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The Story of the Prophet Elijah – The Man Who Challenged the Enemies of God · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: In the dark days of Israel's history, when wickedness seemed
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  Speaker 1: to reign unchallenged across the land, a singular voice emerged
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  Speaker 1: from the wilderness. In the time of King Ahab, whose
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  Speaker 1: reign marked one of Israel's lowest spiritual points, God raised
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  Speaker 1: up a prophet unlike any other. His arrival was as
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  Speaker 1: sudden as lightning, his words as powerful as thunder. This
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  Speaker 1: man would challenge kings, call down fire from heaven, and
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  Speaker 1: perform miracles that would echo through the ages. His name
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  Speaker 1: was Elijah, and his story begins not with fanfare, but
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  Speaker 1: with a simple, bold declaration that would shake a kingdom
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  Speaker 1: to its foundations. During this time, Israel had fallen far
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  Speaker 1: from the ways of God. King Ahab had done more
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  Speaker 1: to provoke the Lord than all the kings before him.
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  Speaker 1: He married Jezebel, a Sidonian princess devoted to bale worship,
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  Speaker 1: and together they led Israel into deep idolatry. Temples to
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  Speaker 1: Baal stood, where altars to the Living God were stood.
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  Speaker 1: The prophets of the Lord were hunted and killed. It
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  Speaker 1: was in this dark hour that God called a man
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  Speaker 1: from the wilderness to stand against a corrupt kingdom and
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  Speaker 1: call his people back to faithfulness. Out of nowhere, he came,
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  Speaker 1: a rugged man from the wilderness of Gilead. In First
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  Speaker 1: King seventeen one we learn about his sudden appearance, and
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  Speaker 1: Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said,
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  Speaker 1: unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel, liveth before
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  Speaker 1: whom I stand, there shall not be due nor reign
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  Speaker 1: these years. But according to my word. Elijah appeared suddenly
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  Speaker 1: in the biblical narrative, with no introduction, no lineage, no preparation.
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  Speaker 1: His name meant Yahweh is my God, a powerful statement
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  Speaker 1: in a land now dominated by Baal worship. He was
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  Speaker 1: from Tishbay in Gilead, a rough and mountainous region east
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  Speaker 1: of the Jordan River. This was frontier country, far from
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  Speaker 1: the comforts and compromises of city life. His first recorded
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  Speaker 1: act was astonishingly bold. He stood before King Ahab, the
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  Speaker 1: most powerful and dangerous man in Israel, and delivered a
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  Speaker 1: message that struck at the very heart of Bale worship.
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  Speaker 1: While Baal was supposedly the god of storms and fertility,
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  Speaker 1: Elijah declared that the Living God would withhold rain from
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  Speaker 1: the land. This wasn't just a message. It was a
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  Speaker 1: direct challenge to the False God's supposed power. There would
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  Speaker 1: be no reign, no de nothing except at the word
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  Speaker 1: of Elijah, the prophet of the True God. After delivering
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  Speaker 1: such a dangerous message to the King, Elijah needed protection.
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  Speaker 1: In First Kings seventeen two three, we see God's care
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  Speaker 1: for his prophet, and the word of the Lord came
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  Speaker 1: unto him, saying, get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,
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  Speaker 1: and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
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  Speaker 1: God didn't send Elijah to a palace or a fortress,
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  Speaker 1: but to a brook in the wilderness. There, away from
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  Speaker 1: human help, he would learn to depend completely on divine provision.
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  Speaker 1: The location was strategic, near water, at least initially, but
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  Speaker 1: isolated from those who might seek to kill him. What
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  Speaker 1: happened next demonstrates God's creative provision. In First King seventeen
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  Speaker 1: forty six, we read, and it shall be that thou
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  Speaker 1: shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the
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  Speaker 1: ravens to feed thee. There So he went and did
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  Speaker 1: according unto the word of the Lord. For he went
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  Speaker 1: and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
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  Speaker 1: And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning,
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  Speaker 1: and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank
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  Speaker 1: of the brook. Ravens, considered unclean birds by Jewish law,
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  Speaker 1: became God's delivery service. Each morning and evening, these unlikely
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  Speaker 1: messengers brought bread and meat to the prophet. The God
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  Speaker 1: who commands all creation, enlisted birds known for taking food,
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  Speaker 1: not giving it to sustain his servant. As the drought continued, however,
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  Speaker 1: even this divinely appointed stream began to fail. In First
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  Speaker 1: King seventeen seven, we see the brook's gradual demise, and
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  Speaker 1: it came to pass after a while that the brook
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  Speaker 1: dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
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  Speaker 1: The water level dropped daily, a visual reminder of the
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  Speaker 1: drought affecting the entire country. What might have seemed like
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  Speaker 1: abandonment was actually God's way of moving Elijah to his
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  Speaker 1: next assignment. With the brook now dry, God directed Elijah
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  Speaker 1: to an unexpected place. In First King seventeen eight to nine,
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  Speaker 1: we read and the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise,
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  Speaker 1: get thee to Zaraphath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold,
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  Speaker 1: I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
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  Speaker 1: This instruction must have seemed strange to Elijah. Zarafhath was
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  Speaker 1: in Sidonian territory, the homeland of Queen Jezebel, who was
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  Speaker 1: hunting God's prophets. Furthermore, God was sending him to be
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  Speaker 1: supported not by a wealthy patron, but by a widow,
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  Speaker 1: typically among the poorest and most vulnerable in society. When
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  Speaker 1: Elijah arrived at the town gate, he saw her gathering sticks.
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  Speaker 1: In First King seventeen ten to eleven, we witnessed their
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  Speaker 1: first encounter. So he arose and went to Zaraphath. And
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  Speaker 1: when he came to the gate of the city, behold,
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  Speaker 1: the widow woman was there gathering sticks. And he called
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  Speaker 1: to her and said, fetch me, I pray THEE a
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  Speaker 1: little water in a vessel that I may drink. And
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  Speaker 1: as she was going to fetch it, he called to
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  Speaker 1: her and said, bring me, I pray THEE a morsel
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  Speaker 1: of bread in thine hand. Elijah first asked for water,
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  Speaker 1: precious during a drought, but still something she could provide.
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  Speaker 1: Then he requested bread, which revealed the desperate situation she
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  Speaker 1: faced in first Kings seventeen twelve. We hear her heart
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  Speaker 1: breaking response, and she said, as the Lord thy God
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  Speaker 1: liveth I have not a cake, but an handful of
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  Speaker 1: meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruise.
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  Speaker 1: And behold, I am gathering two sticks that I may
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  Speaker 1: go in and dress it for me and my son,
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  Speaker 1: that we may eat it and die. Her words are haunting.
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  Speaker 1: She was preparing a final meal before she and her
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  Speaker 1: sons starved to death. Yet even in this dire moment,
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  Speaker 1: Elijah asked her to act in faith. In First King
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  Speaker 1: seventeen thirteen fourteen, he makes an extraordinary request, and Elijah said,
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  Speaker 1: unto her, fear not go and do as thou hast said,
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  Speaker 1: But make me thereof a little cake first, and bring
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  Speaker 1: it unto me, And after make for thee and for
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  Speaker 1: thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
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  Speaker 1: cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord
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  Speaker 1: sendeth rain upon the earth. He asked her to give
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  Speaker 1: him the first portion, to put faith before survival instinct.
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  Speaker 1: This wasn't the request of a selfish man, but a
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  Speaker 1: test of faith and a gateway to a miracle. The
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  Speaker 1: widow obeyed, and what followed was a daily miracle that
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  Speaker 1: continued throughout the drought, as we read in First King
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  Speaker 1: seventeen fifteen sixteen. And she went and did according to
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  Speaker 1: the saying of Elijah, And she and he and her
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  Speaker 1: house did eat many days, and the barrel of meal
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  Speaker 1: waste died. Not neither did the cruise of oil fail.
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  Speaker 1: According to the word of the Lord, which he spake
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  Speaker 1: by Elijah, each day the flower should have diminished, but
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  Speaker 1: it didn't. Each day the oil should have run out,
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  Speaker 1: but it remained day after day. This ongoing miracle sustained
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  Speaker 1: them through the famine. Life settled into a routine for
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  Speaker 1: Elijah and the widow's family until tragedy struck. In First
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  Speaker 1: King seventeen seventeen, disaster enters their household. And it came
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  Speaker 1: to pass after these things that the son of the woman,
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  Speaker 1: the mistress of the house, fell sick, and his sickness
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  Speaker 1: was so sore that there was no breath left in him.
