Intro to Elijah

Introduction

Today we’re going to begin our last study, the last real series in the Old Testament. We’ve been going through the Old Testament narrative, beginning with Creation, for years now, and we’re finally coming to an end.

We’ve been camping out in the prophets for quite some time now, and the last few months we’ve been looking at the events that happened during and after the exile. Last week Mike wrapped up the book of Nehemiah, which in the timeline of the Old Testament is towards the end.

But there’s one prophet in the Old Testament who we haven’t covered at ALL yet, and I just couldn’t let us leave our time in the prophets without going through this one prophet’s story, because it’s just so good.

Now, we haven’t, and we aren’t going to, cover every single one of the prophets, but we’ve tried to go through the ones that either stand out as unique for some reason, or that are representative of what the prophets did and said.

We did study Daniel, though we didn’t go over his prophecies, that’s actually going to come up later on.

I think the first prophet we really studied was Malachi, which is a great book that is very representative of many of the other prophets and prophecies about Israel.

And we studied Jonah, which is a really unique book, and he’s a unique prophet, in that his whole story is itself not just a lesson about running away from God, but a picture of Israel, her apostacy, the exile to come, and a foreshadowing of the Messiah. Jonah’s an amazing book, and we had to cover it because it’s so different from any of the other prophets.

Then we did a really quick overview of Jeremiah, we covered that one in just two weeks.

Then we spent a little more time in Isaiah, because his book is really rich with Messianic prophecies and hope for the king to come. It provides hope for the remnant of Israel even throughout the Exile that one day their kingdom would be restored through the line of David.

So we covered Isaiah and Jeremiah, which are two of the three “Major Prophets.” The other one is Ezekiel, which we didn’t cover. He has some pretty crazy stories, and maybe someday we’ll come back to him, but for now we thought the other two were representative enough of their overall message and mission.

Jonah and Malachi are part of what the Jews would call “The Twelve” and others may call the “Minor Prophets.”

So we covered two out of three major prophets, and two out of twelve minor prophets. Again, we’re not trying to cover all fifteen of them, but there is ONE more prophet we just HAVE to spend some time with, and I’m SUPER excited about this one.

It’s the prophet Elijah.

Why Elijah?

So, why Elijah?

Well, Elijah has some of the coolest stories in the whole Old Testament, at least in my opinion. It’s with Elijah that we get some of the most dramatic and satisfying action sequences featuring Yahweh, since Moses and the Exodus.

And I admit that’s really why I’m so excited to go through Elijah’s story with you. But that’s not the only reason we thought he was worth studying, in fact it’s not even the main reason. It’s really because of how important he is to the bigger story, and how he bridges the Old and New Testaments, he’s incredibly significant and unique as a prophet, so we really couldn’t leave the prophets without covering him.

Now, I’m not going to pull a Mike and tell you to turn to the book of Elijah! There is no book of Elijah! So, he’s not even one of the 15! He’s not in that list of major or minor prophets! And yet, he’s one of the most important prophets in the whole Bible!

The first and probably most significant prophet would be Moses. It was under his leadership that Israel was brought out of slavery in Egypt and established as a nation. It was through him that law was given, and the covenant was made between God and Israel, and he’s the one given credit for the first 5 books of the Old Testament. He spoke with God face to face, relayed God’s message to the people, whether it was Egypt or Israel, and through him God’s power was displayed in very powerful acts of miracles.

The last book of Moses ends with this footnote, added by a narrative voice after recording the death of Moses. It’s like a voice that starts speaking as the camera pans out, and the music crescendos, and the credits start rolling.

Deuteronomy 34:10–12 CSB

10 No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. 11 He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do against the land of Egypt—to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land— 12 and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

So, Moses was unparalleled by all the prophets who came after him.

