(2)
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 17; 1 Kings 18; 1 Kings 19
As we continue to consider the reign of Ahab over Israel, we come now to the matter of God's dealing with Ahab through Elijah the prophet (17:1—19:9a). Because God was behind Elijah, He could deal with Ahab through Elijah. We may regard ourselves as smaller than Elijah, but we have something that he did not have. We have the Triune God wrought into us, constituting Himself into us every day, indwelling us, and building His home in us.
Chapter seventeen tells us that Elijah shut up the heavens from rain. Elijah's miracles, like Solomon's riches, glory, and splendor, were altogether in the physical realm.
Because of the famine, God sent Elijah to hide himself by the brook Cherith to live on water from the brook and on the bread and meat brought in by ravens (vv. 2-7).
After the brook dried up, God sent Elijah to go to Zarephath of Zidon, where God had commanded a widow to feed him (vv. 8-24; Luke 4:25-26). Instead of being fed by the widow, Elijah performed a miracle to provide meal and oil for the widow and her family (1 Kings 17:8-16). After that, Elijah performed another miracle to raise up the widow's son from death (vv. 17-24; Heb. 11:35a). Both of these miracles were in the physical realm and did not involve anything spiritual.
In 1 Kings 18 God through Elijah opened up the heavens to rain. Both the shutting up of heaven from rain and the opening of heaven to rain were great things.
God sent Elijah to see Ahab and to tell him that God would send rain upon the earth, and Elijah went to appear before Ahab (vv. 1-2). In coming to Ahab Elijah was very bold.
Ahab came to meet Elijah through Obadiah, a servant of Ahab who hid a hundred prophets and fed them when Jezebel, Ahab's wife, cut off the prophets of Jehovah (vv. 3-16). Ahab and Elijah were enemies, and Obadiah was the middle man between them.
Elijah challenged Ahab to have a test on Mount Carmel and prove who is the real God — Baal of the heathens or Jehovah of Israel (vv. 17-40).
Ahab, unable to avoid this challenge, sent word and gathered all of Israel to him at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who ate at Jezebel's table. The prophets of Baal offered a bullock to Baal and begged Baal to burn their offering, crying and even cutting themselves so that their blood gushed out. They did all this to no avail as Elijah mocked them (vv. 17-29).
Elijah, by himself alone, repaired (recovered) the broken-down altar of Jehovah by building it unto the name of Jehovah with twelve stones (signifying Israel, God's elect). Then he dug a trench around the altar with a capacity deep and wide, cut the bullock in pieces and laid it on the wood, and poured four jars of water on the burnt offering and on the wood three times until the water went around the altar and filled the trench also with water. After this, Elijah prayed to God, and Jehovah sent fire to consume the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust and to lick up the water that was in the trench (vv. 30-38).
When all the people saw what happened, they fell on their faces and said, "Jehovah — He is God! Jehovah — He is God!" (v. 39).
Elijah commanded the people to seize the prophets of Baal, letting no one escape. Then he brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there (v. 40).
By this, Elijah won the case, and Ahab and all the false prophets lost the battle.
Elijah told Ahab that rain was coming, saying to him, "Go up; eat and drink, for there is the sound of an abundance of rain" (v. 41). After telling Ahab this, Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and prayed until a great downpour of rain came from the heavens (vv. 42-45; James 5:18).
First Kings 18:46 tells us that the hand of Jehovah (referring to the Spirit of Jehovah) was upon Elijah and that he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
In 19:1-9a we see that Elijah was threatened by Jezebel, the wife of Ahab (cf. Rev. 2:20). When Ahab told her all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets of Baal, she sent a message to Elijah, saying, "The gods do so to me and even more, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the life of one of them!" (v. 2).
Elijah was afraid and escaped for his life (vv. 3-8), first to Beer-sheba and then to the wilderness, where he requested to die and said to Jehovah, "It is enough; now, O Jehovah, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers" (v. 4). Through the refreshing and encouraging by the angel, Elijah went further, to Horeb the mount of God, and there he lodged in a cave (v. 9a).
In chapter eighteen Elijah had a great victory, but in chapter nineteen he was fearful and escaped for his life. How could such a strong prophet be so weak after such a victory? In answering this question, I would like to compare Elijah with Paul. Nothing could threaten Paul. On the contrary, Paul was bold and ready to be martyred (2 Tim. 4:6-7, 17-18). He took his martyrdom as an opportunity to magnify Christ (Phil. 1:20-21). The power of God was upon Elijah at times, but the Triune God Himself was continually wrought into Paul, constituting him to be God in life and in nature (but not in the Godhead).
Peter is another example of one who became weak. Concerning eating with the Gentiles, Peter did not keep the truth of the gospel due to his fear of his countrymen (Gal. 2:11-14). Paul was bolder than Peter. Although Peter was under the Lord Jesus for three and a half years and received power from on high on the day of Pentecost, he did not have the Triune God wrought into him to the degree that Paul did. Paul was thoroughly constituted with the Triune God.
We all have Christ in us, but to what degree do we enjoy Christ constituting Himself into us day by day? Every day, moment by moment, the embodiment of the Triune God, our dear Lord Jesus Christ, is making His home in our hearts, constituting Himself into our being. However, in a matter such as talking with our spouse, we may fail to practice to enjoy Christ constituting Himself into us.