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  Speaker 1: The boy, who had been saved from starvation now died
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  Speaker 1: from illness. For the widow, this was beyond devastating. In
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  Speaker 1: the ancient world, a son was a mother's security and
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  Speaker 1: hope for the future. Without him, she faced not just grief,
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  Speaker 1: but potential destitution. Her response reveals her anguish and confusion.
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  Speaker 1: In First Kings seventeen eighteen, she confronts Elijah, and she said,
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  Speaker 1: unto Elijah, what have I to do with thee O thou,
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  Speaker 1: man of God? Art thou come unto me to call
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  Speaker 1: my sin to remembrance and to slay my son? She
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  Speaker 1: viewed her son's death as divine punishment, perhaps for past sins.
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  Speaker 1: She questioned whether Elijah's presence had brought God's attention and
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  Speaker 1: judgment upon her household. Her words revealed the ancient belief
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  Speaker 1: that misfortune was often direct punishment for sin. Elijah's response
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  Speaker 1: was immediate and practical. In First King seventeen nineteen twenty,
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  Speaker 1: we see his actions, and he said, unto her, give
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  Speaker 1: me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom,
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  Speaker 1: and carried him up into a loft where he abode,
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  Speaker 1: and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried
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  Speaker 1: unto the Lord, and said, O, Lord, my God, hast
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  Speaker 1: thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I
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  Speaker 1: sojourn by slaying her son. Elijah took the boy's body
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  Speaker 1: to his own room and did something unprecedented. In Verse
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  Speaker 1: King seventeen twenty one twenty two, we witness the first
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  Speaker 1: resurrection recorded in scripture. And he stretched himself upon the
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  Speaker 1: child three times and cried unto the Lord and said, O, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: my God, I pray thee let this child's soul come
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  Speaker 1: into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah,
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  Speaker 1: and the soul of the child came into him again,
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  Speaker 1: and he revived. Elijah's method was intimate and desperate. He
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  Speaker 1: stretched his own living body over the dead child three times,
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  Speaker 1: as if trying to transfer his own life into the boy.
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  Speaker 1: More importantly, he prayed fervently, asking for an impossible miracle,
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  Speaker 1: and God answered. The moment of reunion was powerful. In
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  Speaker 1: First King seventeen to twenty three to twenty four we
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  Speaker 1: read and Elijah took the child and brought him down
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  Speaker 1: out of the chamber into the house and delivered him
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  Speaker 1: unto his mother. And Elijah said, see thy son liveth
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  Speaker 1: And the woman said to Elijah, now by this I
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  Speaker 1: know that thou art a man of God, and that
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  Speaker 1: the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.
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  Speaker 1: With her son returned to life, the widow made a
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  Speaker 1: profound declaration of faith. The miracle confirmed what the daily
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  Speaker 1: provision of flour and oil had suggested. Elijah truly was
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  Speaker 1: God's messenger and his words could be trusted completely. Three
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  Speaker 1: long years passed as the drought tightened its grip on Israel.
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  Speaker 1: Then came the moment for confrontation. In verse Kings eighteen one,
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  Speaker 1: we read, and it came to pass after many days
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  Speaker 1: that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in
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  Speaker 1: the third year, saying, go show thyself unto Ahab, and
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  Speaker 1: I will send rain upon the earth. The time had
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  Speaker 1: come for Elijah to emerge from hiding. The land was ready,
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  Speaker 1: and more importantly, God was ready to end the drought.
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  Speaker 1: But first there needed to be a reckoning. The situation
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  Speaker 1: in Israel had grown desperate. In verse Kings eighteen two,
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  Speaker 1: we learn, and Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab,
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  Speaker 1: and there was a sore famine in Samaria. Even the
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  Speaker 1: capital city, with all its resources, was suffering severely. No
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  Speaker 1: one had escaped the effects of the drought, from the
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  Speaker 1: poorest citizen to the king himself. The severity of the
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  Speaker 1: situation is illustrated through Ahab's actions in First Kings eighteen
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  Speaker 1: three to six. We see the king's desperate search for resources,
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  Speaker 1: and Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house.
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  Speaker 1: Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, for it was so
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  Speaker 1: when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that
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  Speaker 1: Obadiah took an hundred prophets and hid them by fifty
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  Speaker 1: in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
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  Speaker 1: And Ahab said, unto Obadiah, go into the land, unto
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  Speaker 1: all fountains of water, and unto all brooks, peradventure, we
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  Speaker 1: may find grass to save the horses and mules alive
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  Speaker 1: that we lose, not all the beasts. So they divided
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  Speaker 1: the land between them to pass throughout it. Ahab went
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  Speaker 1: one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
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  Speaker 1: This passage introduces us to Obadiah, a secret believer serving
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  Speaker 1: in Ahab's palace. Despite his high position, he risked everything
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  Speaker 1: to hide and feed a hundred of God's profits during
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  Speaker 1: Jezebel's purge. Now he and the king were personally searching
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  Speaker 1: for any patches of grass that might have survived near
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  Speaker 1: water sources, hoping to keep their animals alive. While on
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  Speaker 1: his search, Obadiah had an unexpected encounter. In verse Kings
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  Speaker 1: eighteen seven to eight, we read, and as Obadiah was
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  Speaker 1: in the way, behold Elijah met him, and he knew
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  Speaker 1: him and fell on his face, and said, art thou
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  Speaker 1: that my Lord Elihijah. And he answered him, I am
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  Speaker 1: go tell thy Lord, behold, Elijah is here. Obadiah immediately
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  Speaker 1: recognized the prophet and showed him deep respect, but Elijah's
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  Speaker 1: instruction filled him with fear. In First Kings eighteen nine fourteen,
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  Speaker 1: Obadiah expresses his concerns, and he said, what have I sinned?
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  Speaker 1: That thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of
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  Speaker 1: Ahab to slay me? As the Lord thy God liveth
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  Speaker 1: there is no nation or kingdom whither my Lord hath
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  Speaker 1: not sent to seek Thee. And when they said he
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  Speaker 1: is not there, he took an oath of the kingdom
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  Speaker 1: and nation that they found THEE not. And now thou sayest,
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  Speaker 1: go tell thy Lord, behold, Elijah is here. And it
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  Speaker 1: shall come to pass as soon as I am gone
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  Speaker 1: from THEE, that the spirit of the Lord shall carry
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  Speaker 1: thee whither I know not. And so when I come
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  Speaker 1: and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee he shall
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  Speaker 1: slay me. But I, thy servant, fear the Lord from
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  Speaker 1: my youth. Was it not told my Lord what I
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  Speaker 1: did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord. How
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  Speaker 1: I hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by
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  Speaker 1: fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water.
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  Speaker 1: And now thou sayest go, tell thy Lord, behold, Elijah
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  Speaker 1: is here, and he shall slay me. Obadiah's fear was reasonable.
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  Speaker 1: Ahab had searched everywhere for Elijah, taking oaths from neighboring
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  Speaker 1: kingdoms that they weren't harboring the prophet. If Obadiah announced
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  Speaker 1: Elijah's presence and then the prophet disappeared again, perhaps supernaturally
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  Speaker 1: transported by God's spirit, Ahab would likely execute the messenger.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah reassured him with the solemn promise in First Kings
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  Speaker 1: eighteen fifteen to sixteen, and Elijah said, as the Lord
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  Speaker 1: of Hosts liveth before whom I stand, I will surely
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  Speaker 1: show myself unto him to day. So Obadiah went to
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  Speaker 1: meet Ahab and told him, And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
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  Speaker 1: When King AaB finally faced the prophet he'd been hunting
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  Speaker 1: for three years. His first words were accusations. In Verd
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  Speaker 1: Kings eighteen seventeen, we hear his bitter greeting. And it
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  Speaker 1: came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said,
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  Speaker 1: unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel. In Ahab's
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  Speaker 1: distorted view, Elijah was the problem, the troublemaker, bringing hardship
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  Speaker 1: to the nation. The king refused to see his own
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  Speaker 1: role in Israel's suffering. Elijah fired back immediately in Verd
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  Speaker 1: Kings eighteen eighteen nineteen. He stands his ground, and he answered,
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  Speaker 1: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's
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  Speaker 1: house in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: and thou hast followed Balim. Now therefore, send and gather
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  Speaker 1: to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets
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  Speaker 1: of Bale four hundred and fifty and the prophets of
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  Speaker 1: the Groves four hundred which eat at Jezebel's table. With
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  Speaker 1: remarkable boldness, Elijah shifted the blame back where it belonged
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  Speaker 1: on Ahab and his family's idolatry. Then he issued a
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  Speaker 1: challenge gather all the people and the pagan prophets at
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  Speaker 1: Mount Carmel for a decisive showdown. The stage was set
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  Speaker 1: for one of the most dramatic confrontations in Biblical history.
