Elijah

What a great man of God Elijah was, and what wonderful examples that we can glean from his life. The Lord was gracious enough to allow me to bring a message from The book of I Kings 17:1-7 concerning the first encounter of this mighty man of God.

I. The Person of Elijah:

a. In the Hebrew, his name meant "Yah is El", or, "Jehovah is God".
b. He never gave himself over to the worship of Baal or to any other false idol of that day.
c. He was devoted to the denouncement of idol worship through out his ministry.
d. Within his ministry there are several notable miracles that God performed using this man Elijah;
1d. The unending supply of meal and oil for the widow women and her son.
2d. The raising of her son from the dead.
3d. The eventual return of rain.
4d. The fire that consumed the burnt sacrifice and water around the altar.

II. The Pronouncement of Elijah:

a. vs. 1 - "Before whom I stand"; here Elijah is undoubtedly identifying himself with God.
b. Elijah is also saying that he is not for sale. That is, he is not one that can be bought off to make go away.
c. He is also saying that he is not part of the crowd. Jezebel nor Ahab could not persuade him to become one of them.

III. The Prediction of Elijah:

a. No dew or rain. This would mean complete and utter famine and drought upon the people of Israel because of the decisions that Ahab had made. We do affect others.
b. God was challenging the false god, Baal-Melkarth, the god of storms and of crops.

IV. The Place of Provision:

a. The Brook Cherith. It was a tributary for the river Jordan, and it lay on the eastern side of the Jordan. There God would water his servant. God will never let his faithful ones to go without the necessities of life.
b. He was fed by Ravens. An unclean bird, a bird that ate insects and carrion alike. In Lev. 11:15, they were forbidden for food because of their unclean nature. Isn't it wonderful that God sent his son to clean up our unclean nature? Though we still have a sin nature, we are not held captive to it any longer if we are a child of God.

What great man was Elijah. Respected even through the new testament church as a man that walked close to God. He even appeared at the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses. Some even called Christ a rebirth of Elijah. He was but one of two men that did not see a physical death, the other being Enoch. Pretty good company I would say. Like Elisha we to could desire a double portion of the spirit of Elijah.