Elisha the Tishbite
Lesson 45
page 1 of
2
:: page 1 :: page 2 ::
“Elijah was a
man just like us. He prayed earnestly
that it would not rain, and it did
not rain on the land for three and
half years. Again he prayed, and the
heavens gave rain, and the earth
produced its crops.” (James
5:17,18)
The Testament prophet,
Elijah, is mentioned 28 times in the
New Testament. He had a popular
legacy during the time of the
apostles for at least six reasons:
First, he was an ordinary man through
whom God accomplished extraordinary
things. As a young man, Elijah
embarrassed the petulant King Ahab,
angered his wicked wife, Jezebel,
rebuked a nation almost totally given
over to idolatry, proved that Baal
was no god. Second, they regarded
Elijah to be a man of valor because
he slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal
after he proved they were false
prophets. Third, Elijah was the first
prophet in Old Testament times to
raise a person from the dead. Fourth,
God took Elijah to Heaven in a
chariot of fire without experiencing
death. Fifth, Peter, James and John
saw Elijah on the mountain where
Jesus was transfigured. Sixth, the
last two verses of the book of
Malachi end with the promise of a
coming Elijah: “See, I will
send you the prophet Elijah before
the great and dreadful day of the
Lord comes. He will turn the hearts
of the fathers to their children, and
the hearts of the children to their
fathers; or else I will come and
strike the land with a curse.”
(Malachi 4:5,6)
Elijah’s ministry
lasted a mere 24 years, but he is
considered to be one of the greatest
prophets in Old Testament times. His
greatness had nothing to do with his
family tree, his education, his
personal wealth, or assets. In fact,
James emphasizes this point by
saying, “Elijah was a man
just like us.” Let there be
no mistake – Elijah’s
greatness stemmed from god’s
greatness. This is because he
dedicated his life in service to God
and glorified His holy name,
especially at a time when such
behavior was politically and
religiously incorrect! Pay attention
because Elijah’s life story
contains certain experiences that
have powerful end time parallels.
How it Started
The twelve tribes of
Israel were divided into two nations
after Solomon died (around 920 B.C.).
The popular and talented Jeroboam
became king over the ten tribes in
the North, and Rehoboam, an insolent
son of Solomon, was king over two
tribes in the South. Both kings were
evil minded in god’s eyes and
Jeroboam was considered more evil
than Rehoboam. Jeroboam led Israel to
commit great sins against God, the
very One who appointed him to be king
over the ten tribes! (1 Kings 11:31)
Jeroboam did not trust God’s
leadership. His goals were
self-serving and he didn’t want
the kingdom united. Jeroboam reasoned
that Israel would not remain divided
as long as the twelve tribes shared
the same religion, so he resorted to
a scheme to prevent Rehoboam from
reuniting the twelve tribes. All the
Jews were required by law to go up to
Jerusalem three times a year to
observe Passover, Pentecost and the
Feast of Tabernacles. Jeroboam knew
as long as his people regarded the
high priest in Jerusalem (who favored
the rule of Rehoboam) as their
spiritual authority, his control over
the ten tribes would not be secure.
So, Jeroboam’s scheme included
displacing the religion of Israel
with a “new” religion.
Consider these words from the Bible:
“Jeroboam
thought to himself, ‘The kingdom
will now likely revert to the house
of David. If these people go up to
offer sacrifices at the temple of the
Lord in Jerusalem, they will again
give their allegiance to the lord,
Rehoboam king of Judah. They will
kill me and return to king
Rehoboam.’ After seeking advice,
the king made two golden calves. He
said to the people, ‘It is too
much for you to go up to Jerusalem.
Here are your gods, O Israel, who
brought you up out of Egypt.’
One he set up in Bethel, and the
other in Dan. And this thing became a
sin; the people went as far as Dan to
worship the one there. Jeroboam built
shrines on high places and appointed
priests from all sorts of people,
even though they were not Levites. He
instituted a festival on the
fifteenth day of the eight-month,
like the festival held in Judah, and
offered sacrifices on the altar. This
he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the
calves he had made. And at Bethel he
also installed priests at the high
places he had made. On the fifteenth
day of the eighth month, a month of
his own choosing, he offered
sacrifices on the altar he had built
at Bethel. So he instituted the
festival for the Israelites and went
up to the alter to make
offerings.” (1 Kings
12:26-33) Amazingly, the people
accepted Jeroboam’s new religion
quickly. It is hard to believe that
the Israelites accepted the new
changes so readily, but they did.
Their behavior demonstrates a
profound truth about humankind.
People can be led astray very quickly
if their religious experience is not
based on a personal understanding of
God’s Word. At the Great
Tribulation, the “Jeroboam
phenomenon” will occur again
when the Antichrist forces everyone
to participate in a new one-world
religion.
