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There is a uniqueness about this Old Testament prophet
called Elijah. Not only was Elijah unique his character was fascinating. The
New Testament affirms this and it also reveals what a memorable impression he
left in the minds of the nation of Israel. The only thing that we know about
the prophet before he appeared on the scene is that he was a Tishbite, one of
the inhabitants of Gilead. The scriptures are silent about his past. All of a sudden, he bursts upon the scene to
rebuke the godless, to reawaken and restore the Nation of which he was a
citizen. The events that took place high atop the Mount called Transfiguration
is an affirmation connecting this Old Testament Prophet to the New Testament
Church. I believe that there is a truth in the saying, that “The Old Testament
conceals what the New Testament reveals”.
On Mount Transfiguration, Jesus took with Him
Peter, James, and John. There on top of the mountain, He transfigured Himself,
and then there appeared with Him in
transfigured splendor, Moses and this Prophet called Elijah. The
transfiguration scene contains in small-scale, a good look at what Heaven must
be like. Jesus is there, not in
mortality but immortality. Moses who died and no one save Jesus knew where his body was buried, Moses is there not in mortal
but immortality, representing the redeemed who will enter Heaven after death.
Elijah who was caught up into Heaven in a fiery chariot, Elijah is there not in
mortal but immortality representing the redeemed who will enter Heaven by way
of the rapture.
Then there is Peter, James, and John not in immortality but
mortality representing all who could enter Heaven if they make Jesus their choice. No one will ever
stumble up on or get lucky and go to Heaven; getting into Heaven does not work
that way. If anybody plans to go to heaven they need to have a plan, and the
only plan that will work is the plan of Salvation which only comes by making Jesus your choice. The doctrine of election refers to making
choices. It is the sovereign act of God,
whereby certain elect persons are chosen from among mankind for His distinctive service.
With God,
election is always inclusive, never exclusive. He chooses a few in order that many may be blessed. Election proceeds
from divine volition, it is wholly of grace, and separate from any human merit.
There are two phases of divine choice which can be discerned here. One is
corporate choice. Corporate choice is seen in God’s choosing Israel as a nation and then the Church as a
Spiritual institution.
Second is individual choice. Individual choice is where God chooses certain individuals to warn
the people of the consequences of making wrong choices. And because you’ve been
warned of those consequences, you won’t be able to point the finger at God and say that it His fault that you didn’t make it. The
Salvation that He offers is available to everybody. Anybody can receive it, but
not everybody will. Nobody has to be lost, but somebody will. Here in the text,
this prophet called Elijah, was one of the most unique and dramatic characters
in Biblical history.
His was an abrupt appearance during the reign of King Ahab,
King of Israel the Northern Kingdom. Ahab was known as an idolatrous King, one
who did evil in the sight of The Lord..
But he was just half of the story; the other half of the story, was his
Phoenician wife Jezebel. She was the Daughter of Ethbaal, King of the
Zidonians. Jezebel was the princess of Zidon, she had an ebony complexion. She
was simply gorgeous to look at. Her body was tight as though it had been carved
with a sculptures chisel. Her hair was long black and wavy, she had high
cheekbones and eyes slightly slanted, her teeth were so white they looked like
pearls that had been dip in sweet milk, I tell you Jezebel was good looking.
Clothes fit her just right. She could wear every designer label there was. She
had a lot of glide in her stride and pep in her step. She knew how to walk that
walk, and she knew how to talk that talk. She had enough confidence in herself
to know that she couldn’t loose with the stuff she used.
You don’t have to take my word for it, but if you take time
out to read your Bible you’ll find out I’m right. She went from being a
princess in the heathen land of Zidon, to become the Queen in Israel over God’s people. She is the reason for
perverting and polluting the worship of the God that had brought them from a mighty long way. So then since
Jezebel was not and did not promote God’s
Kingdom, it is safe to say she had to promote Satan’s kingdom, and to do that
is to declare oneself a hell raiser. Now brothers and sisters, there’s a big
difference between raising hell, and being a hell raiser.
Raising hell is an idiomatic expression which means to
indulge in some type of wild celebration; or to create an uproar. Some of us in
church, wouldn’t be who we are if we didn’t raise a little hell, every now and
then. A hell raiser on the other hand, create lifestyles and practices that
that have all the zeal of religion, including gods, but has no room for the God of Salvation. Religious practices
that substitutes the Almighty God,
creator of heaven and earth, for whatever god there is that floats your boat,
is a religion that is raising a people whose eternal destiny is hell. That’s a
true hell raiser. Jezebel was a true hell raiser. She was a worshiper of Baal
and Ashtaroth. She not only worshipped these idol gods, but the influence she
held filtered down to her husband Ahab, and from him, to the people of God.
Ashtaroth was the female god of the Phoenician nations. The
goddess of love was her entitlement. And Baal was her male counterpart. The
religion that Jezebel brought with her to Israel, made sex, the object of it’s
devotion. As long as the subject of sex has been around, my brother’s and
sister’s, there is still an enormous amount of ignorance that attaches itself
to the issue. We behave as though we are our own authority concerning its
nature, it’s purpose, and it’s function.
