Was Elijah a happy man? He was not a rich man. He lived for a
while off a poor widow. Another time he lived off the bread and meat that the
ravens brought him. He was a desert man and a wanted man. At times he felt all alone.
When Jezabel swore to have his blood in 24 hours, he was a fearful man. Yet
days before that he was very bold. After hiding from King Ahab for three and a
half years he dared to meet him for a showdown. Moderns would say he was
bi-polar. He ascended to great heights on Mt. Carmel and days later descended
to the depths of depression.
Was he a happy man? He was not
interested in being happy. The thought never entered his mind. He only cared
about one thing - God’s kingdom. To modern cynics he was too radical. They
would say he was too obsessed with the political situation. “Let people be. Why
are you so radical? Why do you torment yourself so? You’re mad! You’re
delusional. On top of that, you’re self-righteous. You think you’re the only
one. You said, ‘It ain’t gonna rain ‘til I say so.’ Besides that you murdered
the prophets of Baal! Would Jesus do that? You’re possessed! Why don’t you have
some fun? Take a vacation once in a while.”
Elijah told Ahab to call for 900 false
prophets to be present for the showdown at Mt. Carmel. If they all showed up it
was and earth-shattering experience that drastically transformed the political
landscape, because after that, prophet after prophet appeared to give messages
to Ahab. Before that they were all hiding in caves.
The great passion of Elijah was the
restoration of God’s kingdom and the destruction of Baal worship. God ordained
him to anoint a new king for Israel, a new king for Syria, and a new prophet to
take his place. The new king for Israel, Jehu, stamped out Baal worship and God
rewarded him with the longest dynasty in Samaria’s history, 99 years. But the
victory was not entire. Jehu failed to stamp out the golden calf worship.
Was Elijah a happy man? Who cares?
Elijah did not.
