Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
[James 5:17-18 NIV]
Read 1 Kings Chapters 17 and 18. These two chapters describe a situation with an evil king of Israel named Ahab with an even more wicked wife named Jezebel. Because of their leadership, the nation had turned its back on Jehovah, the God of Israel and the people were worshipping and serving the god Baal. This god was worshipped by many nations around the nation of Israel and his name is mentioned in many contexts throughout the Old Testament. Worship of Baal was also associated with sexual immorality and other forms of abuse. Worshipping other gods is deeply offensive to God (Exodus 20:3-5) and it is clear that the prophet Elijah is a committed prophet who is faithful to the One God. Elijah is courageous and he is prepared to openly condemn Ahab for his idolatry and his role in leading the nation astray.
James portrays Elijah as a 'human being, even as we are' or as another translation describes him, 'a man, with a nature like ours.' This is an important part of James's reasoning. There is always the danger that we do not really appreciate that men like Elijah, or Moses, or David were human beings with the same weaknesses that we suffer. They were not super men endowed with supernatural powers. When we read on in the narrative in 1 Kings, we discover that Elijah is capable of being very brave and he is prepared to face an angry king and give him an unpopular message. He also challenges the nation to decide between Baal and God and he sets up a contest to prove that Baal is powerless and that God is all-powerful. When the prophets of Baal are unable to summon fire from their god to set their altar alight, Elijah's prayer to God is answered with fire being sent down from heaven which burns up the animal on the altar and also the wood, the stones and the soil. To make the task more difficult, Elijah had ordered the altar to be soaked with water but the fire was so fierce that the wood in the trenches around the altar was completely 'licked up' by the fire. Elijah then orders all the prophets of the false god Baal to be completely destroyed.
However, the book of Kings also records a weaker side of Elijah after this impressive display of courage. Ahab reports to his wife what Elijah has done and Jezebel is enraged and wants to take her revenge on Elijah. "May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them" (referring to the dead prophets). Elijah takes this threat seriously and he suddenly loses his faith. He is so afraid of this angry woman that he decides to run away and go into hiding. He finds himself miles away and he takes shelter under a broom tree and even asks the Lord to take his life. He does not want to live any longer. Here are the words of a desperate man so full of self-pity and despair in his lament to God:
"I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too."
I have never been in a such a desperate situation as Elijah but I have often felt sorry for myself and felt that I was being treated unfairly. But James is making the point that Elijah, with his human weakness, was a man of prayer and that God answered his prayer.
In fact, there is no mention of Elijah praying to God to bring about a drought which lasted for three and a half years. The book of Kings does not specifically mention the length of the drought in such a precise fashion. God tells Elijah that there will be no rain or dew for the next few years (1 Kings 17:1). The beginning of chapter 18 tells us that God spoke to Elijah 'after a long time in the third year.' There is no record of Elijah asking God to stop the rain. The story in the book of Kings does show that Elijah is in close contact with God and there is a regular communication from God to Elijah and also from Elijah to God. The second prayer which is mentioned in James is recorded clearly in 1 Kings 18:41-46) but God had already made it clear to Elijah that he was going to end the drought (1 Kings 18:1).
James is wanting us to pray just like Elijah. He wants us to be so close to God and to communicate with him in prayer so regularly that we are able to hear his voice and to be in tune with his will for our lives and for our nation. It is fantastic that the Bible does not hesitate to tell us about the weaknesses and failures of the men and women of God. The next time that Satan reminds us that we are pretty useless, we can always remember that God used a man like Elijah who was not perfect. And, by the way, neither was David or Moses or Abraham or Jacob without their weaknesses. God can use us if we are prepared to trust him completely and pray regularly and passionately to him.
Photo from an article by Peter Wimer entitled "Do We Worship Baal and Don't Even Know It." This is not an endorsement of his website.
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