Faithful on Fridays Blog

Elijah: Part One

The TV series Mission Impossible depicted government spies receiving secret assignments ending with, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, …” The prophet Elijah has a similar calling since God gave him missions which he chose to accept. His personal relationship with the Creator, his name means My God is Yahweh whom he wouldn’t refuse, led him to boldly take a stand which we could learn to imitate.

We find this man living in the northern kingdom of Israel during the time of an evil government: King Ahab and Queen Jezebel (1 Kings 17). Being a prophet meant he spoke with the authority of God, declaring His truth to Israel’s government and people who had fallen into idolatry. God’s Word made him Public Enemy #1 to the government and a target for the devil, yet he took a fearless stand. That’s what we’ll be discussing in this series.

God gave Elijah the power to stand as He had done through the ages when giving an assignment to His chosen apostle or ‘sent one’. Abraham’s mission (Gen. 13:14-17) was to stand up, walk the land, claiming it for God’s people. He needed to stand on God’s promises for Israel (lower story) as we do today (upper story) for our nation, state, or community. 

Moses boldly stood before an evil government in Egypt and ultimately led God’s people back to His gifted land. Listen to his encouragement after he took his stand:

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today.”

Exodus 14:13a 

It’s safe to say that Elijah knew of these saints and, undoubtedly, was strengthened by their stories as he faced the king. His declaration included the insight that he stood before the God of Israel, who’s alive and well, and his words were God’s words. We have the privilege to stand before God as well receiving our assignments and can stand in faith that His Word is as powerful in our mouths as it was in Elijah’s. He declared the Word of God to an evil government that had tried to rid the land of God; sound familiar? 

Being prepared to stand is our assignment as Jesus taught in Luke 12:35-40: be dressed for service, keep your lamps burning, being ready and waiting for opportunities to take your stand. We know we stand on the Rock (Ex. 33:21) like Moses and take our encouragement from His Word.

Some (nations) trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright. Psalm 20:7-8

You may think, as the Israelites did, who can stand against such evil (Dt. 9:1-5)? Our mission, if we choose to accept it, is to stand for righteousness boldly proclaiming His Word.

At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand. Proverbs 8:2