Elijah was an amazing prophet of God. If God said it, he believed it. But in the end, stress overtook him. God sent angels to minister to him and then brought him home in a chariot of fire. Here’s his story.
In 874 BC, Ahab became King of Israel when his father, the wicked King Omri, died. King Ahab loved the feel of money and authority and the power he had. He became so engrossed in his love for himself, his money and his power, nothing else mattered to him. He had nothing to do with God and had no compassion for the people of Israel. He built idols and did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. And, if that weren’t enough, he married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidonians, and they served Baal, the weather god.
God had been patient, but judgment was coming. God sent his prophet, Elijah, to warn Ahab that due to his wickedness, there would be no rain for three years. Even though Ahab was very wicked, God loved him and wanted to give him one more chance to choose good over evil. One more chance to change the direction of his future. Would he listen?
King Ahab became angry and wanted to kill Elijah, so God told Elijah to go to Cherith, a brook by the Jordan, where God would tuck him under his wing and protect him from King Ahab. God commanded ravens to bring bread and meat to Elijah every morning and every evening and he drank from the cool, clear brook until it began to dry up from the drought.
When the brook dried up, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath and stay there where a widow would take care of him. When Elijah got to the gate of the city, he found a woman gathering sticks and asked her for a drink of water. She got him a drink of water and the he asked her for some bread. The widow didn’t have any bread. All she had was a handful of meal and a little oil in a cruse and she was gathering sticks for a fire to bake one final meal for her son and herself before they were to die. Elijah told her to fix him a little cake first; God would provide for them. She trusted him.
God was faithful. As the widow baked the cakes, no matter how many cakes she baked, there was still plenty of meal and oil left to make more. The three of them ate plentifully from a barrel of meal and a cruse of oil that miraculously never became empty.
But then the widow’s son became sick and died and her heart was torn with sorrow. She could not understand how God could so carefully provide food to keep them alive and then allow her son to get sick and die. She asked Elijah why he had come. She had been prepared to die of starvation (physically and spiritually), but after being saved by of God, she was awe-struck that he would have allowed her son to die. Elijah went to the dead boy and asked God to restore his life to him and the boy began breathing again. When her son came running to her, the widow knew that Elijah truly was a man of God and, once again, she was comforted and protected by the hand of God.
In the third year of the drought, the Lord told Elijah to show himself to Ahab and tell him that God would send rain. Three years is a long time to go without rain, and things were getting tough for everyone. The crops had turned into dust, food was scarce and water was very hard, if not impossible, to find. People were starving; animals were dying. There had been plenty of opportunity for King Ahab to think about his disobedience and the connection between his wickedness and the drought, but he didn’t repent. He wasn’t on his knees before God. Instead, King Ahab had been on a search and destroy mission for that “evil Elijah” that had caused so much trouble.
While King Ahab didn’t care anything about the condition of his people during this drought, he and his servant, Obadiah, had divided the land between themselves and set out to find some grass and water to save the king’s animals. Shortly after Obadiah left on his journey, he met Elijah. Elijah told Obadiah to tell King Ahab that he wanted to see him. So, reluctantly, Obadiah left and gave King Ahab the message, and the King came to Elijah – this man who was causing so much trouble for him.
Elijah reminded King Ahab that he was the one causing trouble with his disobedience of the Lord’s commandments and his blatant idol worship. Elijah told King Ahab to bring everyone in Israel to Mt. Carmel, including all 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of idols, for a showdown of power between the gods of Ahab and the God of Elijah.
On Mt. Carmel, Elijah stood before all the people of Israel and made it clear to them that they could no longer sit on the fence. They would have to choose one side or the other. If the Lord is God, then they must follow him. But if Baal is god, they must follow him. Two bulls would be offered on separate altars to their respective gods. They were to be cut in pieces and laid on dry wood without any fire. Then the Ahab’s prophets would call on their god, and Elijah would call on his God. The god who answered with fire for the sacrifice would be the god they would all follow, and all the people of Israel agreed. After all, Baal was the weather god — the one who sends lightening bolts — should be easy!
The prophets of Baal circled the sacrifice and called on Baal to light their sacrifice with fire. They called from morning until noon. Elijah prodded them a little. He suggested they shout a little louder. Maybe Baal was talking and didn’t hear them, or maybe he was away on a journey, or maybe he was asleep. The prophets went wild! They were dancing, leaping, shouting at the tops of their lungs. They even cut themselves with knives and swords to draw attention from their god until the evening, but no fire.
