Welcome to Summer Bible Study

Our Study tonight is on Elijah.

Elijah

•Time period: ninth century B.C.

•From Tishbe of Gilead in Northern Kingdom (location unknown)

• A prophet

•His name means “my God is Jehovah”

Elijah Known For

•Miracles

•Struggle against false god Baal

•Denunciation of kings

•Seen in Jewish expectations as a forerunner to the age of the messiah

No Birth Certificate

•No record of his birth.

•He is taken up into heaven. So, he does not officially die.

•No death certificate for Elijah.

Elijah: a man of passion

•Passion for the LORD

•Passion to rid the earth of Baal

•Passion to pray

•Passion to correct kings

•Passion to preach

Clarence Macartney’s Words

•“Elijah comes upon the stage of Israel’s history like a crash of thunder. He disappears from it in a whirlwind. From the beginning of his history to the end of it, he is a man of thunder and lightning, of fire and whirlwind. Whenever he appears, the lightning flashes, the thunder crashes, the fire flames, and there is a sound of a might wind.” Sermons on OT Heroes. P. 88

The Loneliest

•Macartney calls Elijah the loneliest man.

•No help came to Elijah from

–Family

–Friends

–Associates or other prophets

Elijah always appears alone in the Scriptures except for the end of his life.

The Grandest

•“He was the grandest man of the OT because of his solitary and heroic stand for righteousness against a wicked king and queen, the organized religion of the day, and practically the whole population of the kingdom.” Sermons on OT Heroes. Pages 89-90

Read

•I Kings 17.1-6

Elijah’s Appearance

•Suddenly Elijah comes onto the stage of history.

•He is not given an introduction.

•No mention is made of his origin.

The Coming Drought

•“AS the LORD, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

•Read Deut. 11.16-17;

•Same idea is repeated in Deut. 28.24 and Lev. 26.19

The Drought

•The drought comes because Israel is unfaithful to God and disobeys by worshiping false gods (Baal).

•The drought is a curse or punishment as described in Duet. and Lev. for not obeying God.

Drought Comes Due to Prayer

•Read James 5.17-18

Prayer Results

•Question: What are some results you have seen due to prayer?

Elijah Goes into Hiding

•Elijah is told to leave and go and hide.

•Why?

–For his safety

–So that no one can approach him and ask him to remove the curse of the drought.

Providence

•God provides food by means of the ravens.

•Some have tried to get around this by removing a point on a Hebrew letter and translating the Hebrew word to mean “Arabs” and not “ravens.”

•This is a “rationalistic’ approach and anti-supernatural.

Providence

•“the continual care which God exercises over the creation and creatures he made.”

•God does not create and then forsake.

•God cares for what He made.

Providence

•For the Christian it means God does provide for all the needs of our life.

–Physical needs

–Emotional needs

–Spiritual needs

Question

•Can you think of one example of providence at work in your life?

Read

•I Kings 17.7-16

The Widow at Zarephath

•The widow says: “As surely as the LORD your God lives…”

•This is an indication that she was a worshipper of the true God of Israel.

•But she was not a true Jew.

The Last Meal

•The widow was about to prepare her last meal.

•The meal was also for her son.

•Obviously, the drought affected her land as well.

Provisional Promise

•“first make a small cake of bread for me”

•The LORD is testing the widow’s faith.

•Give first to God and then watch for the results.

The Promise

•“the jar of flour will not be used up”

•“the jug of oil will not run dry”

•When will it stop?

–“when day the LORD gives rain on the land.”

Read

•Deut. 10.18-19

God Takes Care of Those Who Love Him

•“This episode also stands impressed in the pages of history as lasting memorial to the availability of God’s full provision to all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile.” I, 2 Kings. Patterson and Austel p. 140

Read

•I Kings 17.17-24

The Son Died

•The Hebrew word means “no breath remained in him.”

•The boy is dead.

