Elijah came near to the people, and said,
"How long will you halt and limp between two
opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow Him!
But if Baal, then follow him."
And.....
the people did not answer
him a word.
I KINGS 18:21
FEAR
1. To feel a painful apprehension
of some impending evil.
2. To be afraid of; to consider or
expect with emotions of alarm.
3. To affright; to terrify; to drive away.
4. To feel anxiety on account of some
expected evil.
IDOL..........
Baal
Ashtoreth
Baal idol was considered the Pagan god of the weather, of war and fertility. In some generations he was considered the god of the Sun.
It seems Baal comes upon the scene of Israel's history from generation to generation. God had spoken through the Prophet Elijah to shut up the Heavens of rain for the space of three and a half years, all because Israel's rebellion and idolatry.
Since Baal was considered the god of the weather, it was a disgrace to his deity and his Prophets because there was no rain.
Religious life in Israel reached an all time low in Ahab's 22 years of reign. He and his thoroughly evil wife, Jezebel of Tyre, introduced the corrupt worship of her Phoenician god, Melgart-Baal, who was believed to be married to Ashtoreth. Baal and Ashtoreth were official murderers of little children. Human sacrifice was part of their evil worship... and into this crisis God sent Elijah.
*Archaeological Note: Excavation near Samaria found the temple of Ashtoreth. Next to it a was cemetery where many jars were found containing the remains of infants who had been sacrificed in the temple.
*(Halley's Bible Handbook)
WHAT ARE YOU
DOING... HERE... ELIJAH?
INTRODUCTION
This book is to encourage every believer in their walk with Jesus.
So often we forget that we are in this world, but not of it. The reactions to our problems of life often discourage and depress us, when God is just trying to teach us to be an overcomer and come over all of death's defeat and be healed in mind, soul, and body.
We find ourselves under condemnation during our learning process, with the enemy hoping that we will accept defeat and quit the battle. Elijah, who this book is about, was God's "man of the hour". He could hear and understand in the Heavenly realm where the Word is stored up. Mighty miracles followed this Prophet of God, until he listened in the natural realm. Jezebel spoke and he listened, letting the enemy drive him in fear. It was so consuming, he could no longer listen and obey in the Heavenly realm. Fear had seemingly closed the door!
The Spirit World is very real. There are battles scheduled in this realm that are taking place as we read. God is tuning the ear of the "last day manchild" with great understanding and wisdom. There is a "breaking through" taking place for the "believer." We are recognizing the Voice of the Lord as we hear the battle cry, and He sends us forth to set creation free!
I believe that, as Spiritual and knowledgeable as we are, we cannot afford to listen to the sounds of defeat in this natural realm. God is calling this generation to defeat the enemy! Our ability to hear is being taught by the Holy Spirit through crises and problems. We run to God and he delivers us. He makes US deliverers. This dust man, in the natural realm, has been equipped to obey and serve, in the authority of the Name of Jesus.
Our prayer for you, is to encourage you to "listen in the Heavenlies" and carry out God's Great Commission. AMEN!
Blanche Reynolds
WHAT ARE YOU
DOING... HERE... ELIJAH?
God is continually unveiling His Word to us. Mysteries and secrets are unfolding only as we are ready to receive them. Some things, like the simplicity of the ABC's, we learn quickly. Other things are more difficult. Regardless of how simple or difficult the lesson is, there comes a time when we have to act upon God's Word.
In these last days, many things are taking place that bruise the heart and mind of God's people. There are circumstances in our household, in our communities, that draw the people away from the Blessings of the Lord. We are of the Body of Christ and we are come together to communicate with Him. The lack of understanding for communication with God is also a lack of consecration (meaning "the act or ceremony or dedication to the service and worship of God"). When we set a special time to lift up the Name of Jesus and consecrate ourselves to Him, we are loving Him back. Then we can expect God's Loving Glory and truth to be revealed in us. When God's Desire becomes our desire, then we will become His Will! This is consecration!
This book is about Elijah. A lot of people are saying that the Elijah Ministry is coming. In this last day we are going to see great and mighty mysteries unfold and great miracles take place as that prophetic ministry of God's Man appears on the earth again in a "many membered body people". As we join together we are saying, "Lord, we want to understand more... and we want to have your Word hidden in our heart... and we want to stand in Your Authority and in Your Dominion... and do exploits in Your Name! Lord, we are praying for more anointing as the acceleration of this last day death realm of darkness and evil approaches, as You, O Lord, close this last day to usher in your Millennial Reign. There are many things that must transpire.
The preparation and readiness of His Body is all important in this last moment of His eternal purpose. As this age is about to close and the Lord ushers in His truth of millennia, the heart and the mind of the people must be so given and consecrated to the consciousness of truth that obedience and discipline will become our way of life. The Lord is speaking to us, to come away, to step aside from the bondages of the death realm, where jealousy, envy and strife, uncleanliness and perversion, idolatry and paganism, is taking place in the worldly system. I believe that the Lord is calling His people to step into His realm of Holiness, into the place of the Holy Spirit... into the acknowledgment that we are the seed of God and we have been joined together as a mighty army. He is teaching us, equipping us, and we are standing in a place of great and mighty wisdom in this moment, as His Kingdom comes, and His Will is done, in this earth, as it is in Heaven.
