Elijah
Elijah
This is the story of a man that went from nothing to, in my opinion, the best prophet in history, aside from Jesus. As a child he was given to God as a Nazirite, and unlike Samson he obeyed the law of a Nazirite. These are the attributes of the best prophet in history, Elijah of Tishbi Gilead.
About three thousand years ago, in 849bc, Elijah was born in the land of Tishbi Gilead to the tribe of Gad. As soon as he was born, he was given to the Lord as a Nazarite, which meant he had to follow a special code of laws: he could not cut his hair, could not drink wine, and could not dead animal carcasses for food. About thirty years later, he was sent by God to the nation of Israel whose king was Ahab, the most sinful king in history. Ahab married Jezebel who was a worshipper of the false god Baal. Since Ahab was king and Jezebel was very persuasive Ahab made the worship of Baal and all the idols of Sidon and Lebanon the official religion of Israel. Elijah told the king and queen of Israel (Ahab and Jezebel) that a drought will come over the land. This was a direct attack on Baal for he was the idol of winds and storms.
Three years into the drought the Lord told Elijah to go and present himself to Ahab. Elijah called for Obadiah and told him to inform Ahab that Elijah had arrived. When Elijah arrived, he challenged King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and Baal to see who the real God, Baal or Yahweh. This was to take place on Mount Carmel. When both parties arrived, the odds were a thousand to one. Elijah let them go first but after the day had passed Elijah told them to stop and he began his own sacrifice. First, he rebuilt the alter and placed a bull on it and told his servants to water the offering and all the stones with four jugs of water and prayed to the Lord the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob. Afterwards a blazing inferno burned everything the offering, the stones, and the water. Then he ordered the people to capture the prophets of Baal. He later killed all 1000 of them.
Time passes and Elijah gets a letter from Queen Jezebel saying that if she ever finds him that she will kill him just as he killed them (the 1000 prophets of Baal). After reading the letter, he went into hiding on Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. Once he had arrived there, he called upon God to kill him, for he was afraid he would die to the likes of Jezebel. He went to sleep hoping that he would not wake up. Then an angel of the Lord woke him up and told him to eat for the journey will be to straining on his body. God had baked two loaves of bread on hot stones for him. Throughout this part of his life, he was in depression and his thinking was blocked by anxiety to the point that he forgot about the other 100 prophets of the Lord. His struggle was not trusting in God’s plan, resulting in a spiral of depression going to the point of wanting to die. He should have read Proverbs3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart do not depend on your own understanding.” Continuing with the story, Elijah went into a cave which is where God called him, told him to come out. God used a series of events such as a fire, an earthquake, and a large gust of wind. But then there was a gentle whisper telling him what to do. Elijah went on to do what God had told him.
From his beginning in Tishbi Gilead, and his highs of victory against the prophets of Baal, to his low of depression and thoughts of suicide, Elijah lived a life of obedience and love for God to the point where he was physically brought into the kingdom of God.