Nearly three thousand years have passed away since Elijah witnessed for God upon the earth, but he is by no means a forgotten character. His stern denunciations of evil caused all classes to tremble before him. In his burning zeal for God, in his righteous indignation against the apostasy of his nation, the prophet was equally bold towards kings, priests, prophets, and the common people. John the Baptist resembled Elijah in this. The Lord God of Israel, against whom the chosen people were so grievously unfaithful, was a living reality to him. The knowledge of God, and the consciousness of His presence ("before whom I stand") made him bold beyond all others in his day. Meditation upon such a man is a holy stimulus for those who would witness for God and His truth in any age. Never were uncompromising men like Elijah more needed than in this easy-going, complacent twentieth century. "Man's day" (1 Cor. 4:3 JND) is rapidly drawing to a close. The judgment of God is fast approaching both for Christendom and the non-professing world. The diabolical character of present-day developments needs to be fearlessly and faithfully exposed.
In some respects, Elijah was unique amongst the Old Testament prophets. He was the first to raise a dead person; he passed out of the world without tasting death; he left an immediate successor behind him in Elisha, and he had a moral successor in John the Baptist (Luke 1:17; Matt. 17:12). Moreover, Elijah was sent back to earth with Moses to do honor to the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and his work is even yet unfinished. His voice will be heard again in the land of Israel (Mal. 4:5).
Do we all understand the meaning of the word "prophet"? The prophets of God did not necessarily predict future events; some did so, notably Isaiah, whose Spirit-given predictions are exceptionally rich and full, but many others such as Elijah, dealt exclusively with existing conditions amongst the people. It is a simple rule in Bible study to examine the Holy Spirit's first mention of any matter, for we thereby learn its general significance throughout the Book of God. Someone has said, "God graciously hangs up the key just inside the door." We first meet with the word “prophet" in Gen. 20:7. It is applied to Abraham! In the teaching of the New Testament, two antediluvian witnesses, Abel and Enoch, are called prophets (Luke 11:50-51; Jude 14), but it is nevertheless true that the first man specifically called a prophet in the Old Testament is Abraham.
Let us seek to understand the Holy Spirit's use of the term. Apart from divine guidance, Abraham went down to sojourn in the Philistine city of Gerar. To avert possible danger to himself, he said of Sarah, "She is my sister." Abimelech the king, attracted by her, took her into his house, but God intervened, saying in a dream, "Restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live." This is certainly remarkable, for the whole story suggests that at that time there was more pious fear of God in the mind of Abimelech the Philistine than in Abraham the Hebrew-"the friend of God." Yet Abraham was a prophet, and possessed intercessory influence which Abimelech did not have! Incidentally, we may learn from this that even when our spiritual condition is low, our privileges as saints, priests, etc., are not withdrawn from us, although for the time being we are not in enjoyment of them, and are unable to exercise them for the blessing of others.
Abraham neither spoke nor wrote predictive matter, so far as Scripture speaks, although when in normal condition, his spiritual vision enabled him to look far ahead and see, with joy, the day of Christ (John 8:56). A prophet was simply a man who had the mind of God, and was able to utter it. Thus in Psa. 105:15 other patriarchs are called prophets as well as Abraham. They were men in touch with God and could give forth His mind as no others could in their day.
The words of the woman of Samaria in John 4:19 will help us here. She said to the mysterious stranger who was conversing with her, "Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet." Yet He had not spoken to her either of future glories or of coming judgments, but His unexpected words concerning her five husbands, and the man with whom she was then living, made her feel that He was speaking to her directly from God. Indeed, He was God manifested in flesh, although she had no sense of this mighty fact at that moment.
There were prophets also in New Testament times. (Eph. 2:20; 4:11). There was no resemblance between their ministry and that of such men as Isaiah and Jeremiah. It was not the future that occupied them, it was theirs to give forth the mind of God concerning the new, wonderful work in Christianity, the Scriptures being not then complete. We even read in Acts 21:9 of four women-daughters of Philip the evangelist-"who did prophesy." But their service would be rendered in private (1 Cor. 14:34, 35).
Of Elijah's antecedents, nothing is told us. Concerning his parentage, his age, and his upbringing, nothing is stated, unless his name, which means "Whose God is Jehovah." is meant to indicate a pious father who named his son in faith. God is silent also concerning other prophets. Of Haggai and Malachi, for example, we know nothing beyond their bare names. But that does not matter. The object of the Spirit of God is not to occupy us with men, but with the messages they carried, and which will continue to have spiritual value until the world's end. Let us remember this when we have to listen to men speaking in the name of the Lord in the assembly or elsewhere. We may conceivably get something very definite from God, even though it may be only "five words" (1 Cor. 14:19), from a speaker quite unknown to us. and whose attainments may not favorably impress us. Do not look at the messenger. but at the message. "Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 Thes. 5:19-21. W. Fereday