The Life of Elijah

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Introduction
1 Kings 17:1 – 2 Kings 2:11

The office which Elijah filled supplies an important key to an understanding of the times in which he lived and the character of his mission. He was a prophet, in fact one of the most remarkable pertaining to that divine order. Now there is a real and marked difference between a servant of God and a prophet of God, for while all His prophets are servants yet not all of His servants are prophets. Prophecy always presupposes failure and sin. God only sent forth one of His prophets in a time of marked declension and departure of the people from Himself. As this is not generally known, we propose to labour the point and furnish Scripture proofs of our assertion. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy: whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light which shineth in a dark place” (2Pe 1:19): that expresses the general principle.

How many of our readers can recall the very first prophecy recorded in Holy Writ? Well, it is found in, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15). And when was that initial prophecy given? Not while our first parents walked in obedience to and fellowship with the Lord God, but after they had sinned against Him and broken His commandments. Let this be duly noted and carefully pondered, for like the first mention of anything in the Scriptures, it is of deep moment, intimating the nature and design of all subsequent prophecy. This initial prediction, then, was not furnished by God while the original bliss of Eden obtained, but after it had been rudely shattered. It was supplied after mankind had rebelled and apostatized.

And now a harder question: How many of our readers can name the first prophet of God mentioned in the Scriptures? In order to find the answer we have to turn to the Epistle of Jude, where we are told, “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds,” etc. (vv. 14-15). Here again we see the same principle illustrated and the same fact exemplified. Enoch the Prophet lived in a day of abounding wickedness. He was contemporary with Noah, when “the earth was filled with violence,” and “all flesh had corrupted his [God’s] way upon the earth” (Gen 6:11-12). The ministry of Enoch, then, was exercised some time previous to the great Flood, and he was raised up to call upon men to forsake their sins and to announce the certainty of divine judgment falling upon them should they refuse to do so.

Who are the next men referred to in Scripture as being “prophets” of God? The answer may surprise some of our readers: they are none other than Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In Psalm 105 we read, “He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” (vv. 14-15). The context clearly identifies these “prophets.” “He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance” (vv. 8-11). And why were the Patriarchs denominated “prophets”? That which has been before us in the preceding paragraphs supplies the answer, and the title here given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is to be explained on the same principle. A new and fearful evil had entered the world, and God called out the Patriarchs separating them from it, so that by their lips and lives they were witnesses against it.

That evil was, idolatry. So far as Scripture reveals, idols were not worshipped by men previous to the Flood…