- [Presenter] Even the most devoted of God's servants
can experience discouragement and exhaustion,
allowing their circumstances
to overwhelm their daily trust in God.
Elijah, a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel,
had witnessed and performed some
of the most incredible miracles recorded
in the Bible.
Nonetheless, not long after he succumbed
to depression and terror.
In response to King Ahab's rebellious wickedness,
God told Elijah to declare a drought on the land.
During this time,
God repeatedly demonstrated his provision
and care for Elijah,
allowing him to drink water from a creek
that should have been dry
and sending ravens to bring him bread and meat to eat.
fIRST King 17:1 through 7.
"Now, Elijah, the Tishbite
of the people who are staying in Gilead, said to Ahab,
'As the Lord the God of Israel lives before Whom I stand,
for sure there will be no rain or water on the grass
in the early morning these years, except by my word.'
And the word of the Lord came to him saying,
'Leave here and turn east,
hide yourself by the river Cherith east of the Jordan.
You will drink from the river.
And I have told the ravens to bring food to you there.'
So he went and did what he was told by the word of the Lord.
He went and lived by the river Cherith east of the Jordan.
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning
and in the evening, and he drank from the river.
But after a while, the river dried up
because there was no rain in the land.
Later, the Lord led him to the home of a widow
who was suffering the full blunt of the drought.
She was down to her last morsels of food.
But God gave Elijah the authority to assure her
that her flour and oil
would be replenished miraculously day after day,
and they were.
When the widow's son died,
Elijah prayed to God to bring him back to life, and He did.
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
'Get up and go to Zarepath,
which belongs to Sidon and stay there.
I have told a woman there whose husband has died
to feed you.'
So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath.
When he came to the city gate,
he saw a woman there gathering sticks.
He called to her and said, 'I ask of you,
get me a little water in a jar that I may drink.'
As she was going to get it, he called to her.
'I ask of you, bring me a piece of bread in your hand.'
But she said, 'As the Lord your God lives,
I have no bread.
I only have enough flour in the jar to fill a hand
and a little oil in the jar.
See, I am gathering a few sticks,
so I may go and make it ready for me and my son.
Then we will eat it and die.'
Elijah said to her, 'Have no fear.
Go and do as you have said,
but make me a little loaf of bread from it first
and bring it out to me.
Then you may make make one for yourself and for your son,
for the Lord God of Israel says
the jar of flour will not be used up
and the jar of oil will not be empty
until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'
So she went and did what Elijah said
and she and those of her house ate for many days.
The jar of flour was not used up
and the jar of oil did not become empty.
It happened as was spoken by the word of the Lord
through Elijah.
After this, the son of the woman who owned
the house became sick.
His sickness was so bad
that there was no breath left in him.
So the woman said to Elijah,
'What do I have to do with you, oh man of God?
You have come to me to have my sin be remembered
and to kill my son.'
He said to her, 'Give me your son.'
Then he took him from her arms
and carried him up to the room on the second floor
where he stayed and he laid him on his own bed.
He called to the Lord and said, 'Oh Lord, my God,
have You brought trouble to the woman I am staying with
by making her son die?'
Then he lay up on the child three times
and called to the Lord saying, 'Oh Lord my God,
I pray to You.
Let this child's life return to him.'
The Lord heard the voice of Elijah
and the life of the child return to him
and he became strong again.
Elijah took the child and brought him down
from the second floor into the house
and gave him to his mother.
He said, 'See, your son is alive.'
Then the woman said to Elijah,
'Now I know that you are a man of God.
Now I know that the word of the Lord
in your mouth is true.'"
First Kings 17:8 through 24.
"Then God summoned Elijah to a battle
with pagan prophets on a mountainside overlooking the sea.
When the competition began,
their so-called God did not appear to accept their sacrifice
despite their demonstrative efforts to summon him.
When it was Elijah's turn,
he prayed and the living God consumed
the prophet's sacrifice with fire from heaven,
despite the fact that Elijah had repeatedly soaked
the altar in water.
So now call together all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel
and gather together 450 men who speak for Baal
and 400 men who speak for the false goddess Asherah,
who eat at Jezebel's table.
So Ahab sent news among all the people of Israel
and he brought the men who speak for the false gods together
at Mount Carmel.
Elijah came near all the people and said,
'How long will you be divided between two ways of thinking?
If the Lord is God, follow Him.
But if Baal is God, then follow Him.'
