Disillusioned - discouraged - downbeated
Elijah (1 Kings 17)
Used greatly by God
declared a 3.5 yr drought on Israel
hid in wilderness, drank of stream and fed by ravens till stream dried up
God sent him to a starving widow in Sidon w a son
God provides just enough oil, meal and water for the three of them to survive
Widow's son becomes sick and dies
Elijah prays 3x's and the boys soul returns to his body.
Goes back to Israel and confronts Ahab
Then confronts the his 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah
Elijah's prayer just before God sends fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice:
1Ki 18:36-37
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening oblation, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
Elijah's prayer request (reread vs37)
this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God
and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
1Kings 18:38-39
38 Then the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God.
Remember Elijah's prayer requests?
Do the people know that Jehovah, is God
Yes or no?
Any evidence that He turned their heart back again?
Unsure
1Kings 18:40-
40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
Any evidence that He turned their heart back again?
Unsure, maybe "they that took them" (the prophets of Baal) were those that turned their hearts back to God again?
And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
Skip to verse 1 Kings 18:45
45 And it came to pass in a little while, that the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel: 46 and the hand of Jehovah was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Elijah seems to think that God has answered his prayer about the people
the people think Jehovah, art God
and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
So he runs back to the entrance of Jezreel before Ahab.
And notice "the hand of Jehovah was on Elijah"
Did Elijah think that God's display of power would turn their hearts back again to Him? Not sure…
1Ki 19:1-2
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time.
Evidently if the peoples hearts had been turned back to God, they weren't here with him, nor was Jezebel's heart turned back to Jehovah. She threatens to kill him tomorrow.
And if the peoples hearts were truly turned back to God, they made no effort to overthrow Jezebel's idols with or without Elijah.
1 Kings 19:3-4
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
What happened?
Wasn't the hand of the Lord on Elijah?
Did he not anticipate the anger of Jezebel?
Had he thought that he'd have the assistance of the people who had witnessed the Mt Carmel event?
Hmmm, maybe God had not changed the hearts of the people after all.
God had certainly had not changed Jezebel's heart. Yes, her prophets were now dead but she had no desire to honor or know Jehovah.
It seems that the people did not intend on supporting Elijah in ridding the nation of idols. Maybe that's why he felt alone?
1 Kings 19:4
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper-tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
His actions suggest that he was unable to overthrow Jezebel, the harlot.
Did this catch God off guard? No. God knew that Elijah wouldn't be capable of overthrowing Jezebel, the harlot.
Who would God use? Elisha.
Why? It required the "double portion" that Elisha was given in order to kill the harlot.
Who is the harlot in our day? The harlot church
****If the types and shadows remain the same, what is needed to overthrow the harlot church that we see in Rev 17-18? The double portion
Back to Elijah: Burn out? Disillusionment?
with God's ways
Disillusioned with what you expected God to do
Tough road
declared a 3.5 yr drought on Israel
hid in wilderness, drank of stream and fed by ravens till stream dried up
God sent him to a starving widow in Sidon w a son
God provides just enough oil, meal and water for the three of them to survive
Widow's son becomes sick and dies
Elijah prays 3x's and the boys soul returns to his body.
Goes back to Israel and confronts Ahab
Then confronts the his 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah
Kills prophets
Runs away afraid of Jezebel
Maybe this is the reason why Elijah says "and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
###
John the Baptist
John 3:26
And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
John 3:28
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Matt 11:13-15
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 11:2-15
2 Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples 3 and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them. 6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me. 7 And as these went their way, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind? 8 But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft raiment are in kings' houses. 9 But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 10 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee. 11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
Probably beheaded in Jesus first year of ministry.
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