It was the darkest day in Israel's history when 'Elijah—the prophet of the living God -entered upon his public ministry. The special work of the prophet is to arouse the consciences, and comfort the hearts of God's people in a day of ruin. First to awaken the failing people of God to their responsibilities by applying the word of God to their consciences, and second, to encourage the faithful by lifting their thoughts above the ruin in which they find themselves, and comforting their hearts with the glories yet to come.
It must be manifest that such ministry is eminently suited to a day of ruin. When all is in order amongst God's people there is neither need nor scope for the prophetic gift. It has been pointed out that in the day of Solomon's glory there was no occasion for the prophet. All was in order; the king administered justice from the throne; the priests and Levites waited upon their service, and the people dwelt in peace. But when, through the failure and disobedience of God's people, all has fallen into disorder, then, in the mercy of God, the prophet is brought upon the scene. The evil of God's people must call forth His judgment, for God will be true to Himself and vindicate the glory of His name. But, as another has said, " Whatever their iniquity may be, God does not smite a people who have forsaken His ways, until He has sent them a testimony. He may chastise them previously, but will not definitely execute His judgment upon them." Hence it is the very mercy of God that raises up the prophet in a day of ruin.
Nor is it otherwise in the ways of God today. In the minds of many, the prophetic gift has been limited to foretelling future events, and thus it has been concluded that the gift of prophecy has been withdrawn. It is true that the revelation of God is complete, and apart from the Word of God, none but an impostor would profess to unfold the future with a " Thus saith the Lord," but it is very far from true that the prophetic gift has ceased. It is evident from the New Testament that this gift holds a very high place in the estimation of God. In 1 Cor. 14 we read: " Follow after love and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy," for " he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation and comfort." What more important in this day of ruin, of weakness and of failure, among the people of God, than to arouse the consciences of believers to their low spiritual condition, to comfort their hearts by unfolding the coming glories, and to engage their affections with the coming One. He will be a true prophet who can thus speak " unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
Elijah in his day was a true prophet of the Lord. Never before had the condition of God's people sunk to such depths of degradation. Fifty-eight years had passed since the kingdom had been rent in twain upon the death of King Solomon. During this period seven kings had reigned, all, without exception, wicked men. Jeroboam had made Israel to sin with the golden calves. Nadab, his son, " did evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father." Baasha was a murderer; Elah his son was a drunkard, Zimri was a traitor and murderer. Omri was a military adventurer who seized the throne and did worse than all that were before him. Ahab, his son, did worse than his father: he married the vile and idolatrous Jezebel and became the leader in apostasy. In his day all trace of the public worship of Jehovah vanished from the land. Idolatry was universal. The golden calves were worshipped at Bethel and Dan; the house of Baal was in Samaria; groves of Baal were on every side, and prophets of Baal publicly conducted their idolatrous rites. Apparently Baal lived and Jehovah had ceased to be.
In the midst of this scene of darkness and moral degradation, there appears upon the scene, with dramatic suddenness, a solitary but striking witness to the living God. Elijah the Tishbite publicly confronts the king with a message of coming judgment: " As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." The first words of the prophet inform the king that he has to do with the living God, and moreover he is faced by a man who has no fear of him, king though he be. Elijah is called to deliver a most obnoxious message to the most powerful man in the land. Standing consciously before the living God, he is delivered from all fear when standing before the apostate king.
Long years before Jehovah had said to Israel by the mouth of Moses, " Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them, and then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens, that there be no rain" (Deut. 2:16,17). This solemn warning was unheeded. Idolatry had been almost continuous from the time of Moses, now at length it had become universal. God had borne long, but at last the idolatry of the land provoked " the Lord God of Israel to anger." (1 Kings 16:33), and the judgment long foretold was about to fall. There should be no " dew nor rain " but according to the word of the prophet. God will thus vindicate His word, maintain His glory, bring idolatry into contempt, and honor the man who witnesses to Him.
We may well inquire, What was the secret of Elijah's boldness in the presence of the king—the assurance with which he foretells the coming judgment, and his confident assertion that all will take place according to his word?
First, to him Jehovah was the living God. On all hands the public recognition of God had entirely ceased. So far as appearances went, there was not a soul in the land that believed in the existence of Jehovah. But in this day of universal declension, Elijah stands boldly forward as one who believed, and publicly avowed, that God lived.
Moreover, he can say of Jehovah that he is One " before whom I stand." Not only he believed in the living God, but, in all that he said and did, he was conscious of being in the presence of God. In result he is delivered from the fear of man, he is kept in perfect calm in the midst of terrible circumstances, and he is conscious of the support of God.
Furthermore, in the New Testament we learn another truth concerning Elijah. James brings the prophet forward as an illustration of the mighty things that can be accomplished by the earnest prayer of one righteous man. Prayer in private was another great secret of his power in public. He could stand before the wicked king because he had knelt before the living God. And his was no mere formal prayer that avails nothing, but an earnest prayer that availeth much. A prayer that had the glory of God in view as well as the blessing of the people, and therefore, " he prayed earnestly that it might not rain." A terrible prayer to have to put up to the living God about the people of God! And yet as Elijah surveyed the condition of the people, and could see no recognition of God throughout the breadth and length of the land, he realized it was better for them to suffer the years of drought, if this would turn them to God, than to enjoy prosperity in defiance of God and pass on to a worse judgment. Zeal for God and love for the people were behind this solemn prayer.
Moreover James reminds us that Elijah was " subject to like passions as we are." Like ourselves he was encompassed with human weaknesses and human infirmities. What a comforting lesson this fact may teach us! We too, like him, can be men of power, if we, in spite of the evil around us, walk in the consciousness that God is the living God, if we seek more constantly to move and speak and act in His presence as standing before Him, and if we are more often found before Him in earnest Spirit-led prayer.