But the people did not answer him a word.
Then Elijah said to the people,
'I am the only man left who speaks for God.
But here are 450 men who speak for Baal.
Bring two bulls to us.
Let them choose one bull for themselves
and cut it up and put it on the wood,
but put no fire under it.
I will make the other bull ready
and lay it on the wood and I will put no fire under it.
Then you call on the name of your god
and I will call on the name of the Lord,
the God who answers by fire, he is God.'
All the people answered and said, 'That is a good idea.'
So Elijah said to the men who spoke for Baal,
'Choose one bull for yourselves and make it ready first,
for there are many of you,
then call on the name of your God, but put no fire under it.
So they took the bull which was given to them
and made it ready.
Then they called on the name of Baal
from morning until noon, saying, 'Oh, Baal, answer us.'
But there was no voice.
No one answered.
They jumped up and danced around the altar they had made.
At noon, Elijah made fun of them.
He said, 'Call out with a loud voice for he is a God.
It might be that he is in deep thought or as turned away.
He could be away traveling,
or it may be that he is asleep
and needs to have someone wake him.'
So they cried with a loud voice.
They cut themselves as they had done in the past
with swords and spears until blood poured out on them.
When noon passed,
they cried out until the time forgiving the evening gift.
But there was no voice, no one answered.
No one listened.
Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come near to me.'
So all the people came near to him
and he built again the altar of the Lord
which had been torn down.
Then Elijah took 12 stones
by the number of the families of Jacob's sons.
The word of the Lord had come to Jacob's sons saying,
'Israel will be your name.'
With the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord
and he made a ditch around the altar big enough
to hold 22 jars of seed.
Then he set wood in place.
He cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood,
and he said, 'Fill four jars with water
and pour it on the burnt gift and on the wood.'
Then he said, 'Do it a second time.'
And they did it a second time.
He said, 'Do it a third time,'
and they did it a third time.
The water flowed around the altar and filled the ditch also.
Then the time came for giving the evening gift.
Elijah, the man who spoke for God,
came near and said,
'Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known today that you are God in Israel.
Let it be known that I am your servant
and have done all these things at Your word.
Answer me, oh Lord, answer me so these people may know
that you, oh Lord, our God,
turned their hearts to You again.'
Then the fire of the Lord fell.
It burned up the burnt gift, the wood, the stones,
and the dust,
and it picked up the water that was in the ditch.
All the people fell on their faces when they saw it.
They said, 'The Lord, He is God.
The Lord, He is God.'"
First Kings 18:19 through 39,
"The crowds not only saw God's fire in Elijah,
but they also saw it in his ministry, literally.
Elijah became frustrated
with his people's spiritual rebellion
and enraged by the false prophet of Baal.
He faced both forces atop Mount Carmel
and defeated the devil's henchmen,
despite the fact that they outnumbered him 850 to one.
No one had seen anything like his bravery
since the unremembered day
David fought Goliath years before.
And, like the underdog David,
Elijah confronted his adversary with zeal.
His gaze was drawn to God's majesty,
not the number of his adversaries.
This heavenly vision provided the fuel
that kept his courage burning.
Leaders require courage at all times.
No one who wishes to affect change
can do so without courage.
Elijah's heart was filled with courage because one,
his determination outweighed his reservations.
Despite being vastly outnumbered,
Elijah determined that Baal had to be confronted
at all costs.
Two, his desire triumphed over his desperation.
Despite the danger,
Elijah answered to honor Yahweh above all else.
Three, his compassion outweighed his dissatisfaction.
Despite his dislike for the people's attitude,
Elijah desired for them to find and follow Yahweh.
While worshiping and praying alone atop the mountain,
Elijah mustered the courage to summon fire from heaven.
The fire within him drew down God's fire,
decisively defeating bail Baal.
Following this incredible display of God's power,
he summoned Elijah to perform another miracle.
The prophet prayed for the drought to end,
and God responded by sending a tiny cloud,
followed by a torrential downpour.
Given all of his success,
one would expect Elijah to be brimming with confidence,
joy, and praise for the Lord at this point in his life.
When he learned that Queen Jezebel had vowed to kill him,
he fled to the opposite end of the country,
where he sat down under a tree
and begged God to take his life.
First Kings 18:41 through 46.
"Then Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink,
for there is the sound of much rain.'
So Ahab went up to eat and drink,
but Elijah went up to the top of Carmel.