The Lord is making a transition in us, causing us to stand and listen, and harken unto His Word, causing us to know that He is in the midst of us... and He comes to bring forth a freedom and liberty from the veil of flesh that has beset us and held us in this death realm... in the tangible realm of sense and feeling! Man has been bound in the ages gone by, and the Lord is giving us the knowledge to step out, to come into the Holy Place, where the Lord has much to commune with us. God wants you to know that His covenant, in your behalf, in still intact, protecting you from the evil one. The Lord says, "As you seek my Face... I am found in the midst of you!"
I Kings 18... In this day of Elijah, the Lord was providing. Elijah had withstood the 450 prophets of Jezebel. Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, the King of the Sidonians, who served and worshiped Baal. She was the wife of Ahab. She was a Phonecian. And in that Tyre and Sidon territory that she came from, she worshiped the Baal god and the Asherah, and they bowed down and sacrificed their children, and burned them at the stake. They were a wealthy people with much gold. Their territory was on the coastline of the country with much traffic. Jezebel came to become the wife of Ahab and moved to Samaria, the capitol of the ten tribes that had walked in rebellion in that day at Schechem (which means a shoulder). It was the city between the two mountains Gerizim and Ebal where the blessings and the curses were poured out, and the children of Israel crossed over the Jordan to take their inheritance. In the city of Schechem, Rehoboam, Solomon's son, was crowned King. Also, Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon, who had fled for his life to Egypt during Solomon's reign, returned to Shechem to petition Rehoboam to lighten the workload of the children of Israel. When Rehoboam refused, Jeroboam proclaimed, "To your tents, O' Israel." Jeroboam was later given the kingship of the ten tribes of Israel. When the children of Israel, because of their great disobedience to God, worshiped the Golden Calves that Jeroboam had made and placed in Dan, and one in Bethel, God's wrath was turned against them. Even in Jesus' day, they were still considered outcasts. (John 4:9)
And so Rehoboam began his reign of terror in that Judean place where he was the king in Jerusalem. But in the land of Samaria, the people began to gather together as Jeroboam re-wrote the laws of God. As we stated earlier, he made two golden calves for them to bow down and worship. He thought that he could have God this way, only to find out that God cut them off! God called the ten tribes as Ephraim, (which means judgment). Jeroboam was born as a servant in the house of Solomon. He was the son of a servant. He had a servant's understanding. He did not have the sovereign Monarch wisdom to be a King. He could have asked the Lord for direction, but instead, he chose to do it with a servant's mentality. As he programmed the idolatry to Samaria, God's wrath was turned against the people. As Israel's Kings and Kingdoms came and went, they continued to do evil in the sight of the Lord. They gave themselves to the Paganistic practices of Idolatry of the people around them. They did not drive their enemies out as the Lord had commanded. Instead, beginning to co-habitate, forming a mixture leaning toward the idolatry, which became a way of life. They were enjoined to the people of that land. Jeroboam had made his own god! He thought he could make it easy for everyone to worship where they were.
Jeroboam, knowing if the people returned to Jerusalem to worship, they would find God's Divine Order of Blessings, and he was afraid he would loose the control of his kingship. The first thing you know, the rebellion was so powerful, it caused God's wrath to be kindled against them. Their enemies began to come and overtake and destroy them.
Beloved, God has not changed His Mind regarding Holiness and cleanliness in His people! He has not changed His Mind concerning our service to Him. The Word says that we will serve the Lord our God, and Him alone. He has not changed His Mind that we would come unto Him and receive His Son Jesus, making HIM Lord and Savior, Deliverer, with a Covenant written in His Blood in our behalf that we might be the Glory of Eternal Life in this last day. GOD HAS NOT CHANGED HIS MIND IN YOUR BEHALF OR MINE! But just as the mixture was in their day, so it is now. A great and mighty mixture is being seen. Households are disrupted because of the curse of rebellion which has been in the earth for all of these ages. Satan is using it as a tool to destroy the hearts and minds of the people. That rebellion is rampant in our nation, calling a judgment upon the land. Where man has sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God, the judgment awaits. God has not changed His plan. He will bring to completeness all that He has spoken of. Out of this death realm of Idolatry and Paganism, God is writing His Word upon the heart of humankind, finding a people that will seek after Him, and give themselves unto Him, and look neither to the right or the left, but allow their hearts and minds to be so saturated in the truth of His Word, and their mouths to be so full of praise for Him, that out of this death realm is arising a Manchild company... people that are heirs of God, heirs of Jesus Christ, a throne-room covenant glory that has been prepared before the foundation of the world. You and I are standing in this transition time, as God is ushering in His Kingdom in the fullness of His Time. God's Kingdom is without end, and in these last days, we are beginning to realize that satan has NO control, NO power, NO dominion, unless we break down and allow it to be so! Every time our enemy realizes that we have not understood the generation bloodline curse that is in effect, he is going to try and exact, through that curse, our demise.