But I stopped by to tell you, that the only true authority on this
subject is God. Sex is one of His
many gifts to us. It is a part of our total personality. And like all other
instincts this is also good. Satan,
the adversary of God, is always
trying to misrepresent, counterfeit, and confuse the Word of God by polluting, perverting, and convoluting His moral ethics, with the intended
purpose of causing us to disobey Divine instruction. He knows that as long as
sex is regulated by God, then it’s
moral, social, and spiritual purpose will be met. In other words men and women
will get married, and then sleep together.
Satan also knows that without godly ethics, like all good
things, sex is capable of abuse and can become one of life’s destructive
agents. Destructive because outside of marriage it violates the commitment so
vital to the man - woman relationship. Within the marriage, an extra marital
sex violates the commitment of the relationship. That is why it is not to be
indulged in promiscuously; but rather it is to be disciplined and subordinated
to the entire way of godly living. This is God’s
way of providing husband and wife with a language that cannot be matched by
words or by any other act for that matter; inviting this union to continue His creative work.
That’s what the word procreation means, creation for and on
the behalf of another. Jezebel the
heathen Queen of Israel was Satan incarnate. She not only caused Ahab to sin against God, but the
nation of Israel as well. Ahab knew better. For it had been handed down to him,
from antiquity, that the God of Heaven has declared, thou shall have no other god before Me. So then my brothers and sisters God sent
Elijah to remind King Ahab what thus said the Lord God of Israel. And it came
to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that he said unto him, Art thou he that
troubleth Israel? So Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel: but thou and
thy fathers house in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and
thou has followed after Baal. Now send
and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty
prophets of Baal that eat at Jezebel’s table. And about that time, Ahab had
assembled the children of Israel along with the prophets of Baal unto Mount
Carmel.
So Elijah
came unto all the people asking, how long halt ye between two opinions? If the
Lord be God then follow Him; but if Baal, follow him. Now let them give us two
bullocks, let Baal’s prophets choose one, cut it in pieces and lay it on the
wood and call on their god. And I Elijah will call on the name of the Lord: and
the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And the prophets of Baal dressed
their bullock and began to call on their god.
They
called, and they called, and they called on Baal but no answer. And around the
noon hour old man Elijah began to mock them saying; maybe your god is taking a
nap, so why don’t you call him a little louder. They called louder, but Baal
refused to answer. And the Bible say’s about midday, Elijah gather twelve
stones which represented the twelve sons of Jacob, built an altar in the name
of the Lord, dug a trench all around that altar, put the wood in order and cut
the bullock in pieces, laid him on the wood, had the four barrels filled with
water and poured upon the altar, and then had it done a second and even a third
time so that the trench was filled with water. And Elijah called on the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When Elijah got through calling on the name of the
Lord, the fire fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the
stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. And
when the people saw it they began to praised the Lord; saying the Lord He is
God.
Elijah
told them, take all of those false prophets, and he took them down to the brook
Ki-shon and slew them there. And about that time my brothers and sisters,
Jezebel hears from King Ahab, of the events on Carmel and vows to take Elijah’s
life. Jezebel’s bluster hurls the prophet into what one writer calls the slough
of despond. In other words it caused him to fear and fret; and fearing and fretting
caused him to run. Fear is an acronym for false evidence appearing real. Fear
is one of the passions of human nature, of which it is impossible to divest it.
Fear is the permanent emotion of mortal man. It can be dangerous, it can be
excessive, it can be overrated, and even encourage hatred.
God does
not want us to live in fear. 365 times He say’s in His Word, fear not. The
Psalmist said, “The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The
Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked,
even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled
and fell. If God be for us, He’s more than the world against us. So then my
brothers and sisters after fearing and fretting Elijah ran for his life, he ran through Judah deep into the desert,
and after forty days and forty nights, found himself at Horeb the Mount of God,
found a cave, hid himself there, and after while the word of the Lord came to
him asking him the question, “what are you doing here Elijah?”
In my
imagination I believe God was asking Elijah “What are you afraid of?” You know
it was Me who shut up heaven that no rain fell for three years and six month.
You know it was me who sent the ravens to serve you your meals. You know it was
me who sent that fire down from above. So what are you doing here? You know
that I can deliver you from all of your enemies. Oh brothers and sisters,
enemies don’t always have to be positional they can also be conditional. Sin is
conditional, Poverty is conditional, Ignorance is conditional, Sickness and
Disease are conditional, Accidents and Inhumane acts, these are all conditional
enemies. But the God that we serve is still able to prepare a table before us
in the presence of our enemies. Well what happened to Elijah’s enemy? I kings
22:37 declares that Ahab was killed in battle, II Kings 9:30-37 Jezebel was
also destroyed. I don’t know about you, but I’m so glad that if we just stand
still. the Lord will fight are battles. He’ll make our enemies leave us alone. On
a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost
sinners was slain. He died but He rose from the dead. And because He rose our
last enemies, hell, death and the grave, have been defeated.