Elijah Will Come!

For many Jews and Christians, Elijah is the most prominent prophet to ever minister to Israel. He is the most mentioned prophet in the New Testament. When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, He had a visitation with Moses and Elijah, who talked with him about “His departure” (Luke 9:31, NASB).

One of the great expectations in Judaism is that Elijah will come as a forerunner of the Messiah. It is God Himself who announces through the prophet Malachi: “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5 NKJV). That’s why every Passover Seder Jews hold a chair open for Elijah. Thus, it is no surprise that many considered both John the Baptist and Jesus to be the Elijah who was to come (Luke 9:19; John 1:21).

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the temple and announced the birth of his son (John the Baptist), he informed the stunned priest that his son would go before the Messiah “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). And Jesus Himself affirmed this ancient tradition of the coming of Elijah. When returning from the Mount of Transfiguration, His disciples asked for His opinion on this ancient Elijah tradition. Jesus responded clearly:

“Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:11–13)

Jesus seems to speak about two comings of Elijah, one that lies in the future “to restore all things” and another in their immediate past concerning John the Baptist.

Finally, the book of Revelation speaks about two witnesses that will appear in the last days with a special end-time ministry. Their ministry, as described in Revelation 11:1–14, bears the hallmarks of Elijah and Moses. They are referred to as the two lampstands and two olive trees (v. 4), imagery symbolizing the church (Revelation 1:20) and the “one new man” Paul spoke of in Romans 11:17ff—the olive tree of noble and wild branches. But they can also represent the ministry of unique individuals who will minister in Jerusalem in the power of Elijah.

The above passages indicate a ministry will manifest itself in the last days before the return of Jesus that will prepare the people for the coming of Messiah. And this ministry is needed today as much as it was needed in the times of the kings of Israel.

The Days of Elijah

When Elijah started his ministry in 1 Kings 17:1, Israel had reached the pinnacle of ungodliness. In many ways, it was the worst of times—not economically or politically but spiritually—regarding Israel’s relation to her God.

In the years before Elijah arrived on the scene, the second great dynasty of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had just been established. The preceding dynasty of Jeroboam was brought to an end after four generations because they “did [what was] evil in the sight of the LORD” (1 Kings 15:34; cf. 16:2ff). After a series of short-lived kingdoms, Omri (as chief of staff) rose to power and established a stable kingdom for Israel again. The Bible testifies that Omri did more evil “than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:25).

When Omri died, the kingdom was passed on to his son, Ahab, who set a new standard of wickedness, doing “evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30). Not only did he exceed his father’s rebellion, but he engaged in a fatal relationship. He married into a leading political and economic powerhouse of the region, the house of Etbaal, or Ithobal as he is known in history books. This Phoenician clan ruled over the city-state of Tyre and controlled much of the Mediterranean trade and established a famous trading post: the ancient city of Carthage. Ithobal also united in his person the office of king and chief priest of Baal and Astarte in his kingdom.

Ahab might have felt it would benefit his kingdom financially and politically to marry Jezebel, Ithobal’s extravagant daughter. But what looked like a great political move opened the doors of hell in Israel. The daughter of the king-priest and shipping tycoon brought a political cloud to Israel and a cloud of wickedness and ungodliness that Ahab could not control. Jezebel appointed 400 priests of the pagan gods Baal and Astarte in Israel, established shrines for these demonic gods, and persecuted the prophets of the God of Israel. It was Israel’s darkest hour.

The ancient ways of the God of Israel still existed, but they now had powerful competitors. Old biblical traditions were scoffed at, and ancient borderlines were overstepped. One of the profiteers of this ungodly rule of Ahab was Hiel of Bethel. Dismissing it as foolish talk, he defied the ancient warning of Joshua not to rebuild the city of Jericho: “Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates” (Joshua 6:26). So Hiel of Bethel was a double fool, as he rebuilt the city at the cost of his oldest and youngest sons (1 Kings 16:34).

The God Who Judges

According to rabbinical tradition, it was at the funeral of Hiel’s youngest son when Elijah appeared. He approached the king who had attended the funeral and challenged him: “Do you see how God honors the words of his servant Joshua? How much more will He honor the words of His servant Moses who declared: ‘If you will not obey my words … your heavens shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron’” (Deuteronomy 28:15, 23ff).

And here the biblical account continues:

And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)

It is here, out of nowhere, that the prophet starts his mission, declaring God’s judgment upon Israel. The drought that followed caused a season of unimaginable hardship on Israel. For three-and-a-half years, the sky was cloudless, and God withheld rain. From here, Elijah fled the wrath of Ahab—first to the river Cherith and then to a city called Zarephath, close to Tyre—and God provided for him.