BUT, this guy Elijah comes in at a close second, I think, for reasons that hopefully will become apparent as we go through his story. And one indication of that is how often you’ll find his name come up even in the New Testament. Several of the prophets get a shout-out in the New Testament. Jesus makes a reference to Jonah, and the gospel writers like to point out hyperlinks to Isaiah and Jeremiah. But even in those cases it’s a reference more to the prophecies. The words and message of the prophets, more than to the prophets, the people themselves. Whereas the references to Elijah don’t quote anything he said, they are references to him as a person and how significant of a prophet he was.

So, that’s why we’re studying Elijah, and we’ll be looking at some of the ways he was so significant, and why the name “Elijah” gets people so excited in the New Testament.

But another interesting thing to make a mental note of is that Elijah is a significant prophet, not just in Christian tradition, but also in Jewish tradition, so it’s not just the New Testament references which make him important, he’s important purely in an Old Testament context as well.

This point is made all the more apparent when you realize that Elijah is significant, not just in Christian and Jewish traditions, but also in Islamic tradition. Islam puts a great deal of importance on the prophets, since their own prophet kind of builds on the precedent of the ones who came before him. So, being familiar with the prophets in general, but especially the ones who hold the most significance, can equip you to have more meaningful conversations with people from different backgrounds. And that’s an important thing to do. And while it’s important to understand how we may differ from their theology, a constructive conversation always begins with finding common ground. A common denominator.

Have I convinced you that Elijah is worth studying? Hopefully you didn’t actually need convincing, because it’s a part of the Bible, so of course it’s worth studying. It’s more that we couldn’t not study it.

Again, I think it’s going to be really fun just because of the stories involved, but just keep in mind that the stories serve a purpose in the greater context of the story.

That’s the why.

Where is Elijah?

So, where is Elijah? Where do we find him? Well, again, he doesn’t have his own book, so you won’t find him in the table of contents.

In fact, there are several significant prophets who show up throughout the story, but who do not have a whole book, or scroll, dedicated to them or their prophecies. But they show up at different points in the story, usually to confront Kings of Israel and Judah. Remember the prophet Nathan who confronts David after his sin with Bathsheba?

Elijah is one of these prophets who’s just woven into the story of Israel’s history. So, instead of introducing a new book, we actually have to go back to the book of 1 Kings, which we covered, in part, obviously not fully, but we spent some time in 1 Kings, like a year, a year and half ago. We’re going all the way back to 1 Kings for most of the story, and a little bit into 2 Kings.

But since we’re jumping back, I want to give you a visual of where we’re going to be in the overall timeline.

When is Elijah?

[Timeline Slide]

Looking at the timeline,

Across the top, you can see the major kingdoms and empires who surrounded and eventually ruled Israel.

Right below that, you can see the state Israel was in. From being a united kingdom to being split up, to gradually being taken away into exile, and then finally returning.

So the golden age of Israel, when it was a united kingdom, was under king David and king Solomon, and that’s over on the far left of this timeline. Right after that, Israel split up into two kingdoms: the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, otherwise known as Israel and Judah. Then, towards the middle of the timeline the northern kingdom, Israel, is taken away into exile by Assyria, and Judah is the only kingdom left standing, until Babylon eventually takes out Jerusalem, and Judah is also taken into exile. Then during Daniel’s life Babylon was taken over by Persia.

Below the kingdoms and major events, in the main body of this timeline, you can see various prophets and other books, and I’ve highlighted all the ones we’ve covered together. You can see we’ve covered a good chunk of this timeline. We went through the story of the kings and exile up through Daniel, then started looking at the prophets, kind of starting at the end with Malachi, then went back to the middle for Jonah, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and we’ve been camped out over on this far right side for a while, with Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah.

And now we’re jumping all the way back to where you can see Elijah circled in red, around 850, 800 BC. Notice that Elijah does overlap with a couple other prophets, Obadiah and Joel, who we haven’t covered, but they do have books, and Obadiah is actually going to make an appearance in Elijah’s story. It’s like a cross-over episode, so remember that name.

