ELIJAH - Scene One - The Palace

INTRODUCTION

God chose the medium of “story” to communicate the majority of what he has to say to us in His Word. He did so because we gravitate towards “story” and the personal, emotional aspect of its telling. We relate to it more than rules and doctrine because we can relate better to people than to principles.

The Scripture narrative picks up the story of the prophet Elijah late in his career. How he was called as a prophet of the Lord and how he was used during the early years of his career in the role of prophet are mostly unknown. But from the moment he does show up in 1 Kings 17 to the time he is transported to heaven in a “flash of flame and glory”, well, let’s just say there is never a dull moment.

But as we recount his exploits and watch in amazement at what God accomplished through him, we must not forget the words of James in his epistle centuries later. He writes this about Elijah – “He was a man with a nature like ours.” Or, maybe, better translated – “He was as human as we are”. We must keep this truth in mind both as we observe the miraculous feats God accomplished through him and as we observe his nature, one susceptible to both deep fear and great faith. This nature of his experienced both the highest highs and the lowest lows of the human condition. Something to which we can relate. 

Like the scenes of a play, we see Elijah’s story unfold. While the characters in the play are critical to the telling, it’s the tale of his faith – its successes and failures - that bear our greatest scrutiny. Here we find what we can relate to, a struggle with an underlying question, “Do I trust God with my life, or do I not”.

SCENE ONE – THE PALACE

As mentioned before not much is known about Elijah’s life before he shows up in front of King Ahab in 1 Kings 17 except for the fact he wasn’t just an ordinary prophet. It’s doubtful any ole prophet would be trusted with a message that would alter the course of the nation. To tell the king that decisions affecting his kingdom and his people were about to be made above his pay grade wouldn’t sit well. To predict a calamitous drought for the next few years was bad news for Ahab and the people of Israel, but even worse when that news made its way to Ahab’s wife, Jezebel. She and her cadre of Baal-worshipping prophets were going to go through the roof. In their minds, their gods, not Elijah’s God, controlled the outcome of harvest for the simple reason fertility and all things related to it were their purview. With news about a drought, it was about to get ugly.

With the message delivered, we readers might have begun to wonder what would happen next. Did Ahab believe Elijah when he left the palace, and, therefore, begin to plot his demise? Was Elijah afraid or did he just consider it to be another day in the life of a prophet? It was when God laid out his escape strategy (Go hide!) and entered Elijah into his own witness protection plan, that we began to get a glimpse of what lay ahead.

It's easy to be envious of the relationship that a prophet like Elijah had with his God. God’s will was loud and clear. “Here’s the message for my wayward king (word for word) and here is my direction for you – try not to get lost”. But the bottom line is – Elijah still had to obey, didn’t he? He had to follow through despite any misgivings or concerns he might have.  He had to set aside his own exit strategy and accept the directions of another. That’s the thing about obedience, it requires commitment. You must be “all in” when it comes to walking the path God wants you to walk.