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  Speaker 1: In First Kings eighteen twenty twenty one, we see the
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  Speaker 1: gathering and Elijah's challenge. So Ahab sent unto all the
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  Speaker 1: children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.
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  Speaker 1: And Elijah came unto all the people and said, how
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  Speaker 1: long halt you between two opinions? If the Lord be God,
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  Speaker 1: follow him, But if bail, then follow him. And the
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  Speaker 1: people answered him not a word. The people of Israel
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  Speaker 1: stood silently on the mountain side for years they had
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  Speaker 1: tried to worship both Yahweh, and Elijah called them to
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  Speaker 1: make a decision. This spiritual fence sitting had to end.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah then proposed a test. In verse Kings eighteen twenty
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  Speaker 1: two twenty four, he outlines the challenge. Then said, Elijah,
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  Speaker 1: unto the people, I even I only remain a prophet
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord. But Bale's prophets are four hundred and
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  Speaker 1: fifty men. Let them therefore, give us two bullocks, and
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  Speaker 1: let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it
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  Speaker 1: in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no
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  Speaker 1: fire under. And I will dress the other bullock, and
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  Speaker 1: lay it on wood, and put no fire under, and
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  Speaker 1: call ye on the name of your gods. And I
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  Speaker 1: will call on the name of the Lord and the
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  Speaker 1: God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And
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  Speaker 1: all the people answered and said, it is well spoken.
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  Speaker 1: It was a simple but powerful test. Each side would
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  Speaker 1: prepare a sacrifice, but not light the fire. The true
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  Speaker 1: God would send fire from heaven to consume his offering.
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  Speaker 1: The prophets of Bail went first in first kings eighteen
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  Speaker 1: twenty five twenty six. We see their fruitless efforts. And
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  Speaker 1: Elijah said, unto the prophets of Bail, choose ye one
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  Speaker 1: bullock for yourselves, and dress it first, for ye are many,
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  Speaker 1: and call on the name of your gods. But put
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  Speaker 1: no fire under. And they took the bullock which was
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  Speaker 1: given them, and they dressed it and called on the
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  Speaker 1: name of Bail from morning even until noon, saying, O Bail,
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  Speaker 1: hear us. But there was no voice nor any that answered.
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  Speaker 1: And they leapt upon the altar which was made. Hours
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  Speaker 1: passed as the prophets of Bail danced, shouted, and pleaded
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  Speaker 1: with their God. The silence from heaven was telling. As
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  Speaker 1: noon passed with no response, Elijah began to mark them
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  Speaker 1: in Verse Kings eighteen twenty seven to twenty nine. His
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  Speaker 1: taunts intensify their frenzy, and it came to pass at
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  Speaker 1: noon that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud, for
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  Speaker 1: he is a god. Either he is talking, or he
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  Speaker 1: is pursuing, or he is in a journey or peradventure.
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  Speaker 1: He sleepeth and must be awaked. And they cried aloud
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  Speaker 1: and cut themselves after their manner, with knives and lancets,
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  Speaker 1: till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came
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  Speaker 1: to pass when mid day was past, and they prophesied
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  Speaker 1: until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,
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  Speaker 1: that there was neither voice nor any to answer, nor
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  Speaker 1: any that regarded Elijah's mockery was cutting Maybe Bile was
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: deep in conversation, or busy or traveling, or even sleeping.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: The prophets responded with even more desperate measures, cutting themselves
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: until blood flowed, hoping that their self mutilation would move
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: their God to action, but evening came with no response.
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: With the failure of Bale's prophets complete, Elijah called the
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: people to gather around him. In first Kings eighteen thirty
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: thirty two, he carefully prepares his altar, and Elijah said,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: unto all the people, come near unto me. And all
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: the people came near unto him. And he repaired the
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. And
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: with the stones he built an altar in the name
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. And he made a trench about the
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: altar as great as would contain two measures of seed. First,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: he repaired an existing altar that had been neglected and broken,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: symbolic of Israel's broken covenant with God. The twelve stones
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: reminded the people of their united heritage as descendants of Jacob,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: whom God renamed Israel. Then he prepared the sacrifice, but
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: with an additional challenge. In verse Kings eighteen thirty three
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: thirty five, we read and he put the wood in
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid him
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: on the wood, and said, fill four barrels with water,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: And he said, do it the second time. And they
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: did it the second time, and he said do it
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: the third time, and they did it the third time.
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: And the water ran round about the altar, and he
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: filled the trench also with water. In the middle of
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: a three year drought, Elijah called for precious water to
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: be poured on his sacrifice, not once, but three times,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: until everything was soaked and a trench around the altar
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: was filled. This was no sleight of hand. He was
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: making it impossible for any human to light this fire.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: When everything was ready, Elijah prayed a simple but powerful prayer.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: In bird Kings eighteen thirty six thirty seven we hear
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: his words, and it came to pass at the time
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: and of Israel, let it be known this day that
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: and that I have done all these things at thy word.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: Hear me, O, Lord, hear me that this people may
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: hast turned their heart back again. Unlike the prophets of Baal,
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: with their hours of frenzied activity, Elijah's prayer was brief,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: only sixty three words in English. He asked God to
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: prove himself to Israel and confirm Elijah as his true prophet.
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: God's response was immediate and overwhelming. In verse Kings eighteen
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: thirty eight thirty nine, we witness the divine verdict. Then
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: sacrifice and the wood, and the stones and the dust,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: and licked up the war that was in the trench.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: And when all the people saw it, they fell on
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: their faces, and they said, the Lord he is the God.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: The Lord he is the God. The fire was supernatural
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: in its intensity, consuming not just the sacrifice and wood,
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: but the stone alter itself, the dust beneath it, and
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: even the water in the trench. The people's response was
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: equally dramatic. They fell face down and proclaimed the Lord
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: he is God, a direct reversal of the name of
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Elijah's opponent, since Baal means lord or Master. With the
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: people's allegiance secured, Elijah took decisive action against the false prophets.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: In First Kings eighteen forty we read the judgment carried out,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: and Elijah said, unto them, take the prophets of bail,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: let not one of them escape. And they took them,
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: and Elijah brought them down to the Brookishion and slew
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: them there. The prophets who had led Israel astray, who
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: had promoted child's sacrifice and immoral worship, were executed at
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: the brook Kishon. This harsh judgment aligned with the Law
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: of Moses, which called for the death penalty for those
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: who led Israel into idolatry. The confrontation at Carmel ended
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: with a complete victory for the Lord and his prophet.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: With the false prophets defeated and the people's hearts turned
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: back to God, Elijah knew it was time for the
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: drought to end. He turned to Ahab with a message
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: of hope in First Kings eighteen forty one, and Elijah said,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: unto Ahab, get thee up eat and drink, for there
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: is a sound of abundance of rain. Though the sky
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: remained clear. Elijah spoke as if rain was already falling,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: he could hear it coming with the ears of faith,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: long before any cloud appeared. While the king went to
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: enjoy a victory meal, Elijah prepared for intense spiritual work.
