And just like that, we meet Elijah.

We get no description of him until much later. Some messengers describe Elijah to the king like this:

“And they said to him, “He was a hairy man with a leather belt worn around his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.””
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

😐 I can never remember who came first and who did what – Elijah or Elisha.

Just remember that if you were alphabetizing them, Eli-JAH comes before Eli-SHA. And Elisha does twice as many miracles as Elijah. That kinda helps. Also, Elijah’s story is connected with Ahab & Jezebel, but Elisha’s story is connected with the son of Ahab & Jezebel, Joram.

Elijah’s part in scripture opens with him warning Ahab of a 3-year drought:

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.’”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬

This ability to command ‬the withholding of rain is one reason why people speculate the identity of one of the “Two Witnesses” in Revelation 11 to be none other than Elijah.

“They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭11‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Incidentally, “the days of their prophesying” are 1260 days, or roughly 3.5 years. That’s about the same length of time of Elijah’s drought.

So God sends Elijah to a little creek near his hometown of Tishbe to wait out part of the drought and famine.

Some maps show Kerith/Cherith Brook as being south of Tishbe. Some north. The exact location of Tishbe is not known. That area is wrinkled like a raisin with wadis; some of which contain water. No one knows the location of the brook either.

The bizarre thing about this arrangement is that God sends ravens – of all things – twice a day with bread and meat. The raven is an unclean bird (Lev. 11:15). They’re even called “an abomination.” Noah first sent out a raven from the ark and it didn’t come back. It “went to and fro until the waters were dried up.” What was it doing out there? Well, it was more than likely feeding on the rotting carcasses bobbing around in the flood waters. Ravens are scavengers.

🫤 Why would God send food to Elijah by a nasty bird like a raven?

I suspect it has something to do with the miracle-factor. Which is more of a miracle?

• God makes food appear for Elijah
• God makes a bird that would normally eat that food, give it away to a human

🤔 Uhh… I’m gonna go with the 2nd one.

There might also be some kind of application in there – like, God can provide for His people even if He has to use a courier that is, shall we say, “less than savory.”

Then, the brook dries up.

The place where God sent Elijah to provide for him was only for a season. It wasn’t permanent. Just because God allows the brook to dry up doesn’t mean Elijah didn’t hear God or that God has left him. The brook dries up because it’s time to move on.

Here’s a chair 🪑 in case you need to sit in that for a second…

Could God have miraculously kept the brook full? Sure. But God’s purpose wasn’t just to keep Elijah comfy. God had a widow and her son to save. We might also consider the possibility that God’s servant had to experience the effects of this judgment along with everyone else.

“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The funny thing about this is – the widow has no idea she has been “commanded” by God to feed him. It’s the same word in Hebrew (tsavah) as when God said he had “commanded” the ravens to feed Elijah. I don’t think we’re meant to imagine that God appeared to this woman and gave her an order, “You are to feed my prophet Elijah!” The word also means “to appoint.” This widow was appointed by God to help the prophet – and she didn’t even know it. There may be things that God has appointed you to do that are not anywhere on your radar yet. Who knows? You might be out collecting firewood one day and run smack into a divine appointment.

My Bible-study friends and I went through the whole Bible and looked at every instance of the terms: gate, door, entrance, and opening. It was fascinating. We discovered that an awful lot of miracles and prophetic signs happen at gates and entrances. This meeting with the widow was one of them.

The widow made Elijah a little cake. Probably something like this:

This is a tannur built by archeology students. It’s modeled after ancient middle eastern earthen ovens. The cooking concept is very similar to tandoori ovens still used in the Middle East:

A tandoori is basically a large clay pot in which a fire is built. The flat breads in both the tannur and the tandoori are flattened dough cakes that are slapped onto the walls of the preheated oven where they stick and bake in minutes. They come off cleanly when done.

So Elijah lives with this widow and her son (who he later raises from the dead!) and they all survive on the miraculous never-empty jars of flour and oil.

Note on the map above that Zarephath is not in Israel. It’s in Phoenicia. There is a New Testament account of a woman of Phoenicia too. Might not hurt to see if there are parallels.

“And from there he [Jesus] arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬-‭30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Ok… the parallels:

• Zarephath sits smack in between Tyre and Sidon. So Jesus was in the same location as Elijah
• Jesus and Elijah both are in hiding in a house in this area
• Both stories have a Phoenician woman
• There is no husband in either story
• They each have a single child
• Both stories show the child in bed; one is dead, laid in bed, then resurrected; the other is demon possessed, then delivered, then resting in bed.
• In Elijah’s story he asks the widow for a cake of bread. In the Gospel, it’s the woman asking Jesus for bread – or even crumbs.
• Each woman receives miraculous bread for herself and her child. This “bread” rescues them from death, in the NT it is a metaphor for spiritual deliverance.