In the Name of Jesus, the call is out. In the Name of Jesus, the conqueror is in place. In the Name of Jesus, the battle is set to range, and in the Name of Jesus, the victory is intended for every heart and mind of him who would seek and cry out to the Lord!
Just as in Elijah's day, so it is in our day. Lord, increase our anointing. Give us more wisdom and understanding. Let Your Word to be so filled within us that we can know, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that the Lord is coming soon, and we are being prepared for that triumphant return. No big "I's" and little "You's" in this Kingdom. Nobody way up there and you way down here. We are one in Him! Nobody standing in condemnation, dominating and manipulating the Body of the Church. Every one of us, in one mind and one accord in the anointing of the Word of God, are being made ready for this triumphant Glory that is soon to take place in this land.
Hallelujah for this Elijah Ministry in a time such as this! Thank you Lord, that there is a people, an element of understanding, the great and mighty wisdom of Your very nature, that is gifted unto humankind... that man can hear the voice of the Lord... and man can obey the truth and all that has been spoken... and man can understand that the Lord has commissioned and called out of this death realm a people, a company, who will walk in authority, a dominion, and know what the Lord has said! Not hoping what it means, but KNOWING what is said, and the people we speak of here, is YOU AND I!
We must stop being afraid of the fire of refinement, and we must stop being afraid of the death realm and darkness that approaches. The Lord has scheduled His Light. His Name is Jesus, to illuminate in the midst of you and I, and the knowledge of Himself, to be so tuned, so perfected, so enjoined, so much a part of your very existence, that nothing could take you away from the sweet anointing of His presence, and His voice in your heart that He has given unto you.
We look around us, and we see that we are all progressing, growing up at different levels of maturity. Some of us have graduated in certain areas. Some of us are just barely getting on the track, but, all of us are scheduled and prepared for our part in this last day. God is setting, in His time frame of Glory, His "called out" ones. Time to change, time to work for Him. It is time to fellowship with the Lord God, a time in this last day for a transition people getting ready for the day ahead. Thank you Lord, that we can hear your voice in our vessel now.
We look at our generation man. We're finding that there are many things that have bruised us, wounded our emotions, caused us to be scarred in areas of our life, fearful of the day that approaches, because fear has been a way of life in our generation man. We are torn in devastation and despair, because these emotions have mounted up. They have overtaken, and become the mixture in our vessel. Hearts have fainted because of fear and destruction. Because the enemy has been allowed in the generation seed, and the parenting process brings forth according to its kind, all of us have experienced weaknesses, limitations in our vessel because of the death realm control. Man has sinned, and come short of God's Glory. Un-repented sin has been allowed! Like a curse on the generation, we see it. We feel it, and we begin to understand the curses in our own household, in our own being, must be examined, and looked to and put under our feet. In Jesus' name, every curse is broken. His name in your mouth demanding the curse to be removed. The Word says in Galatians 3:13 (amp) Christ purchased our freedom, (redeeming us) from the curse (doom) of the laws (condemnation), by (Himself) becoming a curse for us, for it is written (in the scriptures,) Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, (is crucified) (Deut. 21:23). He took that curse so that it could not be brought forth any further once you had an understanding and authority of that knowledge. We know about it. We have quoted it many times, but the reality of it to be felt within our being, possessing it as ours, has not been understood because we did not face the reality of it.
But, this is a day when it MUST BE UNDERSTOOD! This is a day, like a cup that has been poured full, when we see our children snatched out of their beds by satanic forces, as they rebel toward the discipline we teach. They talk back, refusing to honor the parenting process. Running away, cast away, sinned against, because that mixture of fear and disobedience has been handed down through the generation man. Once the Lord said to me, "What makes rebellious children, is rebellious parents!" So true. The cup of humanity is poured full to the brim, and it must be tipped and poured out in the Mighty Name of Jesus!
This is a day when we must comprehend the fullness of God's Word. It is exciting when we hear the teaching of the truth of the Bible. Exciting when the Holy Spirit reveals it to our minds and hearts! We get all excited when we hear it. We feel a need to shout and worship, BUT, there comes a time when you can't just hear it. YOU HAVE GOT TO OBEY IT! Our obedience is being required! Obedience is a many sided word, meaning, to "listen to, and act upon God's Word". So the full requirement of obedience and discipline being spoken to each one of us, is God's authority. When this takes place in us, it will allow all of His Blessing to come unto us. You and I must stand together, listen to, and act upon God's Word to conquer evil. When we come together in that process of union, like the marriage covenant vow, we are one in Christ Jesus. In His Name, spiritual children are born, and just as our children are a blessing to our life, so are the spiritual children that are born through salvation, a great and mighty Blessing to the Lord. The Word says: ...that all the Angels rejoice when one sinner is saved and born into God's Kingdom.
