ELIJAH

“Jehovah is my God.”
1. One of the greatest prophets. Surnamed “the Tishbite”, from Gilead; According to the LXX, this last mention specified that he was not originally from another, more well-known Thisbe, which was in Galilee.

He wore a garment of camel’s hair girded with a leather belt (2 Kings 1:8).
When Ahab, under the influence of his Tyrian wife Jezebel, became a worshiper of the Baal of Tyre, Elijah suddenly appeared on the scene. He appeared before the perverted sovereign, and announced a drought of indeterminate duration, as punishment for apostasy.

A time of famine followed. Elijah retired at first to the brook Cherith, where he was fed by the ravens sent by the Lord. (See CROW). When the brook Cherith dried up, Elijah went to Zarephath, on the Mediterranean coast, north of Tyre.

There lived a widow who put her trust in God, and who shared her last meal with Elijah. Then God intervened. The jar of flour and the jar of oil did not run out while the famine lasted. The widow’s son died; then the prophet’s prayer brought him back to life (1 Kings 17:1-24; Luke 4:24-26).

After a long time, in the third year (1 Kings 18:1; Luke 4:25; James 5:17). Elijah received the order from Jehovah to appear before Ahab. The scene on Mount Carmel followed. The pagan priests attempted to prove the divinity of Baal, but all their efforts were in vain.

Elijah gathered the people around the altar that the pious northern Israelites had undoubtedly raised to Jehovah, since due to the schism of the 10 tribes they could no longer go to Jerusalem. This altar had been demolished.

By rebuilding it with 12 stones, Elijah gave silent testimony that the schism of the 12 tribes into 2 kingdoms was contrary to the will of God. To demonstrate the impossibility of any fraud, he ordered the people to throw water on the burnt offering and on the altar. Next he prayed to the Lord, and fire fell from heaven, consuming the burnt offering on the altar and the altar itself.

Thus the Lord manifested his existence and power. The prophets of Baal, convicted of fraud, were taken to the brook of Kishon; Elijah ordered the slaughter of all of them (1 Kings 18:1-40; cp. Deut. 17:2-5; 13:13-16). The people recognized that Jehovah is God, and obeyed the order of their prophet.

Clouds appeared, announcing rain and the return of divine favor. The prophet, to honor the ruler of God’s chosen people, girded himself and ran before Ahab’s chariot until he reached Jezreel (1 Kings 18:41-46). Jezebel, furious at the death of her prophets, swore to kill Elijah, who, frightened, fled.

Like Moses, he was divinely sustained for 40 days and 40 nights, until he reached Mount Horeb (Ex. 24:18; 34; Deut. 9:9, 18; 1 Kings 19:8). With a tremendous display of power and gentleness, Elijah was rebuked and then returned to his mission. God commanded him to anoint Hazael king of Syria, and Jehu king of Israel, to punish Israel’s idolatry.

He was also going to anoint Elisha as a prophet in his place, to announce judgment. Elijah threw his mantle over Elisha, and gave him the mission to carry out the rest of his mission (1 Kings 19:1-21).

Jezebel had Naboth killed with the complicity of the magistrates, in order to obtain his vineyard for Ahab. Elijah appeared to him on the same stolen land to make known the punishment that the Lord was going to send him (1 Kings 21:1-29).

Ahab’s death at the battle of Ramoth Gilead was the beginning of the punishment pronounced by Elijah against the royal house (1 Kings 22:1-40). Ahaziah, son and successor of Ahab, was injured by falling from a window; He then sent messengers to consult Baal-zebub, idol of Ekron, to see if he would be healed.

Elijah stopped the messengers and sent them to the king with his message. The king sent two captains out of fifty to stop Elijah, and he called down fire from heaven, which consumed them. In the end, a third captain appeared before Elías begging him to respect his life; Elijah went with him to see Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:1-16).

The prophet Elijah was given the privilege of being transferred to heaven without passing through death. A chariot of fire drawn by horses of fire appeared to Elijah, who had gone to the other side of the Jordan with his servant Elisha. This wonder separated them, and Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1-12)

This event appears to have taken place shortly before Joram’s accession to the throne of Israel (2 Kings 2; cf. 2 Kings 1:18 and 3:1). Elisha had drawn up a vehement document against Jehoram of Judah, who shared the throne with Jehoshaphat and who had married a daughter of Ahab.

The prophet threatened him with divine punishment, provoked not only by the sins he had committed during Jehoshaphat’s life, but also by the crimes he committed after his death (2 Chron. 21:12-15; cp. vv. 4 and 13). If Elijah was ascended to heaven during the reign of Jehoshaphat, he then predicted, during this king’s lifetime, the future conduct of Jehoram of Judah, as he did with Hazael and Jehu (1 Kings 19:15-17).

Another explanation is given, which is that the account of Elijah’s ascension would have been inserted in 2 Kings 2 to conclude the story of his public activity, and that Elijah would have still been in this world when the meeting of Elisha, at southern Judah, with Jehoshaphat’s army and when Jehoram came to the throne. However, this explanation does not square at all with 2 Kings 3:11, and it must be accepted that Elijah’s complaint was a prediction.

The last two verses of the OT announce that God will send Elijah before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord (Mal. 4:5-6). In the NT John the Baptist came “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” humble and full of zeal like the Tishbite (Mt. 3:4; Mark 1:6), and charged with a ministry similar to his own (Mt. 11:1-14; 17:10-12; Luke 1:17). Here the following should be noted:

(A) John the Baptist declared himself that he was not Elijah (John 1:21)

(B) The Lord Jesus, although he said that “Elijah has already come” in a certain way in the character of John the Baptist, also added that “Elijah will truly come first and restore all things” (Mark 9:11- 13).

It seems, therefore, that it is quite clear that, as often happens, we have here two successive fulfillments of the prophecy of Mal. 4:5, 6, the first partial, in the first coming of Christ, the other total in the second coming from him.

The “restoration of all things” means the establishment of the glorious reign of the Messiah (Acts 3:20, 21). As for the “great and terrible day of the Lord,” this is evidently still future. It is the day of the manifestation and complete dominion of the Lord, in which he will execute his judgments and establish his dominion.

Many commentators believe that Elijah could be (along with Enoch?) one of the two witnesses of Rev. 11:3-11. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah, representing the prophets of the OT, appeared to honor Jesus. His ascension and that of Enoch (Gen. 5:24) undoubtedly prefigure the ascension of the resurrected Savior.

The miracles that mark the ministry of Elijah belong to the second of the 4 periods of miracles presented in the history of redemption. This second period is that of the all-out struggle between the religion of Jehovah and the cult of Baal.

Maintaining the faith of the fathers or apostasy was the crucial issue of this battle that took place in northern Israel. Questions regarding other religious observances paled in the face of this capital fact.

2. Benjamite, son of Jeroham, resided in Jerusalem (1 Chron. 8:27).

3. A priest, son of Harim, he had married a Gentile woman (Ezra 10:21).

4. Israelite among those whom Ezra convinced to dismiss his foreign wives (Ezra 10:19, 26).