From Bad to Worse
Jeroboam/s blasphemy
deeply offended God. One day, the old
prophet, Ahijah, had a message for
Jeroboam and he told Jeroboam’s
wife, “Go, tell Jeroboam that
this is what the Lord, the god of
Israel, says: ‘I raised you up
from among the people and made you a
leader over my people Israel. I tore
the kingdom away from the house of
David and gave it to you, but you
have not been like my servant David,
who keep my commands and followed me
with all his heart, doing only what
is right in my eyes. You have done
more evil than all who lived before
you. You have made for yourself other
gods, idols of metal; you have
provoked me to anger and thrust me
behind your back. Because of this, I
am going to bring disaster on the
house of Jeroboam. I will cut off
from Jeroboam every last male in
Israel – slave or free. I will
burn up the house of Jeroboam as one
burns dung, until it is all
gone.’” (1 Kings
14:7-10) History records that
Jeroboam ruled over the ten tribes
for about 20 years before he was
killed and his whole family
slaughtered. After Jeroboam’s
reign, a series of evil kings
followed who were even more wicked
than he was! Like a roller coaster
gaining speed as it rolls down an
incline, sin and apostasy continued
to accelerate in Israel after
Jeroboam died. About 35 years after
Jeroboam was killed, a selfish and
temperamental man named Ahab became
king of Israel. His wife was a
Sidonian woman, named Jezebel, who
was notorious for her glamour and her
ambition. The Bible says, “There
was never a man like Ahab, who sold
himself to do evil in the eyes of the
Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.
He behaved in the vilest manner by
going after idols, like the Amorites
the Lord drove out before
Israel.” (1 Kings 21:25,26)
This background information on
Israel’s descent into decadence
is important if we are to appreciate
the appearing, loyalty, courage and
actions of a young man, Elijah the
Tishbite, who seemed to come out of
nowhere.
Elijah Called
About 870 B.C.,
northern Israel’s decadence had
become so evil that God stepped in.
He called a “country boy”
from a remote desert territory of
Gilead to be His spokesman. (God
often chooses the most unlikely
people to do awesome work.) As a
youth, Elijah did not fill his mind
with the foolishness of idolatry nor
did he chase after the meaningless
pleasures of carnal dissipation
– pleasures which idolatry not
only approved, but exalted. Elijah
was devoted to god; deeply concerned
and grieved by the idolatrous
behavior of his people. Elijah knew
that god’s wrath toward
Israel’s behavior was long
overdue. Elijah wanted to make a
difference, but he recognized that he
was only a youth and powerless to do
anything about it. He had no
influence, no pulpit and no money. To
him, it seemed as if there was
nothing he could do – except
pray.
Elijah was a good
student of God’s Word and was
intimately acquainted with the
writings of Moses. He knew the
covenant that the Lord gave to Moses
at Mt. Sinai was conditional. At
Sinai God said, “If after all
this you will not listen to me, I
will punish you for your sins seven
times over. I will break down your
stubborn pride and make the sky above
you like iron and the ground beneath
you like bronze. Your strength will
be spent in vain, because your soil
will not yield its crops, nor will
the trees of the land yield their
fruit.” (Leviticus 26:18-20)
Elijah was also acquainted with
Solomon’s published prayer which
was proclaimed in Jerusalem when the
temple was dedicated about 75 years
earlier. Solomon had prayed, “When
the heavens are shut up and there is
no rain because your people have
sinned against you, and when they
pray toward this place and confess
your name and turn from sin because
you have afflicted them, then hear
from heaven and forgive the sin of
your servants, your people Israel.
Teach them the right way to live, and
send rain on the land you gave your
people for an inheritance.”
(1 Kings 8:35-36)
These and other Old
Testament references gave Elijah an
idea of how to pray for Israel. James
writes, “Elijah was a man
just like us. He prayed earnestly
that it would not rain, and it did
not rain on the land for three and a
half years.” (James 5:17)
The sincere prayer of Elijah touched
God. God was very aware of
Israel’s great wickedness, and
in Elijah, God saw a sincere young
man who was jealous for His honor.
One day, God appeared before Elijah
and told him that He heard
Elijah’s prayers. Consequently,
there would be no more rain until Elijah
asked for it again. In other words,
God gave Elijah the authority to
determine when the famine would end!
