This chapter begins with the word of God sending Elijah to wicked Ahab. What evil can befall me, if I am on a mission from the invincible God? But in the next chapter the man of God doesn’t have a specific promise in which to trust – just generalities.
But the point is: evil is not going to go away simply because the Democrats are in control of Washington DC. It is impossible for good men to legislate morality or righteousness, even if there were good men in Washington. What this world needs; what our community needs, and what we need are warriors who will confront wickedness in the name of the Lord. Our grandchildren need Elishas today, picking up Elijah’s mantle and going to face the Ahabs of our world both large and small. We need Elijahs and Elishas who can hear the call of God.
In preparing for this message I skimmed through all those chapters which deal with Elijah. And after God’s command to Elijah to meet Ahab, there aren’t any more direct references to God’s speaking with him while in that battle on Mount Carmel. I’m sure that Elijah had been given explicit instructions on what to do, but we aren’t told what they were, so I have moved on. After the great victory on the mountain, God’s prophet fell into the pit of despair, and ran off toward Sinai. And while on his way the Lord spoke to him again through this angel of the Lord. Doesn’t verse 7 simply say, “I know what your needs are Elijah?
What God said to that man, he could say to every one of us, because the Lord knows all about it. We need to know that God knows. What blessing there is in that knowledge. And yet….
This is a lesson that we all need to learn and review regularly. Yes, God is omnipotent; He can do anything that He chooses. But there are a great many things that we need, which we could do for ourselves, if we wanted to. And God isn’t going to do those things for us. But then again – from where did the water and food come that Elijah ate that day? It apparently was provided by the Lord. Why didn’t God simply fill the man’s stomach without him having to eat and drink? I don’t know. Why did the Lord do a small miracle when He could have just as easily performed two small miracles?
Often we ask God for miracles, when miracles aren’t really necessary. We need to do what we are supposed to do and to ask the Lord for what we can’t do. We need to ask the Lord for wisdom to know the difference.
The Lord didn’t send Elijah to Mount Sinai, but obviously God knew where he was going. He fed him along the way and strengthened him for a rather extensive journey. But once the despondent prophet arrived, God asked him – “Elijah do you know why you are here?”
That is something worth considering by all of us. Why are we in this current condition – whatever it might be. Are we under chastisement? Do you know what is the cause? If that is the case usually we know. Are we depressed? Then why do we stay there? God knows, but do we? Are we on top of the world, above cloud nine? Remember Who it is who put you there, and praise His Name for it.
As a general rule we over-estimate our personal value. I knew a pastor who very rarely ever left his pulpit to another man either on Sundays or Wednesdays. If he took a week of vacation, or was sick for a service, he was afraid that something might be said or done which would be harmful to the church. He told me that he believed that he was responsible to God for what was taught in the church over which the Lord had placed him. And although that is true to some degree, he can’t be held responsible for a Biblical misinterpretation, unless it isn’t corrected later.
This scripture which I have just read reminds us that God is in control of the replacements and substitutes just as He is the regulars and first stringers. Every once in a while we need to get a pail of water and to put our finger into it. After we pull our finger out and the little ripples stop, we need to check to see that it is basically just as it was before we messed around in it. We are nothing, but God is everything. Even Elijah is replaceable.
This, of course, is where we started in the Book of Romans. Paul was teaching that God always has his remnant, proving that He has not, and He will not break His covenant with Israel. What he says incidentally, is that God has a remnant elected by God and saved by grace. Despite all the pressure from Jezebel and Ahab, from society generally and from the foreign intellectuals, there were 7,000 souls which had been saved by grace and preserved from the common corruption. Notice that God specifically says, that it was He Himself who had reserved these people. If they were victorious saints, courageous and constant, it was not because they were stronger or more intelligent that the rest of the goats of Israel. It was the sovereign will of God. Do you see this Elijah?
We’ll close with one more.
You should know the story about a man living in the neighborhood of King Ahab, had a beautiful garden. Ahab wanted it, and offered to buy it, but Naboth refused, saying that it was his families’ heritage. The king went home pouting until his wife Jezebel asked him about it. She promised to make sure that the vineyard of Naboth became royal property. Then she arranged for the death of the rightful owner and the governmental theft of the garden. It might be argued that Ahab wasn’t directly responsible, but he certainly knew the sort of thing that his wife would do to get that property for him. Elijah was sent with the message of God telling them that God knows all about their sin, and that judgment was soon coming – both physically and eternally.
And the same is true with you and me. Wot ye not that “he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” There are many lessons that Elijah teaches us, and this one is that when you sin, God knows and some form of chastisement is not far behind.
Paul seems to tell his readers in Rome that they should have known the lessons coming from Elijah, and so should you and I.