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: The Bible shows us what happened next in First Kings
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: eighteen forty two. So Ahab went up to eat and
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: to drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: and he cast himself down upon the earth and put
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: his face between his knees. The posture Elijah took was
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: unusual but meaningful. He bent low, head between his knees,
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: humbling himself completely before God. This wasn't casual prayer, but desperate,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: focused intercession. The same man who had stood fearlessly before
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: king and false prophets, now bowed low in private devotion.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: As he prayed. Elijah involved his servant in watching for
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: God's answer. We read in fur Kings eighteen forty three,
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: and said to his servant, go up, now, look toward
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the sea. And he went up and looked, and said
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: there is nothing. And he said go again seven times
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: six times. The servant returned with the same report. Nothing,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: no cloud, no sign, no hope. But Elijah continued praying,
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: undeterred by apparent failure. He understood that sometimes persistent prayer
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: is needed even when God has already promised the answer. Finally,
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: on the seventh attempt, something changed. In verse Kings eighteen
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: forty four, we see the first small sign, and it
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: came to pass at the seventh time that he said, behold,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea like
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: a man's hand, Just a tiny cloud, no bigger than
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: a man's hand, rising from the Mediterranean Sea. To most people,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: this would seem insignificant, but Elijah recognized it as God's
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: answer beginning to take form. That tiny cloud contained the
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: promise of torrential rain. Immediately Elijah sprang into action. The
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: rest of ven Kings eighteen forty four to forty five
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: tells us, and he said, go up, say unto Ahab,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: prepare thy chariot, and get thee down. That the rain
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: stop thee not. And it came to pass. In the
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: mean while that the heaven was black with clouds and wind,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and there was a great rain. The transformation was astounding.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: From that single cloud. The entire sky quickly darkened, winds
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: began to blow, and soon heavy rain was falling on
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: the parched land. What began as hardly noticeable became impossible
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: to ignore. Ahab needed to hurry back to his palace
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: in Jezreel before the roads became impassable with mud. But Elijah,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: empowered by God's spirit, performed one final miracle that day.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: In First Kings eighteen forty six, we learn and the
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: of Jezreel. Tucking his long robe into his belt. Elijah
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: outran the king's chariot all the way to Jezreel, a
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: distance of about seventeen miles over mountainous ter reign. This
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: supernatural feat demonstrated that the same God who sent fire
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: and reign also gave strength to his exhausted servant. As
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Ahab entered his city, Elijah ran ahead of him, a
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: living reminder of God's power and presence. The celebration of
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: victory would be short lived for Elijah. When King Ahab
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: arrived home, he told his wife about everything that had happened.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: We see her furious reaction in First Kings nineteen one two,
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, so let
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the gods do to me, and more also, if I
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: make not thy life as the life of one of
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: them by tomorrow. About this time, Queen Jezebel RAI leased
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: as a priestess of bale in Sidon, was outraged by
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: the death of her prophets. Her threat was both a
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: vow and a warning. She swore by her gods that
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Elijah would be dead within twenty four hours. Rather than
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: sending soldiers to capture him immediately, she sent this message,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: perhaps wanting him to suffer the fear of knowing death
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: was coming. Surprisingly, Elijah's reaction was not what we might
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: expect from the man who had just called down fire
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: from heaven. In First Kings nineteen three we see his
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: very human response. And when he saw that, he arose
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. This mighty prophet,
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: who had fearlessly faced four hundred and fifty prophets of
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Baal now ran for his life from one angry woman,
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: He traveled southward all the way to Beersheba, the southernmost
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: city in Judah, as far from Jezebel as he could
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: get while still remaining in Israelite territory. There he left
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: his faithful servant behind and continued alone into the wilderness.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: His emotional state deteriorated quickly, as we see in fir
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: Kings nineteen four. But he himself went a day's journey
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: into the wilderness and came and sat down under a
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: and said, it is enough now, o Lord, take away
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: my life, for I am not better than my father's.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: After a full day of walking through barren desert, Elijah
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: collapsed under a small desert tree, seeking its meager shade. There,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: in complete despair, he asked God to end his life.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: The irony was stark. He was running from Jezebel to
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: avoid being killed, yet now asked God to kill him instead.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: His words revealed deep disappointment, not just with his circumstances,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: but with himself. He had hoped to succeed where previous
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: prophets had failed, but now felt he was no better
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: than they were. This dramatic shift from triumph to despair
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: might seem surprising, but it reflects a common human experience.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Elijah was physically exhausted from the intense events at Carmel,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: the long run to Jezreel, and now his flight into
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: the desert. He was emotionally drained from the spiritual battle,
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: and perhaps he had expected a different outcome, that after
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: such a dramatic display of God's power, Jezebel would be
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: overthrown and Israel would return fully to God. Instead, he
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: found himself a fugitive again. God's response to Elijah's depression
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: was not a theological lecture or rebuke, but practical care.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: In First Kings nineteen five, we see the first step
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: in Elijah's restoration. And as he lay and slept under
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: a juniper tree hold, then an angel touched him and said,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: unto him, arise and eat. Rather than addressing Elijah's request
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: to die, God sent an angel to provide for his
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: physical needs. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we need is
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: sleep and food. Elijah had pushed his body beyond its limits,
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: and God's first step was to care for his exhausted frame.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: When Elijah awakened, he found unexpected provision, as described in
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: First Kings nineteen six. And he looked and behold there
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: was a cake bacon on the coals, and a cruise
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: of water at his head. And he did eat and
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: drink and laid him down again. A round loaf of
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: bread hot from baking on stones, heated by coals, and
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: a container of water awaited him in the barren wilderness,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: where no such items could naturally be found. God provided
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: exactly what Elijah needed. After eating and drinking, he was
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: still so exhausted that he fell back asleep. But one
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: meal wasn't enough for what lay ahead. In First Kings
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: nineteen seven to eight, we read and the Angel of
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord came again the second time and touched him
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: and said, arise and eat, because the journey is too
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and went in the strength of that meat forty days
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and forty nights unto Horeb, the Mount of God. God
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: knew that Elijah needed more than physical restoration. He needed
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: spiritual renewal. The Angel directed him toward Mount Horeb, also
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: known as Mount Sinai, the very place where God had
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: given Moses the Ten Commandments, where the covenant between God
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: and Israel had been established. It was a journey of
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: about two hundred miles through harsh desert terrain. Miraculously, the
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: food Elijah ate provided supernatural strength for forty days and nights,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: the same time frame Moses had spent on that mountain
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: receiving the Law. Elijah traveled without additional food. The number
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: forty in scripture often represents a period of testing or preparation,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: and so it was for Elijah. In the quiet of
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: the desert journey, away from both his enemies and the crowds,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: he had time to process everything that had happened and
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: prepare for what God would show him next. When Elijah
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: finally reached Mount Horeb, he found shelter in a cave.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: There God spoke directly to him in First Kings nineteen nine.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: And he came thither unto a cave and lodged there,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: And behold, the word of the Lord came to him,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: and he said, unto him, what doest thou here, Elijah?
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: The question wasn't a request for information. God knew exactly
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: why Elijah was there, Rather, it was an invitation for
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: Elijah to express his feelings, to put his frustrations and
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: fears into words. Sometimes naming our struggles is the first
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: step toward healing. Elijah poured out his complaint in First
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: Kings nineteen ten, and he said, I have been very
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: jealous for the Lord, God of Hosts, for the children
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I even
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: I only am left, and they seek my life to
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: take it away. His words revealed several aspects of his distress.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: He felt that his zeal for God had gone unrecognized
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: and unrewarded. He believed the covenant between God and Israel
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: was broken beyond repair. He saw himself as the last
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: faithful prophet standing. Every one else had either been killed
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: or had compromised, and now Jezebel was hunting him as well.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: In his mind, the situation was hopeless. God's response was
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: not immediate words, but a powerful demonstration. In verse Kings
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: nineteen eleven to twelve, we read and he said, go
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord, and
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire,
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: but the Lord was not in the fire. And after
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: the fire a still small voice. Verse came a violent
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: windstorm so powerful it shattered rocks. Then an earthquake shook
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: the mountain. Next came fire, perhaps like the lightning that
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: had struck on Carmel. Each of these dramatic displays might
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: have seemed like appropriate manifestations of God's power and anger.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Yet remarkably, the text says God was not in these
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: powerful phenomena. Instead, God chose to speak in a still
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: small voice, literally a sound of thin silence. After all
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: the noise and dramatic display, God communicated in a whisper
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: that required Elijah to listen very carefully. It was a
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: profound lesson. God's work isn't always done through dramatic public
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: displays like the fire on Carmel. Sometimes God works most
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: powerfully through quiet words spoken in private moments. When Elijah
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: heard this quiet voice, he responded in first kings nineteen thirteen.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: And it was so when Elijah heard it, that he
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: stood in the entering inn of the cave, and behold,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: there came a voice unto him and said, what dost
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: thou hear? Elijah, covering his face in reverence. Recognizing he
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: was in God's presence, Elijah moved to the cave entrance.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: There God repeated the same question, giving Elijah another opportunity
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: to express his heart. Interestingly, in First Kings nineteen fourteen,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Elijah repeated his earlier complaint word for word, and he said,
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: I have been very jealous for the Lord, God of Hosts,
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: down thine altars, and slain thy profits with the sword.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: And I even I only am left, and they seek
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: my life to take it away. Despite the impressive displays
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: of power and the gentle voice, Elijah's perspective hadn't changed.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: He was stuck in his perception of himself as the
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: lone faithful servant in a hopeless situation. Sometimes our distorted
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: thinking patterns are deeply entrenched, and even divine encounters don't
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: immediately shift our perspective. But God was patient with Elijah
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: and had a plan to address his despair. Rather than
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: directly addressing Elijah's comple taints, God gave him a new mission.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: In First Kings nineteen fifteen to sixteen, we read, and
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: the Lord said, unto him, go return on thy way
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: to the wilderness of Damascus. And when thou comest, anoint
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: And Elishah the son of shaffort of Abelmholla, shalt thou
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: anoint to be prophet in thy room. This commission was
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: God's practical answer to Elijah's despair. Instead of arguing with
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Elijah's perceptions, God gave him meaningful work to do. The
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: assignments were significant, anointing two kings and his own successor.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: This implicitly told Elijah several things his work mattered. God
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: still had plans to use him, and, contrary to his belief,
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: he wasn't going to be the last faithful prophet dot
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: God also explained how these newly anointed leaders would work
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: together to bring judgment on the wicked in Israel. In
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: Burse Kings nineteen seventeen, he said, and it shall come
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: shall Ji who slay, and him that escapeth from the
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: sword of Ji, who shall Elisha slay. Each of these
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: men would play a role in purging Israel of bail worship.
