Elijah is a hero of the faith. When we think of people of faith and obedience to God, he would be near the top of anyone’s list. He is one of only two people to appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Interestingly, though, he isn’t listed n the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11. I don’t know why Elijah isn’t mentioned in Hebrews 11, but (perhaps) we should not be as enamored of Elijah as we might want to be. I say that with due respect to Elijah, an unquestioningly bold man of great faith.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, God the Father exalts Jesus the Son of God in the presence of Elijah and Moses. When the Father declares, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him,” the Father echoes the words of Moses to Israel: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You shall listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5; Deut. 18:15)
Then, Elijah and Moses disappear. Only Jesus remains.
Elijah and Moses are the champions of the old covenant. Jesus came to announce a new covenant, a better one, a covenant that dates back before Moses to Abraham, when God counted his faith as righteousness. The disappearance of Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration is not just symbolic; Jesus introduced a new covenant, a new way of relating to God, and a new purpose for the people of God.
People have always loved power and spectacular displays of power, but we do not see God most accurately portrayed in Elijah or even Moses. Only Jesus is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3), and Jesus reveals God in a way that is much more nuanced and strikingly different then the way we see God through Elijah or Moses.
Not that God is any different of course. God does not change. It’s just that our perspective of God changes when he sheds his glory and becomes man in the form of Jesus. In the stripped-down version of God in human form, we see the character of God as it is displayed on our level.
In this context I want to look again at the story of Elijah and the lesson God sought to teach him on Mount Sinai – a lesson that did not resonate with him, but which is told for our benefit. It is a lesson we should grasp as we seek to follow Jesus as he walked and as he told us to follow him.
I apologize upfront for the length of this blog post, but there is so much in the text that I want to pull out and examine. I don’t think I could do it justice in a shorter blog post. To be honest, I think a whole book could be written about this.
BRESCIA, ITALY – MAY 23, 2016: The painting Prophet Elijah Receiving Bread and Water from an Angel at Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista by Alessandro Bonvicino-Moretto
Do you identify with Elijah? Do you squirm thinking about his zeal? Do you feel guilty about not sharing the Gospel with your neighbor? Then, maybe a new look at Elijah may resonate with you.
We know Elijah for his zeal for Yahweh in a time when the culture and national leaders were rebelling against God. Sound familiar?
Elijah is famous for challenging the Israelite king, Ahab, and his rebellious wife, Jezebel, and all of the prophets of Baal and Asherah that were commissioned by that royal pair. He felt like he was the only one standing for God in a world that wanted him to shut up and go away.
Some of us may feel like Elijah, while many others of us may feel guilty that we are not like Elijah. He is a pillar of the faith, right?
Yes, of course, he is! As I read through these passages, though, I am seeing something I didn’t catch before. For one thing, I get the feeling that Elijah probably wasn’t a fun guy to be around.
He certainly didn’t go along with the crowd. He wasn’t known for his diplomatic tact. (To put it mildly) He said what was on his mind, and he didn’t pull any punches.
These characteristics of Elijah begin to give us an idea of what he is like. They also point toward a more human side of Elijah that I hadn’t noticed before, which is why I want to dive deeper into the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
Elijah is famous for challenging 450 prophets of Baal to an Ancient Near Eastern duel of the gods. It was Elijah against all the prophets of Baal; Yahweh against Baal in a cosmic duel with mortal consequences for the losers.
This is the way Elijah rolled. No holds barred!
Elijah challenged the prophets to sacrifice a bull on an altar without setting fire to it, letting Baal or Yahweh, as the case might be, consume the sacrifice directly. Which one would show up?! The stakes were high. If Yahweh didn’t show, Elijah was toast!!
Elijah offered to let the prophets of Baal go first. (A bit of showmanship?) They cut up the bull; they placed it on the altar; and they did their ritual thing to entice Baal to come out of whatever stone he might live under … but nothing happened.
Elijah taunted them. (He was not a master of subtlety!) He egged them on to shout louder and offered the following “helpful” comments (paraphrased by me):
Maybe your god is daydreaming”;
Maybe he fell asleep and you need to shout louder; and
Maybe he is relieving himself, and he will be back in a minute!
Elijah’s taunting wound those prophets up into a religious frenzy. They cut themselves with knives, and swords, and spears until they bled everywhere … but still nothing happened.
When their time was up, all eyes turned to Elijah.
I imagine the anticipation in the crowd rivaled a Las Vegas audience watching Siegfried and Roy walk a full grown tiger onto the stage. Elijah let the expectation mount as he built his own altar. The atmosphere was electric. The crowd was undoubtedly hoping for more action than the prophets of Baal gave them.
I can imagine the smug look on Elijah’s face and the brash confidence in his demeaner as he instructed volunteers from the crowd to pour water on the offering. Elijah was nothing if not dramatic!
Lest we forget, they were in the middle of a long draught. Elijah didn’t just have them sprinkle water. Three times Elijah instructed his helpers to fill up the jars, and pour them out on the bull, the wood, and the altar until it was soaked and water pooled in the trench around it.
Anticipation hung like a funnel cloud overhead as darkness loomed over the mountaintop stage. The expectant crowd, the exhausted prophets recovering from their failed ordeal, and Ahab sat poised on the edge of their proverbial seats.
In the flash of a moment, fire came down from heaven. Like a galactic flamethrower, the fire was so fierce it completely consumed the bull, the wood, and the altar itself!
Nothing remained but hot, smoldering ash.
Yahweh showed up as Elijah said he would! Elijah was vindicated!
But that wasn’t enough for him. With freshened zeal fueled by the powerful demonstration of God’s power, Elijah provoked the excited crowd to grab the cowering prophets of Baal and march them down the mountain where they were slaughtered in the valley below.
Elijah was at the height of his prophetic career. Elijah may have thought, “Not even Moses presided over such a powerful demonstration of God’s awesome power!” Elijah was on top of the world!
It’s hard to imagine greater faith and boldness or a more decisive display of God’s power. Perhaps, the only thing more amazing than all of that was Jezebel’s response:
She was not… impressed… at all.
When Ahab raced to deliver the news to Jezebel, his haughty audacious wife didn’t even hesitate. She ordered death to Elijah with ice in her veins.
Elijah must have been thinking, “What’s a man of God got to do?!” (Never mind that the crowd seemed properly convinced.) If his greatest act of faith couldn’t turn the hardened hearts of Ahab and Jezebel, nothing would! He had done his absolute best, and it wasn’t enough.
Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like nothing you do, or can do, makes any difference? Have you ever come to the place that you have done your best, and your best wasn’t good enough? Have you ever felt like you are the only one who stands for God?
Have you ever gotten mad at God for not defending you for standing up for Him? Then, read on.
I am reading through Kings and Chronicles right now in my annual trek through the Bible, and the Prophet, Elijah, has been the “star” these last few days. Elijah means “Yahweh is my God” in Hebrew. He is known for his great faith and is one of the most prominent and revered prophets in the Old Testament.
Elijah is known for his fierce faith in the face of difficult circumstances when Ahab, the King of Israel, and his domineering, foreign wife, Jezebel killed off most of the faithful Hebrew prophets and instituted the worship of Baal and Asherah for the nation of Israel.
Elijah stood defiantly against Ahab and Jezebel who sought to kill him for his defiance Elijah is, perhaps, most known for his public challenge to the prophets of Baal and Asherah that culminated in a powerful demonstration of Yahweh’s superiority to those foreign gods.
This story and another story in a similar vein to it are the backdrop for this article. If Elijah is an exemplary man of faith, to what extent should we follow his example today in the expression of our faith in the face of governmental and cultural opposition?
Navigating by Faith 