Elijah stands tall in scripture and history as a demarcation in God’s dealings with man in the earth. He arrived on the scene seemingly out of nowhere. In 1 Kings 17:1, we are introduced to him without warning.

And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”1 Kings 17:1

There is no ancestry or lineage listed, and it is unclear where Tishbite is today. Our introduction to Elijah does not even specify if God directed him to initiate this encounter with the wicked Israelite King Ahab. His ministry focuses almost entirely       on the northern Kingdom of Israel, as he targets the idolatrous kings and his wicked Baal-worshipping wife, Jezebel. Elijah’s story is full of drama and demonstrations of God’s sovereign power.

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And then, suddenly, he is gone! In 2 Kings chapter 2, we find the dramatic account of Elijah being taken up in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind. Apparently, he is the only prophet who does not die but is translated to heaven in the nature of Enoch (Genesis 5:24), who walked with God.

Even though he is gone, Elijah always seems present. The very last words of the Old Testament in the book of Malachi tell us that Elijah will precede the day of the Lord. More than 400 years later, we find the people of the New Testament constantly on the lookout for Elijah and his presence, which would precede the day of the Lord. Several times, Jesus is asked if He is Elijah. When He is dying on the cross, the people watching are curious to see if Elijah will come and save Him. On the mount of transfiguration, three of the disciples see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah.

Elijah represents a dimension and attribute of God that we have not seen before in the chapters that tell his story in the Bible. He is full of mystery, seeming contradictions, and intrigue.

1. Elijah Was a Man Like Us

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. James 5:17

For all of his mystery and wonder, James reminds us that Elijah was a man just like us. This principle applies to all the figures of the Old and New Testaments. It is easy to misperceive Elijah as some superhuman and nearly divine being. That is not who he was, though. He struggled. He strained. He doubted. He overcame. He surrendered. He held true to the faith. As significant and impressive as Elijah’s story, we must never forget that he was a man like us.

2. The Name

The name Elijah means God is Yahweh, or Yahweh is my God. (Tip: Whenever we find the final syllable in a Biblical name, Jah, that usually indicates the name is saying something about God.) Elijah came along at a time when the northern Kingdom of Israel was deep in idolatry and worship of the false gods Baal and Asherah. This idolatry was led by the spiritually weak king Ahab and his Phoenician wife, Jezebel. In fact, under Jezebel’s leadership, many of the people and prophets who worshipped God had been killed. Such was the state of affairs when Elijah or God is Yahweh, shown in the scene in 1 Kings 17. Everything about this prophet is confronting the times and the idolatrous leaders of those times. It is never explained how he stands before King Ahab in the verses that first introduce us to Ahab, but Elijah makes it plain to the wicked king: “As the Lord lives before whom I stand…” The presence of Elijah is there to confront, in the name of God, all that Israel has become. It is almost as if the times themselves drew him out. Of course, it was more than the times that produced the arrival of Elijah. It was a sovereign God who intended to use this prophet to confront the wicked, idolatrous state of Israel.

3. Partnership

The most significant and overarching theme that rests in the background behind the presence and activity of Elijah is the partnership between him and God. God entrusts enormous authority and power to this prophet. The things Elijah does are done in the name of God. As we read through his story, it becomes striking how sometimes the prophet does and sometimes does not talk with God about the matter. There are times when we see him praying and times when he acts. In both instances, he carries the weight and authority of God’s will and word in the land.

For example, we never hear of God telling Elijah to make his famous pronouncement to Ahab in 1 King 17 that there would be no rain in the land for three years. Elsewhere, God directs Elijah to come here or go there. When he calls down fire on the prophets of Baal during the famous confrontation on Mount Carmel, we only see that God says He wants to end the famine. God’s speaking to Elijah never specifies the nature of that ending and the drama of its confrontation.

James 5 tells us that Elijah was a righteous man, not a perfect man. This righteousness qualified him to carry God’s authority and power on earth and elevated him to the role of partner with God’s purposes.

