For Our Admonition Part 3
“An Introduction to Elijah the Prophet”
Key Verses:1Ki 17:1 – 1Ki 17:7
Elijah is the most often cited Old Testament prophet in the New Testament (30 times). This fact is no coincidence (Mat 5:18, 2Ti 3:16) and is there to help teach us the ways of the Lord. The experience of Elijah is our experience as we live by every word. These matters are at the center of the process of spiritual completion (think the number three) taking us out of the world onwards to a mature man in Christ.
Joh 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Elijah and his NT successor John the Baptist are the bridge (the connection) between Moses and Christ.
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
The spirit and power of Elijah is the same as John the Baptist. The stories have different details, yet the spiritual significance is the same and a double witness for us to learn by. Elijah and John were prophets, but were in a special class with a duty to prepare the carnally minded for the coming of the Lord.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Mat 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Mat 11:14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
The transfiguration of Jesus Christ was a vision showing the disciples and us by extension of the three stages we endure to become like Jesus Christ by ourselves being spiritually transfigured spiritually. The number three signifies the process of our spiritual completion (maturation) and 1) Moses, 2) Elijah/John the Baptist and 3) Christ represent the three stages in which we walk with God.
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Mat 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Mat 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Moses represents our time in Orthodoxy also known as Babylon where we are drawn out of the world and into the wilderness seeking the truth. But all we know here is the other jesus that is built upon the works of our flesh not knowing that the Lord is working ALL THINGS (Eph 1:11). This time (40 symbolic years) under this carnal law for a carnal nation (Heb 9:10) is not wasted, it is in fact good as it is used to bring us to the true Jesus in due time.
1Ti 1:8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…..
Elijah like John is the bridge to Christ from this carnal law that binds all men (Rom 7:14). Elijah’s coming initiates the Lord’s work in bringing the restitution of all things, the restoral of Israel inwardly in our hearts.
Mat 17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Restoring the Israel of God, which the Elect are (Gal 6:16), is done by the Word working righteousness. That requires faith which only comes by hearing the word (Rom 10:17) and so a preacher must be sent (Rom 10:14). Thus Elijah and John comes first with the true gospel that make us hearers of the Word. This lays the foundation for the coming of Christ with the grace of God to move us on to being doers and overcomers.
Mar 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Act 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Christ finishes the work and the process within us that began with Moses and then is advanced by Elijah yet awaits the coming of the Lord to be completed.
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Elijah [H452] means Yahweh is God or God of Jehovah, the word being composed of El (God) and Jah (Yahweh). The Lord sends Elijah to reawaken our consciousness and turn our deceived wicked hearts back to our Heavenly Father by the testimony of the Word against our sins and rebellion. Coming too our sins leads us to repentance and in due time turns our hearts in a new direction where we seek the things of the Spirit.
Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal 4:6 And 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.
The coming of the spirit and power of Elijah is the beginning of the end of the old man. When Elijah aka John the Baptism is born into our hearts, we will rejoice thinking we have finally found the Lord.
Luk 1:14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Luk 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
This is only the preparation stage for the true grace of God to be revealed by the brightness of the Lord’s second coming which will reveal our true wickedness.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
John the Baptist was a representation of the Spirit of Elijah spoke of preparation of repentance and the fire that would follow when Christ appears in the day of the Lord.
Mat 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
Getting our heavens right is the first step. Yet it takes the second coming of Christ with judgment to turn us into doers and get the truth that is in heaven (mind), into our earth (Mat 6:10) or said another way into “our walk”. Our feet, our deeds and actions need to be continually washed in the baptism of fire and water (Joh 13:8-10). With this background let’s begin to move into the Scriptures where Elijah is introduced.
The Situation in Israel
Keep in mind the kingdom of God is within you (Luk 17:21) as we live out these words. All the people and events speak to our life in the appointed times. Elijah appears without any other noted history when King Ahab took over from his father Omri. We will get to some of those dealings with Ahab later in this series but know the situation when Elijah first appears.
1Ki 16:30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
1Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
Ahab (you and me) provoked the Lord to anger with our wickedness and the Lord begins the process of bringing vengeance for His Temple which temple we are as His Elect (1Co 3:16).
1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, 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.
We learn that Elijah is a Tishbite of the sojourners (inhabitants) of Gilead. Digging into these places supports Elijah being the bridge between Moses and Christ preparing the way of the Lord.
Gilead is being east of the Jordan river, symbolizes our yet carnal nature and last days before the Lord comes with the true grace of God that baptizes us and allows us to begin to conquer giants in the land. This is in type what the crossing over the Jordan River entails as many studies have previously covered. Gilead comes from a word of the same name that means heap of testimony or heap of witnessing which is exactly what Elijah does in confronting the wicked King Ahab and Jezebel.
There is little information on Tishbeh or Tishbite and the word is only used six times all in reference to Elijah. Strong’s tell us the name means means “recourse” while other scholars say it means “one that takes captive”.
H8664, tishbı̂y, tish-bee’
Patrial from an unused name meaning recourse; a Tishbite or inhabitant of Tishbeh
Recourse refers to an avenue or source of help or assistance. In this way the spirit of Elijah is the recourse (avenue) that lead us to Christ and initiates the turning from our wicked ways. Elijah and John begin the final leg of the Lord’s process to take our captivity to sin captive.
Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
The least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist or Elijah because they had not the grace of God revealed to them. Elijah and John were only hearers and never lived to see the true grace that turns men into doers. They will be taught in the lake of fire with the rest of mankind. Elijah brings faith through the word but without the grace that saves.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Elijah represents the hearing of the Word for which we will suffer persecution and rejection by the world, yet we do not understand grace and the Lord’s purpose for an Elect.
Rom 11:2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,
Rom 11:3 “LORD, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS AND TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY SEEK MY LIFE”?
Rom 11:4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I HAVE RESERVED FOR MYSELF SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.”
Rom 11:5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Elijah first action is calling for a drought on the land except according to the Word.
1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, 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.
Elijah declaring a drought in the land is a rebuke of the (our) man of sin. Drying up his lies (rain) and food by bringing a famine begins the process of decreasing the old man.
Rev 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
Yet Elijah is only the forerunner to Jesus Christ as was John. Grace is still yet to come, and we will fall seven times and be overcome so the Lord can come resurrect us in newness of life with the Holy Spirit that had not yet been given in Elijah’s time (Joh 7:29).
Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Our new man is greatly nourished and the old man is decreased when we begin to hear the word of truth. Bringing a drought to that wicked man within us is done with the truth that vaporizes the lies of the harlot riding our beast that keeps us in bondage to the world. The rain and the dew of the Lord is His truth and His doctrines which are spoken by His prophets and those He sends forth to speak words of fire (Jer 5:14).
Deu 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Deu 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
The drought upon the old man’s water brings famine and makes us needy and sets us up to be sustained by our fellow brethren as we also find our husband IN Christ. The Lord sends His prophets to bring life and food by the Word.
Luk 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
After announcing the famine against the wicked King Ahab, Elijah is sent to hide in the wilderness and is nourished by the Lord.
1Ki 17:2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,
1Ki 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
1Ki 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
1Ki 17:5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
1Ki 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
1Ki 17:7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
The Brook Cherith is a place that is before the Jordan, meaning it is our experience before we are brought through the fiery baptisms that are necessary to enter into and possess the land.
Jos 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.
Rev 15:8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
We are prepared to make this crossing that will take us three days of preparation (the whole process of spiritual completion). Salvation is a slow process that comes by our learning from our mistakes and being taught by the correction brought by grace (Rom 5:20, Isa 26:9).
Cherith comes from a word meaning “cutting or separation”. It is here in the wilderness before the Jordan River’s fiery baptism that we are prepared of the Lord and begin to separate from the world WITHIN us and our former way of life.
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
1Ki 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
Turning eastward is a symbol of immaturity and a yet carnal mindset. We have to be made ready to endure the trials and scourging of following the Sun and the Lord westward (Rom 1:20) in moving on to maturity. Whether we move on to maturity or stay stuck facing east is all the Lord’s work in us. A lack of faith will have us look back and trust in our own understanding and the ways of the world which is an abomination to the Lord.
Eze 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
This represents our appointed time in spiritual Babylon where we are under the harlot’s influence and camp out in the wilderness and are fed by the Lord for our first witness period.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Birds represent spirits or doctrines (1Co 2:13) and fly in our heavens (mind). We are first nourished by these fowls of Babylon (Orthodoxy and Spiritual) before Christ comes to purify His temple within us and create a totally new heaven and earth with fire.
Mat 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
Mat 13:32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
1Ki 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
The message in these verses have nothing to do with physical bread and meat, they are speaking of spiritual matters (Joh 6:63, 1Co 2:13). These birds of prey like eagles, eat flesh and that is what they do in nourishing us as we begin to be separated from the world within and our carnal way of life. These ravens in the positive are the commandments of the Lord, the bread of life that also becomes meat for the new man as our old man dies daily to the flesh.
Joh 6:48 I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Dying to self is the food for the new man and the ravens in our heavens play a role in all the Lord’s work. Eating this flesh in spirit and in truth is what decreases the old man and increases the new. In this way, John was being fed by the spiritual ravens as well in the wilderness.
Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I (John the Baptist) must decrease.
Pro 30:17 The eye that mocks his father, And scorns obedience to his mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.
Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
Ravens in the negative sense would be carnal thoughts/doctrines that keep us in captivity in unbelief being immature and unable to progress in our walk of faith. Our time in the wilderness and Spiritual Babylon (is, was and will be) is not wasted. It is necessary to prepare us for things to come. The winged fowls do exactly what they were created to do in feeding or destroying the old man and nurturing the new man in preparing for Christ’s coming.
Gen 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Eventually the drought proclaimed by Elijah effects all the inhabitants of the land.
1Ki 17:7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
The Lord brings the rain on the just and unjust alike (Mat 5:45). In the same way, the spiritual rain (doctrines, thoughts for the old or new man) are withheld to bring about a change of heart and renewed mindset (Rom 12:1-2) in us. The Lord knows how to use water sparingly or in abundance to accomplish His will in the life of every man alive.
Pro 21:1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
A time came to Elijah and will come to us when we have been prepared for ministry and service in the Kingdom of God. The Lord dries up the brook that had nourished Elijah and sends Him forth on a new journey. The next stop for Elijah will have him being sustained by a widow with hardly any food and then raising her son from the dead. This requires him to be sent to Zarephath which means refinement and comes from a root word H6884 that’s all about purifying metals and as we will see.
1Ki 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.
The Lord will not try us beyond what we are able to bear (1Co 10:13). We have to learn and be taught how to suffer and be able to give thanks to the Lord for that suffering (Eph 5:30). We will look at this part of Elijah’s journey and Lord willing better understand what it means to be sent in the spirit and power of Elijah.