Character Study: Elijah

Who was Elijah?

A regular guy, but one who prayed the will of God so fervently that his words were confident.

“no rain except by MY word”

1 Kings 17:1–7 ESV

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

During Elijah’s time he had a series of CPRT’s

Command Promise Response Test

Command: Go Hide by a brook

Promise: Ravens will feed you there

Raven’s are an unclean animal and feeding him

Response: Elijah obeyed

Test: Raven’s brough food and bread

Then the brook dried up.

If God wants us in fellowship why call Elijah to hide?

HE just gave a whopper to Ahab and he spends a portion of that 3 1/2 years in solitude with the LORD.

Perhaps being trained.

When you practice a new skill you don’t get it perfect right away, you have to train. Make it muscle memory.

Elijah spends time with God, to put it in our vernacular, to make the Gospel Muscle Memory.

1 Kings 17:8–16 ESV

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Command: Go to Zarephath

this is 80-90 miles away. A Klamath Falls to Lakeview trip, on foot.

Promise: a widow will feed him

Zarephath is a region of gentiles.

Gentiles are unclean people

Response: the widow obeys

Neither Elijah or the widow had anything, but they each obeyed

Test: Elijah and the Widow eat

1 Kings 17:17–24 ESV

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

We get this misconception in the Christian world that if we follow Jesus that nothing bad will ever happen to us. People who think that, don’t read their Bibles.

This is Elijah’s big test of faith.

The widows son is a kid, small enough for her to carry.

This is scary.

Elijah uses what God has given him

CPRT

Command: Give me your son

Promise: it’s unspoken, but Elijah says with his actions that he will restore the child

Response: She gives up her child

Test: Elijah prays and the son is restored

I love the woman’s response “Now I know that you are a man of God.”

Why does it take more than once?

Because we have to train that muscle memory.

1 Kings 18 (SUM UP WITH CPRT

Command: Go show yourself to Ahab

Easier said than done, no rain, famine, all at Elijah’s word. There’s wanted posters up for this guy everywhere. Wanted: Dead or Very Dead

Promise: God will Send Rain

Response: Ba’al Tested, God Delivered

Test: ELIJAH: God is the LORD and the rain comes

We have the opportunity to really follow Jesus. what is our Command?

Command: Love the Lord your God

Promise: He will be with us

not a gaurantee of safety, but a promise of presence

Response: We follow Jesus

we study his word, go to Church, have fellowship with other believers. We make our Christian walk muscle memory

Test: Our everyday life.

He proves himself over and over. We don’t have to say “NOW I KNOW,” because we show that we know to others and invite them along.

It’s not always easy, Just read 1 Kings 19

Elijah goes against his muscle memory in fear, but God is gracious and shows up in a still small voice to get Elijah back on track.

How’s you muscle memory?

Do you need more of Jesus?

No matter how much you have the answer is “Yes, more, Please!”

Spend time with God alone, he will feed you.

Spend time with others, you will be fed.

Go out to others and feed them.

It is a cycle I hope we can all commit to our hearts

Let’s pray