House of Elijah

I started this blog for any one interested in the study of the Bible. I myself did a study on Elijah and thought it was interesting how God worked in his life. The meaning of his name is the Lord is my God. I feel the same way too, the Lord is my God.
Elijah was a Tishbite he emerged as if from nowhere, to become Israel's greatest miracle-worker since Moses. This great prophet from the northern kingdom of Israel was empowered by God to battle the forces of Baal, the Canaanite god of storm, rain, and fertility. Baal was acquiring a huge following among the Israelites who had forsaken their God or were attempting to worship both God and Baal.
The Israel of Elijah's day was in political as well spiritual disarray. After the triumphant, solidifying reigns of King David and King Solomon, a political upheaval broke the nation into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. As Israel suffered through the reigns of kings who did not follow the God of their fathers, Elijah emerged as a prophet to steer Israel from the brink of disaster.
Elijah lived in Israel during the reign on King Ahab, whose father, King Omri, had formed an alliance with Phoenicia. Their coalition was sealed by the marriage of Ahab to Jezebel, daughter of the king of Sidom. Ahab allowed her to establish the worship of the Phoenician god Baal and his consort Asherah throughout Israel. Ahab began to support this idolatrous Baal worship so enthusiasically that the Book of Kings denounced Ahab as the most wicked king of Israel.
Against this royal pagan backdrop, Elijah, dresses only in a leather loin cloth and a cloak made of hair, appeared before King Ahab to make a dramatic and harsh decree: Isreal would suffer an extented drought. Before the king could order any retribution on this upstart prophet, Elijah vanished. During the drought and resulting famine, Elijah followed God's instructions and hid in a ravine next to a brook; ravens brought him meat and bread, and he drank from the brook untill it dried up.
According to the Lord's instructions, Elijah was to seek help from a widow and her son in Phoenicia who were suffering the devastating consequences of the famine. When he asked her to bring him water and bread, the widow explained that she had only a handful of flour and a little oil. Elijah told her to bring her last piece of bread and God would make the flour and oil last until the end of the drought. The prophet helped the widow again a year later, when her son died and she blamed Elijah for his death. Elijah then stretched himself out on the boy's body and prayed three times, crying out to God for his life; the child came back to life, affirming to the widow that Elijah was truly a prophet of the Lord.
After three dry years, God instructed Elijah to present himself before Ahab and end the drought. Elijah challenged Ahab to a battle of the prophets- a contest between one prophet of God and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Ahab accepted the challenge. It was decided that each side would cut up a bull, lay it on wood with no fire, and then call on their god to take the offering by fire. Before the contest, Elijah urged the assembled Israelites to abandon their dual theocracy by proclaiming, "How long will you go limping with different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him" (1 Ki 18:21). The ceremony began in the morning with the appeal to Baal. By noon, after Ahab's prophets had repeatedly cried out, "O Baal, answer us!" there was still no fire. Elijah taunted them with jeers that perhaps Baal was meditating, on a journey, or sleeping. Baal's prophets became agitated, and to get the attention of their god, they slashed themselves with swords until they were covered with blood.
When there was still no response and the time came for the afternoon sacrifice, the spectators turnrd their attention to Elijah. He built an alter with 12 stones (to represent the 12 tribes of Israel), laid wood and the sacrificial bull on the altar, and dug a deep trench around it. He had 12 jars of water poured over the sacrifice and the wood until the altar was saturated and the trench was overflowing. Then Elijah stood by the altar and said, "O Lord, God of Abraham,Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel" ( 1 Ki 18:36). The fire of God consumed not only the pieces of the bull but the wood, the stones, the dust, even the water in the trench. The people were astounded and acknowledged Elija's God as Lord. They seized the false prophets, who were then executed by Elijah in accordanced with Jewish Law.
Elijah then announced that God would end the drought. He prayed seven times for rain with his face humbly between his knees. When a little storm cloud appeared on the horizon, Elijah ran down the mountain to the city, arriving ahead of the king's chariot to announce the coming of the rains.
Upon hearing that her prophets had been killed, Queen Jezebel sought to execute Elijah. Instead of celebrating the victory of his God, Elijah now had to flee for his life. He went into the wilderness, where the despairing prophet was fed by an angel of God and instructed to keep traveling south. Then he went to Mt. Sinai, the place where God had revealed himself to Moses and had given his Law to Israel. On this holy mountain, God again exhibited a wonderful display of nature, starting with a mighty wind that split mountains and broke rocks into pieces. Then came an earthquake and a fire, followed by total silence broken only by God speaking in a quiet voice. Elijah was instructed to select Elisha as his successor and to anoint two kings (for Aram and Israel). Upon returning to Samaria, Elijah accused Ahab of murder and predicted the deaths of Ahab and Jezebel. When Ahab repented, the Lord delayed judgement on him but, as predicted, Jezebel was thrown out a window and trampled by horses.
When God was ready to take Elijah to heaven, an insistent, devoted Elisha aggressively stayed with his mentor. In a miracle reminiscent of God parting the Red Sea for the Israelites exiting from Egypt, Elijah saw God stop the waters of the Jordan River so he could walk across on dry ground. Elisha, after receiving a double portion of Elijah's spirit, was then separated from his beloved teacher by a fiery chariot and horses of fire, which took Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha tore his clothes and picked up Elijah's mantle, which had fallen from the chariot-an act symbolic of Elisha taking up great prophet's ministry.
Elijah set the standard against which all future prophets and messianic figures would be measured. The prophet Malachi ended the Old Testament with the promise that Elijah would reunite his people before " that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes" (Mal 4:5). Between the Testaments, Jesus Ben Sira reported that Elijah stands ready to "restore the tribes of Jacob" (Sir 48:10)
Several times in the Gospel, John the Baptist and Jesus are compared to Elijah as a way to validate their status. Elisha's significance is further established when he appears alondside Moses at the Transfiguration, an event that affirms Jesus as the Son of God. For all his greatness, Elijah was simply a human being like us who raised the expectation that the persistent prayer of a "righteous" person will be "powerful and effective" (Jas 5:16-17).


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