Elijah

Elijah
1. Ahab Became King Over Israel
2. Elijah Tells Ahab There Will Be No Rain
3. God Sends Elijah To Zarephath
4. Elijah Raises The Widow's Son
5. God Tells Elijah To Go Meet Ahab
6. Elijah Challenges The Prophets Of Baal
7. God's Power Demonstrated
8. Jezebel Threatens Elijah
9. Elijah Talks With God
10. God Tells Elijah What He Has For Him To Do
11. Elisha Receives His Call
12. Ahab Wants Naboth's Vineyard
13. Jezebel Gets The Vineyard For Him
14. Elijah Confronts Ahab
15. Ahab Had Died And His Son Ahaziah Becomes Incapacitated
16. Elijah Deals With Ahaziah
17. Elijah Is Taken To Heaven

1. Ahab Became King Over Israel - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 16:29-33
Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned twenty two years. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than any before him. It seemed as though it was a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Zidonians, and he served Baal. So he built a house for Baal in Samaria. Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus he did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel before him.

2. Elijah Tells Ahab There Will Be No Rain - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 17:1-7
Elijah the Tishbite from among the settlers of Gilead, said to ahab, "as the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew or rain except by my word."

Then the LORD told Elijah, "go hide yourself by the brook Cherith which is east of the Jordon. You will be able to drink from the brook and I have commanded the ravens to bring you food." So Elijah did as the LORD told him, living by the brook Cherith east of the Jordon. The ravens brought him bread and meat morning and evening, and he drank from the brook.

With no rain in the land the brook eventually dried up.

3. God Sends Elijah To Zarephath - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 17:8-16
Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath in Zidon. I have commanded a widow to take care of you while you stay there." So Elijah arose and went to Zarephath. When he came to the city gate, he saw a woman gathering sticks. He called to her, saying,"Please get me a little water in a jar that I may drink." As she was going to get it, he called after her, and said,"Please bring me a piece of bread." She then said, "as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in a bowl and a little oil in a jar. I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare the last meal for me and my son. Then we will die." Elijah said to her,"Do not be afraid. Go do as you have planned, but make me a little bread first and bring it to me. After that you may make one for yourself and your son. For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be used up and neither shall the oil jar be empty, until the day the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" So she went and did as Elijah had asked, and she and her son ate for many days. The bowl of flour and the jar of oil were never empty, just as the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

4. Elijah Raises The Widow's Son - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 17:17-24
It was after this that the son of the woman became so sick that he stopped breathing. The woman said to Elijah,"What does your presence have to do with my past? Has my son died because of the life I used to live?" He said to her,"Give me your son." Then he took him from her and carried him to the upper room where he lived, and laid the boy on his own bed. He called to the LORD and said, "o LORD my God, have You brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?" Stretching himself upon the child three times, he called to the LORD, saying, "o LORD my God, I pray that You let this child's life return to him." The LORD heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he began to breath. Elijah took the child down from the upper room and gave him to his mother, and said to her,"See, your son is alive." Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."

5. God Tells Elijah To Go Meet Ahab - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 18:1-19
After many days the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.

Ahab called for Obadiah who was over his household. This man feared the LORD greatly. Jezebel had destroyed the prophets of the LORD, but Obadiah had hidden a hundred of them by fifties in a cave and brought them bread and water.

Ahab told Obadiah to go throughout the land looking for springs of water and maybe some grass for the horses and mules and some of the cattle. So they divided the land between them and went separately. As Obadiah was looking for grass and water, Elijah met him. When Obadiah recognized Elijah, he fell on his face and said, "Is it you, Elijah my master?" He answered, "It is I. Go tell your master that you have found me." Obadiah replied, "What sin have I committed that you put me in danger of Ahab killing me? He has searched for you in every nation, but you could not be found. And now you say to tell Ahab that you are here. Perhaps after I leave the Spirit of the LORD will take you to some place I do not know of. When I tell Ahab you are here, and you are not, he will kill me, even though I have feared the LORD from my youth. Haven't you heard that Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD, and I hid one hundred of them by fifties in a cave and brought them bread and water? And now you are saying that I should tell my master that Elijah is here. He will surely kill me." Elijah said, "As the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?" Elijah replied, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have. You have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals. Now gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel. Bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

6. Elijah Challenges The Prophets Of Baal - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 18:20-29
So Ahab sent a message to all the children of Israel and brought all the prophets together at Mount Carmel.

Elijah arrived and came near to all the people. He said, "How long will you deliberate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. If Baal, then follow him." But the people did not answer him. Then Elijah said to the people, "I am one prophet of the LORD, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let them give us two oxen. They can choose one for themselves and place it on the wood. But they must not put fire under it. I will prepare the other ox, laying in on the wood, and I will put no fire under it. Then let the prophets of Baal call on him, and I will call on the name of the LORD. And the God that answers by fire, He is God." And all he people said, "It is well spoken." So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Since there are many of you, choose one ox for yourself and prepare it first. Call on the name of your god but do not yourself put any fire under it." So they took the ox they had chosen and prepared it. They then called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us." But no voice answered though they leaped about the altar they had made. At about noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Call louder. He is a god and is occupied with something, or maybe he is on a journey. He might even be asleep and need to be awakened." So they cried all the louder, and cut themselves with swords and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed out of them. They went on like this until the time of the evening sacrifice in Israel. No one answered them or paid any attention to their machinations.