So where we find Elijah is about a hundred years after King Solomon, who was king right after David, died, but at least 50 years before the Assyrian exile and roughly 200 years before the Babylonian exile. So it’s this in-between period, where Israel and Judah were separate kingdoms, and had mostly bad kings ruling in both kingdoms. The people were constantly turning away from Yahweh and worshipping other gods, and the prophets were constantly telling them to repent, and confronting the bad kings, warning them of the exile to come.

Alright, so that’s when Elijah comes on the scene. Hopefully this has helped to orient you in the story and find your bearings.

Who is Elijah?

Now that we know when Elijah is, let’s find out who Elijah is.

He’s first introduced in 1 Kings chapter 17. Go ahead and turn there, as we’ll be spending the rest of our time in this chapter today.

I say he’s introduced, but it’s not really much of an introduction. We don’t have any backstory for him at all, he just kind of shows up and starts doing stuff.

1 kings chapter 17 starts off with this:

1 Kings 17:1 CSB

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”

Whoa! OK, so we’re going to need some more context to understand why he’s making this proclamation, but first, let’s acknowledge the little bit of information we are given about Elijah.

Again, there’s not much backstory, just that he’s a Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers.

Map

[Map Slide]

Here’s a map that shows this region. The scale, if you can see it up in the top left, that black line is 30 miles. So we’re zoomed in fairly close here, but you can see everything from Edom to Damascus.

Gilead is located East of the Jordan river, which I drew over with a thick purple line, connecting the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, and you can see Tishbe circled in red to the East of it.

To the west of the Jordan, I put two orange stars; the one to the North is Samaria, the capital of Israel, and to the South is Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.

It’s probably too small to read all the little text captions, but those are all different events and places mentioned throughout Elijah’s story, and you can see it’s all over the map. So the story is going to take Elijah all over this map, from North to South, and I’ll probably bring it back up again a couple times just to get a reference for how far he’s traveling.

Ahab’s Backstory

Alright, so back to 1 Kings, Elijah arrives suddenly in chapter 17, with little introduction, but with great power in his words. Did you notice that?

Look at the message he gives to Ahab. “As Yahweh, God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years, except by my command!”

So, he’s basically declaring to Ahab that there’s going to be a famine that’s going to last for years, based on Elijah’s command. No dew or rain means a drought, which means no water for crops and livestock, which means starvation and suffering. So this is NOT a positive thing, this is NOT what Ahab wants to hear.

But let’s back up a bit, who is Ahab anyway, and WHY would Elijah be pronouncing this message of doom to him?

Well, Ahab is the king of Israel at the time, and he’s not a good king. If we just go back a couple paragraphs, to the end of chapter 16, we’ll get some context that I think will be helpful for the whole rest of Elijah’s story.

So let’s read 1 Kings 16, starting in verse 29, just the last couple paragraphs:

1 Kings 16:29–34 CSB

29 Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Judah’s King Asa; Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than all who were before him. 31 Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and bow in worship to him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole. Ahab did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest, he finished its gates, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.

Alright, so Ahab is king of Israel while Asa is king of Judah. His reign lasts 22 years, and, it’s an infamous reign. Verse 30 literally says that Ahab was more evil than all his predecessors! He married Jezebel, which is a problem because they weren’t supposed to be intermarrying with those people at that time, especially not the king! And it’s implied that Jezebel was a factor in leading Ahab to worshiping other gods as well.

He served and worshiped Baal and Asherah, going so far as to make a temple and set up objects of worship. Baal was associated with storms, and rain, and power. Actually pretty similar to the Norse god of thunder, Thor, whose a bit more familiar in popular culture today! Asherah was a goddess of fertility, similar to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, or the Roman goddess Venus.

And besides all that, verse 34 makes sure to point out that it was under Ahab’s watch that Jericho was rebuilt. And it mentions the word of Yahweh spoken through Joshua, son of Nun. What’s up with that?

Well, you may recall the story of Joshua, who led Israel after Moses died, and the battle of Jericho? They marched around the city seven times, blew their horns, and the walls came tumbling down! Awesome story. But after they destroyed the city, Joshua said this, in Joshua chapter 6, verse 26:

Joshua 6:26 CSB

26 At that time Joshua imposed this curse: The man who undertakes the rebuilding of this city, Jericho, is cursed before the Lord. He will lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn; he will finish its gates at the cost of his youngest.

