Elijah the Pilgrim Prophet: A Study in the Life of Elijah the Tishbite

By Gordon H. Fraser

Reading about the great characters that of the past has many benefits. We profit by them, learn to bypass their failures, gain courage from their strength in times of crucial stress and strain, and more.

For Christians, one of the unmistakably great Old Testament characters is Elijah the Tishbite, of the tribe of Naphtali. He has been written about for centuries by many authors. Ravens fed him, God-given power was his to raise a sorrowing widow’s boy from death, the idolatrous priests of Baal on Mount Carmel heard the impact of his tremendous challenge, and angels became his ministers. He was only a man—but he was a man of God, and that made all the difference.

Enjoy this creative biography of one of the Old Testament's most interesting prophets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Moody Publishers
• Release date: Jan 1, 1956
• ISBN: 9780802492722

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Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

WHY A BOOK on Elijah?

Of the ten or more acceptable works on Elijah, only three—those of Krummacher, Mackintosh, and Taylor—are at all exhaustive.

Two of these were written nearly a century ago.

Does truth change in a hundred years? Certainly not.

Readers and reading habits have changed, however, and the new journalism calls for new standards of presentation. Capsule thoughts—capsule sentences—(for capsule thinkers?).

In the 1800’s no one was going anywhere in a hurry. Educated readers would have read Krummacher in his original German. Readers of Mackintosh took time to read and absorb every succulent paragraph regardless of sentence length.

Spiritual truths are timeless. New emphases, however, are required with newer generations.

The worldlessness of spiritually minded believers of a hundred years ago has given place to a worldliness which would have appalled Mackintosh.

A profound debt of gratitude is owed to these earlier writers. We recommend their studies to the thoughtful reader.

We have titled our work, Elijah, the Pilgrim Prophet. It is the purpose of this book to emphasize two obvious facts.

First: that God’s people are expected to be pilgrims, but that the pilgrimage has been largely abandoned.

Second: that God needs prophets, particularly in days when his priests have relaxed their office. This is the case to an alarming extent today.

Elijah was, as we shall see, pre-eminently both a pilgrim and a prophet.

It will be our purpose to recapture, if possible, with a view to the needs of our own day, some of the factors that have made men pilgrims, and at the same time prophets, by re-examining the life and work of Elijah in the light of today’s needs and conditions.

We will ask and seek to answer the question: What elements were brought together to make this man, who must have seemed very ordinary by human standards, a prophet of such magnitude?

As our minds try to construct the stature of a prophet, we recall the sublime language of Isaiah. His metaphor pictures lame men leaping for joy, the dumb praising God, mountains skipping like lambs, streams flowing in the desert.

We see Jeremiah carrying the woes of a nation on his heart—weeping for the daughters of Zion.

We follow Ezekiel as he contemplates the glories of the kingdom of God’s anointed in his vision by Chebar.

Such an evaluation would immediately discourage us from ever seeking to become the prophets that God so greatly needs in this day. We may think in the language of an Isaiah, but we become discouraged when we seem to be able to express ourselves in the language of only John Doe. We are reassured, however, when James tells that Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are (James 5:17).

Elijah shares none of the brilliance of these more vocal prophets. He wrote no book. He propounded no vision. He preached no great sermons. He made no long-range predictions of the future. His longest public utterance occupies less than one hundred words, and this message is in the form of simply worded instructions for the preparation of the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. His one public prayer is expressed in only sixty-three words.

The time consumed in his recorded public ministry, not counting travel and intermissions, would occupy only a few days; yet we find this simple, straightforward man shutting up the heavens so there was no rain for a period of three and a half years. We see him on Carmel calling down the fire of God to consume both the sacrifice and the altar. We see him slaying the prophets of Baal and restoring the covenant to Israel. When the proper time came, he called for the restoration of the rain, and ended the famine.

Finally, before his ministry is ended, he declares the doom of a dynasty, anoints kings of two nations, and at the end of his pilgrimage is escorted to glory by a chariot of fire.

Elijah’s life presents us with an outstanding example of implicit faith in the Word and Person of Jehovah put into action.

Some will remind us that Elijah is not mentioned, except by inference, in the roll of honor of Hebrews 11, as though this might place him in a lesser category than others who are listed.

Our answer would be that we do not concede that Hebrews 11 constitutes a roll of honor as such.

It is more than a roll of honor in that it is an exposition of the various developments of faith. It is a demonstration of the several phases of faith in action. The various persons mentioned, and the particular act of faith of each, are obviously selected to illustrate one factor of the total demonstration.

It is more than a roll of honor in that it indicates that God can discern the presence of faith in individuals whom we would pass by as totally lacking in faith. Witness the presence of Barak, Jephthah, and Samson.

It is less than a roll of honor in that several of those noteworthy for their faith are either not mentioned or included only by inference, such as Caleb, Joshua, Isaiah, Daniel, and others. Elijah, of course, belongs in this category. In some of these cases only a single act is mentioned out of a lifetime of faith.

For instance, we note in the case of Joseph, whose entire lifetime was an example of faithfulness and spiritual awareness, that only his dying request is cited as an act of faith.

We do not seek to eulogize Elijah or berate him for his failures beyond what is indicated in the Word.

We are bound, however, to note the importance given him in Scripture.

The New Testament refers to him more often than to any other prophet except Moses.

It is he who appears with Moses in the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration.

This is quite as it should be. In the incident of the transfiguration, Moses, the giver of the covenant, and Elijah, the restorer of the covenant, are permitted to converse with the transfigured Lord Jesus, who in His death and resurrection was about to fulfill the covenant.

Elijah forms a connecting link between the Testaments. Our Lord Himself insists that the person and ministry of John the Baptist fulfill the prophecy of Malachi 4:5, 6 (Matt. 17:11–13).

The preparation for, and success of, the ministry of Elijah can be reduced to a simple formula.

He read God’s Word with a believing heart.

He discerned the condition of the time in which he lived.

He interpreted these conditions in the light of God’s Word.

He prayed intelligently and with full assurance of the truth of God’s Word.

He did not doubt the potency of God’s promises or warnings.

James gives us a succinct evaluation of the man and his ministry in the following simple statements:

Elias [Elijah] was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit (James 5:17, 18).

Honors are accorded to Elijah apart from the Word—unimportant as far as our

Reviews for Elijah the Pilgrim Prophet

[Freddie Gary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great read! The writer provides a lot of insight and overview of one of the most fascinating prophets of the Hebrew scripture.