7. God's Power Demonstrated - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 18:30-46
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to where he stood. They watched him repair the altar of the LORD, for it had been torn down. He took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the LORD had said, "Israel shall be your name." Using these stones Elijah built an altar in the name of the LORD. He made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed. He arranged the wood on the altar and cut up the ox and laid it on top of the wood. He told the people, "Fill four barrels of water and pour it over the burnt offering and the wood." Then he said, "Do it a second time, " and then he said, "Do it a third time." The water ran over the sacrifice and the wood and ran down into the trench around the altar.

It was the time when the evening sacrifice was given at the tabernacle, and Elijah the prophet came near to the altar and said, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant and I have done these things according to Your instruction. Hear me, O LORD, so that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You may turn their hearts back to You."

Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, even the stones and the dust, and it even licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this happen, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD, He is God. The LORD, He is God."

Then Elijah said to the people, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let even one of them escape." So they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.

Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go eat and drink, for I hear the sound of abundant rain." So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel and cast himself down upon the earth, with his face between his knees. He said to his servant, "Go look toward the sea and tell me what you see." So his servant went and looked, and came back, saying, "I didn't see anything." Seven time Elijah sent him back for another look. And it came about that after the seventh time, he came back, saying, "I see a small cloud about the size of a man's hand coming up from the sea." Then Elijah said to him, "Go to Ahab and say, 'Prepare your chariot and head for home before the heavy rain stops you.'" In a short time the sky became black with dark clouds and wind, and a great rain fell. And Ahab rode for Jezreel. The hand of the LORD was on Elijah as he hitched up his robe and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

8. Jezebel Threatens Elijah - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 19:1-8
Ahab came home and told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, including the slaying of the prophets of Baal. Then Jezebel sent a message to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more so if by tomorrow about this time your life does not end like that of the prophets of Baal." Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. He went south to Beersheba in Judah where he left his servant. He then went another day's journey into the wilderness and sat down under a juniper tree. It was there that he asked that he might die. He said, "It is enough, O LORD. Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." He lay down and slept under the juniper tree. After a time he felt an angel touch him. He said to Elijah, "Get up and eat." Elijah looked and saw a bread cake baking on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank. Then he and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too great for you." So Elijah arose, ate and drank, and in the strength of that food went forty days and forty nights to get to Horeb, the mountain of God.

9. Elijah Talks With God - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 19:9-14
He came to a cave. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. The children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left and they are seeking my life." Then God said, "Go stand on the mountain before the LORD." And the LORD passed by! A great and strong wind was rending the mountain, blowing pieces of rock about. But the LORD was not in the wind. The wind was followed by an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. Then after the fire he heard a gentle blowing. When heard this, he wrapped his face in his mantle and stood in the entrance to the cave. And behold, a voice came to him, asking, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And he answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left, and they seek to take my life."

10. God Tells Elijah What He Has For Him To Do - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 19:15-18
The LORD said to him, "Go by way of the wilderness to Damascus. When you arrive, anoint Hazael king over Syria. Also, anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel. And you shall anoint Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah to be prophet in your place. It shall come to pass that the one who escapes the sword of Hazael shall be put to death by Jehu. And the one who escapes Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. I still have seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal or kissed him."

11. Elisha Receives His Call - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 19:19-21
So Elijah departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat while he and his servants were plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. As he passed by Elisha he threw his mantle on him. Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah, saying, "Please let me kiss my father and mother. Then I will follow you." Elijah said to him, "Go back, for what have I done to you?"

So Elisha returned from following Elijah and sacrificed the oxen, boiling their flesh using the yoke and other implements of the oxen to cook it, and gave it to the people to eat. Then he arose and followed Elijah and served him.

12. Ahab Wants Naboth's Vineyard - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 21:1-4
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel next to king Ahab's palace in Samaria. Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "I need your vineyard for a vegetable garden because it is close to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in it place. Or if you prefer, I will give you the price of its value." But Naboth said, "God forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." Ahab went to his house sullen and vexed because Naboth would not let him have the vineyard. He lay down on his bed with his face to the wall and would not eat.

13. Jezebel Gets The Vineyard For Him - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 21:5-16
Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you sullen and unwilling to eat?" He said, "Because Naboth the Jezreelite will not trade vineyards or take money for his." Jezebel said, "Do you not reign over Israel? Get up. Eat bread and let your heart be joyful. I will get you Naboth's vineyard."

So Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal. She sent them to the elders of the city where Naboth lived. In the letters she said, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the table." Seat two worthless men on either side of him and have them testify against him, saying, "You cursed God and king." Then take him out and stone him to death. So the men of the city, the elders and the nobles of Naboth's city did as Jezebel had directed in her letters to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the other people. Then the two worthless men came in and sat beside him. They testified against him and before everyone, saying that he had cursed God and the king. So the people took Naboth outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel that Naboth had been stoned to death.

When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Now you may take possession of Naboth's vineyard which he would not let you have. He is dead." When Ahab heard this, he went down to take possession of Naboth's vineyard.

14. Elijah Confronts Ahab - Back to Page Index
1 Kings 21:17-29
The word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Arise, go down to meet king Ahab in Samaria. He is taking possession of Naboth's vineyard. Tell him, thus says the LORD, 'Have you murdered in order to gain possession?' The LORD says, 'In the place where the dogs licked up Naboth's blood they will also lick up your blood..'" Ahab replied, "So you have found me, O my enemy." And Elijah said, "I have found you, because you sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD. The LORD says, 'I will bring evil upon you and utterly destroy you. I will cut off every last male that is yours, slave or free..' I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the things you have done to provoke me to anger and how you have made Israel sin. The LORD also has this to say of Jezebel. The dogs will eat her in Jezreel. Those who belong to Ahab and die in the city, will be eaten by dogs. Those who dies in the field will be eaten by birds."

"Surely there is no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the LORD's sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him. He acted very abominably following idols, like those of the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel."

When Ahab heard all these words, he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth and fasted. And he remained despondent.

Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? I will not bring this evil on him while he lives, but instead, on his house in his son's days."

15. Ahab Had Died And His Son Ahaziah Becomes Incapacitated - Back to Page Index
2 Kings 1:1-8
After Ahab died Moab rebelled against Israel. And Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria putting him in his bed with an illness. He sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, that he might know if he would recover. The angel of the LORD told Elijah to go meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, "Is there no God in Israel? Is that why you are inquiring of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron? Thus says the LORD, You shall not get up from your sick bed, but you shall surely die." And Elijah departed. When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, he asked them why they had come back so quickly? They said to him, "A man came to meet us and said to us, 'Go tell the king who sent you that the LORD says that because you did not inquire of the God of Israel, but instead inquired of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, you will not get up from your bed. You will surely die..'" Ahaziah said, "What kind of man was he that spoke these words to you?" They answered, "He was a hairy man with a leather girdle around his lions." And the king knew then that it was Elijah the Tishbite.

16. Elijah Deals With Ahaziah - Back to Page Index
2 Kings 1:9-18
He sent a captain with his fifty men to get Elijah. He went up to him and said, "O man of God, the king says to come down to him." Elijah replied to the captain, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and burn up you and your fifty." And fire came down from heaven and burned up him and his fifty.

So the king sent another captain with his fifty men. And he approached Elijah and said, "O man of God, the king says to come down quickly." Elijah replied to them, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then the fire of God came down from heaven and burned the captain and his fifty men.

So then the king sent yet a third captain with his fifty. He came and bowed down on his knees before Elijah and begged him, saying, "O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight. Behold, the first two captains and their fifties were consumed by fire from heaven. Please let my life be precious in your sight." The angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him and do not be afraid." So he went down to the king.

Elijah said to the king, "Thus says the LORD, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, rather than inquiring of the God of Israel, you shall not get well. You shall surely die." So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. And because he had no son, Jehoram became king of Israel in his place in the second year of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. The rest of the acts of Ahaziah are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.

17. Elijah Is Taken To Heaven - Back to Page Index
2 Kings 2:1-14
Shortly before the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha went to Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the LORD is sending me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. The sons of the prophets at Bethel spoke to Elisha, saying, "Do you know that the LORD will take your master from over you today?" And he said, "Yes, I know. Say nothing more of it." Once again, Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the LORD is sending me to Jericho." But Elisha answered, "As surely as the LORD lives, and while you are with me, I will not leave you." So they went on to Jericho. The sons of the prophets at Jericho approached Elisha, saying, "Do you realize that the LORD will take your master from you today?" And he answered, "Yes, I know. Say nothing more about it." Then Elijah said to Elisha, "Please stay here, for the LORD is sending me to the Jordan River." And Elisha replied, "As surely as the LORD lives, and you are with me, I will not leave you." So the two of them traveled on.

Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood some distance from them while they stood by the Jordan River. Elijah took his mantle, and after folding it, struck the waters. The river divided so that the two of them crossed over on dry land. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what you want me to do for you before a am taken from you." Elisha said to him, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." Elijah said, "You have asked a hard thing. And yet, you will have your request if you see me taken from you."

As they were walking and talking, there suddenly appeared a chariot and horses of fire, and Elijah was taken up from Elisha in a whirlwind into heaven. As Elisha saw him going up, he cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horseman!" And Elijah was gone. Elisha took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He then picked up Elijah's mantle that had fallen to the ground and returned to the Jordan where he stood by the bank. Taking Elijah's mantle he struck the waters, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he had struck the waters, they were divided and Elisha crossed over.

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