That’s a pretty heavy curse! And obviously it’s meant to ensure that nobody ever dares rebuild the city of Jericho!

And yet, here comes along this guy Hiel, who has such disregard for his own children that he goes ahead and rebuilds the city at the cost of his firstborn and his youngest. It’s terrible, and tragic!

The overall picture being painted here is of Ahab’s reign being just saturated in evil and evil-doers, and in the adulterous worship of gods other than Yahweh.

Elijah’s Confrontation

So, when Elijah shows up and announces a famine in chapter 17, it’s in response to all this.

And it’s significant that Elijah specifically declares that there will be no dew or rain, because in doing so he’s asserting Yahweh’s authority over those elements of creation which Ahab has been attributing to Baal. That’s no coincidence, that is 100% intentional, and it’s meant to humiliate the name of Baal while attributing power and glory to the name of Yahweh.

By the way, the name Elijah means “Yahweh is my God” which is very appropriate, because most of Elijah’s ministry is focused on defending Yahweh and asserting his authority.

Alright, so we have the context of why Elijah is making this proclamation to Ahab, but can you imagine how this would have gone over with Ahab? What do you think his reaction was?

Well, it doesn’t say exactly, but I think it’s safe to assume he wasn’t happy, and more than likely would have wanted to kill Elijah.

In Hiding, Fed by Ravens

So what happens next is a pretty logical progression, let’s read the next few verses:

1 Kings 17:2–7 CSB

2 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward, and hide at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. 4 You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” 5 So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. 6 The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he would drink from the wadi. 7 After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Yahweh tells Elijah to run away and hide! Probably because otherwise he would have been a goner! And he directs him to a place where, during this famine, he would have a place to drink, and, casually, be provided food by ravens.

That’s crazy! Birds, and not just any birds, but ravens, which were unclean animals, brought him bread and meat, in the morning and the evening. The fact that he was being fed by unclean “hands” or “talons” just hyperlinks right to Peter in the book of Acts, but we won’t go there right now.

It certainly wasn’t a glamorous lifestyle, Elijah was far from what we would consider “comfortable,” but because God still had work for Elijah to do, he protected and provided for him, in a miraculous way.

He was fed by ravens! I mean, can you even imagine what that was like? It’s just so bizarre!

This won’t be the last time God provides for Elijah, and while this is not the point of the story, it is worth mentioning and remembering that when we think about God’s provision, and his faithfulness to provide us with what we need, that what we need isn’t the same as what we want, or what makes us comfortable, or even what we think we need. Throughout the story, as God provides for Elijah, just realize he’s getting what he needs to survive, the bare minimum, he’s not living large!

But, at this wadi…eventually, he ran out of water. It stopped raining, just as he had said, but that was a problem for him too, because the wadi dried up.

But Yahweh has plans…let’s keep reading.

1 Kings 17:8–16 CSB

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.” 10 So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” 11 As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.” 13 Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, 14 for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.’ ” 15 So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days. 16 The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord he had spoken through Elijah.

So Yahweh had Elijah go all the way up to Zarephath, which is up North, by the Mediterranean sea [green circle].

And he says to meet a widow there (a gentile, by the way, a non-Jew), who will provide for Elijah, but when he finds this woman, she’s so destitute herself that she’s essentially getting ready to prepare one more meal for herself and her son before they die, because she has only enough flour and oil for one small loaf of bread.

But Elijah tells her to go ahead and make the bread, and she does, and she still has flour and oil left! And she continues doing so, for days and days on end, without ever running out of flour or oil! Again, this is through God’s miraculous provision, and this time it’s not just for Elijah, it benefits a poor widow and her only son.

Notice, though, that the woman was asked to act in faith, by giving literally all she had left to Elijah instead of feeding herself, before God’s provision was made evident. While God doesn’t always necessarily test out faith in that way, her certainly can, and true faithfulness should align our priorities such that we give of ourselves and our possessions selflessly.

