Whenever the Israelites wandered off into a wrong spiritual direction, God would send them a prophet. Prophets were the most perplexing people; their sometimes odd behavior often placed them in difficult situations. Elijah was no different. Prophets were Gods emissarie’s to redirect the path of lost souls. Elijah lived in a time when people gullibly followed the way of the world.
The meaning of Elijah’s name is “My God is Yahweh.” It is said that Elijah’s father had a vision of angels swaddling the infant in flames and feeding him with fire. Jezebel was a Phoenician- born princess who hated everything that stood for God. Her marriage to Ahab was to form a political alliance. Ahab was king of the Northern Kingdom “called (Israel)” which was in need of a larger military force; with this union the Northern Kingdom would have better protection while traveling through trade routes. This marriage also gave them access to the Phoenician ports. In this marriage they became one and Jezebel’s evil spirit overtook Ahab’s beliefs.
The Marriage
The Word of God speaks of marriage as becoming a union; two become one. The partner who has the stronger devotion will impose with her beliefs on the other one. In many real life marriages the woman has a stronger committment with God. In our marriage my relationship with God is different from that of my husband Mike. Only after I returned to the Catholic Church did my husband start attending Mass with me. He waited until I stopped attending all the different Protestant churches before he made his way back. Mike was patient with me and allowed me to search for Jesus on my own. During this time I longed for Mike to accompany me to services. Many times I’d cry, begging God to bring him to the services with me. But God was in control; He protected Mike from giving into my spiritual beliefs which were influenced by Protestant theology. After all, it was through my searching that I developed a love for the Bible.
Jezebel had been controlled by diabolical spirits from birth. She not only knew how to worship false gods, she wanted to convert the people of the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to her beliefs. Ahab and Jezebel became one, and their idolatry caused many Israelites to follow their religious beliefs. For this reason God sent Elijah to restore the Israelites to faith in the One True God. God warned Elijah about a three-and-a-half year drought. This drought was not only physical, it was spiritual as well.
Elijah
Elijah is known as “the second Moses.” Their similarities are astonishing. They both experienced the fire of God; they both fasted for 40 days; they both ate food by God’s provision; and they both parted the waters. Both Moses and Elijah experienced the power of God through His thunder, lightning and earthquakes.
Elijah was up against the most evil, wicked Jezebel and her weak husband Ahab. They would do anything to maintain power. It was a difficult time for the Israelites who served God because Jezebel outlawed any worship of The One True God. She ordered all the holy places torn down to make room for her false god Baal.
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake
12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
A Still Voice
The still small voice is a calling to spend time in prayer. We must train ourselves to shut out all the loud distractions of our lives to hear the voice of God. Both Moses and Elijah traversed high mountains to hear God. They never feared the thunder, lightning or earthquakes because they were deep in prayer, waiting for God to speak to them. These prophets were not equipped with hiking gear. They had no special containers to store their water; and no hiking boots because they wore sandals. All they had was their trust that God would provide. When we go hiking, we prepare with backpacks with special compartments to store water. Our hiking boots are made to keep us from falling. In prayer we should visualize all the gear we need for reaching our Mount Sinai because when you reach the top you can rest and appreciate the view of supplication well done. You can hear the still small voice of God as it reaches you through a cool breeze. God is waiting for us; He longs to bless us.
Our media today is overly dramatic; it attempts to plant fear in our minds in order to control us. I have never experienced such collusion in persuading the people in our country to turn their backs against God. The News Media, Big Tech, and Social Media are the driving forces in this takeover by feeding lies to our minds. And like most of the foolish Israelites those who are deceived followed Baal,the god of the underworld . Today everything that Christians believe is being destroyed: sexual immorality (Eph 5:5), marriage,( Gn 2:24) homosexuality: (Rom 1:26-28) and abortion: (Ex 1:15-21; Ps 139:13-14) atheism, (Ps 14:1-5). Like Jezebel destroying all the holy things of God, we are allowing religious statues to be desecrated or toppled over. You see, in order for communism to succeed, all godly things must be removed. Jezebel killed over 400 prophets in Israel in order to silence them, while supporting 450 of Baal. That is what is happening to Christians today as the Jezebel spirit is alive and well in our country. We must join forces with Moses and Elijah to climb that spiritual mountain and bring down these false gods who are attempting to divide us.
In the end God intervened; Ahab, the bad king, was killed in battle, and all seventy of his sons were killed as well. This is symbolic of a nation ridding the systemic problem: when all of Ahab and Jezebel’s bloodline was massacred.
7 When the letter arrived, they took the princes and slew all seventy of them, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8 A messenger came in and told him, “They have brought the heads of the princes.” He said, “Pile them in two heaps at the gate of the city until morning.”
9 In the morning he came outside, stood there, and said to all the people: “You are guiltless, for it was I who conspired against my lord and slew him. But who killed all these? 10 Know that not a single word which the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab shall fail. The Lord has accomplished what he decreed through his servant Elijah.” 11 (And so Jehu slew all who were left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, as well as all his powerful supporters, intimates, and priests, leaving him no survivor.)
How did God deal with Jezebel’s death? She was a drama queen on steroids, and her death came to a violent end.
Elijah, on the other hand, went to heaven on a chariot of fire.
My Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, as we ascend the holy mountain, speak to us in a still small voice. Give us the mantle of Elijah and the double portion anointing of Elisha to be able to fight the Jezebel spirit in our country. Lord, deal with those who are leading many away from Your spirit. Amen.
