Men of Intergrity [Elijah]

I will start a series of blog posts on reflections of some Scriptural characters and persons whom I think have taught [and are yet teaching me] a few things in this spiritual journey to be more like Christ. They might not be regularly spaced but I will try to do so. I have entitled the name of this series *Men of Integrity* not to be sexist but because I recall in my Freshman year of Undergraduate education that a fellow Christian, Bryan Becker, affiliated with the Campus Crusade for Christ group in my undergraduate education used such a name to spur us youthful men unto lives on integrity. I knew that I would like to do something with that term in future and apparently 2008 [some four years later] has become the year to use it. I might, as the time proceeds, delve into the lives of female characters of Scripture as well [I must admit at present, I have no female lined up at present in my studies. If anyone would like to suggest one that could teach me a thing or two, please share]. With these preliminary thoughts, we can proceed to the character in focus today—Elijah.

I’ve always found Elijah’s origins to be interesting. Scripture describes him as “Elijah the Tishbite”. There’s something that sounds great about “Tishbite” and maybe “Eyo the Tishbite” could make me somewhat more significant than “Eyo the Nigerian” but I digress. Elijah’s story is found beginning in the Book of 1st Kings 17-2nd Kings 2 [It’s not a long read, you can finish it in one sitting—maybe 30 minutes]. You see, what was significant about Elijah was not his origin but his caliber. He was a type of man with evidently bulging spiritual muscles. He stood before and challenged 450 prophets of Baal and mocked them. They were to prepare a sacrifice on an altar and call on the gods to cause the sacrifice to burn. If Baal was “the God”, then Baal’s prophets would invoke him to burn the bull with success. Conversely, if Yahweh was “the God” then the bull will be barbecued when Elijah called on Him. As a gentleman, Elijah didn’t need to flip a coin—he gave the Prophets of Baal the lead position.

From morning until noon, these folks [the Prophets] called out to Baal without success. At noon, Elijah decided to display some entertainment. What is recorded next must be one of the most comical scenes in Holy Writ. The NIV renders it thus:

“At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention”—1 Kings 18: 27-29.

You know, I can relate to Elijah here. I would like to take on some of those antagonistic to the holy God of Israel. I would like to taunt them and laugh at them in derision to show forth a moral code outside the framework of godly reference; to provide hope for the dead from a purely naturalistic framework and to provide meaning and significance to humanity outside of the intrinsic value of the “inalienable rights” from the Creator. After the failure of Baal’s Prophets Elijah steps onto the stage with his spiritual muscles and teaches me lesson number 1, which I quote from Scripture:

“At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."—1 Kings 18: 36, 37

The lesson summarized is this—The Glory is the Lord’s and The Goal is the Lord’s Glory [Eyo step out of it].

Next, I also go on to lesson number two given a few verses later. So Yahweh answers Elijah, barbecues the bull and Elijah slaughters the Prophets of Baal. But 9 verse after this, scripture records these words: “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life”—1 Kings 19: 3. You see, Elijah had just had a spiritual victory and feared for his life because of Jezebel’s threat. [Someday I might look into this character Jezebel. Suffice it to say she was so scary a figure that Elijah preferred death than a confrontation with her]. Lesson number 2, therefore is this—Beyond every spiritual victory, might be an awaiting sense of despair so beware [especially for those in ministry]. This resonates with me again because I find [as maybe some of you do] that some of the unholy thoughts come to mind when I have just had a God-me time; some of the emptiest times come after I have shared the Gospel and some of the lowest emotions come after I have won the argument. Recently, I have learnt that the day of the week most quitting Pastors quit is Monday—right after dishing out the spiritual truth on Sunday. The more I experience the Christian Life, the healthier the respect I have for this consideration.

In conclusion, I have learnt two short, yet poignant things from Elijah as I hope you will through your own walk. Lesson #1: The Glory is the Lord’s and The Goal is the Lord’s Glory. Lesson #2: Beyond every spiritual victory , might be awaiting a sense of despair so beware.