These are not coincidental. I think we’re meant to connect the dots between these two narratives.

😏 There you go with your dot-to-dot again.

Can’t help it. Lots of dots in the Bible.

So Elijah’s ministry begins with a 3-year draught. And the royal couple are not happy about it. At the end of the third year, Yahweh tells Elijah to go visit the angry royals and on the way he meets a good man – Obadiah. Now, this is not the prophet Obadiah. This Obadiah is kind of like Ahab’s butler. And when he meets up with Elijah, we learn something VERY odd:

“And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Apparently it was common knowledge that Elijah would just… teleport.

This is not unique in the Bible but it is quite rare. Some people call it “traveling in the Spirit.” Probably the most famous example is Philip the Evangelist:

“And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭8‬:‭39‬-‭40‬ ‭ESV‬‬

He was “teleported” 15-20+ miles!

Jesus and the Disciples did this too.

“When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles long and 9 miles wide. If they had rowed 3-4 miles they weren’t anywhere near the other side. Yet as soon as Jesus got in the boat, it was immediately at their destination.

Jesus also appeared (and disappeared!) in various places that were miles apart after his resurrection. And in His temptation, Satan took Jesus to “the pinnacle of the temple,” but when it was over, Jesus was back in the wilderness.

Teleportation is a thing.

And it’s not the same as Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, or John being carried “in the spirit” to see visions in heaven. When that happened, their bodies were very much still on earth. Enoch, Elijah, Jesus, the Disciples, and Philip experienced being transported physically. I suspect that this “teleportation” is the same method used in the “catching up” of the Church.

I doubt it’s a spoiler to tell you that Elijah will “teleport” to heaven just as Enoch did. But that’s a while off yet…

In the meantime…

Elijah goes to Ahab and invites THE WHOLE NATION to Mount Carmel.

“Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We tend to think of the Mount Carmel showdown as just Elijah and the “400 prophets of Baal.” (I’ve heard that quoted from pulpits.) It was 450 prophets of Baal AND 400 prophets of Asherah. That’s already a bigger crowd than I ever saw on my Sunday School coloring pages. PLUS as many of the citizens as could squeeze up there on the summit.

I’ve been there. The top of Mount Carmel.

Notice how it juts out into the sea. It has a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean. I don’t know if it’s always as windy up there as it was the day I visited. If it is, God could’ve just blown the prophets of Baal off the mountain. Ha!

There’s an epic statue of Elijah on the summit commemorating the defeat of the prophets of Baal and Asherah.

“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This challenge by Elijah shows us that the people of Israel hadn’t completely abandoned Yahweh. They just didn’t want to commit. They wanted to keep their options open. They couldn’t make up their minds. If he showed up in some churches today, Elijah might say, “If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if you want to be your own god, go do that. Make up your mind. Quit trying to be god alongside the Almighty.”

At any rate – you know the story. Elijah gives the prophets all day to get Baal to light the sacrifice. Baal was the storm god, by the way. He was supposed to be the one who threw lightening bolts – like a Canaanite Zeus. The fact that their storm god hasn’t made it rain in 3 years is a problem. After hours of shrieking and cutting themselves there was still nothing. Then it’s Elijah’s turn.

Elijah has some people trek all the way down the mountain to the creek and back up THREE TIMES to haul water to pour on the sacrifice. Elijah is setting this up to guarantee no one can say he’s pulling some kind of magic trick. Then he prays a simple prayer and BAM! 💥 ⚡️

For obvious reasons, that’s usually where the Sunday School lesson stops. We don’t tell small children that Elijah then had the people capture the hundreds of pagan prophets, who he then marched down the mountain and executed with a sword. 🗡️

I read stuff like this and feel very mamby-pamby next to Elijah.

After 3 years of drought, “a cloud the size of a man’s hand” appears out over the Sea and Elijah tells Ahab he better get home before it starts raining. And then…

“And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.”
‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭18‬:‭46‬ ‭ESV‬‬

He doesn’t teleport. He runs. Faster than a chariot. And beats Ahab back to town. 👀

I asked Google how far it was from Mount Carmel to Jezreel. It’s about 17 miles. And here’s what the A.I. commented on that:

It’s a “credible distance for a fit individual to outrun a chariot…”

🤣

“Especially with divine strength….”

😂

Now that’s funny.

A credible distance….🙄 Sure. And I’m the Tooth Fairy.

IF King Ahab had his chariot pulled by a couple of old nags at a walk AND Elijah was an Old Testament marathon runner, then yeah- I suppose it’s “credible.” If that was the case then Elijah didn’t need “the hand of the LORD” to come upon him. He just needed to put on his running sandals.

No. I think the text is telling us that something supernatural happened here.

And Elijah isn’t finished running. He’s about to run all the way to Mount Sinai… to get away from Queen Jezebel.