In the natural realm, if we are not disciplined in our ways, don't think for one minute, that our children will be! If you are out of order, your children will be out of order. If you are slow and tardy, they will be. Remember, the role model you have presented before them is going to be all that they know. They will be what they have seen you be! I remember my father, when he would spank me, always said, "This hurts me more than it does you!" I thought, "Wanna bet?" And he would say, "Don't do as I do, but as I say!" He might have wanted to change that level of understanding, but God didn't equip us that way. We do what we see. There is a psychological process in children. It is called, very simply, "copying" what they see in the parenting process. How daddy and mommy handle responsibility, and how they let things go, the children will grow up, and, THEY WILL BE THE SAME WAY! That is what they saw, and consequently, that is what they learned!
Now, let's look at it in another way. When we have lifted up Jesus, when our children have come into the room and seen us on our knees in prayer, and as we gathered together as a family to worship the Lord, our God, reading the Bible as a group, they surely will be encouraged to do the same as they grow... the copying nature takes over. When it is a way of life in the family they were raised in, it becomes a way of life for them and their family. THIS HAS GOT TO BE TAUGHT IN THE CHURCH TODAY! The Lord has birthed us with an inheritance that is the same as His Only Begotten Son's. We have been made joint heirs with Jesus Christ! (Romans 8:17)
When the enemy knows that you know what the Word of God says, and that you are going to stand in it and walk out truth before your household, before your Heavenly Father, he will have no place to bombard you or frighten you as God's servant. When the enemy sees the Divine Order of the household, he will have no authority, because he knows that household has come together against all he stands for. This is a day when man mut stand in the discipline of Divine Order, a Priest in his home, the head of his house, loving his family as he would his own body, and commanding himself unto the Lord. His children then, will love and understand, because they see him loving and understanding. We must pray to Lord Jesus to be prepared for this day, and this hour.
So, here is the Elijah company. With spiritual understanding, let's look at Elijah. (I Kings, Chapter 18) Elijah the Prophet was about to expose the people who were following the Baals, The Mighty Word and Power of the Lord God Almighty. He repaired the old altar of the Lord that had been broken down by Jezebel. Then Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes to the sons of Jacob, to whom the Word of the Lord came, saying, "Israel shall be your name." And with the stones, Elijah built an altar in the name of the Lord. He made a trench around that altar, as great as to contain two measures of seed. He put the wood in order, then he cut the bull in pieces and laid it upon the altar and said, "Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time, and a third time." And they did so. And the water ran about the altar. He filled the trench also with water. The water was poured. The trench is full, and then Elijah calls upon the Fire of God. And the fire comes, and it licks up the sacrifice, licks up the wood, licks up all the water, and God honored His Word in Elijah's mouth. Jesus will honor His Word in your mouth, and when you expect God to move in your life, He is going to honor His word when you BELIEVE, and have FAITH and TRUST in Him. Thank you Lord, that your Word is working mightily. Thank you Lord for this discipline understanding that we listen to the voice of the Lord, and we obey what He speaks. Not just on Sunday, or Wednesday, but continually. Honor and praise before the Lord every day of our lives!
Now, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice was when Elijah called upon the Lord. I Kings 18:36; The time of the evening sacrifice... Elijah knew that God's Heart would be toward the people at that time. You see, the evening sacrifice that was laid before the Lord was a sweet savor. It symbolized Jesus giving His Life on Calvary, a whole burnt offering. God got it all. Nothing left out. This was the evening sacrifice, when man would come and lay a sacrifice before the Lord. The altar of the sacrifice was not just some careless place. The stones were laid in order. The wood was cut just so, and the sacrifice was displayed and cut with everything exposed. All of the pieces in a certain place, and God would take it all. It was prepared, made ready for the Lord to consume it. You and I prepared... for it speaks of the humanity of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, His offering, prepared for the Lord. We are prepared at the close of each day to give ourselves unto the Lord. Here we are Lord, ready to lay down and rest, for you to have Your way, in sweet repose, resting in the accomplishments of this day. Everything that I am, or ever hope to be, everything that is hidden in my vessel, like a sacrifice cut apart and laid in order... HERE I AM LORD. THY WILL BE DONE! JESUS SAID, "IT IS FINISHED!"
So Elijah, knowing all of this, knew that the Heart of God would be toward the people. And of course, the people, when they saw the miracle, would bow down and worship the Lord, repenting, and Elijah could rise up now and take all of these Prophets of Jezebel to the river where they were beheaded, according to the law of God. When idolatry was practiced, it had to be dealt with. They were gone. All of it was done.
Now, the scene changes. We remember that for three and a half years, there had been no rain in the land. Suddenly, Elijah says to Ahab, (Ahab means "he who takes") "Go up and eat and drink!" For the sound of rain, Ahab was about to take again! Ahab had been a "taker". Idolatry and paganism of Baal worship had been brought into the land by his wife Jezebel. Everything Ahab wanted, he took. Jezebel got it for him. An attitude developed in the Kingship of his household of greed, selfishness, and murder. Ahab could have what he wanted. Ahab went up to eat and drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Mt. Carmel (meaning fruitful). He bowed himself down to the earth, putting his face between his knees, and he said to his servant, "Look toward the sea". And he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." Perseverance must take place in this Elijah Ministry, and when God speaks to you, you must be disciplined and obey. When circumstances of today surround you, you MUST KNOW what God says! If you are not communicating with Him in discipline and obedience, and acting upon His Word, then you are not going to understand, believe or trust what He says. So, Elijah said to his servant, "Go again" seven times, (the number of completeness, fulfillment, perfection). And at the seventh time, the servant saw a cloud, small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea. And Elijah said, "Go up, and say to Ahab, hitch up your chariot, and go down lest the rains stop you." This won't be just a shower. When God honors His Word in your mouth, and you speak in His Name, His Word never returns "void". He answers prayer.