Wow! God placed enormous power in the
hands of a young man from Tishbe. God
told Elijah to go before
Israel’s king and deliver the
message that the young prophet could
control the rain. Think about it for
a moment. This would be like driving
to Washington D.C., presuming that
you would get access to the President
of the United States, to tell him
that it was not going to rain until
you said so. Elijah’s faith was
so compelling that it allowed him to
take God at His word. Without
hesitation, Elijah set out for
Samaria to find King Ahab. Upon
finding the king, Elijah approached
him without introduction or savvy
court etiquette and made this
declaration: “As the Lord,
the God of Israel, lives, whom I
serve, there will be neither dew nor
rain in the next few years except at
my word…” (1 Kings
17:1) That said, Elijah abruptly
turned and departed. The King was
surprised, and then bemused. No doubt
some of the king’s attendants
laughed out loud at the youthful
folly of Elijah. “So here’s
a young man who thinks he can control
the rain! Yeah, right!” Laughing
and mocking, they joked, “That
kid must have been out in the desert
sun too long.”
The Bible does not
mention how long it took for the
reality of the situation to dawn on
Ahab. Depending on the season. 30
days without rain is not unusual in
Palestine. Sixty days without rain is
not deadly, but serious. Ninety days
without rain and water shortages
becomes a problem. It only takes
about four months for serious signs
of famine to appear. When it became
evident that a famine was under way,
the Holy Spirit brought a memory to
the king and his officials of the
sudden appearance and bold
declaration of the young man. He
seemed to come out of nowhere and
disappeared just as fast. Where did
this Elijah go? How could he
control the rain? At his first claim
appeared to be absolute folly, for no
man could control the rain – or
could they? As the days continued to
pass without a drop of rain, it
became apparent that someone
had caused the rain to cease!
End Time Parallel
There is an important
end time parallel here. Revelation
predicts that during the Great
Tribulation, there will be no rain
for three and half years (the same
length of time as in Elijah’s
day)! A worldwide famine is coming
for the same reasons that a
nationwide famine occurred in
Elijah’s day. Consider this
text: “These have the power to
shut heaven, that it rain not in the
days of their prophecy: and have
power over the waters to turn them
into blood, and smite the earth with
plagues, as often as they will.”
(Revelation 11:6, KJV)
Many Christians
believe the Two Witnesses mentioned
in Revelation and Moses and Elijah.
My study has led me to a different
conclusion. During the Great
tribulation, the Two Witnesses will
empower 144,000 prophets of God to do
miraculous things just like
Moses and Elijah. Like Moses and
Elijah, God’s servants will
exercise supernatural powers as
they see fit. Why will God grant
so much power to His prophets during
the Great Tribulation? I find there
are two reasons: First, when
incredible miracles can be performed
at will, the miracle working person
automatically gets a great deal of
respect and attention. Second, when a
miracle working person has something
to say that is hard to accept, the
miracles give added credibility.
During the Great Tribulation, god
will grant 144,000 prophets miracles
working powers so that their
antagonistic message will be
carefully and thoughtfully considered
by people whose minds are dull and
darkened by idolatry and sin. Notice
how God used this identical process
during the days of Paul and Barnabas,
“So Paul and Barnabas spent
considerable time there [among
the pagans in Iconium], speaking
boldly for the Lord, who confirmed
the message of his grace by enabling
them to do miraculous signs and
wonders.” (Acts 14:3,
insertion mine, italics mine) Why did
God give Paul and Barnabas miracle
working powers? God gave these powers
to Paul and Barnabus in Iconium to
confirm the veracity of His
messengers among the pagans.
“You Troubler of
Israel”
During the third year
of famine, Elijah could see that the
famine was causing suffering which
was overwhelming the whole land.
Illness, malnutrition and death had
decimated humanity and beasts. All
the vegetation was either dead or
dormant. Famine had swallowed up the
land that once flowed with milk and
honey. The suffering of thousands of
children moved Elijah’s heart.
Starvation is a slow death and the
untimely death of multitudes of sick
people who wasted away with
protracted suffering stirred
Elijah’s compassion. The fact
that he asked for the famine that
caused all this suffering and carnage
troubled Elijah’s conscience!
Incredibly, in spite of the famine
and the suffering it caused, Israel
still did not repent. When he
could tolerate the decimation of his
people no longer Elijah petitioned
the Lord to send rain. James writes, “Again
he [Elijah] prayed, and the heavens
gave rain, and the earth produced its
crops.” (James 5:18,
insertion mine) This is a touching
point. Every now and then, God allows
a human being to experience His
dilemma. God knows all about pain.
When God called Abraham to offer his
cherished son, Isaac, on an altar,
God wanted Abraham to feel His own
loss when He sacrificed His own
dearly beloved Son on the cross. When
God granted Elijah the power to
control the famine of Israel, He also
allowed Elijah to feel what He feels
when He left with no other remedy
than to cause extreme suffering in
getting humanity’s attention.
When Elijah had enough, he prayed for
rain with the same intensity that he
prayed for famine.
