PLACES.—Samaria, Brook Cherith, Zarephath, Mt. Carmel, Beersheba, Horeb, Mt. of Transfiguration.
SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.—The contest of true religion with heathen beliefs is brought to a sharp focus in Elijah's time; and the battle-line there drawn so sharply has ever been a challenge for Christian courage in later days.
Elijah, the Great Speaking Prophet
86. Elijah's Mission.—All the prophets spoke, though some of them wrote as well, like Isaiah and others. We call Elijah a speaking prophet because we have but one record (2 Chron. 21:12-15) of anything that he wrote. Elijah was sent by God to the Northern Kingdom at the time of Ahab and Jezebel, to try and stay the tide of idolatry that was threatening to overwhelm the land. Ahab and Jezebel had established the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, two nature divinities of the heathen world. To turn back this tendency God sent this man of the desert. Of his early life we know nothing. He appears before us suddenly, as a man in the full tide of life. He was from Gilead, and a man of action, most emphatically. To get a good idea of the man, we may set him forth as seen in six notable scenes.
87. First Scene: Elijah and Ahab.—This is where he meets the king, and announces that as the God of Israel lives, there shall not be dew or rain in all the land, excepting at the word of the prophet. Note here the significant nature of this challenge. The two divinities that the people were now forced to worship were supposed to preside over the processes of nature. Just in their realm of influence, therefore, Elijah challenges them, and claims that his God has given to him power over the forces of nature, such as neither Baal nor Ashtoreth possessed. Then Elijah disappears, no one knows whither.
88. Now follows the fulfilment of his prediction. The season for the early and for the latter rain comes and goes, and still there is no rain. Probably some said, "This is unusual, but of course things will even up next year, and we shall have an abundance of rain." But the next year came and went, and still the heavens were as brass. Ahab now tries to discover this man who holds the key of the heaven, that he may force him to unlock the clouds. But in vain. The third year comes and goes, and still there is no rain, while the land is dry and parched, and even the king finds it hard to get food for his horses. At the same time there are some who call attention to the most unwonted fact that not only has there been no rain, but that even the dew has not been seen for three years.
89. Second Scene.—Now comes the second encounter between the prophet and the enraged monarch. Most dramatic is this brief interview, in which Ahab charges Elijah with troubling Israel, and Elijah throws the charge back in his teeth. Then comes the further challenge on the part of the prophet to the priests of these two nature divinities, to test their power on Mount Carmel. The scene there is too familiar to need detailed description. Suffice it to remind the student that Baal's priests were powerless to make good their claim that their gods held control over the forces of nature. Elijah, however, proves that Jehovah is the God of nature, and holds all things in his hands, for his prayer is answered by fire, and the sacrifice is consumed, with the wood and the water and the very dust that lay around so abundantly. Now comes the confession of the people that Jehovah and not Baal is the true God. Then comes the rain at Elijah's petition, and the second great scene in the life of this man closes.
90. Third Scene.—Very different is this from either of the two others. We see this man sitting discouraged under a juniper tree, and asking God to take away his life, as he is not better than his fathers. Is this the same hero whom we saw standing in all his triumph before the king? Yes, the same. How then account for the difference in his mien? Probably because of the reaction that came after the exciting contest with the priests of Baal, and the consciousness that he had not won as great a victory for Jehovah as he had anticipated. For as soon as the prophets of Baal had been slain, Jezebel, instead of yielding, had sent word to Elijah that she would kill him within twenty-four hours. It was this apparent failure that most probably discouraged the prophet, so that all his work seemed to him to have come to naught. Note now how God comforts his servant, how he ministers to his body, by food and rest, and to his mind by assuring him that he is wrong in thinking that he only remains as a true worshiper of Jehovah. Furthermore, God sends him to Horeb, where Moses learned so many lessons in things divine, and there God speaks to Elijah and gives him further work to do, so that when the prophet comes forth from his communion with God, he is again the stern man of duty that he was before. (Three great men learned much at Horeb: Moses, Elijah, and Paul the Apostle, for when he went to Arabia, it was probably Horeb to which he journeyed.)
91. Fourth Scene.—Again Elijah and Ahab are face to face. Ahab has coveted the vineyard of Naboth, to make out of it a garden of herbs. Naboth, as was his right, would not part with the inheritance of his fathers. Ahab does not dare use violence to secure possession. But Jezebel has no such scruples. With bribery and perjury, she soon has poor Naboth convicted of blasphemy, and stoned to death. Then his estate passing to the crown, she tells her husband to arise and take possession. Just as Ahab reaches the vineyard, lo! Elijah confronts him. The prophet was the last man whom the conscience-stricken king desired to see, particularly at that very moment. "Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?" he exclaims, in horror. Then comes the righteous prophet's stern denunciation of the guilty king, and so the interview closes.