The Lord wants us to understand that in this last day "Elijah Company", in the ministry of trust and faith, we must rely on what the Lord has said. Sometimes as I am driving down the road, I see that it is a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky, except maybe for one little cloud on the horizon. And I wonder, Lord, is that the same size cloud that Elijah saw? And I smile in my spirit. Elijah had faith in God. And so, Elijah said to his servant, "Go up and say to Ahab, hitch up your chariot and go down lest the rains stop you." And behold, before long the skies were black with windswept clouds, and there was a great rain, and Ahab went to Jezreel, meaning the "Seed of God". In Greek, it is called "The Valley of the Esdraelon". On that plain of Esdraelon is a city called Megiddo. It was part of the inheritance of Manasseh. (Megiddo means a crowded place.) In the Book of Revelation 16, it speaks of a great last day battle that is scheduled to take place. Everyone will be involved in this last day battle. "This battle is called the Battle of Armageddon." "Arma" means a "high hill". By the Holy Spirit we begin to see a mystery unfolding. This high, crowded place is in the "Seed of God". Can we receive that surely this is the mind of man? In this last day, there is an Armegedon, a high and a crowded place, a battle zone, a place for the last great battle, and it is to take place in the Seed of God. It is in you. It is in me. And we are in a battle zone pulling down the strongholds of the enemy forces that have bound our generation man. I believe the mind of man is under attack from demonic forces! The mind of man is like the "last frontier." Our generation knows so much about so many wonderful things. Technology has increased so mightily in our day, but to know the inner workings and capabilities of the mind of man, we have been very limited. If the mind got out of control, we separated ourselves from those people, and locked them away.
Our medical field only knew to prescribe a regimen of drugs that would control the mind of that person to a functioning place where they will not be dangerous. But we must look with the eyes of the Holy Spirit at our being concerning the generation. What has bruised our mind is past sins of rebellion, violence, sickness, and diseases, all because we have not understood our being in Jesus' Name. We have not realized the magnitude of authority that God has given us through the covenant of the Blood of Jesus Christ. We have looked at God's Word with eyes of doubt and disbelief. We have prayed scared prayers and we have allowed thoughts to penetrate our being until we become controlled by those thoughts. The Bible says, Whatsoever a man gives himself to, that's what he becomes the servant of. (Rom 6:16) In our parenting process we are realizing that our family has been visited with things that have got to be addressed, no longer looking the other way. We have got to realize that in the mighty Name of Jesus we have been vestured with an inheritance, an authority, a dominion given unto us. WE ARE THE HEIRS OF JESUS CHRIST! We have been bequeathed that Name, and in It, as we address our vessel, we are examining ourselves with the authority of Jesus' Name. "Deliverance means Salvation", and Salvation is coming forth in our midst to do us good. Salvation to show us to us, to set us free from the bondage and decay of sickness and disease and all the weaknesses that have brought on this rebellion and death in our life.
So the Lord is teaching us now. The Hand of the Lord was upon Elijah. When you earnestly seek and listen to the voice of the Lord, His Hand is upon you! What can that old sly fox, the devil, do when you know and follow God's Word? How can he put oppression and control into your life, or possess you in any way? When you know that the Hand of the Lord is upon you, you will understand your authority in Jesus' Name. You are as a tabernacle, the dwelling place of the Most High God, and you are filled with the Holy Spirit. It is not just nice sounding words that makes you know that something is good, but it is a process, a power, authority and dominion, the Gift of God making us His family, His Seed, to inherit this earth.
And Elijah girded up his loins, and he ran before Ahab, to the entrance of Jezreel. It was nearly twenty miles. Imagine a man, getting in front of Ahab's chariot! It brings to mind the Word of the Spirit in the Book of Jeremiah when it said, "How can you run with the horsemen, when you can't keep up with the foot soldiers?" The Lord is bringing a progressive understanding to each one of us. Ahab ran his horses, and Elijah ran on his feet. A supernatural happening. God had carried out His Word, and in that strength, this Elijah man could run!
Ahab told Jezebel what had happened, and all that Elijah had done. How he had slain the prophets of Baal with the sword. Jezebel then sent a messenger to Elijah saying, "So let the gods do to me and more also if I take not your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Threatening, horrible words flung out into the soundwaves of eternity. Words that were full of the pronouncement of fear, words that found their way to the ears of Elijah. This was a man of God. He had the ability to hear in the Heavenlies. He was obedient when God spoke to Him. But suddenly, in his humanity, when he heard the voice of destruction it took him to the place of fear that would cause him to arise and run for his life! He came to Beersheba of Judah, (over 80 miles, and out of Jezebel's realm). He left his servant at Beersheba (meaning the "well of the oath".) Even the understanding of God's Covenant toward man, (in that milemarker place) did not cause Elijah to listen for God's Voice. Fear had become a consuming force!