•Some have argued that the boy still had life in him.

•Those who argue this way have a hard time with the supernatural.

The Reason for the Tragedy

•Not to punish the widow.

•To show that the LORD is God over Jews and to non-Jews who believes.

The Manner of the Resurrection

•Elijah lies on top of the child’s body.

•He did this to bring down the power of God.

The Prayer

•“let this boy’s life return to him.”

•Another way of translating it is “let the soul of this boy return within him.”

•The soul is the principle of life.

Elijah returns the boy to his mother.

•The mother gave birth to the boy, so she gave him life.

•But, now it is God who gives the life.

•Elijah recognizes the special relationship of mother-son.

The Result of the Miracle

•“I know you are a man of God.”

•This miracle gives divine credibility to the mission and ministry of Elijah.

•Elijah is truly a prophet.

•“the word of the LORD from your mouth is truth.”

Read

•I Kings 18.16-24

The Spiritual Battle

•Elijah is accused of being a trouble maker by King Ahab.

•He might have been blaming the famine on Elijah.

Question

•Who was the real trouble maker in the land?

The Challenge Issued

•Who had the power to make rain and withhold it?

•Was it the LORD or was it Baal?

Location

•Mount Carmel

•The stronghold of the prophets of Baal

•Not far from the current city of Haifa, Israel

Read

•I Kings 18.25-39

The Divided Hearts

•The people wanted to worship and serve the LORD along with Baal.

•The people were eclectic.

•Another way is of saying it is they practiced syncretism.

•God demands total allegiance and does not want a divided heart. Deut. 6.4-5

Elijah Taunts: Baal is not answering.

•Maybe Baal is sleeping.

•Maybe Baal is deep in thought.

•Maybe Baal is busy.

•Maybe Baal is traveling.

•(one version suggested that Baal was on the toilet.)

Slashing to Draw Blood

•The prophets of Baal cut themselves.

•This ritual was some sort of punishment for sins and cleansing.

Elijah’s Turn

•Elijah has water poured on the sacrifice, the wood, and the stones.

•The water overflows into the trench.

All Boy Scouts Know

•You can’t start a fire with wet wood.

Why all the water?

•To prove it was not a fraud.

•This was a true miracle.

The Fire

•It consumes everything:

–The sacrifice

–The wood

–The stones

–The soil

–The water in the trench

The Response

•“The LORD-he is God.”

•This profession of faith led to the execution of the prophets of Baal.

The rain comes.

•The end of chapter 18 shows the drought ending.

•The drought ends because the land has been purified and returned to the worship the true God, the LORD.

Elijah goes back into hiding

• After Mt. Carmel, Elijah was fearful.

•Ahab and Jezebel would be looking for him.

Elijah Gets Depressed

•“Take my life.” I Kings 18.4

Elijah goes to Mt. Sinai

•Hears the voice of God and is renewed.

Elijah Rebukes Ahab

•Ahab stole Naboth’s vineyard and had Naboth murdered.

•Therefore, the king’s blood will be licked up the dogs. (I Kings 21.19)

•Ahab repents. The disaster will come upon his son and not on Ahab.

Elijah Passes on His Office

•Elisha will inherit Elijah’s prophetic office. II Kings 2

Elijah is taken into heaven.

•II Kings 2.11-12

Question

•What other OT person did not taste death and was taken into heaven?

Theophany

•Theophany: visible manifestation of God’s presence;

–Clouds

–Fire

Divine symbols showing the presence of God. (Exodus)

Elisha Picks up Elijah’s mantle

•This is to indicate that the office of prophet was now on Elisha.

Elijah is seen again.

•The transfiguration of Jesus.

•Moses and Elijah will talk with Jesus. Matt. 17.3

Question

•What do you think Elijah said to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration?

At the Cross of Jesus

•Some thought Jesus was calling on Elijah to the aid of Jesus to prove Jesus was the messiah. Matt. 27.46-49