Today, in the first of a 2-part look at ordinary men chosen as extraordinary Prophets speaking for God, we will glance briefly at Moses and Elijah.
Prophets Before Christ
Recall that true Prophets of God speak for the LORD God.
NOT every man who claims to be a be a Prophet of God truly speaks God’s word. Nor is every mortal who speaks a prophesy of God is a worshiper of the LORD.
And not every prophesy of a true Prophet is an oracle into the future or an eschatological look into the fulfillment of days.
Yet many prophesies do point us to places and times not yet seen by any man but the appointed Prophet of the LORD.
The Prophet Moses
What could be more prophetic than the written words of the man who encountered the 'I AM' speaking the very commands of the Almighty?
Moses brought the Law – the very words of the LORD – to the Hebrew people.
The LORD had called Moses, age eighty to lead the Hebrews out from Egypt. Moses was 120 years old as the Hebrews prepared to cross the Jordan.
Before he led them from bondage in Egypt into Arabia for forty year prior to crossing the Jordan into Canaan, Moses instructed God’s chosen in the LORD’s ways and means of redemption.
So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
“It is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you..
Yet the LORD instructs Moses with a prophecy of what the Hebrews will surly do:
a Prophesy through Moses:
.. and this people will arise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have cut with them.
“Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed…
Deuteronomy 31:16c-17a LSB
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
This general reference to humanity and God's 'chosen' would be worthy of your separate study, but we cannot cover it here.
from Canaan to Babylon
Let’s go quickly across the Jordan through the years (centuries, really) with the chosen sons until fulfillment of a foreseen time of Hebrew prophesy from Babylon.
In order to move so quickly we must overlook and pass many important scriptural milestones.
Moving past Joshua,
- the capture of much of the promised land
- 14th c. B.C.
- a time of the Judges
- 14th-11th c. B.C.
- a king of the people (Saul)
- 11th c. B.C.
- David united Israel and Judah
- ~1000 B.C.
- Solomon expands his influence back to Egypt and east to Babylon and beyond
- 973-931 B.C.
- then, a civil war between Solomon’s sons and their heirs,
A quick glance at the timeline below will reveal the book of 1 KINGS where we will find Elijah’s story.
The Prophet Elijah
~870 B.C. – 849 B.C.
Later, as prophesied:
- defeat of ISRAEL the Northern Kingdom
- 722 B.C.
- eventual fall of JUDAH the Southern Kingdom…
- 586 B.C.
The Man of God
The LORD sent powerful Prophets to both Israel and Judah during a divisive time when most every leader (king) “did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”
- This includes EVERY KING of ISRAEL for a little more than 200 years !
Wouldn’t a NATION claiming GOD repent — when confronted by the man of God showing great signs and even raising a man from the dead?
- Furthermore the Kings of JUDAH fared no better in their 334 years with only eight of twenty kings who “did right in the eyes of the LORD.”
Elijah was a man of God WARNING the evil LEADERS of a NATION.
Taking a brief stop on our timeline Before Christ, we proceed past Moses and beyond the break-up of the Kingdom of David to a time of evil kings infamously represented by King Ahab of Israel who reigned for about twenty years from 874 B.C. until 853 B.C. when he was killed in battle.
Jezebel, the King's wife - arguably a head of Ahab - also proved infamous with her own evil legacy.
Elijah’s Prophetic proofs:
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab,
“As the LORD God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command! ”
The severest of droughts - over one thousand dry days in the land - people and animals will die.
Elijah left and lived at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.
1 Kings 17:4b CSB
So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood…
But she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I don’t have anything baked — only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”
1 Kings 17:10a, 12 CSB
Drought. Famine everywhere — and for days upon end.
Have you ever considered the gravity of the fragile mortal lives of those already suffering under the evil reign of Jezebel and Ahab?
But a miracle of God through Elijah: the widow’s flour and food never ran out. But then —
Her son becomes ill and dies. (Probably a common occurrence in these desperate conditions of a three year drought.)
She said to Elijah, “Man of God, what do you have against me?
Have you come to call attention to my iniquity so that my son is put to death? ”
That’s some accusation from the widow who has just lost her only son. Yet note the widow’s contrite acceptance of God’s authority to punish sin (iniquity).
עָוֹן
Note the long list of Scriptures [above] from the Law of Moses (beginning with Cain) pointing to punishment for our iniquity.
Elijah raises the widow’s son from the dead!
He cried out to the LORD and said, “LORD my God, please let this boy’s life come into him again! ”
So the LORD listened to Elijah, and the boy’s life came into him again, and he lived.
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God and the LORD’s word from your mouth is true.”
Elijah – a contest to the DEATH
Three years of drought. The King will not like this and consequently blame the righteous man of God.
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him,
“Is that you, the one ruining Israel? ”
He replied,
“I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the LORD’s commands and followed the Baals.
Tell me if this does not apply to Israel in this day (except that their gods are dreams of their past)?
Tell me how King Herod and the religious rulers of Judea were so different from Ahab as the King of Israel challenged the true Prophet of the Lord?
Then Elijah approached all the people and said,
“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.”
But the people didn’t answer him a word.
18:21 וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ אֶל־כָּל־הָעָם וַיֹּאמֶר עַד־מָתַי אַתֶּם פֹּסְחִים עַל־שְׁתֵּי הַסְּעִפִּים אִם־יְהוָה הָאֱלֹהִים לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְאִם־הַבַּעַל לְכוּ אַחֲרָיו וְלֹא־עָנוּ הָעָם אֹתוֹ דָּבָר׃
Much later King Ahab will publically repent! But it will be too late…
Next Contestant
~852 B.C. After the death of Ahab
“Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down! ’ ”
.. “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”
Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
2 Kings 1:9- excerpts CSB
So the king sent another captain with his fifty men to Elijah.
“Man of God, this is what the king says: ‘Come down immediately! ’
“If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.”
So a divine fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.
Then the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. The third captain went up and fell on his knees in front of Elijah and begged him,
“.. Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains with their companies, but this time let my life be precious to you.”
Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken.
2 Kings 1:11-17 excerpts CSB
The Ascension of Elijah.
The time had come for the LORD to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal,
2 Kings 2:1 CSB
Elijah’s departure is unique, as he is one of only two people in the Bible, along with Enoch (Genesis 5:24), who did not experience death.
The whirlwind signifies God’s powerful presence, often associated with divine intervention (Job 38:1, Nahum 1:3).
Elijah’s ascension prefigures Christ’s ascension into heaven (Acts 1:9-11), symbolizing victory over death and the promise of eternal life.
2 Kings 2:1:: Biblehub.com STUDY BIBLE commentary
First Century A.D.
A Son of David, the Son of Man, rides victoriously into Jerusalem now captive of Rome, challenging Jerusalem’s leaders to a duel to the death –
+ His +
– for the redemption of sinners.
“King Jesus, King Jesus, King Jesus, Hosanna!, they cry out…
And within a few days their KING of the JEWS will be crucified on a Roman cross.
An Uplifting Recollection
The Son of Man walked once more toward a familiar hillside covered with an olive grove.
What must Jesus have recalled as the Lord approached Gethsemane with His eleven dear friends one last time?
Remember?
After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them.
Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
Gospel of Mark 9:4 CSB
A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud:
“This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”
Mark 9:7 CSB
.. They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant…
NEXT: Ezekiel
Look now at the picture of the dejected Prophet sitting under the broom tree. Does this look like a man victorious?