And so, Elijah was afraid. He was just a man. And that part of his vessel listened to what was taking place. He knew the Covenant that had been made there, and even though he went to that place, fear was stronger in his understanding at that point than the beauty of that covenant well. As we begin to examine what is taking place here, we realize that eighty and twenty makes a hundred, a hundred fold of fears that he ran for. And he even ran a days journey into the wilderness where he sat down under a lone broom tree. It was here that he asked the Lord that he might die. Fear is a force of demonic control. When it is allowed to get out of balance in the heart and mind of a person, it becomes a tangible force, as it seeks to literally control your body.
I've known this fear as a child. I was afraid of the dark, but when I understood the principles of my salvation, in the Name of Jesus, that fear had to go. I was saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit. I was in the Ministry, but I was still scared of the dark! If you got me cornered in a dark place, I would run for my life to find that light switch! That's how bad it was, but when I realized that fear is a force of satan's kingdom, and when the demonic forces are loosed in our generation man, it must be addressed in the Light of Jesus' Salvation, and commanded out in the Mighty Name of Jesus. That old sly fox, the devil, will do everything he can to control your life! Fear of darkness does not control me anymore! It was called out, loosed from me, in the Mighty Name of Jesus! Praise God!
Let us remember that Elijah was a man who heard the voice of the Lord. But the minute he listened to the voice of fear, from Jezebel's mouth, it became the driving force in his life. God didn't fire him, didn't throw him away, but instead, gave him time to rest, to understand what had happened to him, sent Angels to build a little fire and bake a cake, and put a bottle of water at his head so that he could eat and drink as he lay there, in total exhaustion, after that hundred mile run. The Angel said to him, "The journey has been too much for you."
Beloved, sometimes the forces of hell come against us. It can be compared to that hundred mile run. When we think we have come to the place where we can't stand any more, the enemy wants to devour us! Our guard drops, letting frustration, and tiredness become a tool that is used against us. At times, there will be frustration and confusion, people trying to hurt you with their gossip. All of this is a force that the enemy uses against us, and we must understand this in order to deal with it. Every one of these frustrations and fears are aimed, like an arrow, to destroy your faith in Jesus, and take His truth out of your life.
And so, Elijah is just a man. A man having this glorious ability to listen and obey the Voice of the Lord. But still, with that beautiful gift, that glorious ability, he still became controlled by this element of fear. And as it began to take him over, in his exhaustion, God was there! And the Angel of the Lord said to him, "Rise and eat!" The Lord is going to meet you where you are at your place of need. The Lord is saying to you, "Arise and eat!" (Devour My Word!) God didn't come to Elijah and zap the fear out of him and tell him to begone. Instead, God knew what Elijah needed. God knew Elijah needed food, and He provided it. He knew Elijah needed water, and He provided it, and the warmth of a fire and rest. After Elijah ate and had drink, he laid down again to rest.
When the Lord begins this awesome, wonderful, beautiful work of restoring us and making us in His image and His likeness, He begins where we are! The Lord will not remove you from your element of understanding saying things to you that you cannot comprehend. Rather, in His Love and His Mercy, God will talk to you where you can understand it. As He begins to Minister unto you, and you begin to harken unto His Voice, He begins to show you the way that you CAN walk in.
The Angel of the Lord came a second time to Elijah and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." God's Mercy and Love! In the midst of our battle when the enemy has been sent to hammer on us and to destroy us, in the midst of the battle through the Glory of the Mighty Name of Jesus, God will see to it that you are equipped to handle the situation! You can do it right where you are. You don't have to join another church. You don't have to get another job. You don't have to move to another city. The Lord will perfect you right where you are! That is the way He does it. You see, God wants you to know who you are in Him, and that there is nothing that can take you out because you are His property. All that He has bequeathed or covenanted to you will be honored in your behalf. It is God's Mercy that He will protect us, and bring us understanding when we are caught up in the midst of our great battles.
Elijah had won a battle! Can you imagine the blood of all those prophets that had spilled all across the Brook Kishon? Can you imagine how the people were rejoicing and praising the Lord? God had exposed the idolatry of the Idol Baal. He was supposed to be their "weather god", but yet it had not rained for the space of some three and a half years! He was depicted with thunderbolts in his hands, as if he could control all fire. But as Elijah (whose names means "God is God") prayed, the fire of God consumed the sacrifice. God moved on to the next scene. Things were to be changed and made right. It's the same with us. When we win one battle, we go to the next one, and the next one, and on and on. It is a glory of growing and maturing, a process of the nature within. Progressing and working within our vessel that makes us a true child of God, for it is what He has commanded and expected of us. When you begin to trust, He will make more of His trust available. When you begin to obey, He gives us more things in our lives that required His discipline and obedience. And when you seek the Lord, He is found!