The Bible says, “After
a long time, in the third year, the
word of the Lord came to Elijah:
‘Go and present yourself to
Ahab, and I will send rain on the
land.’ So Elijah went to present
himself to Ahab…”(1
Kings 18:1,2) As the famine
continued, Elijah had become the most
wanted man in Israel, dead or alive.
In today’s terms, Ahab and his
cohorts regarded Elijah as a
terrorist. To their way of thinking,
Elijah had brought great harm to
Israel. Tens of thousands of people
were dead and the survivors were
quick to blame Elijah! Ahab wanted
Elijah captured and ordered that he
be put to death at any cost. When
Ahab learned that Elijah wanted to
see him, he was surprised! The king
went immediately so that he could
capture the prophet. “When he
saw Elijah, he said to him, ‘Is
that you, you troubler of
Israel?’ ‘I have not made
trouble for Israel,’ Elijah
replied. ‘But you and your
father’s family have. You have
abandoned the Lord’s commands
and have followed the
Baals.’” (1 Kings
18:17,18) As the king approached
Elijah, Ahab spoke first, blaming him
for Israel’s misery. Elijah did
not blink; neither did he patronize
the king. He simply confronted the
king with unvarnished truth. At that
moment, the king knew better than to
lay hands on Elijah – he could
sense that divine power rested upon
the young man. More than three years
of suffering kept the temperamental
king from doing anything rash. Ahab
had enough sense to realize that he
was talking to a prophet of the Most
High God who had control over the
rain. Think about this story for a
minute. Who brought trouble upon
Israel? Was it Ahab, Elijah or God?
Ahab was exceedingly wicked, Elijah
was vexed at Israel’s apostasy,
and God was angry about the
degeneracy of the whole nation. In a
sense, all three brought trouble upon
Israel! God wanted repentance and
reformation, Elijah wanted the God of
Abraham to be exalted, and Ahab
wanted relief. The point is that God
honored Elijah’s prayer because
Israel violated His covenant!
This famine did not occur simply
because Elijah asked for it, nor was
it an arbitrary act of God. This
famine did not occur because God
loved Elijah and hated Israel. God
does not work that way. Punishment by
famine was a clearly stated provision
contained in the covenant given at
Mt. Sinai. When God honored
Elijah’s prayer, God was lawful
and timely in doing so. Remember,
this issue is also significant during
the Great Tribulation. Famine is
coming and the famine will be
“just” because God is
lawful in everything He does!
End Time Parallel
During the Great
Tribulation, authorities will regard
the 144,000 servants of God as
“troublers of all nations.”
The 144,000 will be found throughout
the world, each in his or her own
land and tongue. (Presently, the
approximate ratio is one of
God’s servants per 50,000
people.) As servants of God, they
will be hated and hunted for the same
reasons Elijah was hated and hunted:
First, when God’s servants
exercise their miracle working
powers, death and destruction will
often follow. Remember the plagues
that Moses called down on Egypt?
Remember when Jesus exorcized the
demons out of the two men in Matthew
8? (The demons were sent into a herd
of pigs, which ran over the cliff and
drowned themselves. Therefore, the
owners of the pigs blamed Jesus for
the great financial loss they
suffered.) Remember when Paul and
Silas set a young slave girl free
from demonic possession and her
owners became furious? (Acts 16) In a
similar way, the 144,000 will use
their miracle working powers as they
see fit to overthrow demonic control.
They will demolish foolish arguments
and break the strongholds of demons
with God’s power! The 144,000
will anger people who love evil and
people who are exposed by the 144,000
will hate them. The Holy Spirit, just
like Ananias and Sapphira, will
strike down people, who try to lie to
God. (Acts 5) God’s servants
will have awesome powers during their
1,260 days of empowerment. Please do
not forget that God’s servants
will also perform miracles of healing
and restoration. God’s servants
will receive a lot of respect from
those who love truth, but people who
love evil will hate them. Jesus said,
“Everyone who does evil hates
the light, and will not come into the
light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed. But whoever lives by the
truth comes into the light, so that
it can be seen plainly that what he
has done has been done through
God.” (John 3:20,21)
The second reason the
144,000 will be regarded as
“troublers of the nations”
during the Great Tribulation centers
around their antagonistic testimony.
Because the Great tribulation begins
with several deadly judgments from
God (global earthquake, meteoric
firestorms, two asteroid impacts),
religious and political leaders in
every nation will use their authority
of martial law to appease God. In
other words, a time is coming when
the religious and political leaders
of the world will mandate the worship
of god in hopes that He will be
appeased and cease His horrific
judgments. However, the 144,000 will
proclaim God’s truth with
unvarnished clarity and their
opposition to the laws of the land
will anger authorities. Like Elijah,
God’s servants during the end
time will be regarded as
“troublers of the nations”
and the authorities will hunt them
down to be jailed or killed.
:: page 1 :: page 2 ::