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Hazael as king of Syria would be an external Threatji,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: who would lead an internal revolution, Elishah would continue the
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: prophetic work. Together they would accomplish what Elijah couldn't do alone,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: a complete reformation of Israel. But perhaps the most important
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: part of God's message came in First Kings nineteen to eighteen.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: the knees which have not bowed unto bail, and every
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: mouth which hath not kissed him. This directly addressed Elijah's
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: claim to be the only faithful person left. God revealed
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: that he had preserved seven thousand people who had not
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: worshiped bail. Elijah was part of a faithful remnant that
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: was much larger than he realized. His isolation was partly
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: self imposed based on his limited perspective. This revelation was
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: profoundly healing for Elijah. He wasn't alone, He wasn't solely
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: responsible for the spiritual state of the nation. God had
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: been working in ways he couldn't see, preserving a significant
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: number of faithful followers throughout the land. Strengthened by this
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: encounter with God, Elijah began the journey back. His first
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: task was to find Elisha, his successor. In Verse Kings
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen, we see their first meeting. So he departed
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: thence and found Elisha, the son of Shaffert, who was
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: with the twelfth, and Elijah passed by him and his
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: mantle upon him. The scene is vividly painted. Elisha was
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: a farmer from a prosperous family. Twelve pairs of oxen
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: represented significant wealth. He wasn't a poor man seeking a
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: better life. He was successful in his current occupation. Elijah
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: simply walked by and threw his prophet's mantle cloak over
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Elisha's shoulders, a symbolic action indicating that Elisha was being
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: called to take on Elijah's role and authority. Ilisha immediately
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: understood the significance of this gesture. In First Kings nineteen
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: twenty we see his response. And he left the oxen
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: and ran after Elijah and said, let me I pray
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: THEE kiss my father and my mother, and then I
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: will follow THEE. And he said unto him, go back again,
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: for what have I done to THEE. Unlike some potential
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: disciples who made excuses to delay following their teacher, Elisha
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: simply asked to say goodbye to his parents. Elijah's response
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: might seem dismissive on the surface, go back, for what
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: have I done to you, but it was actually giving
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: Elisha freedom to respond to God's call as he chose.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: The mantle had been offered, now Elisha had to decide
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: what to do with it. Elisha's decision was dramatic and decisive,
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: as we see in First Kings nineteen twenty one. And
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: he returned back from him and took a yoke of
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: they did eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: and ministered unto him by slaughtering his oxen and using
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: the wooden plow equipment as fuel to cook them. Elisha
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: created a public feast while effectively burning his bridges to
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: his former life. This was no half hearted commitment. He
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: wasn't keeping farming as a back up plan. He completely
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: left his prosperous agricultural life to become a servant to Elijah.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: The phrase and ministered unto him indicates that Elisha didn't
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: start as an equal partner, but as Elijah's assistant. He
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: would learn the prophetic role through years of humble service.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: This arrangement benefited both men. Elisha received training for his
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: future role, and Elijah received the companionship he desperately needed
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: after his time of isolation. Several years passed as Elijah
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: and Elisha worked together. Then a situation arose that called
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: Elijah back into direct confrontation with King Ahab. The story
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: begins in First Kings twenty one one two. And it
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: came to pass after these things that Naboth, the Jezreelite,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: had a vineyard which was in Jezreel Hard by the
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: palace of Ahab, King of Samaria. And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying,
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house,
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: and I will give THEE for it a better vinyard
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: than it, or if it seem good to THEE, I
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: will give THEE the worth of it in money. Naboth
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: owned a vineyard adjacent to King Ahab's palace in Jezreel.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: The king wanted this land to expand his gardens and
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: made what seemed like a fair offer, either a better
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: vineyard elsewhere or the cash value of the property, but
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Naboth refused on religious grounds. In First Kings twenty one three,
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: he explains, and Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbidd
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: it me that I should give the inheritance of my
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: fathers unto thee. This wasn't about money or stubbornness. Under
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: Israelite law, ancestral land was to remain within the family
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: as a permanent inheritance. Naboth saw his vineyard not merely
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: as property, but as a sacred trust from God passed
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: down through generations. Selling it would violate God's law. Ahab's
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: reaction revealed his immaturity. In First Kings twenty one four,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: we read and Ahab came into his house heavy and
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: spoken to him, For he had said, I will not
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: give thee the inheritance of my father's. And he laid
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: him down upon his bed and turned away his face
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: and would eat no bread. The King of Israel, unable
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: to get his way through a childish tantrum, he went
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: to bed, faced the wall and refused to eat the
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: behavior of a spoiled child, not a grown man, much
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: less a king. When Jezebel found him in this state
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: and learned the reason, she was scornful in Verse Kings
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: twenty one seven, she challenged him, and Jezebel his wife said,
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: unto him, dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Rise and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: Jezebel raised Insidon, where kings had absolute power, couldn't understand
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: why Ahab would take no for an answer. Her words
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: were a rebuke to his weakness. Are you the king
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: or aren't you? She promised to get the vineyard for
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: him and told him to cheer up and eat something
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: her plan was as evil as it was effective. In
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: versed kings twenty one day to ten, we see how
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: she abused royal power. So she wrote letters in Ahab's
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: name and sealed them with his seal, and sent the
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: in his city dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: the letters saying, proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: high among the people, and set two men sons of
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: Belile before him to bear witness against him, saying thou
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: didst blaspheme, God and the King, And then carry him
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: out and stone him, that he may die. Using Ahab's
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: official seal, Jezebel sent letters commanding the city officials to
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: arrange a false trial. They were to proclaim a fast,
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: creating the appearance of a solemn religious occasion, and seat
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: Naboth in a prominent position, perhaps to lull him into
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: a false sense of security. Then paid witnesses would accuse
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: him of the capital crimes of blasphemy against God and
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: treason against the King. The sentence would be death by stoning.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: The elders and nobles either out of fear of Jezebel
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: or their own corrupt nature, carried out her orders exactly.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: In verse Kings twenty one eleven to thirteen we read,
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: and the men of his city, even the elders and
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: the nobles, who were the inhabitants in his city, did
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: the people. And there came in two men, children of Bilil,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: and sat before him, And the men of Bilial witnessed
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: against him, even against Naboth in the presence of the people,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: saying Naboth did blaspheme God and the King. Then they
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: carried him forth out of the city and stoned him
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: with stones, that he died. This mockery of justice resulted
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: in the death of an innocent man whose only crime
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: was honoring God's law regarding family inheritance. The leaders who
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: should have protected justice became accomplices to murder. After Naboth
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: was killed, they sent word to Jezebel that her orders
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: had been carried out. Jezebel then delivered the news to Ahab.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: In First Kings twenty one fifteen. And it came to
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: that Jezebel said to Ahab arise take possession of the
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: vineyard of no Aboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: give thee for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: She didn't mention her role in Naboth's death, merely informing
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: Ahab that the obstacle to his desires was now gone.
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: Because Naboth had been executed as a criminal, his property
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: was forfeit to the crown. Now Ahab could take the
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: vineyard he coveted. Ahab wasted no time. In First Kings
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: twenty one sixteen, we read and it came to pass
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: Jezreelite to take possession of it. The king immediately went
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: to claim his ill gotten property. Whether he knew the
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: details of Jezebel's plot isn't stated, but his quick action
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: suggests he didn't care how the vineyard became available, as
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: long as he got what he wanted. But God saw
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: everything that had happened, and he sent Elijah to confront
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: the king. In First Kings twenty one seventeen eighteen, we
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: read and the word of the Lord came to Elijah
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: the tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab, King
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: of Israel, which is in Samaria. Behold, he is in
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: the vineyard of Napoth, whither he is gone down to
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: possess it. God's timing was perfect. He sent Elijah to
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: intercept Ahab at the very moment when the king was
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: taking possession of the stolen property the scene of the crime.
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: God also told Elijah exactly what to say in First
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: Kings twenty one nineteen And thou shalt speak unto him, saying,
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: thus saith the Lord. Hast thou killed and also taken possession?
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, thus saith the Lord.
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: In the place where dogs lick the blood of Naboth,
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: shall dogs lick thy blood even thine. The message was
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: directed and devastating. Have you murdered a man and seized
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: his property? The question itself was an accusation, making Ahab
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: complicit in Naboth's death. Then came the prophecy. In the
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: same place where Naboth's blood had been shed, dogs would
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: lick up Ahab's blood. This was a particularly shameful end
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: for a king, as being left unburied to be consumed
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: by dogs was considered a terrible disgrace. When Elijah found
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: Ahab in the vineyard, the king's reaction revealed his guilt.