Now Elijah arose and he ate. Then the Lord said to him, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE... ELIJAH?" Here was this man who was God's vessel, His trumpet in that day, to bring a clear word, hearing God say to him, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE...ELIJAH?" I've tried to think of the many ways that this could be said, with emphasis on each word, like in the midst of our battle for example, when we are having a pity party, and we think we can't go on, and we think the Lord has not spoken a word to us. We know we belong to Him and we are His child, saving us completely. Then the Lord says to us, "What are you doing here, like why are you crying, thinking everything is lost? Why are you this way that you would run for your life?" Just as God spoke to Elijah, telling him to bring deliverance to the Nation of Israel, so to, He speaks to us, telling us to deliver ourselves out of this bondage of fear and frustration in the Wonderful Name of Jesus!
Here was Elijah's reply. "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of Hosts. The Israelites have forsaken your Covenants, all this is very true. They have thrown down your altars, and all of this is very true. They have killed your Prophets, and all of this is very true, killed your Prophets with the sword, and I only am left and they seek my life to take it away." Fear was the driving force. All these things had certainly come to pass. But Elijah had answered God in the power of fear and in his self pity. He was the only one left, and they wanted to take him out too! Sometimes our own battles are just that way. Everybody in the church telling the Preacher how to preach, how to say it and what to do. But, he has heard from God. He has that anointing that is going to bring the children into that learning place where they can become obedient and disciplined. Sometimes the pressures of the battle come because we want our way! But the Lord says, "What are you doing here?" God has called us to stand in discipline and obedience, to carry out His Word the way He has spoken it. He has spoken secrets and mysteries to our heart. He has given us the gift of discernment. This is one of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that as we exercise this Gift, we can look into our situation with Spiritual understanding, and command our enemy to be removed from this situation. But, sometimes we are so bruised and hurting, we can't, or don't want to hear, and our problem takes over and becomes seemingly larger to us in our mind than our understanding of Jesus Christ, our Deliverer!
But, when we come back to the Lord, and we get on our face before God. We know that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, will guide and direct us through our battle. God's Word is mighty in our mouth, and we speak it forth. As ministers, we feed the flock. We will command the enemy to loose the people and let them go. The enemy cannot stand before you, when, in the Name of Jesus, you demand him to go. God is bringing, in this last day, His generation sons to this understanding. And, in one mind, and one accord, He is bringing forth His messengers with great and mighty wisdom to win every battle with the Sword of God's Word. As this begins to occur, the gossiping stops and intercession begins, building and strengthening the body so that the word of God can be adhered to and trusted in. The Minister of God must be careful to listen to the Voice of God and obey His Word and carry it out. He must act upon it for the people's sake, Hallelujah!
In this hour, there is a discipline to the church that must be understood --responsibility to love one another. When someone cannot understand, we must rise to that place of intercession and prayer so that the Lord can help him to understand. When love abounds and the Word is taught, their heart will become excited to serve the Lord. They will begin to defeat their enemy and stand in His Glory. Thank you Jesus, that Your Word is working mightily in the midst of us.
Looking again at Elijah's circumstance, the Angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." (I KINGS 19:8) So, he arose and ate and drank and went, in the strength of that food, forty days and forty nights to Mt. Horeb (the mountain of God). There he came to a cave, and lodged in it; and behold the Word of the Lord came, and He said to him, "What are you doing... HERE... Elijah?" I think sometime the Lord wants to get us in that place, where it is just us, and Him, where we can listen intently, where we are not disturbed by the clamor of people's voices and things that are being said. Elijah's reply, we note, was the same that he had spoken previously. His geographical place had changed, but inside of him he was still the same. Fear is a mighty force until we understand and break its control, in Jesus' Name! After Elijah's answer, God said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord."
Continuing with Verse 11... Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, (a sound of gentle stillness, and a still small voice). Elijah was seeing here the magnificent splendor of God's Spoken Word. Creator God, who has said, "Let there be...", was manifesting the fullness of the discipline and obedience of all of the elements that were commanded in His Name. God's Word will NEVER RETURN VOID! Here we can understand the power and majesty of the Lord God Almighty, which is our source. He was speaking in that Heaven understanding as all of the elements passed by. But, Elijah was not able to hear that at this point. The Lord is letting us understand, that in Him, in His way, in His power and glory, what He has spoken in our behalf, it will cause the mountains to shake and tremble, the rocks to fall apart, and the Lord wants us to understand and know that we belong to him. And because His Word has been given unto us, nothing but nothing, can stand in our way! Fear, jealousy and all of the angers of demonic forces that try to hold us in this death realm must be addressed in our being. We must stand in the authority of truth and know that the LORD OUR GOD IS ON OUR SIDE! God uses the adversary as a tool to cause us to come to Him. (Job 36:15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction, and He opens their ears to His Voice by adversity. You can fight the battle and win the victory, so that you can stand in the authority of God's Word, KNOWING that He has spoken in your behalf, and that you belong to Him!