4. A Hairy Man

They replied, “He was a hairy man, and he wore a leather belt around his waist.”“Elijah from Tishbe!” the king exclaimed. 2 Kings 1:8

The Bible does not often devote much attention to the physical appearance of its many figures. So, it is worth noting when we see special attention given to such descriptions. Elijah had a look, one might say. In the New Testament, when the people encounter John the Baptist, they recall that same image. In this description from 2 Kings, the servant informs the king about the appearance of a man he met, and the king immediately knows who it is. He stuck out, different from the others.

5. Not Cuddly

Throughout Elijah’s ministry, we seldom encounter him as some we might describe as “a people person.” This is particularly pronounced in the first half of the account of his ministry. We usually find Elijah alone, and the aloneness seems to be something he prefers. Even near the end of his time on earth in 2 Kings, as his apprentice Elisha follows him, Elijah repeatedly directs Elisha to “stay here.” He wants to be alone. This level of prickliness on Elijah’s part goes beyond his preference for being alone. His words and nature are usually less than diplomatic. In his perspective, Elijah, representing God’s judgment before Israel, is often severe, direct, and black and white. This is not the nature of every prophetic figure. For example, Elisha was very different from this. But it is definitely the nature of Elijah and likely fits with the particular grace that God placed upon the famous prophet.

6. Elijah Is Dimensional

Elijah represents a dimension of God. When he appears out of nowhere before Ahab and Israel, the northern kingdom is mired in idolatry and perversion of God’s will. These things hardly improve by the time Elijah’s ministry concludes. He stands before Israel to represent God’s judgment and severity. He enacts the supernatural; nature is at his command. Many times, when Elijah acts, we find that God directed him. But there are just as many other times when we never see God directing him.

For example, in the famous confrontation on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal, God informs Elijah to return to Ahab and tell the king that God intends to end the famine. But everything that follows, the sacrifice, the challenge to the false god’s prophets, and the killing of the false prophets – we never see God direct Elijah in these steps. Are we to assume that God spoke to Elijah without the book of 1 Kings recording it? Perhaps. But why, then, is the Voice recorded in other instances? Could it be that scripture demonstrates Elijah’s authoritative dimension in his partnership with God? He was a prophet whom God entrusted with levels of authority rarely entrusted to men.

7. Elijah was zealous

Elijah was a man filled with zeal for God. We find this attribute only a handful of times in the figures of scripture, but every time it is found, we find God’s delight in such men. These figures are not restrained by the boundaries and loves of this world, even the most honorable. Even family and culture are secondary to these figures. They have a deeply set and life-driven focus on the integrity of God’s purpose in the earth.

8. Elijah Prayed

The book of James in the New Testament describes Elijah as a righteous man whose fervent prayers “availed much.” We know this is true even if we do not see it evidence as often as we might think in 1 Kings. Perhaps this is why Elijah enjoyed being alone so much. He was a man who communicated with God, hearing and speaking. We then realize that beneath the powerful dimensional reality, Elijah carried a foundation of fervent prayer from a righteous man.

9. Elijah Was A Man Like Us

This is among the most surprising facts learned in a study of Elijah. According to James 5:17, Elijah was a man like us. The man who proclaimed famines called down fire and confronted kings and queens – he struggled with fear, despair, and loneliness. He struggled but did not surrender; thus, he was considered righteous. Elijah was no superhero. He was a zealous man with quirks and idiosyncrasies like we all have. His lifestyle and zeal are within our reach. He was a man like us.

10. Elijah Was A Threat to Israel’s National Security

The story of Elijah begins in 1 Kings 17 and immediately launches into the prophet’s confrontation with Ahab and Jezebel. Standing before the king, defiantly declaring the name of God, Elijah proclaims a national famine in the land. For an agrarian society in the ancient world, famine ranked among the nation’s highest concerns. Even worse, the fact that Ahab and Jezebel worshipped the storm god Baal demonstrated the ineffectiveness of their god before the God of Elijah. For the next three years, Elijah goes into hiding. This is a regime where Jezebel has already cracked down and killed many of the other prophets of God. As long as Elijah remained alive, he posed a threat to the legitimacy and credibility of the Ahab and Jezebel regime and their false god.