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: In First Kings twenty one twenty we read and Ahab
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: said to Elijah, hast thou found me o mine enemy?
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: And he answered, I have found thee because thou hast
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: Ahab immediately recognized Elijah as his enemy, not because Elijah
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: opposed impersonally, but because Elijah stood for the justice and
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: righteousness that condemned Ahab's actions. Elijah's response was powerful, I
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil.
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: The language of selling oneself suggests that Ahab had become
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: a slave to his own evil desires, surrendering his freedom
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: to wickedness. Elijah then delivered an extended prophecy of judgment
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: against Ahab's entire dynasty. In First Kings twenty one twenty
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: one to twenty four, behold, I will bring evil upon thee,
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: that is shut up and left in Israel, and will
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: make thine house like the house of Jeroboam, the son
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: of Nebat, and like the house of Basha, the son
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: of Ahijah. For the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: to anger and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: also spake the Lord, saying, the dogs shall e Jezebel
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dieth of Ahab
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: in the city, the dog shall eat, and him that
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: This was a comprehensive sentence of destruction upon Ahab's line.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: Like previous dynasties that had been completely wiped out for
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: their wickedness, Ahab's family would be utterly cut off. No
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: male descendant would survive. Jezebel would meet an especially gruesome
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: end being eaten by dogs, and all who died would
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: be denied proper burial, left to be consumed by dogs
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: or birds, a terrible fate in the ancient near East,
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: where proper burial was considered essential. The Biblical writer adds
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: a summary statement about Ahab's character in First Kings twenty
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: one twenty five to twenty six. But there was none
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: according to all things, as did the Amorites, whom the
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: Lord cast out before the children of Israel. This harsh
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: assessment places Ahab at the very bottom of Israel's kings.
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: No one was worse than he was in deliberately choosing evil.
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: While Jezebel influenced him, he was responsible for his own choices.
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: His idolatry matched the worst practices of the Canaanite peoples
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: whom Israel had been commanded to drive out. Surprisingly, Ahab's
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: response to this severe prophecy was genuine remorse. In Verm
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: King's twenty one twenty seven, we read and it came
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: to pass when Ahab heard those words, that he rent
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: and lay in sackcloth and went softly. These were all
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: traditional signs of mourning and repentance. Tearing his royal robes,
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: wearing rough sackcloth next to his skin, going without food,
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: and walking about humbly. Ahab, who had seemed irredeemable, showed
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: a capacity for genuine sorrow over his sins. God noticed
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: this change in Ahab's heart, as we see in First
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: Kings twenty one twenty eight to twenty nine, and the
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: seest thou, how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: in his days, But in his son's days will I
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: bring the evil upon his house. God's response reveals his
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: compassion and willingness to acknowledge even imperfect repentance. The judgment
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: against Ahab's dynasty would still come, but it would be
• 57:49
  Speaker 1: delayed until after Ahab's death. He would not have to
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: witness the destruction of his family line. This episode reveals
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: important truths about by both judgment and mercy. God's justice
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: is certain. The consequences of Ahab and Jezebel's wickedness would
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: inevitably come, but God's mercy is also real. Genuine repentance,
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: even from the worst of sinners, moves God's heart and
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: con mitigate the severity or timing of judgment. Some time
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: after the Naboth incident, King Ahab died in battle, just
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: as Elijah had prophesied. His son a Hazir became king,
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: but his reign would be short and troubled. The opening
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: of the second Book of Kings tells us about a
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: serious accident that befell the new ruler. Insign Kings one two,
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: we learn what happened. And a Hasiah fell down through
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria,
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: and was sick. And he sent messengers and said unto them,
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: go inquire of baal Zebub, the God of Ekron, whether
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: I shall recover of this disease. The king was in
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: his upstairs room when he fell through the lattice window.
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: The fall left him seriously injured, possibly with internal injuries
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: that weren't healing properly. Facing this life threatening situation, a
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: Hasiah made a revealing decision. Instead of turning to the
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: God of Israel for help, he sent messengers to consult
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: bal Zebub, a Philistine deity worshiped in the city of Ekron.
• 59:26
  Speaker 1: The name bal Zebub means lord of the flies, and
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: this false god was associated with healing and protection from disease.
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: By seeking guidance from this foreign idol, a, Hasiah showed
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: that he followed in his father's idolatrous footsteps. His actions
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: revealed that despite all the miraculous demonstrations of God's power
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: during his father's reign, he had rejected the God of Israel.
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: But the messengers never reached Ekron. In Second Kings one
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: three four we see God's intervention. But the Angel of
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: the Lord said to Elijah the tishbite arise, go up
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: to meet the messengers of the King of Samaria, and
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: say unto them. Is it not because there is not
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: a god in Israel that ye go to inquire of
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: baal Zebub, the God of Ekron. Now therefore thus saith
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: the Lord, thou shalt not come down from that bed
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 1: And Elijah departed. God sent Elijah to intercept the king's
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 1: messengers before they could even reach the Philistine city. The
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: prophet's question was pointed and sarcastic, is it because there
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: is no god in Israel that your consulting a foreign deity.
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 1: This highlighted the absurdity and offense of the king's choice.
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: Then came the pronouncement of judgment. Ahaziah would not recover
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: from his injuries, but would certainly die. When the messengers
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: returned to the king much sooner than expected, he was surprised.
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: In says Kings one five hsix. We read, And when
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: the messengers turned back unto him, he said, unto them,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: why are ye now turned back? And they said unto him?
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: There came a man up to meet us and said,
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: unto us, Go turn again unto the king that sent you,
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: and say unto him. Thus saith the Lord, is it
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: not because there is not a god in Israel that
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: thou sendest to inquire of bal Zebub, the God of Ekron.
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: Therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. The
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: messengers didn't recognize Elijah, referring to him simply as a man,
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: but they faithfully delivered his message. This unexpected encounter and
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 1: the authority with which the stranger spoke had convinced them
• 1:01:48
  Speaker 1: to return without completing their mission. Ahaziah immediately wanted to
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: identify this person who had dared to pronounce a death
• 1:01:56
  Speaker 1: sentence on him in Secred Kings one seven to eight.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: He asks for details, and he said, unto them, what
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: manner of man was he which came up to meet
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: you and told you these words? And they answered him.
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: He was an hairy man and girt with a girdle
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: of leather about his loins. And he said, it is
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: Elijah the Tish bite. The description was vivid and distinctive,
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: a hairy man with a leather belt. This likely referred
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: to Elijah's clothing, probably a rough garment made from animal
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: skins or hair, secured with a leather belt. This simple,
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: rugged attire became so associated with prophets that later John
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: the Baptist would wear similar clothing as he fulfilled the
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: role of the Elijah who was to come. A Hassire
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: immediately recognized who had pronounced judgment on him. The infamous
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: prophet who had confronted his father and mother was still active,
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: still speaking uncomfortable truths to the royal family, rather than repenting.
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: When he heard God's message, Ahazir decided to arrest the prophet.
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: In Zecond Kings one nine, we see his response. Then
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: he sat on the top of an hill, and he
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: spake unto him, thou man of God. The king hath said,
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: come down. Ahaziah sent a military unit, an officer with
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: fifty soldiers to bring Elijah. In this show of force
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: revealed that he saw Elijah not as God's messenger to
• 1:03:33
  Speaker 1: be heeded, but as a trouble maker to be silenced.
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: They found the prophet sitting on a hilltop, perhaps praying
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: or simply waiting. The captain's words, though calling Elijah a
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: man of God, were actually a command, not a request,
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: come down. Elijah's response was both surprising and terrible. In
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: Second Kings one ten, we read and Elijah answered and
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: said to the captain of fifty, if I be a
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: man of God, then let fire come down from heaven
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. The
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: prophet took up the captain's own words if I am
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: a man of God and turned them into a challenge.
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: If Elijah truly was God's representative, then God would defend
• 1:04:22
  Speaker 1: him against those who sought to arrest him for speaking
• 1:04:26
  Speaker 1: God's truth. The fire that fell from heaven was a
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: terrible confirmation of Elijah's authority and a judgment on those
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: who opposed God's message. This supernatural execution of fifty one
• 1:04:39
  Speaker 1: men might seem harsh to modern readers, but it demonstrated
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: the seriousness of rejecting God's word and attempting to silence
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: his prophet. The fire from heaven proved that the same
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: God who had answered on Mount Carmel was still backing
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: Elijah's ministry. Incredibly, when the first group didn't return, a
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: Hasiah sent a second unit. In Second Kings one eleven
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: to twelve, we see history repeat itself again. Also he
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty.
