ELIJAH – MAN OF REVIVAL POWER!
SCRIPTURE: 1 Kings 17-22; 2 Kings 1, 2
INTRODUCTION: Elijah is one of the most amazing and exciting men in all the Word of God! There is also an element of mystery about him, for he appears on the scene in Israel so suddenly with no explanation of his background or where he came from. (Sort of like the Lone Ranger, he appears out of nowhere and just in the nick of time!) Elijah was motivated by his love for God and his burden for sin-sick Israel, especially the idolatrous Northern Kingdom, led by wicked King Ahab. In today’s lesson we will see that God used this mighty man of faith and prayer to bring about, almost single-handedly, a Great Revival.
1. ELIJAH WAS A MAN OF POWER! – 1 Kings 17: 1 Wicked King Ahab is on the throne of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) following the wicked rule of Omri, his father, and of Zimri and Baasha before him. Israel is in a very bad state spiritually: Baal has been made the god of the people, and 1 Kgs 16:33 says,” … Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” Will the people be destroyed? Is there no one to care, to tum the people back to God?? ….. And, then, Elijah comes out of nowhere in power! ! God is obviously speaking through His man–notice that Elijah had been standing before the Lord. No wonder he could make the announcement that he has been appointed Chief Meteorologist of Israel and that “It won’t rain until I say so!”
2. ELIJAH WAS A MAN OF PRAYER- James 5: 16-18 We thrill at the boldness and power of Elijah as he “beards the lion” and tells wicked Ahab “No more rain!” But when we tum to the book of James, we learn the “secret” source of Elijah’s power. 1 Kings 17: 1 tells us that Elijah had been standing before the Lord, but the cited verses in James reveal what he had been doing. It was his fervent praying that moved God to shut up the heavens! Elijah was so burdened because of his people’s sin, and he was so desperate that he asked God to get the attention of the whole nation by bringing a drought on the land. Wonder what great things we could see take place today if we became as burdened as Elijah was and prayed as fervently as he did?!?
3. ELIJAH WAS OBEDIENT– l Kings 17:2-18:2 Notice especially verses 17:5, 10 & 18:2.
Each time God told Elijah to do something, he obeyed at once and did exactly what God said to do. Obedience is the key to spirituality, and it is vital that we place our lives fully under the authority of the Word of God! If you want a clear understanding of the importance of our obedience to God, study Samuel’s words to Saul (1 Sam 15:22-23) in which he states that obedience is better than sacrifice! Elijah’s instant obedience not only proved his trust in God, but showed his sincere love for God. Jesus said, “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me … ” (Jn 14:21a — see also 14: 15) John said, “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 Jn 3:22) We cannot expect God to hear and answer us unless we are careful to listen to Him and obey gladly His commands. Certainly, for the Christian, His commands are not grievous!
4. ELIJAH WAS A MAN OF FIRE- 1 Kings 18:21-39; 2 Kings 1:8-15; 2:1-11
o God Answers With Fire – l Kgs 18:21-39 What an exciting manifestation of God’s power! This has all the dramatic elements of an Old West shoot-out! All we are told of God’s directions is given in 18:1–God told Elijah to show himself to Ahab and then promised to send rain. But no doubt God was leading him in all the details of this show-down with Baal. Whether intentionally or not, Elijah “set up” the enemy–without revealing his intentions, he simply tells Ahab to call all Israel, including the prophets of Baal and of the groves, to Mt. Carmel. When they are assembled, he presents the challenge – 18:21-24! Under the circumstances, the false prophets could hardly decline to participate. Elijah had some fun at their expense, which served to emphasize the truth that their god was a dead god – ” … there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” Then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah calls all the people near, repairs the altar of the Lord, puts the wood and the bullock on the altar, and has twelve barrels of water poured on it! (Think about where the water came from and the effort required to get it to the top of the mountain!) And then Elijah prays a simple prayer asking that God make Himself known as the God in Israel and that he has done all this at the Word of the Lord. And Poooof! ! Notice the response of the people in v 39!
o Elijah Calls Down Fire on His Enemies – 2 Kgs. 1:8-15 This incident has been often misunderstood, and some have even been so foolish and so bold as to slander God about this! “Well, what about these 102 innocent men–why would God kill them?” Just as God destroyed the native Canaanites and gave their land to Israel because of their idolatry and perverted lifestyle, so these men upon whom Elijah called fire were Baal worshipers and servants of wicked King Ahaziah and deserved what they got! This is an example of what is known in hermeneutics as “The Illustrative Principle.” Simply stated, this is the action whereby God judges various sins in such a way as to make them illustrations or warnings of His judgment. Usually, He speaks in this fashion only once, and after that He forebears and keeps silent until the day of reckoning. And for good reason–if He visited every sin with immediate judgment, He would very soon depopulate the earth!! (A familiar N.T. example of the Illustration Principal Is God’s dealing with Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Ghost.)
o Elijah is Taken to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire – 2 Kgs 2: l-11 What an appropriate mode of departure for such a man of fire!! Fire is associated with judgment, and thus the message from Elijah’s life to Israel is clear: “Judgment is coming!” Unfortunately, Israel continued her downward slide away from God (in spite of Elijah’s supernatural ministry in her midst) and 160 years later, she was carried away captive into Assyria. We would do well to remember the words of Peter informing us that this present earth is “reserved unto fire against the day of judgment!” And surely, that day cannot be far away.
5. ELIJAH WAS A MAN OF FAITH – 1 Kings 18:41-46 Hardly any part of Elijah’s life could be examined without seeing the evidence of faith, but this episode is one of the more dramatic ones. At this point it has been 3 1/2 years since any rain has fallen on Israel. Jehovah has shown His power as the true God in the contest with Baal by sending fire from Heaven, and the people confessed that “He is the God!” So now, Elijah is ready to ask God for rain. He prayed six times, and six times his servant looked out to the west over the Mediterranean and saw nothing but blue sky. But that didn’t phase this mighty man of prayer, and the 7th time he prayed his servant came back and reported a cloud, just a little one, shaped like a man’s hand. And Elijah, God’s Weatherman, gave the word to Ahab to get down off the mountain because of the great rain coming! [Do you know what prompted Elijah’s strong faith in this matter of praying for rain? See 18: 1 !] Oh, that we would claim the promises of God as Elijah did–then we could see God work in our lives and in our nation! (See Matt 17:14-20.)
6. ELIJAH WAS A MAN OF FEAR – l Kings 19: l-4 This is an amazing turn of events for a fire-breathing, false-prophet-killing man of God, wouldn’t you agree?! After praying down fire from heaven and killing 450 prophets of Baal, you wouldn’t think Elijah would give a second thought to Jezebel’s threat to kill him. But he did, and I believe the primary reason God recorded this in His Word is to prove what James said in 5:17. He was human just as we are, and, like Peter, he took his eyes off the Lord for a short space and got them on the circumstances. The results will always be embarrassing for the child of God whenever he lets this happen, so let this be a warning to us!
LESSONS:
1. One person can make a difference! Although there were 7,000 in Israel at this time who had not bowed the knee to Baal, Elijah prayed and worked single-handedly to bring Revival in Israel.
2. Perhaps the greatest lesson from Elijah’s life is the power available through prayer!
3. Obedience is the measure of true spirituality as well as a prerequisite to answered prayer.
4. Elijah’s faith was anchored in the promises of God!
5. It is almost certain that we will “mess up” when we take our eyes off the Lord.