I think a very analagous story is that of the poor widow who Jesus saw giving her two small coins, which was all that she had, and he said that she was giving far more than those who gave large amounts and boasted about it.

Also relevant are Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:

Matthew 6:33–34 CSB

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

It’s a matter of priorities, and who or what we seek and serve above all else. Is it ourselves, or is it God?

In this case, the widow acted according to God’s word, and her faith was rewarded.

And they lived happily ever after, right?

Not so fast! We have one more problem, let’s keep reading, in verse 17:

1 Kings 17:17–24 CSB

17 After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness got worse until he stopped breathing. 18 She said to Elijah, “Man of God, what do you have against me? Have you come to call attention to my iniquity so that my son is put to death?” 19 But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, have you also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again!” 22 So the Lord listened to Elijah, and the boy’s life came into him again, and he lived. 23 Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upstairs room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.”

Man! As if miraculously saving them from starvation wasn’t enough, raising her son from the dead was apparently what it took to prove to this Widow that Elijah was sent by Yahweh and spoke the truth. So the purpose of the illness becomes evident - that it was not because of sin that the boy died, but ultimately so that the Widow could witness God’s power, thereby producing faith in the word of Yahweh.

By the way, realize that this is literally an unprecedented display of God’s power through human intervention. Not even Moses raised anyone from the dead! Elijah is the first prophet, or any human, to raise someone from the dead, and Elisha after him is the only other one. But it demonstrates that God has power over sickness and death.

Conclusion

This whole story so far, this whole chapter of 1 Kings has hyperlinks all over it! The miraculous provision of food and water should be taking us back to Moses and the Israelites in wilderness; remember the manna, and the quail, and water coming from strange places?

Then after being fed by unclean birds, Elijah is fed by a gentile woman! And in the process brings the word of God and faith in him to a gentile household! I mean come on! That’s some heavy foreshadowing of the message of the Gospel, and the “great mystery” that Paul talks about in his letters.

And Yahweh’s presence being made evident by displaying power even over death itself? Other than with Elisha, who’s really like a weird continuation of Elijah…that doesn’t happen again until Jesus! Which is probably why some people asked him if he was Elijah! Of course, he’s not, he’s much more, but they were picking up on that precedent, the foreshadowing, and the promise at the end of Malachi that Elijah would one day return!

This is REALLY powerful stuff, already, and Elijah’s just barely getting started! We haven’t even gotten to the fire yet! It’s about to get really intense, and dramatic, and I’m so excited to get into the next couple chapters.

Remember, this chapter started with Elijah confronting Ahab’s evil ways. That confrontation isn’t over. This famine is just the beginning. Soon, Yahweh is going to confront Ahab’s, and consequently all of Israel’s Baal worship head on, in a glorious and furious display of power.

But one thing about Elijah’s story that I really love is that it reveals something about the complexity of God. We get to see his glory and power and vengeance against evil, yes, but before all that, we get to see how he cares for his people. God cares about confronting evil, but he also cares about taking care of widows and orphans.

It shows the tenderness and compassion of God, and that in all his rage against evil he does not forget the righteous. Though he strikes the land with famine, he protects and provides for Elijah, and for a poor widow and her son. He lifts up the lowly and forgotten while humbling the proud.

I think reflecting on God’s nature is as much application as is necessary in a passage like this, but if you want some personal application to take away, I would go back to the faithfulness of both Elijah and the widow, and to that question of who or what are you seeking and serving?

Is it yourself? Is it the idols of this world? Or is it the kingdom of God?

And if you ask “well, how do I seek the kingdom?” I would say, by serving Jesus, and if you ask “well, how do I serve Jesus” I would simply point you to Matthew 25, and I’m going to leave you with a passage that has a ton to unpack, and hopefully we will later this year, but in the meantime hopefully you can see some connections to what we read in 1 Kings today:

Matthew 25:31–46 CSB

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 “ ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’ 44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’ 45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Pray