Author: Philip Lewis Powell
First Published: March 2002
As a public figure Elijah was most certainly a confrontationist. His sudden appearance on the stage of holy writ was more dramatic than any other person and the consequences more far reaching than most. The first we read of him is in 1 Kings 17 verse 1 –
“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."
Having delivered his message, he (Elijah) returned to virtual obscurity for the next three and a half years but though “unseen” and cut off from public life, from then on it was Elijah who called the shots. King Ahab searched for him in vain as he dwelt in secret, first in the northern region of Gilead close to his hometown of Tishbeh by the brook Cherith on the east side of Jordan and then at Zarephath or Sarepta (“But Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Sarepta (Zarephath), a city of Sidon, to a woman that was a widow” Luke 4:26) as it was called in New Testament times in the far northern area of Phoenicia on the Mediterranean coast. To get there he travelled a distance of some 80 Kilometres as the crow flies, which could translate to twice or three times that distance due to the mountainous and difficult terrain that he traversed. Remember it was in the height of a drought when the streams and brooks had dried up. One can only conjecture as to how many miracles he experienced on the journey, but that is the nature of the hidden life of the faithful remnant and will be increasingly so for us in the future, but we must learn the lesson that miracles are not to be gloried in. They are the natural and normal expressions of God at work among and on the behalf of His people. They are to be expected but not sought after.
One foolish Bible teacher calculated that there were twice as many miracles performed by Elisha as were performed by Elijah and that this constituted the “double portion” blessing spoken of in 2 Kings 2:9 and 10. Such a proposition is ridiculous despite the number of other Bible teachers who have echoed the notion. You can't count the miracles in Elijah’s life. By the brook Cherith each morning and evening, ravens acted contrary to nature in bringing food to this most remarkable prophet. That's two miracles a day for who knows how long? Then clearly other aspects of his hidden and secret life are surrounded by miracles. Shutting up heaven so that it didn't rain was one thing, maintaining it in that condition for three and a half years, was quite another. That required a miracle three and a half years long and don't tell me that Elijah’s “praying earnestly” ended with his call for the drought. The “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man” that is “powerful in its outworking” is a persistent, patient, prevailing prayer that becomes a life-style and that, in the case of Elijah, produced miracles which were not always sensational but were too numerous to count. We will return to a consideration of this aspect later, as it is something that is most pertinent to the prophetic calling of the end time faithful remnant.
There were four dramatic public appearances of Elijah, each followed by a period when he went into hiding. This interspersing of the great public proclamations, involving the highest dignitaries in the land, followed by his disappearance into obscurity, is what marks out Elijah as being unique. They also have some allegorical application to the faithful remnant now.
Firstly, there was the time when he appeared before Ahab and called for a drought as we have read. Secondly, when, three and a half years later, he challenged the priests of Baal to a fire dual and then prayed for rain. Thirdly, when he confronted Ahab in the vineyard of Naboth and prophesied the utter destruction of Ahab’s house. Fourthly, when he delivered God's message to the idolatrous king Ahaziah the son of Ahab, who had fallen through a lattice in his palace. On that occasion God protected his prophet against not one but two armies of men whom He (Jehovah) destroyed with fire from heaven.
This inter-relation of the public expressions with the private aspects of Elijah’s life adds interest and intrigue to his ministry. In fact they hang together as a whole, each contributing to the other and typifying the nature, call and ministry of the faithful remnant then, and throughout time, but especially in the End Time. What Elijah’s life teaches above and beyond everything else is that the “effectual fervent prayer of righteous people” produces patience, perseverance and power in its effective out-working. This shines through in each of the time slots that surround his public declarations.
We know nothing about the hidden years of Elijah’s birth, boyhood, youth and early manhood, except that he was of the tribe of Reuben, or Gad or half Manasseh and that Gilead on the east side of Jordan was his native country. In the original dividing of the land, half the region of Gilead was allotted to Manasseh and the other half to Reuben and Gad, but Gilead itself became the position of Manasseh’s son Machir, who named his own son after the city and region. This gave rise to the term Gileadite, which features quite frequently in scripture. On this basis it is reasonable to presume that Elijah was a direct descendant from Manasseh through Machir his son and Gilead his grandson. (See Appendix 1)
Genealogy and inheritance are important issues in scripture. Both were jealously guarded by the devout and godly descendants of Israel - the former especially in respect of the women folk and the latter especially by the men folk. (See Appendix 2) In respect of Elijah’s origins there are two things that we can glean:
1. He came from the group of people who settled for less than God's best. They chose not to enter the promised land; and
2. He was probably a direct descendant from Manasseh, who was the older son of Joseph and who entered into half the birthright blessing of Israel by the default of Reuben who according to 1 Chronicles 5 verses 1 and 2 forfeited it through immorality.
1 Chronicles 5:1-3:
1Chr 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—he was indeed the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; 1Chr5:2 yet Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ruler, although the birthright was Joseph's— (1Chr 5:3 the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.)
The practical application is, as REMNANT people, we will probably, like Elijah, have both good and bad in our background heritage. As he was not prepared to settle for less than the best after the example of his forebears, but was determined to retain his birthright blessing, so must we. One of the hallmarks of the calling and appointment of the faithful stand of the end time remnant will be that we will not excuse ourselves on the basis of genes or genealogy, but will press forward, recognising our true birthright as sons and daughters of the Living God. We have an inheritance to protect and to pass on.
