“Know ye not what the scripture says in the history of Elias, how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, they have dug down Thine altars; and I have been left alone, and they seek my life. But what says the divine answer to him? I have left to Myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed knee to Baal” (Rom. 11:2-42God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. (Romans 11:2‑4) JND).
Despite the courage, devotedness and faithfulness of Elijah during a difficult time in Israel’s history, his name does not appear in Hebrews 11, that great chapter which identifies many whose names are placed in the eternal record as examples of those who lived by faith.
But Elijah’s name does appear in Romans 11 in a much different context — not as an example of one who lived by faith, but as one who, at a low moment, interceded against the people of God.
A Word of Warning
As we consider the trying circumstances Elijah was in and recognizing our own vulnerabilities, we can hardly fault Elijah for words he privately uttered in exasperation to the Lord. But the Lord, who alone heard them, knows and measures all and recorded them for our instruction. This incident — similar to the time when Moses, at the end of the wilderness journey, provoked by Israel’s constant complaining, angrily spoke with his lips (Psa. 106:32-3332They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: 33Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. (Psalm 106:32‑33)) — serves as a sober warning to us not to lash out with our tongues against our brethren, even if their ways are grievous. The Lord dealt firmly with each of His honored servants because of their wrong response to a wrong condition among God’s people.
Considering the uniqueness of a reference in the New Testament to a failure of an Old Testament saint, some have observed that immediately following Elijah’s complaint, the Lord instructed Elijah to anoint Elisha as his replacement (1 Kings 19:14-16), thus emphasizing the seriousness of what Elijah had said. While acknowledging this to be so, subsequent incidents recorded in Scripture preclude us from inferring that Elijah’s service was completely terminated at that moment.
It is in Elijah’s subsequent history that we witness the restoration of heart of one of the Lord’s most honored servants.
The Order of Events
Before we identify those points that clearly show Elijah’s restoration, perhaps it is well to note the order of events that led up to Elijah’s registering his displeasure to the Lord about His people.
Elijah, whose name means “Jehovah is my God,” was called by God to recall Israel from the worship of Baal to Jehovah. At Mount Carmel it appeared that the people had indeed acknowledged Jehovah as the one true God (1 Kings 18:39).
But at that moment, Jezebel threatened his life, and Elijah, who had demonstrated such remarkable courage up to that point, runs for his life. Such is man.
In his discouragement, Elijah asked the Lord to take away his life, even though the reason he had fled was to preserve his life. How inconsistent we can become when motivated by fear and unbelief! Yet, the Lord graciously ministered to His downcast servant, and he went in the strength of that provision for forty days. Then in a cave, no doubt symbolic of his gloom and depression, he uttered his assessment of the foreboding situation. The Lord called upon Elijah to stand before Him on the mount as He showed Elijah He was not in the wind, fire or earthquake, but His mind and His movements were only to be understood by His servant in hearing “a still small voice.”
So much like ourselves, Elijah did not lay hold of what the Lord was quietly bringing before him, and he repeats his prior complaint verbatim as if the Lord did not hear him the first time. Elijah’s prompt response to the Lord leads us to wonder if he had perhaps rehearsed this idea in his mind so frequently that, as a result, it flowed forth automatically.
The Word to Return
It is at this moment the Lord instructs Elijah to “go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay” (1 Kings 19:15-16). The essence of the Lord’s direction to Elijah was, “If you want Me providentially to deal with My people according to their ways, you must begin the process by officially installing those who will carry out that work.”
The first indication of Elijah’s restoration is not in words, but in action. The Lord told him to anoint Hazael to be king of Syria. Here was one who would bring the sword against Israel without compunction. But there is no record that Elijah ever anointed Hazael. It was a long time later that Elisha, with tears, told Hazael he would be king, which position he secured for himself by treachery and brutality. Nor did Elijah anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, even if he, unlike Hazael, was not numbered among Israel’s enemies. Ultimately, it was one of the sons of the prophets who, under Elisha’s direction, anointed Jehu to be king.