The forty kings of Israel and Judah were in the highest position, but they were not careful in their enjoyment of the good land. Not even David enjoyed the good land in full. We should apply their example to ourselves. After hearing many messages on the enjoyment of Christ, have we become careful in enjoying Christ? The words "the enjoyment of Christ" may merely be a teaching or a slogan to us. There is too little reality among us of the enjoyment of Christ.
This shortage can be seen in our contact with one another. We try not to be wrong and we stay away from sinful things, but we are not careful in our enjoyment of Christ. I can testify that during the twenty years I worked together with Watchman Nee, we never joked with each other and we were always kept in oneness, without arguing even a little. We were kept in this way because we both saw the vision concerning God's economy and the Lord's recovery, and we both learned how to live and have our being in the spirit and according to the spirit for our experience of Christ.
We have pointed out that what we are, what we desire, what we intend to do, what we want, and how we behave ourselves have very much to do with our enjoyment of Christ. My burden in these messages is not merely to expound the Word but to learn the lessons from the history in typology. We must learn to be watchful and careful in taking care of the enjoyment of Christ. It is hard to find one Christian who is really living in the spirit and according to the spirit. May the Lord be merciful to us. We should not try to be today's Elijah. Rather, we should endeavor to be today's Paul. Paul could declare that he had been crucified with Christ and that he lived no longer but Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20). He could also say that he magnified Christ and lived Christ, even in prison, through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19-21). Our life today should be like this.
In 1 Kings 19:9b-18 we have the record of Jehovah's commission to Elijah in his discouragement. When Elijah was thoroughly disappointed, God came in to give him a further commission so that he might learn something more.
Elijah's shutting up of the heavens, his opening of the heavens, and his calling fire down had nothing to do with God's economy. When the disciple John asked whether the Lord Jesus wanted them to command fire to come down and consume a village, He rebuked them, saying, "You do not know of what kind of spirit you are" (Luke 9:55). This indicates that the Lord Jesus did not come to be an Elijah. Rather, He came to accomplish God's economy by being put on the cross.
God's economy is altogether beyond the physical world. Today's Christianity, however, focuses on the physical world, and many like to see miracles and healings. The Lord Jesus did many healings and even raised people from the dead. But when He was arrested, He did not call fire down. He delivered Himself into His killers' hands. Even though they came to kill Him, He did not do anything to save Himself.
The situation was similar with Paul. At the beginning of his ministry, Paul did many miracles. However, later, when Timothy was sick, Paul only said to him, "Use a little wine for the sake of your stomach" (1 Tim. 5:23). When Paul was ready to be martyred, there was no miracle. Instead, there was only the Triune God to be Paul's enjoyment in the spirit as the bountiful supply, enabling him to endure persecution willingly and triumphantly. Paul was ready for persecution and martyrdom because he was full of God, saturated with God, and constituted with God. Caesar Nero killed him, but through his fourteen Epistles Paul gained the entire world.
Elijah had not learned these lessons. He ran away in fear because, unlike Paul, he did not have the Triune God wrought into him. He entered into a cave to hide, thinking that he could do nothing and that it was better for him to die. God did not rebuke him, but instead He indicated that there was still a commission for Elijah to carry out.
The word of Jehovah came to Elijah, asking him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9b). Elijah answered, saying, "I have been very jealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and slain Your prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek to take my life" (v. 10).
God charged Elijah to go out and stand upon the mountain before Jehovah (v. 11a). Elijah waited for the word of commission, thinking that it must be in the big windstorm or in the earthquake or in the fire, but Jehovah was not in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire (vv. 11b-12a). When Elijah became fully disappointed, a gentle, quiet voice came (v. 12b). This is the New Testament principle. The fact that God spoke to Elijah in a gentle, quiet voice indicates that God was ushering Elijah into the New Testament age. Today God does not speak to us by thundering. God always speaks to us gently and quietly.
In this commission God charged Elijah to anoint three persons (vv. 15-16). First, God commissioned him to anoint Hazael as king over Syria. This indicates the New Testament principle of taking care of the Gentiles. Second, Elijah was to anoint Jehu as king over Israel. Third, Elijah was charged to anoint Elisha, who is a type of the gracious Christ, as his successor.
Elijah had told God that the children of Israel had forsaken His covenant, thrown down His altars, and slain His prophets and that he alone was left (v. 14). God told Elijah that He had left Himself seven thousand faithful ones in Israel who had not bowed down their knees to Baal and had not kissed him with their mouth (v. 18). These faithful ones, the overcomers, were still standing on God's side. Eventually, God punished Israel by sending them away from their fathers' house as captives. It was the overcomers who brought them back. One of the overcomers, Daniel, prayed with his window open toward Jerusalem. Through his gracious prayer God brought Israel back to their fathers' land.
God does not accomplish His economy in the Old Testament way. All the realities concerning God's economy are in the way of God the Father's love, the Son's grace, and the Spirit's fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14). When the church in Corinth defamed Paul (12:16-18), he did not curse them or accuse them; he prayed for them. After the church in Corinth repented a little, Paul wrote a second letter to them, telling them that the people of God should be transformed into His image (3:18) by enjoying Him as the source, the course, and the flow of the Triune God's love in grace through fellowship.
Finally, according to 1 Kings 19:19-21, Elijah found Elisha and gained him to follow him and replace him.