This contains lessons for us today. First, we need to understand this initial start of Elijah’s ministry in declaring that judgment was not just a typical trademark of a harsh Old Testament God, yet the book of Revelation also tells us that the end-time ministry of the mysterious two witnesses will portray exactly this authority to withhold rain from mankind (Revelation 11:6). It should remind us that the God we serve is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). He does not change but is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Jesus himself declared that everybody who does not repent is doomed for God’s judgment (Luke 13:2–5). Jesus warned Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida of divine judgment because they refused to repent (Matthew 11:20ff).

When Peter preached his very first sermon to a gentile gathering in Cornelius’ house, he made a remarkable statement. Speaking about Jesus, Peter said:

And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:42–43)

Peter states that Jesus explicitly instructed His disciples that He, Jesus, is both Judge and Savior. For our secular world today, the concept that Jesus came to save us is met with derision. “Save us?” they ask, “From what?” Today’s increasingly prosperous societies, with full medical care and multiple retirement funds, do not think they need to be saved and feel they are better off without the limitations of old-fashioned religion.

Unfortunately, many believers also have forgotten that Jesus came to not only give us a more joyful and meaningful life but save us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We have forgotten that without Jesus, a man does not just lack the comfort and peace found in Him but “the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36 ESV). They are doomed to eternal damnation.

This final judgment of God already cast a shadow in the days of Elijah. Three-and-a-half years of a God-sent drought spoiled the plans of economic growth for the people of Israel. God judged His own chosen nation.

Over this past year, I have heard too often that God definitely did not cause the coronavirus, that He would not allow it. While I have no divine revelation on who or what caused the COVID-19 outbreak, we do know for sure that God caused the drought in Elijah’s time. It is the prophet Hosea who calls upon Israel: “Come let us return to the Lord; for He has torn us that He may heal us; He has struck us down, and He will bind us up” (Hosea 6:1). And of the church in Thyatira, Jesus himself rebukes “that woman Jezebel” who infiltrated the church with her immorality: “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds” (Revelation 2:22 NKJV).

Maybe God will use this coronavirus period to draw us back to Himself, closer to Jesus. I am encouraged that within our own ICEJ global family, prayer has dramatically increased during the coronavirus pandemic. A well-known pastor in Germany also told me that this past year he had been asked far more than ever to speak about the “fear of God.”

The Trouble of Israel

When Ahab finally met Elijah at the end of the drought, he greeted him: “Here you are, you troubler of Israel.” In our post-modern world of “woke culture” where everything goes and no absolutes are allowed, it is the believer in the holy God of the Bible who is the modern troublemaker. A God who places radical demands upon His disciples is not compatible anymore with a world that defies absolutes and celebrates “openness,” “diversity,” and “inclusion.” But it is in exactly this time that Elijah’s voice needs to be heard again.

A  Ministry of Power

Elijah’s main calling was not to release judgment upon Israel, but it was the means to turn the hearts of his people back to their God. Elijah’s ministry—and after him that of Elisha (upon whom rested the spirit of Elijah)—brought forth one of the greatest seasons of signs and wonders in Israel. Only the Messiah Himself later exceeded it.

Both Elijah and Elisha demonstrated the miraculous power of God more than any other prophet before or after them. They raised the dead, healed the sick, defied laws of gravity, divided the river Jordan, multiplied food, blinded the eyes of the enemies, and opened the eyes of God’s people. It was a singular time when God revealed Himself to His people in unparalleled ways. This was not a ministry of “cheap grace” but one where God challenged His people to make up their minds whom they wanted to serve—the God of Israel or Baal.

Jesus then announces that Elijah will come and he will “restore all things.” When Jesus said these words, I believe he did not have the Romans or Babylonians or any other worldly empires in mind but His own people, the people of the kingdom of God. This means we can expect God to conclude His purposes with Israel and the Church—even in the midst of turbulent times.

The God Before Whom I Stand

One last point. We might ask ourselves: What was the secret behind Elijah’s power and ministry? Elijah himself reveals it to us in the very first words he utters to King Ahab: “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand . . .”

In Elijah, we meet a man who took his stand before God. The words he spoke were not formed by the theological schools of his day, nor by the great orators. They came straight from the throne of God.

And here lies the challenge for us all. The times in which we live need people who will stand before God. People who will respond to the call of Jesus from Gethsemane: “Can’t you watch with me for one hour?” We need to remind ourselves that all the great revivals were birthed by prayer. Azusa Street had a praying William Seymour; the Welsh revival had the prayers of Robert Evans; and the prayers of two older women birthed the revival of the Hebrides.

Our world today urgently needs people who can say “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand!” In a time when millions of babies are being sacrificed on the altar of prosperity, family values are being trampled upon, and both Israel and the church are being marginalized, we are encouraged to have hope. As the world seemingly grows darker, Jesus encourages us that He will build His church. And as we take our stand before Him, the gates of hell shall not overcome us. Instead, He wants to empower us for a ministry in the spirit of Elijah.