11. God Used An Unclean Bird to Care for Elijah

As Elijah goes into hiding, he lives near the Brook Cherith for some time. While there, God miraculously sustains the prophet by causing a raven to bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening. Ravens are described under the Mosaic law as unclean animals. They are scavengers that eat carrion and decaying flesh. But God uses this unclean animal to provide for the man of God.

12. God Used A Gentile Woman

After the Brook Cherith dries up, God sends Elijah to Zarephath in Sidon, a Gentile town. Even worse than a mere Gentile town, this was where the worship of Baal dominated. The Bible never explains why God sent Elijah to Zerephath, but within the town, a widowed woman ends up taking care of him. In Jewish tradition, she is seen as a woman of honor. Though she was near death herself due to the famine, she willingly provided and cared for Elijah, thereby reaping a miracle for provision in her own house.

13. Elijah Moves by Command

Almost every time Elijah moves in the account recorded in 1 Kings, we find the phrase: “Then the word of the Lord came to him…” This word of the Lord triggered a move from Israel to Brook Cherith. It then triggered his move to Zarephath. Repeatedly, the word of the Lord triggers Elijah’s transition to a new location and a new action. Each time he moves, the Lord meets him with provision and sustenance. We find then that the command of God is always pregnant with the elements necessary for its fulfillment. We need only to obey the command to unlock this potential.

14. Elijah Saw the Disagreements When He Prayed

After living for some time with the widow of Zerephath and her son, the widow’s son becomes sick and dies. As Elijah takes hold of the son, we learn a lot from his prayer.

“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” 1 Kings 17:19-21

Elijah knew the will of God, which was for the widow’s house to prosper as long he stayed there. He also knew the reality of the situation. Between these two points, there was disagreement and a lack of cohesion. The son died even though it was God’s will for the widow to prosper. Elijah’s zealous faith refused to tolerate such disagreement. God was faithful, and everything else was a lie. When he prays for the widow’s son, he presents this disagreement to God for the Almighty to resolve. And it was there that the widow’s son became the Bible’s first person to rise from the dead.

15. God Uses Elijah to End the Famine

In the third year of the famine, God directs Elijah to present himself to Ahab, and God will send rain to the land. This is recorded in 1 Kings 18:1. Did God need Elijah to do this to end the famine? Once again, we see the priority of partnership in God’s dealings with Elijah. God could have done anything in any way He wanted, but he chose to partner with the prophet from the beginning to the end. The prophetic partnership is often seen as critical to the unfolding purposes of God, not only in the story of Elijah but throughout the Bible.

16. Elijah Was Not Omniscient

When Elijah meets Ahab, the prophet encounters Ahab’s chief of staff, Obadiah. Elijah does not realize who this man is. He has worked in the house of Ahab and Jezebel, even as he secretly saved 100 prophets of God from Jezebel’s purges. Elijah is obviously unaware of this in the encounter between the two men. Faith and authority are not the same as omniscience. The prophet must always seek to be curious and humble to find the truth of a matter.

17. The Confrontation on Mount Carmel Tells Us A Lot About God

God informs Elijah that He intends to end the famine in 1 Kings 18. However, everything that follows after the command appears to be orchestrated by the prophet. God does not tell Elijah to challenge the prophets of Baal. God does not tell the prophet to insult and make fun of the prophets of Baal and their impotent false god. God does not tell the prophet that He will respond positively to Elijah’s prayer. All of these actions after the initial directive from God to Elijah are apparently things that Elijah decides to do. And yet, even those activities demonstrate God’s trust in the prophet. Although God did not tell the prophet to do these things, He trusted the prophet to reflect Him before the people accurately. When we see Elijah on Mount Carmel, we see the heart of God.

18. Elijah Anticipated A Change in Ahab

After the victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah gives specific instructions to King Ahab. Jezebel is notably absent. Interestingly, the king obeys all that Elijah tells him to do. As Elijah orchestrates the events and movements of God that bring the famine to an end, he believes that more than the weather is about to change. The Kingdom of Israel and the House of Ahab are about to change. They have seen the power and authority of God, and now, a new day will come. Ahab supports this assumption every step of the way, too – until he meets with Jezebel. It is not until Ahab encounters the wrath of Jezebel that he turns away from the directives of Elijah and unites to a new purpose of destroying the prophet.