Then Elijah gathered twelve stones (one for each of the of the 12 tribes of Israel) and he built an altar in the name of the Lord. He dug a trench around the altar, stacked the wood on the stones and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he asked for four barrels of water and drenched the sacrifice three times. It was time for the evening sacrifice when Elijah said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at your direction. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that your people may know that you are the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.”
Then fire from the Lord fell on the sacrifice and not only burned the sacrifice, but also consumed the wood, the stones, the dust and the water. All the people fell on their faces, proclaiming the Lord is God. Then Elijah ordered all 450 prophets of Baal to be killed.
Elijah went to King Ahab and told him to get something to eat and drink because it was getting ready to rain. While King Ahab went to eat, Elijah began earnestly seeking God and praying for rain. He sent his servant to go look toward the sea for rain clouds. Nope – nothing! He sent his servant again seven times. Finally a very small cloud appeared over the sea, and Elijah sent his servant to tell King Ahab to get on his chariot and get out of there because a mighty storm was coming. So Ahab jumped on his chariot and headed for Jezreel, about 15 miles down the road. The hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he ran before King Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
When King Ahab arrived in Jezreel, he did not tell his wife, Jezebel, what God had done, but instead he told her Elijah killed all 450 prophets of Baal. This infuriated Jezebel and she issued a death warrant on Elijah. When Elijah heard about the death warrant, he ran for his life. Suffering from deep depression, he went into the wilderness – hiding – and praying that God would take his life.
Why the sudden change in faith?
Elijah had experienced miracle after miracle first-hand!
- God provided food at the brook Cherith twice a day, brought by ravens
- God provided an endless supply of meal and oil for the widow
- God brought a boy back from death into life
- God sent fire to consume a water-drenched sacrifice
- God gave Elijah super-physical running power
Elijah knew God and the power that is only his. Yet when one godless, wicked woman made a threat on his life, he ran. Why? King Ahab had threatened to kill him for three years, but Elijah didn’t pay any attention to his idle threats. He obeyed God. Why was this time different?
Elijah was worn out – stressed out. Beneath all the blazing conviction of service to his Lord, Elijah was a fragile man, tired and weak in his human nature. But God didn’t get upset. He sent an angel to Elijah – to minister to him and feed him for his journey.
Elijah sought refuge in a cave and listened for that still, small voice that was God’s. God kept asking him, “What are you doing here?” But Elijah was afraid for his life. Elijah’s strength failed him. His body had passed into overdrive and his physical weakness overcame the heroic temper of his spirit. Elijah felt like a failure. His perseverance had run out. So God sent him to anoint Elisha in his place as prophet.
King Ahab and Queen Jezebel met tragic, violent deaths. King Ahab was stabbed to death in battle and the dogs licked up his blood. Queen Jezebel was later thrown off the wall of Jezreel, trampled by horses and eaten by dogs.
Elijah had been a faithful servant and prophet of the Lord. He was only weakened by his physical limitations. He had been strong, but the emotional and physical stress of all that was going on – the pressure that he felt on his shoulders and in his heart – became like a dragnet, entangling him in its capture. He was complaining that the salvation of the whole world was on his shoulders. He even told God he was the only one who was righteous among all the people. Even though God knew better, Elijah was bending under the pressure of stress.
God was saying to him, “Hold on, Elijah. Let’s just sit for a minute and review the circumstances. Who is in control?” It might have been wise for Elijah to have had a pocket version of the third Psalms with him in that cave. “Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me. Many there are who say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. But thou, O Lord art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I laid down and slept; I woke up; for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, who have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God; for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone; thou has broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs unto the Lord; thy blessing is upon thy people.”
God understands our humanity. He knows we are created of dust. He loves us in spite of ourselves. He was proud of Elijah’s accomplishments and his faithfulness to him. And when Elijah had properly trained Elisha to take over for him, God sent his finest chariot and horses to carry Elijah right up into the heavens to be with him. We serve a first-class God!
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
Lord, lead me in precious moments of silence with you each morning. Show me how to slow down and focus on your plan for my life. When my body and my spirit is stressed, remember your promise, “Come to me, all you who are weary and stressed, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
“Tuck me under your wings Lord, and cover me with your feathers.”
Psalm 91:4