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: And he answered and said, unto him, O man of God,
• 1:05:16
  Speaker 1: Thus hath the King said, come down quickly? And Elijah
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: answered and said, unto them, if I be a man
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. The
• 1:05:33
  Speaker 1: second captain was even more demanding than the first, ordering
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: Elijah to come down quickly. His impatient tone revealed no
• 1:05:41
  Speaker 1: awareness of what had happened to the first group. Again,
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: fire came from heaven, consuming another fifty one men. After
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: losing one hundred two soldiers, a Hasiah sent a third group,
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: but this time the approach was very different. In Second
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: Kings one thirteen to fourteen, we see a captain who
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: had learned from his predecessor's mistakes, and he sent again
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: the third captain of fifty went up and came and
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him and
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 1: said unto him, O Man of God, I pray THEE
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: let my life and the life of these fifty thy
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: servants be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: the former fifties with their fifties. Therefore, let my life
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: now be precious in thy sight. This captain approached Elijah
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: with humility rather than authority. He knelt before the prophet
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: and begged for mercy. Acknowledging what had happened to the
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: previous groups. His attitude recognized Elijah's authority as God's representative
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: and showed appropriate respect. This time, God gave Elijah different instructions.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: In Send Kings one fifteen, we read, and the Angel
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: of the Lord said, unto Elijah, go down with him,
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: be not afraid of him. And he arose and went
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: down with him unto the king. Because this captain had
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: shown proper respect, his life and the lives of his
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: men were spared. Elijah went with him willingly to face
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: King Ahaziah. The angel's words, be not afraid of him
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: assured Elijah that he could safely go before the king,
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: who had sought to arrest him. Standing before the ailing king,
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: Elijah delivered thee same message he had given to the messengers,
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: but now face to face. In Second Kings one sixteen,
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 1: he declares, and he said, unto him, Thus saith the Lord,
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 1: forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of bales Abub,
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: the God of Ekron, is it not because there is
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: no God in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: thou shalt not come down off that bed on which
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. The prophecy
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: was fulfilled exactly as Elijah had spoken. The following verse
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: tells us that ah Haziah died according to the word
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. His brother Jehoram
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: succeeded him as king because Ahaziah had no son. After
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 1: these events, Elijah's earthly ministry was drawing to a close.
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 1: Unlike other prophets who would serve until death, Elijah would
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: experience a unique and glorious departure. In Second Kings two
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: one we read and it came to pass when the
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: Lord would take up Elijah into Heaven by a whirlwind
• 1:08:32
  Speaker 1: that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Both Elijah and
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: his faithful apprentice Elisha knew what was about to happen.
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: God had revealed to them that Elijah would soon be
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: taken directly to Heaven without experiencing death. This knowledge set
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: the stage for a poignant journey as master and disciple
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: traveled together for the last time. Elijah seemed to want
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 1: to spare Elishah the pain of witnessing his departure. In
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 1: zecond Kings two too, he says, And Elijah said, unto Elisha,
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent
• 1:09:09
  Speaker 1: me to Bethel. And Elisha said, unto him, as the
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 1: Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. This was
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: not a command, but a gentle suggestion, please stay here.
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 1: Perhaps Elijah wanted to protect Elisha from the emotional trauma
• 1:09:29
  Speaker 1: of their parting, or maybe he was testing Elisha's determination
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: to receive the spiritual legacy he would leave behind. Elisha's
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: response was firm and even included an oath, as surely
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: will not leave you. His loyalty and love for his
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: master would not allow him to remain behind. When they
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 1: reached Bethel, it became clear that Elijah's coming departure was
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: no secret among the prophetic COMMUNI In Second Kings two three,
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: we learn and the sons of the prophets that were
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said, unto him,
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: from thy head to day? And he said, yea, I
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: know it. Hold ye your peace, he says. Sons of
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: the Prophets were groups of prophetic disciples who lived together
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 1: in various locations throughout Israel. They came out to meet
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 1: Elisha privately, asking if he was aware that his master
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 1: would be taken that very day. His response, yes, I
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: know it. Be quiet wasn't rude, but reflected his emotional state.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: This was too personal, too painful to discuss openly. This
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 1: pattern repeated twice more. In Second Kings two four to six,
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: we read and Elijah said, unto him, Elisha, tarry here
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 1: I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho.
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: And he said, as the Lord lived, and as thy
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: to Jericho, and the sons of the Prophets that were
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: at Jericho came to Elisha and said, unto him, knowest
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: thou that the Lord will take away thy master from
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: thy head to day? And he answered, yea, I know it.
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: Hold ye your peace. And Elijah said, unto him, tarry,
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: I pray thee here, for the Lord hath sent me
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: to Jordan. And he said, as the Lord liveth, and
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: as thy soul liveth I will not leave thee and
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: they two went on. Three times Elijah suggested that Elisha
• 1:11:36
  Speaker 1: stay behind, and three times Elisha refused, with the same
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: determined oath. At each location Bethel, Jericho, and finally the
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: Jordan River, the local prophets knew about Elijah's imminent departure.
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: This journey took them from Gilgal in the central hill country,
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: down to Bethel, then to Jericho in the Jordan Valley,
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: and finally to the jaw Godden River itself, retracing in
• 1:12:02
  Speaker 1: reverse many of the steps of Israel's original entry into
• 1:12:06
  Speaker 1: the Promised Land under Joshua. When they reached the Jordan River,
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: they were not alone. In Second Kings two seven, we
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: learn and fifty men of the sons of the prophets
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: went and stood to view Afar off, and they too
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: stood by Jordan. Fifty prophetic disciples followed, but kept their distance,
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: creating a circle of witnesses who would observe this momentous
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: event from Afar. They wanted to see what would happen,
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: but respected the private nature of this final journey between
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: Master and disciple. Standing at the river bank, Elijah performed
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: one last public miracle in Second Kings two eight we read,
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: and Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither,
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: so that they too went over on dry ground. The
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: prophet's mantle or cloak, the very garment he had thrown
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: over Elisha when he first called him, became the instrument
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: for this miracle. Rolling it up like a staff, he
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: struck the water. Immediately, the Jordan divided, creating a path
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: of dry ground through the middle of the river. Elijah
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: and Elisha walked across together, just as Moses had once
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: parted the Red Sea and Joshua had led Israel across
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: this same Jordan river on dry ground. This miracle connected
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 1: Elijah with Israel's greatest leaders and echoed pivotal moments in
• 1:13:37
  Speaker 1: the nation's history. Just as Moses had parted the waters
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: for the exodus from Egypt and Joshua had led the
• 1:13:44
  Speaker 1: people across the Jordan into the Promised Land, now Elijah
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: parted the waters for his own exodus from earthly life.
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 1: The fifty watching prophets would have immediately recognized the significance
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: of this miracle, afirmed beyond doubt that Elijah stood in
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: the tradition of Moses and Joshua, a man through whom
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: God worked with the same mighty power he had shown
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: in Israel's formative days after crossing the river. In this
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: final private moment, Elijah turned to his faithful disciple. In
• 1:14:19
  Speaker 1: Second King's twot nine, he makes an offer. And it
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for THEE
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: before I be taken away from THEE. And Elishah said,
• 1:14:32
  Speaker 1: I pray THEE let a double portion of thy spirit
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: be upon me. This was Elijah's parting gift, the opportunity
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: for Elisha to request something before their separation. It resembled
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: Solomon's opportunity to ask God for anything he wanted, or
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 1: a dying father distributing his inheritance among his children. Elisha's
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: request was both bold and humble. Let a double portion
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: of your spirit be upon me. This wasn't a request
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: to be twice as powerful as Elijah. In Jewish tradition,
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: the double portion referred to the inheritance rits of the
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: firstborn son, who received twice as much as other children.
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: Elisha was asking to be Elijah's spiritual heir to carry
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: on his prophetic ministry with the same divine empowerment. Elijah's
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: response acknowledged the difficulty of this request. In Second Kings
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: two ten, he says, and he said, thou hast asked
• 1:15:30
  Speaker 1: a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: am taken from THEE, it shall be so unto THEE.