19. Elijah in Despair

Upon learning that Jezebel has issued death threats and a vow to kill Elijah, the great prophet “arose and ran for his life.” This is a perplexing sequence of events and responses from the prophet found in 1 Kings 19. Although he only recently experienced the defining moment of his ministry, Elijah appears in great despair. Why? The only reasonable explanation is that Elijah feels like he has failed. Through all the sacrifice and struggles, he has not turned Israel around, and the people continue to seek after false gods.

Often, the greatest revelations and insights are found in the lowest points of one’s life, and that is certainly what we gain from Elijah here. It is on Mount Horeb that Elijah learns a deeper perspective of God. It is also here that God reveals that while He gave Israel the chance to turn from the wicked ways, He knew they wouldn’t. The nation’s destruction is planned.

20. Elijah Was Not Alone

Amid the darkest hours of Elijah’s story, we find him voicing that he alone was left among the prophets. In fact, throughout the story, Elijah repeats this statement. He alone is left among the prophets. Apparently, Elijah believed that all the prophets of Israel, except himself, had been killed by Jezebel. He was wrong. God revealed to him that there was much more going on in Israel than Elijah realized, including the preservation of some of the prophets.

21. When Elijah Heard God In A New Way

Mount Horeb is also called Mount Sinai in the Old Testament. There, God passed before Moses in Exodus 33 and revealed Himself to the former leader of Israel. And it is here that God now passes by Elijah in 1 Kings. Elijah was a prophet of fire. He made the earth tremble. He managed the weather. But Elijah discovers that God is more significant than all of this drama and intensity. While Elijah accurately reflected the nature of God in his intense personality for so many years, at Mount Horeb, the prophet discovers a new side of God. He learns of “the still small voice.” Through this encounter with Elijah, God presents Himself in this manner at Mount Horeb. Elijah did many tremendous and dramatic things in the years of his ministry, but this is the treasure that will be handed down to future generations – the recognition of the still small voice of God.

22. There Are Things to Come

At Horeb, God further reveals His plans to Elijah. Israel will be devastated. A new kind of Israel will arise. And the shape of Elijah’s ministry will shift. All of these events, which Elijah only gains a sneak peek into, are announced at Mount Horeb to Elijah, and from there, the prophet enters the next stage of his ministry.

23. Elijah Offended by the New King

By the opening of 2 Kings, we find Elijah again. Many years have passed by this point. He has disappeared from the scene of national politics to the extent that the king’s servant does not recognize him. But when he is described to the new king of Israel, that new king recognizes him simply from description. He is the man who haunted the king’s mother and father, Ahab and Jezebel. The new king has had an accident and seeks out from Baal if he will live or die. This is a horrible offense to Elijah. The people who once carried the word and name of God have not even bothered to ask God His thoughts on the matter. Elijah has changed a lot in the years, but the indomitable core of zealousness for God remains within him.

24. The School of Prophets

The opening chapters of 2 Kings tell the story of the end of Elijah’s ministry. His new apprentice, Elisha, follows him as Elijah makes a circuit, one town after another, visiting the schools of the prophets. Where did these guys come from? In 1 Kings, the prophets have been killed by Jezebel. Elijah believes he is all alone. When did this school of prophets become established? That is one of the most significant changes in Elijah after Mount Horeb. Not only did he embrace a new apprentice, Elisha, but at the close of his life, we find him ushering in a new prophetic age. The loner prophet who roamed the land full of intensity has become a mentor, a master prophet, raising a new generation of prophets so that the Word of God will never die.

25. Elijah Never Died

Speaking of things that never die, Elijah occupies a space shared with only one other person in all of the Old Testament, with the end of his life on earth. Elijah and Enoch are the two people in the Old Testament who never died. 2 Kings records how he translated from one dimension to the next aboard a chariot of fire and in a whirlwind. The immortal realm opened up and swallowed Elijah, transporting him to the other side.