He got down on the ground and put his face between his knees
and he said to his servant,
'Go up now and look towards the sea.'
So he went up and looked and said, 'There is nothing.'
Seven times Elijah said, 'Go again.'
The seventh time he said,
'I see a cloud as small as a man's hand coming up
from the sea.'
Elijah said, 'Go and tell Ahab,
make your war wagon ready
and go down so that the rain does not stop you.'
Soon, the sky became black with clouds and wind
and there was much rain.
And Ahab went to Jezreel.
Then the hand of the Lord was on Elijah.
He pulled his clothing up under his belt
and ran before Ahab to Jezreel."
First Kings 18:1 through 9.
"Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done.
He told her how Elijah had killed
with the sword all the men who spoke for Baal.
Then Jezebel sent news to Elijah saying,
'So made the gods due to me and even more,
if I do not make your life as the life of one of them
by this time tomorrow.'
Elijah was afraid, he got up and ran for his life.
When he came to Beersheba of Judah,
he left his servant there,
but he himself traveled for a day into the desert.
He came and sat down under a Juniper tree.
There, he asked that he might die, saying,
'It is enough now, oh Lord.
Take my life for I am not better than my fathers.'
When he laid down and slept under the Juniper tree,
an angel touched him.
The angel said to him, 'Get up and eat.'
Then Elijah looked and saw by his head
a loaf of bread made ready on hot stones and a jar of water.
So he ate and drank and lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came again a second time
and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat,
because this traveling is too hard for you.'
So he got up and ate and drank,
and he went in the strength of that food
for 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
He came to a cave and stayed there.
The word of the Lord came to him and said,
'What are you doing here, Elijah?'
Elijah said, 'I have been very careful to serve the Lord,
the God of all,
for the people of Israel have turned away
from Your agreement.
They have torn down Your altars
and have killed with the sword the men who speak for You.
only I am left and they want to kill me.'"
Fortunately, that is not the end of the story.
God did not abandon Elijah when He discovered him,
to put it mildly, not at his best.
No, the Lord picked him up, tossed him back into the fray,
provided him with invaluable assistance
in the form of the prophet Elisha,
and then whisked him away to heaven in a whirlwind.
First Kings 19:11 through 18.
"So the angel said,
'Go and stand on the mountain mountain before the Lord,'
and the Lord passed by.
A strong wind tore through the mountains
and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord,
but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind, the earth shook,
but the Lord was not in the shaking of the earth.
After the earth shook, a fire came,
but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire came, a sound of gentle blowing.
When Elijah heard it,
he put his coat over his face
and went out and stood at the opening of the hole.
Then a voice came to him and said,
'What are you doing here, Elijah?
He said, 'I have been very careful to serve the Lord,
the God of all.
For the people of Israel have turned away
from Your agreement.
They have torn down Your altars
and they have killed with the sword
the men who speak for You.
Only I am left and they want to kill me.'
The Lord said to him,
'Go return on your way to the desert of Damascus.
When you get there,
set apart Hazael to be the king of Syria,
set apart Nimshi's son Jehu to be the king of Israel,
and set apart Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah
to speak for God in your place.
Jehu will kill the one who gets away
from the sword of Hazael.
Elisha will kill the one who gets away from
the sword of Jehu,
but I will leave 7,000 in Israel
whose knees have not bowed down in front of Baal,
and whose mouths have not kissed him.'"
Second King's 2:11,
"And it came to pass as they still went on and talked
that behold there appeared a chariot of fire
and horses of fire and parted them both asunder,
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."
We are human, just like the prophet Elijah.
We become exhausted, and when our minds and bodies tire,
we can become overwhelmed.
However, the God who created us, Psalm 103:14,
"For he knoweth our frame,
He remembereth that we are dust."
God never forgets His promises to us,
even when our memory of God's Greek kindness fades.
The prophet Elijah was aware of Israel's idolatry.
He was aware that the time for judgment had arrived.
He also knew that drought and famine were on their way
to devastate Israel.
He knew because He had declared God's judgment.
This all happened during a very sad period
in Israel's history
when the people had all but turned their backs on God
and their king had openly
and boldly sinned against the Lord.
Imagine the bravery it took for one man
to pray for judgment on his own people,
confront a wicked king,
and then stand before hundreds of false prophets
and question their piety.
Although the Lord took Elijah to heaven a long time ago,
this courageous prophet continues to proclaim
that true leadership may require standing alone
and speaking difficult truths.