And so, in the mountains, rocks broke into pieces, but the Lord wasn't there. He is not going to let you stand in any realm of excitement and stop there. And when the Lord wasn't in the rocks, and the mountain was quaking, and the wind was blowing, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, nor in the earthquake. So many things take place in our life, like mile markers on the highway, surely the Lord would be here. But we find He doesn't reveal Himself there. Like a father teaching his son, the Lord guides, speaks, and encourages us to carry out His Plan! But the Lord WAS in that still small voice. Like the Word says, when God speaks, and you begin to hear in the presence of the Lord, as your vessel is tended to before the Lord, there will come a day when all God has to do is think, AND YOU WILL OBEY! A discipline order, when you hear and act upon His Word. He doesn't have to shake the starry heavens. You don't have to see miracles, or signs, or wonders. That acknowledgment, that my Beloved Lord is mine, that he has called me and equipped me. I stand in the majesty and splendor of His Person. He has made me and shaped me, kept me, protected me even when I was about to fall.
And God spoke again, "What are you doing here, Elijah? What ARE you doing here? What are you doing HERE, Elijah?" And Elijah's reply was the same, tangible force, fear so strong. He said, "I've been jealous for the Lord God of Hosts because the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, slain all Your Prophets with their sword, and I am only left, and they seek my life to destroy it!" And the Lord knew it, all that had happened and transpired. He was still not delivered from that force that drove him into the wilderness. Jezebel's words seemed certain death. Elijah was not able, at this point, his emotions had been so traumatized by the fear principle. He was under its control!
The Lord said to him three things, the first being, "GO" (God is not going to leave you there in that wilderness.) "RETURN ON YOUR WAY TO THE WILDERNESS, BY THE WILDERNESS OF DAMASCUS, AND WHEN YOU ARRIVE, I WANT YOU TO ANOINT HAZAEL" (meaning "GOD SEES"!) He sees character, nature, understanding. Elijah knew the language of a man's name. He knew that it represented character and nature of the being. So Elijah would begin to understand what God was saying. GOD SEES. God sees what is taking place in your life. God sees when you are not victorious. God carefully takes care, so that you will understand and know, that the battle is not yours, but it is His, and when you possess your inheritance of salvation, you ARE going to be delivered!
The anointing process (it means to smear on, anointing with oil, or ointment) was a common practice in Elijah's day. It symbolized a mark of respect, an induction into priestly office, an act of healing, an act of consecration. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost. Webster's dictionary says, "The use of oil in consecrations was of high antiquity. Kings, Prophets, and Priests were set apart, or consecrated, to their offices by the use of oil." Hazael was being made King over Syria to try to bring discipline, like a whipping post to the children of Israel. God was establishing His tool.
The second thing God told him to do was to go and anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi (meaning "rescued"). He was going to be King over Israel. Can you believe this man was just a captain in Ahab's guard? But Jehu means THE COVENANT EXISTS! God was saying that He sees, He has rescued, the covenant exists. God wanted him to understand and know that the covenant existed in Israel, that God has NOT changed His MIND! He will call out and prepare the people unto himself and deliver them from all of their enemies.
The covenant exists, and there is an anointing to your heart and mind there. The third and final thing God told Elijah to do, was to go and anoint Elisha (meaning "GOD, HIS SALVATION"!) God sees. He has rescued. The covenant exists, God, his salvation. God intended him to understand and know that when he qualified and vestured him with an ability, he would and could walk it out, and it would be complete and perfect as God had ordered. An anointing process ready, as Elijah obeyed the voice of the Lord his God. He would complete the course.
The Lord hasn't called you and I to fall short of His Glory! He anointed Elisha, the son of Shaphat (meaning "A judge"). It was time for these circumstances to be judged. And this son of Shaphat came from "Abel Meholah" (meaning the "meadow of the dance"). Talk about liberty, freedom and joy, God, his salvation, when you and I begin to understand that our salvation has been judged before the foundation of the world. The word "salvation" means "deliverance". God intended you and I to understand that everything that could come to us to bruise our seed and try to destroy us has been judged, made ready and proper for the overcomer to come over. Jesus Christ, the only Begotten Son of God took His Blood to that "Ark, Covenant of Heaven", and sprinkled it there. God has written a covenant in all the eternity of eternities, that all who would come after Him would know the protection, the liberty and the blessings of God's precious Word to his life.
We used to sing a little song that said:
Have You Got Any Rivers That Seem Uncrossable?
Have You Got Any Valleys That You Can't Tunnel Through?
God Specializes in Things Thought Impossible, and He Will Do for You What No Other Power Can Do.
If your life is in that place where the mountain is being rent by the windstorm, where the rocks are falling, where the earthquake rages, and you are standing at the mouth of a cave, if there is fire all around you, then it is time to listen. Listen to that still, small voice.
Dear Lord, we thank You for Your encouraging Word. We thank you Lord God that you are changing vessels into Glory. A transfiguration process in this last day that will set Your Kingdom in order, that will cause the bruise of death, the angers, the frustrations, the willful disobedience to be removed from the life of every believer and the Blessings of Your Love to flow out of us, to each other. You are calling a generation together Lord, who will stand in the Mystery of Salvation Truth. We will be delivered, and deliverance will become a way of life. AMEN!