The Call of Elisha
In contrast to Hazael and Jehu, Elijah without hesitation or reserve immediately finds Elisha and throws his mantle over him. How much greater is this act of personal identification with Elisha than a formal anointing! While the Lord had told Elijah to anoint these three men so that they might bring judgment upon Israel, it seems equally clear that Elijah, in his response, had spiritual intelligence as well as affection for God’s people. He declined to anoint those who would slay God’s people, even if he had complained about them. And while the Lord had spoken of Elisha’s slaying those who had escaped Jehu’s sword, his ministry would be the ministry of grace, and it was this that Israel needed.
Elijah’s ministry of righteousness, seeking to lead the people to repentance under the law, was as necessary as was John the Baptist’s as a forerunner of the Messiah, but it could never in itself bring Israel into blessing. It must be by grace alone.
Fellowship in Service
There is also a beautiful illustration of unselfishness in this scene. Are we as eager as Elijah to give way to another servant of the Lord, even if it means that we are, so to speak, “put on the shelf”? Elisha could not have received a warmer or fuller expression of fellowship from the man he had displaced. This scene of these two noble hearts is nothing less than remarkable, and their fellowship continued to the day Elijah was taken up, with Elisha observing in rapt attention. The Lord had spoken of seven thousand that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Elisha was one. In the subsequent chapters we read of others: one of the sons of the prophets, Micaiah and Naboth. God’s work would carry on with or without Elijah.
The Witness Against King Ahab
Yet God still had important work that only Elijah could do. Ahab’s greed and savagery in executing Naboth was a crime against one of God’s servants that He would not overlook.
At times, we recognize there are situations where something needs to be said but no one seems fitted to say it. So it was here. Who could approach, much less rebuke, the king of Israel? Moral weight, courage, integrity and faithfulness in delivering the message would be required.
Elijah, seemingly set aside from his public role, is directly called by God to deliver a solemn message to Ahab face to face.
Ahab and Elijah had met before at the very beginning of Elijah’s ministry. Ahab certainly had not forgotten that one who had withheld rain from Israel for three years, and he wasted no time in greeting him, “Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” Elijah did not stop to correct Ahab’s thinking. He simply responded as one who was the master of the situation, “I have found thee” (1 Kings 21:20).
Elijah’s prophetic word to Ahab resulted in what we would consider virtually impossible — that the proud and wicked Ahab would humble himself. Such was the power of the word of a broken man who, without resentment, accepted God’s discipline and yielded himself to be at God’s disposal, however God wanted to use him.
The Judgment of Ahaziah
But Elijah’s work was not yet done. Ahaziah, king of Israel, had a serious fall and was sick. Instead of turning to the God of Israel, Ahaziah turned to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, a city of the Philistines. Elijah was sent by the Lord to meet Ahaziah’s delegation and deliver the news that Ahaziah would die. Their dictate to Elijah was twice met in Elijah’s characteristic boldness and power by calling down fire from heaven, an account the Lord’s disciples remembered well, wondering if they should use Elijah’s response as a precedent for calling down fire on the Samaritans (Luke 9:5454And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? (Luke 9:54)). When a captain from the third contingent sought for mercy, “Let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight,” the Lord redirected Elijah to go with him to meet the king.
These three incidents show Elijah at his finest — one who immediately bowed to the discipline of the Lord, who would not — when it came right down to it — raise a hand against God’s people, who, freed from any hope of having his ministry result in the restoration of Israel, was able to deliver God’s message of judgment with unhesitating boldness directly to kings and to act according to the demands of the law he was called upon in his ministry to require.
Elijah As a Person
Perhaps it should be clarified that it is important to distinguish between Elijah personally and Elijah typically, just as with other servants of the Lord such as Moses, Solomon and Jonah.
As we consider Elijah personally, we marvel at the grace of God to His servant (who twice begged the Lord to take away his life), in that He took him up in a whirlwind, attended by chariots of fire, apt figures of Elijah’s ministry and a fitting commendation for one who served his Lord so faithfully. God’s purposes exceeded not only Elijah’s pathetic wishes in the depths of despair and self-pity, but beyond what he could conceive — to be “received up in glory” and be associated with the Lord Jesus on the mount when He was transfigured before His disciples (Luke 9:3030And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: (Luke 9:30)), the sample of the coming kingdom for which Elijah’s ministry will ultimately prepare God’s people (Malachi 4:5-65Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: 6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5‑6)).
W J. Brockmeier