[Before we look at “Elijah Syndrome” we should look at the facts concerning Elijah:]
THE FACTS:
1. Elijah was among the greatest of the prophets of God.
Malachi 4:5 “. . . I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. . . .”
Matthew 11:7-15 “. . . Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. . . . And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.”
17:1-13 “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.”
Revelation 11:3-13 “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.”
2. Elijah was a hardened soldier of the Lord, and a shocking figure in “polite society.”
Matthew 3:4 “And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.” (He’s not even trying to fit into the social structure!)
2nd Kings 1:7-8 “And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins.”
3. God spoke directly to Elijah and caused him to have great power over natural forces.
1st Kings 17:1 “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
v. 2 “And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying. . . .”
4. God spoke by Elijah.
v. 16 “And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”
5. God listened to Elijah.
vs. 17-24 (22) “And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.”
6. Elijah was at the center of the action: he was an iron fist of God’s determined will against a stiffnecked people.
1st Kings 18:1 “And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.”
vs. 17-40 “And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.”
7. He got respect.
1st Kings 18:7-8 “And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah?”
8. Elijah got respect, fear, and honor: he was a minister of death.
2nd Kings 1:9-15 “And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.”
(2:15 “And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”)
(2:22-24 “And [Elisha] turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.”
QUESTION: What does this have to do with Elijah?
ANSWER: 2nd Kings 2:9 “. . . Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”
[Elisha wanted to be twice as much like Elijah as Elijah was. (Elijah was his hero.)]
9. Elijah tended to loose the big picture and was not perfectly in touch with reality. (God loved him and used him anyway!)
1st Kings 19:9-18 “And [Elijah] said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have . . . slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left. . . .”
QUESTION: Did Elijah forget about Obadiah, and his works in the Lord?
See: 1st Kings 18:13 “Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?”
Romans 11:1-4 “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.”
10. Elijah was only a man.
James 5:17 “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are. . . .”
(TO SUM UP THE NEGATIVE SIDE:)
[Elijah was a little paranoid (he imagined things that weren’t true), he was an instrument of death, he was a loner, and he didn’t have a friend on the earth.]
QUESTION: What is the secret to having friends?
ANSWER: Proverbs 18:24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
THE DOCTRINE:
John 15:15-17 “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
How to Think
Luke 10:17-20 “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. . . . Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
So, You Say Elijah Is Your Hero?
Λ Luke 9:51-56 “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”
Ephesians 4:11-12 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. . . .”
1st Corinthians 12:(all) (17) “If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?”
3:1-7 “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”
Λ Philippians 2:1-8 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation. . . .”
Λ CHAIN OF COMMAND? 1st Peter 5:5 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
So, You Say You Want to Be like Men In The Bible?
QUESTION: Why was King David not allowed to build the temple of God for the Lord?
ANSWER: This one thing: 1st Chronicles 28:3 “But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.”
So, You Say You Want to Be like the Apostles?
Mark 10:35-45 “[James and John, the sons of Zebedee,] said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.”
(3:14-17 “. . . James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder. . . .”)
Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness. . . .”
1st Thessalonians 2:7 “But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. . . .”
2nd Timothy 2:24 “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. . . .”
James 3:17 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
Let Us Have Jesus Christ as Our Hero.
John 13:1-17 (15) “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”
1st Peter 2:21-25 “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps . . . who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not. . . .”
Ecclesiastes 10:1 “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.”