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 1: But if not, it shall not be so. The double
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: portion wasn't Elijah's to give directly. It had to come
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: from God, but he provided a sign. If Elisha was
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 1: permitted to witness his departure, it would be confirmation that
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: the request was granted. This would require supernatural sight, as
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: seeing into the spiritual realm was not naturally possible. What
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: happened next was one of the most dramatic scenes in
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: the Bible. In Second Kings two eleven, we read, and
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: it came to pass, as they still went on and
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: horses of fire, and parted them both asunder and Elijah
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: went up by a whirlwind into heaven. As they walked
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 1: and talked together, suddenly a supernatural sight appeared. A chariot
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: and horses made of fire. This was likely a manifestation
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: of God's glory, perhaps similar to the angels who guard
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: his throne. This fiery vehicle separated the two men coming
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: between them. Then, in a powerful whirlwind, Elijah was taken
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: up into heaven. Unlike Enoch, who was not, for God
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: took him with no details given. Elijah's departure was spectacular
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: and witnessed. He was carried bodily into head heaven without
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: experiencing death, a foreshadowing of the believers who will be
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: caught up when Christ returns. Elisha witnessed everything fulfilling the
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: condition Elijah had set. His reaction was both emotional and profound.
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings two twelve, we read and Elisha saw it,
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 1: and he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of
• 1:17:23
  Speaker 1: Israel and the horseman thereof, And he saw him no more.
• 1:17:27
  Speaker 1: And he took hold of his own clothes and rent them.
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: In two pieces, Elisha's cry, my father, my father expressed
• 1:17:35
  Speaker 1: his personal loss. He was losing not just a teacher,
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: but a spiritual father. The second part of his cry,
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, recognized what
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 1: Israel was losing. Elijah had been the nation's true protection
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: and strength, more powerful than any military force. As the
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: amazing Sight disappeared from view, Elisha tore his clothes in
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: two pieces, a traditional sign of mourning and grief. Though
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 1: Elijah's departure was glorious for those left behind, it was
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: still a painful loss. After his emotional response, Elisha noticed
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 1: something significant. In Second Kings two thirteen, we read he
• 1:18:21
  Speaker 1: took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him,
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan.
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: The prophet's mantle, the symbol of his office and authority,
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: had fallen as he was taken up. This was no accident,
• 1:18:37
  Speaker 1: but a deliberate passing of the prophetic role to Elisha.
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: Just as Elijah had once thrown this mantle over Elisha
• 1:18:45
  Speaker 1: to call him to service. Now the garment was his
• 1:18:49
  Speaker 1: completely Standing at the Jordan's edge, Elisha faced his first test.
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: In Second Kings two fourteen, we see him step into
• 1:18:57
  Speaker 1: Elijah's role, and he took the mantle of Elijah that
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, where
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither, and
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: Elisha went over. Elisha repeated his master's final miracle, striking
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: the water with the same mantle, but he added significant words,
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 1: where is the Lord, the God of Elijah. This wasn't
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 1: a question of doubt, but an invocation, calling on the
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: same God who had worked through Elijah to now work
• 1:19:32
  Speaker 1: through him. When the waters parted for him, just as
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 1: they had for Elijah, it was divine confirmation that the
• 1:19:40
  Speaker 1: double portion had indeed been granted. Elisha would carry on
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: Elijah's ministry with the same spiritual power. The watching prophets
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: immediately recognized what had happened in Second Kings two fifteen
• 1:19:56
  Speaker 1: we read, And when the sons of the prophets, which
• 1:19:59
  Speaker 1: were to view at Jericho, saw him, they said, the
• 1:20:02
  Speaker 1: spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 1: to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: The fifty witnesses declared, the Spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha,
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: acknowledging the transfer of prophetic authority. There bowing before him
• 1:20:20
  Speaker 1: showed their recognition of his new leadership role. The ministry
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: would continue, though the messenger had changed. Although Elijah was
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: taken to Heaven, his influence on Israel's history didn't end
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: that day. Years later, after Elisha had established his own
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: prophetic ministry, a letter arrived for King Johoram of Judah.
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: In Second Chronicles twenty one twelve fifteen, we read and
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: there came a writing to him from Elijah the Prophet, saying, thus,
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 1: saith the Lord God of David, thy Father, because thou
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 1: hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat, thy Father,
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 1: nor in the ways of Aesa, king of Judah, but
• 1:21:00
  Speaker 1: hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel,
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: go aharing like to the horedoms of the House of Ahab.
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: And also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house,
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 1: which were better than thyself. Behold with a great plague,
• 1:21:19
  Speaker 1: will the Lord smite thy people, and thy children, and
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: thy wives and all thy goods. And thou shalt have
• 1:21:26
  Speaker 1: great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels
• 1:21:30
  Speaker 1: fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: This letter is intriguing because it came after Elijah's ascension
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 1: to Heaven. Most scholars believe Elijah wrote it prophetically before
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 1: his departure, knowing it would be needed later. This allowed
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: his prophetic voice to speak to a king who came
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: to power after he was gone. The message was typical
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: of Elijah, a direct confrontation of royal sin and a
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: clear pronouncement of coming judgment. Centuries later, the prophet Malachi
• 1:22:01
  Speaker 1: spoke of Elijah's future role. In Malachi four five to
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: a six, God promised, behold, I will send you Elijah
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: day of the Lord, and he shall turn the heart
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: of the fathers to the children, and the heart of
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 1: the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: the earth with a curse. This prophecy created the expectation
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: that Elijah himself would return before the Messiah came. This
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 1: belief was so strong that even to day, a Jewish
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: Passover celebrations, a cup is set aside for Elijah and
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: the door is opened in case he arrives to announce
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  Speaker 1: the Messiah. About four hundred years after Malachi's prophecy, Elijah
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  Speaker 1: did appear again on a mountain with Jesus and Moses
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  Speaker 1: in Matthew seventeen one three we read, and after six
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  Speaker 1: days Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother, and
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  Speaker 1: bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was
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  Speaker 1: transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun,
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  Speaker 1: and his raiment was white as the light. And behold
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  Speaker 1: there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him
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  Speaker 1: on the mount of transfiguration. Elijah appeared alongside Moses, speaking
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  Speaker 1: with Jesus about his coming sacrifice in Jerusalem. The two
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  Speaker 1: greatest Old Testament figures, Moses representing the Law and Elijah
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  Speaker 1: representing the prophets, appeared to honor Jesus and testify to
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  Speaker 1: his greater glory. Peter, James, and John witnessed this amazing scene,
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  Speaker 1: seeing Elijah in his glorified state. This appearance led the
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  Speaker 1: disciples to ask about the prophecy concerning Elijah's return. In
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  Speaker 1: Matthew seventeen ten to thirteen, Jesus explained, and his disciples
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  Speaker 1: asked him, saying, why then say the scribes that Elias
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  Speaker 1: must first come? And Jesus arm and said, unto them,
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  Speaker 1: Elias truly shall first come and restore all things. But
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  Speaker 1: I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and
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  Speaker 1: they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever
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  Speaker 1: they listed. Likewise, shall also the Son of Man suffer
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  Speaker 1: of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto
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  Speaker 1: them of John the Baptist. Jesus clarified that John the
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  Speaker 1: Baptist had fulfilled the role prophesied for Elijah. John came
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  Speaker 1: in the spirit and power of Elijah, as the Angel
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  Speaker 1: had told his father Zechariah. He wasn't Elijah reincarnated, but
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  Speaker 1: fulfilled the same preparatory role, calling people to repentance before
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  Speaker 1: the Messiah's arrival. Like Elijah, John was bold in confronting sin,
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  Speaker 1: lived in the wilderness, wore similar clothing, and challenged corrupt rulers,
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  Speaker 1: and like Elijah, he faced persecution for speaking truth to power.
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  Speaker 1: The connection between these two prophets completed a spiritual circle.
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  Speaker 1: Elijah's ministry continued through Elisha, and centuries later, his prophetic
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  Speaker 1: role was fulfilled again in John the Baptist. The legacy
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  Speaker 1: of Elijah extends even to our time. He remains a
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  Speaker 1: powerful symbol of uncompromising faith, bold truth telling, and God's
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  Speaker 1: supernatural power working through those fully committed to him. His
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  Speaker 1: story reminds us that even one person standing firmly for
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  Speaker 1: God's truth can challenge entire systems of corruption and call
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  Speaker 1: people back to authentic faith. If this story has touched
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  Speaker 1: your heart or helped you understand this remarkable prophet better,
• 1:25:43
  Speaker 1: please take a moment to subscribe to our channel. We're
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  Speaker 1: dedicated to bringing these biblical narratives to life in ways
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  Speaker 1: that connect with your daily experiences. And don't keep this
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: story to yourself. Share this video with friends and family
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: who might need the enco couragement that comes from Elijah's
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  Speaker 1: extraordinary life. Your simple act of sharing could be exactly
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  Speaker 1: what someone needs today. Thank you for joining us on
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  Speaker 1: this journey through the life of Elijah until our next
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  Speaker 1: biblical adventure. Remember that the same God who worked through
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  Speaker 1: Elijah is still working today.