So You Want to Be an Elijah

Copyright © 2012 David J Bruns

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-6936-9 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6935-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6937-6 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012918676

WestBow Press rev. date 10/09/2012:

CONTENTS

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 Out Of Nowhere

Chapter 2 Public Enemy Number One

Chapter 3 Tested By The Home Life

Chapter 4 Trusting God

Chapter 5 Into The Fire

Chapter 6 Fire From Heaven

Chapter 7 Running To Trouble

Chapter 8 Demotion

Chapter 9 Lesson Learned

Chapter 10 Moving On

Chapter 11 What’s The Point?

Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers.

DEDICATION

I felt inspired to write this book, and therefore I give God all the glory. I must also give my wonderful wife, Joyce, much credit for her tireless and persistent encouragement during the hard times. And without David O. Cowles’ knowledge, determination, and legwork this book would never have found its way into your hands. Thank you to all.

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power.

—Psalm 110:3a

PREFACE

At the time of this writing we are witnessing the decline of the United States of America and, indeed, the decline of western civilization as we know it. The so-called civilized nations have turned their backs on God, and once-powerful nations are reaping the consequences.

In our own United States, the government, using the doctrine of separation of church and state, has made it increasingly difficult to openly profess Christian principles. Children are persecuted by school systems for mentioning Jesus in class, in writing assignments, and even on the school bus. Christian holidays such as Christmas are not recognized in public scenes because even remote references to Christ might offend atheists and others. Christians are ridiculed by the liberal news media, by private and state university professors, and by entertainment sources such as television and movies.

Formerly persecuted segments of the population such as homosexuals and illegal aliens are treated, in comparison, with respect and sympathy. It does not take great imagination to foresee a day in which Christians become second-class citizens or worse, citizens of a nation where the state religion is atheism or even Islam.

The United States is obviously turning its back on our friend and ally: the nation of Israel. Israel is choosing to defend itself against acts of war by hostile neighbors who have sworn to eliminate Israel as a nation and the Jews as a people. The fact that Israel is defending itself and its citizens is causing great rage, not only among hostile Islamic nations but also in the United States and much of its news media. The current president of the United States and his secretary of state are obviously unsympathetic to Israel’s plight, apologizing and giving favor to the Islamic nations, thus assuring that God’s hand of protection is removed from the United States (Genesis 12:3).

The United States economy is already out of control. The United States has gone from being a lender nation to being the most indebted nation in the world in just a few decades. The national debt now exceeds the entire gross domestic product of our country, making it impossible to keep up with even the interest payments.

Previously our nation prospered as a result of God’s favor and protection. The United States of America has been the only force standing between friendly nations and world tyranny. God’s favor allowed us to win wars over cruel, well-prepared, initially vastly superior enemies. Without the victory in World War II, we might now be living in a police state in constant fear of being arrested or killed, and we might not be speaking English. Now, without God’s favor, we are in danger of losing our system of government and our liberty.

Our nation is turning from God as Israel did during the time of the legendary prophet Elijah. There will surely be dire consequences for the people of America as a result.

The fact that America is turning its back on God does not make God less powerful. God has no problem allowing a nation to wallow in the slime of its own choosing, at least for a time. Biblical history shows us that God allowed even His chosen nation of Israel to backslide and suffer the consequences. God does not cease to exist. His purposes will be accomplished. He will be glorified, either by our nation or at its expense.

What did God do in Elijah’s time, when the then-powerful nation of Israel turned away from God to worship gods of its own choosing? God showed His glory through an ordinary man who became legendary, not because of extraordinary merit on his part but because he surrendered himself to be used by God in an extraordinary way.

So, do you want to be an Elijah?

INTRODUCTION

Israel reached a high point in its history under the legendary king David. As the high-priestly king who had a heart for God, David pleased God. In turn, God blessed David and the nation of Israel with a strong military, financial abundance, and peace. The Bible goes so far as to say that the Lord gave David rest from his enemies all around (2 Samuel 7:1), even though there were still wars to be fought.

During the glory-filled reign of David, Israel served God as a nation. However, after King David’s death, Israel deteriorated steadily and rapidly until the time of our story, when the king and queen were the notorious Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel stopped all sacrifices to God, tore down the remaining altars to the Lord, and put out the eternal flame. In order to wipe out any memory of the Lord, they rounded up and executed all the identifiable men of God in the entire nation of Israel.

Ahab and Jezebel established a new state religion: the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. They erected great temples and planted groves for the worship of these deities.

What was it that made the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth so attractive? Why was this form of religion so irresistible to the ancient Israelis? Why didn’t the Israelis, who were supposed to be the people of God, object to all this?

Who was Elijah, and where did he come from? Why was he not killed along with the other prophets? What kind of person was he? How did he happen to be the one God used with such power?

How did Elijah get his standing with God? Did he have any advantage that you do not have?

Join us as we explore the steps that Elijah took. We will see his great successes that affected the destiny of Israel and will be remembered for all eternity. We will also see a man who made mistakes but continued on. We will see a pattern that might affect all of us who choose to make use of it.

CHAPTER 1

Out of Nowhere

The time period is the ninth century BC. The country is Israel. It has been less than one hundred years since the glory-filled reigns of King David and King Solomon.

When King David’s son Solomon succeeded David to the throne of Israel, God allowed Solomon to build the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem, a town in southern Israel. God placed His name there, and there the Israeli people would come to worship. God blessed Solomon in every way, including legendary wealth, wisdom, power, and fame. But Israel began to decline spiritually and then physically.

After Solomon’s death, Israel split into northern and southern kingdoms, referred to as Israel and Judah. Soon, both Israel and Judah fell from their position as the once godly nation of Israel to a territory that was just as pagan and wicked as its idol-worshipping neighbors. Israel was preoccupied with pleasure, sexual lust, greed for wealth, and violence. Babies were being killed.

Once upon a time, Israel had been established by God-in covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-to be God’s special treasure, His own inheritance, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, a blessed people (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2). How did Israel descend to this low point in such a short time?

King Solomon had much to do with Israel’s decline. Unlike his father, David, Solomon did not have a pure heart for God (1 Kings 11:4). God had given the kings of Israel three basic commands. The first command was to examine the Scriptures daily; the second was to limit the number of horses the kingdom accumulated; the third was to refrain from marrying many wives (Deuteronomy 17:16–19). Solomon ignored all three commands. Although God gave him extraordinary power, wisdom, financial prosperity, and fame, and even though God Himself appeared to Solomon twice, Solomon remained discontented. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us how Solomon sought fulfillment in every kind of pleasantry he could think of and nearly lost his soul doing it.

Solomon, who could have experienced perfect fulfillment of every deep longing if he had sought it in the Lord, lost his way. He sought fulfillment in pleasure, security in having excessive horses and chariots for the military, and status in having many foreign wives.

Why would anyone want so many wives, especially foreign wives? The answer is that it was common practice for the kings of the world to make alliances with their neighbors