1 Kings 17:1 "And Elijah the Tishbite who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word."
Give Honor to Whom Honor is Due-
As I am writing this, I was pondering on the title I chose and I thought I wish I would have titled it, Honoring our Heroes of the Faith. I looked up the word veteran and one of the meanings is an old soldier with long service. And the meaning of the word hero is a person admired for achievements and noble qualities. And one who shows great courage. I prefer the word hero, but I guess both are sufficient. Either one helps us remember those who have gone before us and passed that torch of faith in God right to us! God says, "Give honor to whom honor is due." These people even though they have lived in a different time in history than we are, deserve to be honored and remembered. Yes, they have received their honorable discharge already, but I still thank God for them and honor them. I am so thankful when going through my trials of faith I can read about how they stood in faith and trusted God. This gives me hope! God worked miracles through these people who I am doing a series on in the upcoming blog posts. I don't know how many I am going to cover, but if you stick with me and read all of these I am sure you will be blessed. It will strengthen your faith and give you the courage to trust God, as it does me. Now, all of these people or heroes I am going to remember all had one thing in common. They had the same Commander-in-Chief, and that was God. I know people have chosen to call the president commander-in-chief, but I know our only Commander-in-Chief is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the only one that has the right to be called that. When we come to that knowledge we as individuals and countries are blessed. Last blog post I talked a little about Noah. I am going to go over more about him later. Today I want to remember good 'ole Elijah.
Good 'ole Elijah-
I thought it was interesting, actually kinda funny that we don't hear anything about Elijah until 1 Kings 17. I think it is funny because all of a sudden Elijah comes on the scene and basically lays down the law to the wicked King Ahab right off the bat. The Word of God says in 1 Kings 16:33, "And Ahab made a 'grove (pagan shrine for pleasure), and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." Now let's read what Elijah says to him, in 1 Kings 17:1, "And Elijah the Tishbite who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." This is for you if you have been waiting on the Lord to bless your ministry, get ready. God is about to do a sudden and bring you to the forefront. All of a sudden there you are going to be playing your part at such a time as this in history, in fulfilling "His Story."
Elijah was bold and had the courage to all of a sudden come into the picture and tell Ahab there will be no rain but according to his word. Talk about trusting God. Elijah did! I was just thinking as I am writing this, where was Elijah before, and what was he doing before he went to Ahab? The Bible doesn't say anything about him up until then. I bet you he was being prepared all of those years before. He probably was being hidden by God. He may have been waiting on God to open the curtain and say, Hey, Elijah, it's your turn. Go to that wicked King Ahab and let him know he isn't in control, but I Am! Like God told Moses to say to the children of Israel, "I Am" hath sent me unto you.
I Hear the Sound of Abundance-
Elijah was just as human as we are. He was a normal man but was chosen, called, anointed, and appointed by God. In James 5:15-17 he says, "And the prayer of faith shall 'save (heal) the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed any sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The 'effectual (unceasing) fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17. Elijah was a man subject to 'like (the same) passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. 18. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." Remember right when Elijah came on the scene he told King Ahab that it was not going to rain until he (Elijah) said so? I love the story in 1 Kings 18:41-46 It rained not until three and a half years later. Now, it's about to rain. Let's read. 41. "And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of 'abundance (much)of rain. 42. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. 43. And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said There is nothing. And he (Elijah) said Go again seven times. 44. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stops thee not. 45. And it came to pass in the meanwhile, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah: and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel."
Talk about having Faith, Elijah did! The first thing Elijah said was, There was going to be no rain until he called it. Three and a half years later he tells Ahab to go eat and drink there is going to be an abundance of rain. Ahab went up, I guess to Mount Carmel too. He went up to go eat and drink. Probably celebrate. And Elijah went up to Carmel to pray. Now, there wasn't even a cloud in the sky. Elijah and his servant went up to Mount Carmel. Elijah said an abundance of rain was coming, it was coming. Elijah told his servant to go look seven times. Sure enough, the servant came back to Elijah and said, There is a cloud the size of a man's hand. Elijah told his servant to go up and tell Ahab to prepare his chariot and get thee down to beat the rain. The heaven was black with clouds, wind, and great rain. Meanwhile, the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah and he outran Ahab's chariot and beat him to the entrance at the gate of Jezreel.
I hear the sound of an abundance of blessings on you! Whoever you are reading this Blessings are overtaking you, now in the name of Jesus! Amen!