The New Bible Dictionary (IVF), under the heading ELIJAH, states the following: “Apart from the reference to Elijah in 1Kings 17 :1 as “the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead”, no information about his background is available. Even this reference is obscure, The Massoretic Text suggests that while Elijah resided in Gilead… his birthplace was elsewhere (perhaps Tishbe of Naphtali). The Septuagint reads “ek thesbin tis galaad”, thus indicating Tishbe of Gilead, Josephus seems to concur (Ant. Viii. 13.2). This has been traditionally identified with a site about 13 kilometres north of the Jabbok.” – Copyright IVF1962 page 363).
Based solely on scripture taken at face value our inclination is to concur with the Septuagint and with Josephus. It is with a reasonable degree of probability based on the following scriptures and in the light of the above description of his background, that we conclude that Elijah was a direct descendant from Joseph through Manasseh and Machir.
Deuteronomy 3:12-15:
Deut 3:12 "And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half the mountains of Gilead and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites. Deut 3:13 The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. (All the region of Argob, with all Bashan, was called the land of the giants. Deut 3:14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, and called Bashan after his own name, Havoth Jair, to this day.) Deu 3:15 Also I gave Gilead to Machir.”
Numbers 26:29:
Num 26:29 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir begot Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.
Numbers 32:39:
Num 32:39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it.
Numbers 32:40:
Num 32:40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it.
Genealogy and inheritance are viewed as being of great importance in the Jewish context for two reasons: Firstly, on account of the obvious link with the Promised Messiah; and secondly, because of the unique association of Israel with the God of Israel.
The first Messianic prophecy speaks of the “seed of the woman” (Genesis 3 verse 15), whereas Jewish genealogy as recorded in scripture normally refers to the male (not female) descendants in terms of a patriarchal (not matriarchal) line. In our time a Jew is reckoned as one whose mother is a Jewess, not one whose father is a Jew. In the polygamous setting of the Old Testament, prior to the Mosaic Law, which included the prohibition of adultery, sexual promiscuity was viewed as being more culpable when practised by women than by men. This is explainable at least in part on the basis that it was the secret hope of every Jewish girl that she should be the chosen vessel through whom the Messiah would be born. Even though the truths of the Incarnation and of the miraculous, divine conception of Christ were not foreseen, every godly Jewess saw her own sexual purity as important in the possibility of her being chosen to bring forth the Messiah. Ultimately Rahab, (Matthew 1 verse 5), who is called a harlot in Joshua 2 verse 1 and 6 verse 25, features in Messiah's line, which simply goes to show the over-riding grace of God.
Sexual sin is viewed in the New Testament as being different from all other sins, as Paul explains, “Flee immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body; but he that commits immorality sins against his own body” (1Corinthians 6 verse 18). In both Testaments, immorality is sometimes used as a euphemism for idolatry. The message is clear. God requires of His people sexual and spiritual fidelity. The idea that leaders can commit immorality with impunity is contrary to the nature and character of God, Christ and of the true church, which is presented as the Bride of Christ who keeps herself pure. The marital and sexual infidelity of the many so called church leaders of our time is an indictment upon them, their doctrine and their followers who should revolt against such low standards.
Inheritance is linked to genealogy and is one of the major emphases of the Old Testament, which is to be viewed as being typical with New Testament teaching providing the anti-type. This is because in the ultimate sense God is the inheritance of His people and vice versa.
Exodus 34:9:
Exo 34:9 Then he ( Moses) said, "If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance."
Deuteronomy 4:20:
Deut 4:20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
Ephesians 1:11:
Eph 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Ephesians 1:18:
Eph1:18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Thus material possessions, such as lands, which were bequeathed by God as an inheritance, took on sacred significance.
While the right and responsibility of inheritance normally rests upon males, the passages of scripture which deal with the case of the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 26:33; 27:1-11; Numbers 36:1-13; Joshua 17:3; and 1 Chronicles 7:15) underscore the importance of refusing to surrender tribal and family inheritance even where the descendants were all female.
Numbers 36:7-9:
Num 36:7 “So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for everyone of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. Num 36:8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father's tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. Num 36:9 Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance."
It was this aspect of the Law of Inheritance, which dominated Naboth’s thinking and action when he refused to give or sell his vineyard to Ahab. His action was enormously significant and has a huge application to the faithful remnant throughout the ages.
Significantly, the descendants of Aaron were given no inheritance in the land, because the Lord was their inheritance and He guaranteed their support and livelihood. This was so that they could devote their energies and efforts to matters relating to worship and service (ministry). They were to be committed to protecting the inheritance of the Lord among His people and the inheritance of the people in their worship of the Lord. The significance of this has been largely ignored in today's church, resulting in considerable abuse of the people by leaders, who lord it over God's heritage.
1 Peter 5:1-4:
1Pe 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 1Pe 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 1Pe 5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 1Pe 5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
The subject warrants a full study. Variants of the word “inheritance” appear 273 times in the Bible. The Old Testament contains entire chapters dedicated to the topic.
Job 24:2:
Job 24:2 "Some remove landmarks; They seize flocks violently and feed on them.”
Deuteronomy 19:14:
Deu 19:14 "You shall not remove your neighbour’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
Deuteronomy 27:17:
Deu 27:17 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbour’s landmark.' "And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'”
Proverbs 22:28:
Pro 22:28 Do not remove the ancient landmark Which your fathers have set.
Proverbs 23:10:
Pro 23:10 Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;
Hosea 5:10:
Hos 5:10 "The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark; I will pour out my wrath on them like water.”
Next: Chapter 4: Drought, Famine and the Remnant.
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