WHAT was it like to live in the days of Elijah? Was it a good time? Would you like to live in that period of time? Presumably, some people would like to attribute the works of their favorite preachers to that of Elijah. But was the time of Elijah about having some "great time" with Philadephian spirit, full of brotherhood, care and love?
What was it like to live in Elijah's era?
The prophet Malachi ends his prophecy with both a warning and a hopeful promise—
“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, hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6).
So how do we know whether we are living in a period similar to that of Elijah?
To understand the time period, is to know the man himself--Elijah the Tishbite (1Kings 17). His name was derived from a Hebrew phrase meaning “Yehovah/Yahweh is my God.” The biblical Elijah was a prophet known for defending the worship of the true God and performing miracles in God's name. Elijah stops the rain, multiplies the oil, brings a boy to life, brings down rain, brings down fire on the altar and and splits the river Jordan, and many other miracles. Yet, apostle James in the NT says everyone can relate to him, he calls Elijah “A man with a nature like ours" (Jms. 5:17-18).
Five (5) Critical Events During the Days of Elijah:
1. The Days of Elijah is a Call for Standing up for the Truth --
“Elijah challenges the people, ‘How long will you halt and limp between two opinions?’ ‘If the Lord is God, follow Him! But if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people did not answer him a word” (1 Kings 18:2)
2. Beware of the Spirit of Jezebel: Rebellion, Seduction, Division (1 Kings 21:25 cf, Rev.2:18-28)--
“Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him.” (See, 1 Kings 16:30)
3. It’s a Day of Great Trials/Warnings/ But also a Day of Great Deliverance! --
“The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.” (Zep 1:14)
4. It’s a Day of Announcing the LORD’s Return (‘Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord…’) --
“For this is the one [John the Baptist]
referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’” (Matt. 3:3)
5. A Day of Return of the True Worship of God --
“And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” (Mal: 4:6)
John the Baptist fulfilled this way: “And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘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." (Luke 1:16)
Indeed, we are living in a special times similar to that of the prophet Elijah. When God requires His people to be filled with integrity and to stand up for the truth amidst all the idolatry, fake worship, and wickedness all around. Just as the spirit of Jezebel is at work and rampant today, so the power and spirit of Elijah should be in the hearts of God's people today! Ultimately, Elijah's message and focus is the preparation and declaration of a future hope--the return of Christ--which is a year of Jubilee in God's future kingdom.
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“And he will turn MANY to the Lord their God...in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’...to make ready a people PREPARED for the Lord.”--(Luke 1:16–17)
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