The Definition of the word Elijah

Elijah

Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) The Tishbite," the "Elias" of the" "New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings" 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is "mention made of a town called Thisbe, south of Kadesh, but it is" impossible to say whether this was the place referred to in the name given to the prophet. "Having delivered his message to Ahab, he retired at the command "of God to a hiding-place by the brook Cherith, beyond Jordan," where he was fed by ravens. When the brook dried up God sent him "to the widow of Zarephath, a city of Zidon, from whose scanty" store he was supported for the space of two years. During this "period the widow's son died, and was restored to life by Elijah" (1 Kings 17: 2-24). "During all these two years a famine prevailed in the land. At the close of this period of retirement and of preparation for "his work (comp. Gal. 1:17, 18) Elijah met Obadiah, one of Ahab's" "officers, whom he had sent out to seek for pasturage for the" "cattle, and bade him go and tell his master that Elijah was" "there. The king came and met Elijah, and reproached him as the" troubler of Israel. It was then proposed that sacrifices should "be publicly offered, for the purpose of determining whether Baal" "or Jehovah were the true God. This was done on Carmel, with the" "result that the people fell on their faces, crying, "The Lord," "he is the God." Thus was accomplished the great work of Elijah's" ministry. The prophets of Baal were then put to death by the order of Elijah. Not one of them escaped. Then immediately "followed rain, according to the word of Elijah, and in answer to" his prayer (James 5:18). "Jezebel, enraged at the fate that had befallen her priests of "Baal, threatened to put Elijah to death (1 Kings 19:1-13). He" "therefore fled in alarm to Beersheba, and thence went alone a" "day's journey into the wilderness, and sat down in despondency" "under a juniper tree. As he slept an angel touched him, and said" "unto him, "Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for" "thee." He arose and found a cake and a cruse of water. Having" "partaken of the provision thus miraculously supplied, he went" forward on his solitary way for forty days and forty nights to "Horeb, the mount of God, where he took up his abode in a cave." "Here the Lord appeared unto him and said, "What dost thou here," "Elijah?" In answer to his despondent words God manifests to him" "his glory, and then directs him to return to Damascus and anoint" "Hazael king over Syria, and Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to" be prophet in his room (1 Kings 19:13-21; comp. 2 Kings 8:7-15; 9:1-10). "Some six years after this he warned Ahab and Jezebel of the violent deaths they would die (1 Kings 21:19-24; 22:38). He "also, four years afterwards, warned Ahaziah (q.v.), who had" "succeeded his father Ahab, of his approaching death (2 Kings" 1:1-16). (See [178]NABOTH.) During these intervals he probably "withdrew to some quiet retirement, no one knew where. His" "interview with Ahaziah's messengers on the way to Ekron, and the" "account of the destruction of his captains with their fifties," suggest the idea that he may have been in retirement at this time on Mount Carmel. "The time now drew near when he was to be taken up into heaven (2 Kings 2:1-12). He had a presentiment of what was awaiting him. "He went down to Gilgal, where was a school of the prophets, and" "where his successor Elisha, whom he had anointed some years" "before, resided. Elisha was solemnized by the thought of his" "master's leaving him, and refused to be parted from him. "They" "two went on," and came to Bethel and Jericho, and crossed the" "Jordan, the waters of which were "divided hither and thither" when smitten with Elijah's mantle. Arrived at the borders of "Gilead, which Elijah had left many years before, it "came to" "pass as they still went on and talked" they were suddenly" "separated by a chariot and horses of fire; and "Elijah went up" "by a whirlwind into heaven, "Elisha receiving his mantle, which" fell from him as he ascended. "No one of the old prophets is so frequently referred to in the New Testament. The priests and Levites said to the Baptist (John "1:25), "Why baptizest thou, if thou be not that Christ, nor" "Elias?" Paul (Rom. 11:2) refers to an incident in his history to" illustrate his argument that God had not cast away his people. James (5:17) finds in him an illustration of the power of prayer. (See also Luke 4:25; 9:54.) He was a type of John the Baptist in the sternness and power of his reproofs (Luke 9:8). "He was the Elijah that "must first come" (Matt. 11:11, 14), the" forerunner of our Lord announced by Malachi. Even outwardly the Baptist corresponded so closely to the earlier prophet that he "might be styled a second Elijah. In him we see "the same" connection with a wild and wilderness country; the same long "retirement in the desert; the same sudden, startling entrance on" "his work (1 Kings 17:1; Luke 3:2); even the same dress, a hairy" "garment, and a leathern girdle about the loins (2 Kings 1:8;" "Matt. 3:4)." "How deep the impression was which Elijah made "on the mind of "the nation may be judged from the fixed belief, which rested on" "the words of Malachi (4:5, 6), which many centuries after" prevailed that he would again appear for the relief and restoration of the country. Each remarkable person as he arrives "on the scene, be his habits and characteristics what they may," "the stern John equally with his gentle Successor, is proclaimed" "to be Elijah (Matt. 11:13, 14; 16:14; 17:10; Mark 9:11; 15:35;" "Luke 9:7, 8; John 1:21). His appearance in glory on the mount of" transfiguration does not seem to have startled the disciples. "They were `sore afraid,' but not apparently surprised." "(2.) The Elijah spoken of in 2 Chr. 21:12-15 is by some supposed to be a different person from the foregoing. He lived in the "time of Jehoram, to whom he sent a letter of warning (comp. 1" "Chr. 28:19; Jer. 36), and acted as a prophet in Judah; while the" Tishbite was a prophet of the northern kingdom. But there does not seem any necessity for concluding that the writer of this letter was some other Elijah than the Tishbite. It may be supposed either that Elijah anticipated the character of "Jehoram, and so wrote the warning message, which was preserved" in the schools of the prophets till Jehoram ascended the throne "after the Tishbite's translation, or that the translation did" not actually take place till after the accession of Jehoram to the throne (2 Chr. 21:12; 2 Kings 8:16). The events of 2 Kings 2 "may not be recorded in chronological order, and thus there may" be room for the opinion that Elijah was still alive in the beginning of Jehoram's reign.